Is it really that difficult?

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Sitting on the couch of my library when Ryan Atilano and Simon Tantocco decide to come over to watch old scary movies. We composed a list, ranging from films like "The Shinning" to "The Changeling". Since neither of the boys have seen "The Changeling" I wanted to play it just to scare them.. May I say, every time I watch that film, I still get chills running up my spine!
It is the epitome of what a horror movie aims to be.  

I then decided to show them an episode from the underrated 1970s television series entitled "The Night Gallery"* from the same makers as the Twilight Zone FYI.  ROD SERLING IS THE MAN!!(he's the host of both shows)

"An old man is dying but has had a successful time as an artist, painting a few of the pictures hanging around his large house.

His manservant, who has been with him for many years, looks after the old man until a long, lost nephew appears on the scene. The nephew lays claim to the estate as sole heir, and decides to ensure that his inheritance comes sooner rather than later. He sits the old man in his bedroom with the window wide open, overlooking the cemetery, knowing that he is susceptible to the cold.

After the old man dies, the nephew stakes his claim to the house and the fortune, the manservant is left only 80 dollars a week for life, without the nephew, he would have inherited everything. The manservant asks to stay on and work for the nephew; when they have a fight about the nephews conduct, drinking and womanising, the manservant leaves.

Once the nephew is alone in the house, he notices the painting at the bottom of the stairs showing the house and cemetery, has changed. There is now a mound showing the grave of the old man. Next, the coffin is raised, then the coffin is open, the old man is shown leaving the coffin, then approaching the house. Each time a new scene is shown in the painting, it makes the nephew more frightened; he tries to call the manservant he then calls the police but each time he is cut off before being put through. Eventually he is driven so mad that he falls down the stairs, he is dead before he lands at the bottom!

The manservant appears and calls the police to report the accident. The inheritance now passes to the manservant. Later we see a conversation between the manservant and an artist in which the manservant pays the artist for providing 15 paintings at $500 each!

After the artist leaves, the manservant surveys his kingdom; he spots that the painting has an additional coffin mound then an open casket, the dead nephew climbing out, coming towards the house... We see the manservant flinching in the corner of the room as he is driven mad by this sight."

Ummm reasons why to love it?


a.) it's smart - the film refuses to spoon feed its' audience, it calls out for your attention.
b.) the quality of the performances - unlike most horror flicks nowadays, the actors and actresses are highly trained and very professional. Beats filled up every second, creating a true and realistic feel in the movie which added to its frightening conclusion. Even the lawyer who had merely five lines to recite, was fully committed to his role and the intentions of the character. Truly remarkable. Even big-screen so called Hollywood actors can't even deliver such a performance due to the lack of professional training.

Why am I pointing all of this out?

Horror movies in this day and age consist of laziness and poor execution (take that literally if you must). From all of the "Saws" (excluding the first one), "The Hills have Eyes 1& 2" and "house of wax" are so ludicrous as to be amusing.

A soldier discovers a man emerging from a toilet as he's about to take a dump.
Paris Hilton getting a spear into her head as she escapes a serial killer..wearing a bra.

As a child, films like "The Omen" genuinely shocked me - the realism, the sharp music, the production quality.
The latest "Omen" which premiered throughout the world on 06/06/'06, despite the fact that it was highly anticipated it turned out to be UTTERLY DISAPPOINTING!

Tones of red in scenes foreshadowing a catastrophe upon the characters.
adding distracting scenes that were not originally in the 1960s film.
Choosing an irritating brat to portray the role of Damien, yeah um Damien is suppose to be a subtle yet dangerous entity, not an overdramatized 7-year old.
Julia Stiles and Liev Schreiber as the main characters were too young, and despite how talented the two actors may be, they did not convey the struggle and strife that tears their family apart.
Hmm...that strawberry feeding scene between Damien and Mia Farrow...O-kay...

The list is endless!

But...."El Orfanato (the Orphanage)" is a glimpse of hope that lies within creating a great psychological/horror film. Every single person should check this out! I have never met anyone who watched this movie without feeling a kick in their gut. This movie will spin your world, you don't know whether to crawl up or cry.


K.Berg
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