There’s something about just having a snippet of a film to go on. After an hour or so of suspense and gore (and possibly crappy plot) the same scene in the film loses some impact. However, out of context, flashed on the TV when you’re not expecting it – ahhh. Then, your imagination gets involved and makes it personally scary. I love it, I hate it.
The fist trailer that really got me was Child’s Play (I was 11). I remember being home alone, and seeing it for the first time: Little boy in bed, cuddling his Christmas dolly, all is happy and good. And then the doll’s head slowly turns…. AAAHHH!!! I was so terrified that I put my fingers in my ears and shut my eyes and hummed until I was sure the thing was over - I was too scared to change the channel and risk seeing another second of the trailer. Then, when the damn movie was released on video, the terror began again. Evil dolly walking down a hallway with a huge knife… AAAHHH!!
More recently, the re-release of The Exorcist – Reagan coming down the stairs. You know what I’m talking about. Oh sweet god, that was bad.
The Others – “Are you mad? I am your daughter!” Scary in the trailer, not so much in the movie.
And my top one at the moment: Signs – the new Mel Gibson movie. When the little girl says “Daddy, there’s a monster in my room and I want a glass of water.” Oh, creepy creepy creepy. It makes me really not want to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night (but then again, I do have an evil toilet).
When I was a kid, I used to do the “fingers in the ears, eyes closed, humming to drown out the sound” thing when commercials for the various incarnations of the “It’s Alive!” series came on. That claw hanging out the side of the bassinet and the (IIRC) lullaby theme going on… shudder
OK - if we’re going in that direction, xXx looks abysmal.
Also in the running - the newest Halloween instalment, and the Friday the 13th with Jason in space. I wonder if anyone saw that. Why won’t they stop making them? Whyyyyyyyy?
Scroll down to the black and white photo of Linda Blair as Regan, and click next to it to activate the trailer. You may want to close your browser window so that sound effects from the Exorcist web page don’t play over the trailer.
Even though no violence is shown, the trailer is still incredibly gripping and scary. Can you imagine seeing this in the dark, on a large screen, without warning?
Oh, god. Now I’m having flashbacks.
… the most embarassing one that scared me was a B-movie called “Uninvited” - possibly the worst movie ever made. An alien cat (as in “Alien” - the cat opened its mouth and a mini cat-head shot out and attacked) terrorized people on a boat. I think.
I saw the preview for that at a sleepover, and we all had nightmares.
Another B movie - Slugs. A zomie slug crawled into your ear and poof you were among the undead. To this day, sometimes I can’t fall asleep unless my ears are covered.
Back in the late 70s/ early 80s there was a movie called “The Prophesy” I think. The trailer showed a couple of kids in sleeping bags (the kind that only your face sticks out of) screaming their brains out at something off camera.
Being a similarly aged kid with a similar sleeping bag, the thought of being stuck in that thing and having to helplessly witness something terrifying was enough to scare the crap out of me.
