i received some unsettling news today.
i was driving home from work, chatting with a friend about movies when he informed me that a remake of my favorite move is in the works.. i immediately felt a pain in my chest.. my heart, literally, hurt.
"the changeling" is the greatest ghost story ever told.. there aren't any silly special effects or bad music to set up the next scary moment.. the entire thing is just creepy.. start to finish.
there have been so many remakes in the last few years.. "amityville horror," "the hills have eyes," "the texas chainsaw massacre".. i suffered through all of them, yes.. i am a horror movie fan, so i feel the pull no matter how bad they look.. i laughed at the ridiculous acting and the addition of over the top gore to many of them, but this one i just won't be able to bear.. this one i have a connection to.. it's in my blood.
my dad worked in the aerospace industry, and, for most of my life, worked the "swing shift," meaning he worked from 3pm to about 12 or 1am.. because of these odd hours, i hardly ever saw him.. he would be leaving for work when i got home from school and i would be in bed when he got home from work.. sometimes, though, especially during the summer break from school, my night owl tendencies would keep me up until he got home.. it should be noted that my nocturnal nature is something i inherited from him.
one night i happened to have fallen asleep on the couch and woke up at about 3am to see my dad sitting on the loveseat, smoking a cigarette.. when he saw that i was awake he said "oh good.. this movie is about to start.. i want you to see it." he turned up the volume as the hbo music played and scooted over so i could sit next to him.. then "the changeling" began.
i had never seen anything like it.. it was scary.. and not just because i was only 10.. i think it scared my dad a little bit, too.. i'll never forget his reaction to one particularly startling scene where the female lead let out a scream that made us both jump.. he turned to me and said "geez lady, shit a brick, why don't you".. silly, i know, but it was his way of soothing the scary out of the situation and making me laugh.. after it was over, he walked me down the dark hallway and put me to bed with the door cracked and the bathroom light on.
fast forward almost 20 years.. my dad and i had been estranged for many years and for various reasons when i got the call that he was quite sick.. while sitting in the hospital with him, watching the morphine take hold, i told him that i had found "the changeling" on dvd and that i always thought about that night with him whenever i watched it.. i could see the recognition in his eyes, though he only replied with "oh yeah.. george c. scott.. great movie."
i was driving home from work, chatting with a friend about movies when he informed me that a remake of my favorite move is in the works.. i immediately felt a pain in my chest.. my heart, literally, hurt.
"the changeling" is the greatest ghost story ever told.. there aren't any silly special effects or bad music to set up the next scary moment.. the entire thing is just creepy.. start to finish.
there have been so many remakes in the last few years.. "amityville horror," "the hills have eyes," "the texas chainsaw massacre".. i suffered through all of them, yes.. i am a horror movie fan, so i feel the pull no matter how bad they look.. i laughed at the ridiculous acting and the addition of over the top gore to many of them, but this one i just won't be able to bear.. this one i have a connection to.. it's in my blood.
my dad worked in the aerospace industry, and, for most of my life, worked the "swing shift," meaning he worked from 3pm to about 12 or 1am.. because of these odd hours, i hardly ever saw him.. he would be leaving for work when i got home from school and i would be in bed when he got home from work.. sometimes, though, especially during the summer break from school, my night owl tendencies would keep me up until he got home.. it should be noted that my nocturnal nature is something i inherited from him.
one night i happened to have fallen asleep on the couch and woke up at about 3am to see my dad sitting on the loveseat, smoking a cigarette.. when he saw that i was awake he said "oh good.. this movie is about to start.. i want you to see it." he turned up the volume as the hbo music played and scooted over so i could sit next to him.. then "the changeling" began.
i had never seen anything like it.. it was scary.. and not just because i was only 10.. i think it scared my dad a little bit, too.. i'll never forget his reaction to one particularly startling scene where the female lead let out a scream that made us both jump.. he turned to me and said "geez lady, shit a brick, why don't you".. silly, i know, but it was his way of soothing the scary out of the situation and making me laugh.. after it was over, he walked me down the dark hallway and put me to bed with the door cracked and the bathroom light on.
fast forward almost 20 years.. my dad and i had been estranged for many years and for various reasons when i got the call that he was quite sick.. while sitting in the hospital with him, watching the morphine take hold, i told him that i had found "the changeling" on dvd and that i always thought about that night with him whenever i watched it.. i could see the recognition in his eyes, though he only replied with "oh yeah.. george c. scott.. great movie."
VIEW 3 of 3 COMMENTS
jeremyscareme:
Must to post please.
monkeysan:
remake-itis is become pandemic...the irony is that you know you're going to see it for the same reason kids play with their loose teeth even though they're scared to death of one falling out.