Scream Queen

My Dear Fellows & Dear Princess Normal,

I went to see "Halloween" at the unearthly hour of 10am today. I like going to the movies early. It meant when the film finished, I could just enjoy being in the Wellington sunshine and wander home, feeling like I was playing hooky from work. While wandering back, I got this picture of the Courtney Place tripod.

I LOVED "Halloween". It has clearly been made by nerds who adore the original as much as I do with lots of subtle references to the original movie.

I have a soft spot for the original and remember when I first saw it. At the time, I was not keen on horror movies. This is because I had been traumatised by:

- The Exorcist*
- The Brood**
- The Texas Chainsaw Massacre***
- Suspiria****

Here's the thing. My parents got a VCR during the height of the "Video Nasty" boom. You could rent EVERYTHING and back in the day, we didn't know ANYTHING. My parents assumed that all horrors were Hammer. 

Consequently, they often came home with what they thought would be some gothicky tale about terribly polite English monsters, only to find it was in fact some low-budget, freaky horror film made by effed-up Italians about entrails.

And then they recorded "Halloween" off the telly. I remember my mum telling me it was a creepy film, but not that scary. So I felt brave enough to try it and developed a 12 year old crush on Jamie Lee Curtis. So it was actually love that got me over fear of horror movies. And it really did feel  like I had gotten over something. It felt empowering.

Also, I loved the fact that she fought back in that film. Up to that time, horror heroines didn't really do that. They usually backed up to walls and screamed a lot while they waited to be eaten by carnivorous plants or what-not. Not Jamie Lee. She was effing LETHAL with a wire coat-hanger and a knitting needle. She was like a hero to me.

She is still awesome and in the new film, she kicks arse as a gun-toting granny. Cazza asked me if I liked it when I got in and I told her that while it was never going to be as good as the original, it feels like that old movie finally got the sequel it deserved.

But she wasn't really listening. Cazza and me are horror-incompatible. She never got over her own fear of horror films and can't bear to be in the room while they are on. Clearly, she's immune to the charms of Jamie Lee Curtis. What a shame.

S.

* And about 2 years later I realised what she had been doing with that crucifix and was traumatised all over again.
** In which wizened little doll things smash people on the head with mallets. All Action-Men consigned to the attic later that evening.
*** You'd think the title might have been a bit of a hint to my parents. 
**** Remake coming out soon. Save some space behind the couch for me.