THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 26, 1994 TAG: 9410260039
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Craig Shapiro
LENGTH: Long : 117 lines
LET YOU IN on something: Here on West Brambleton, we're awful serious about those polls we run. Take the one I took the other day. It being practically Halloween, the question of scary things came up.
No. 1? Easy. Robb or North? But since this is Videomatic, this is what I asked the dozen or so people I could grab (told you we're serious): What's the scariest movie you ever saw?
``Halloween'' and ``Alien'' got the most votes. Good choices, too. John Carpenter's 1978 thriller and Ridley Scott's 1979 sci-fi chiller delivered scares the old-fashioned way. ``The Exorcist'' was big, but I gave up on it when Linda Blair did that Mortimer Snerd thing with her head.
Mal Vincent, our film critic, said 1955's ``Diabolique'' scared him most. But ``Psycho'' gave him such a fright that he couldn't shower; he took Hitchcock's advice and sent himself to the dry-cleaners. That is scary.
Several people said ``The Birds.'' Agreed. Until that movie, the only thing that rattled me about birds was being target practice. One of my faves, ``Wait Until Dark,'' with a blind Audrey Hepburn terrorized by Alan Arkin, came up twice. I screamed like a soprano.
Others mentioned: ``The Mummy,'' ``Carrie,'' ``The Silence of the Lambs,'' ``The Pit and the Pendulum,'' ``Rosemary's Baby,'' the first ``Invaders From Mars'' and the first two ``Invasion of the Body Snatchers.'' One friend said ``The War Room,'' the documentary about the Clinton campaign.
Me? I still recall how I rationalized ``The Wolf Man.'' ``That was England. That could never happen here.'' ``Jaws'' kept me out of the water for years. For real. Others on my list are ``Island of Lost Souls,'' ``Carnival of Souls'' and ``Hitcher.''
But here's what I really want to know: What's the scariest movie you ever saw?
You've got until 5 p.m. Thursday to call the Videomatic Infoline Mailbox at 640-5555, category 2827. Leave the name of ONE MOVIE ONLY, and why it gave you the willies. I'll take the results, use some of your comments and come up with a video rental guide that will run Monday in The Daily Break.
Why Monday? You haven't been paying attention.
TOP TAPES (in Billboard):
Sales: ``Jurassic Park,'' ``The Nightmare Before Christmas,'' ``The 3 Tenors in Concert 1994,'' ``Sleepless In Seattle,'' ``D2: The Mighty Ducks''
Rentals: ``Jurassic Park,'' ``The Crow,'' ``Four Weddings and a Funeral,'' ``Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult,'' ``The Nightmare Before Christmas''
The Couch Report
``Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' (1937, Walt Disney). They said it could never be done: Two years and $1.5 million to make a full-length animated movie. Walt proved them wrong. His studio said it would never be done: ``Snow White'' on video. Wrong again. Its release Friday is a bona fide event. The gorgeous animation, great characters and memorable songs set a standard many consider still unmatched (the vote here is for ``Pinocchio''). It's likely to do the same for video sales. Definitely one to own.
(VOICES of Adriana Caseloti, Harry Stockwell, Lucille LaVerne. RATED: G because it's ``Snow White'')
``The Hudsucker Proxy'' (1994, Warner). The Coen Brothers pull off a twin feat - they take a well-aimed poke at big business while saluting the screwball comedies of the 1940s. Swell performances from Tim Robbins as the naive dreamer thrown up the ladder to scare off investors; Paul Newman as the ruthless suit planning to cash in, and especially Jennifer Jason Leigh as the sassy reporter onto the scam. Given the Coens' fondness for period detail, it's no surprise ``Hudsucker'' has style to spare. A real winner.
(CAST: Tim Robbins, Paul Newman, Jennifer Jason Leigh. RATED: PG for mild language)
``The Cowboy Way'' (1994, MCA/Universal). Can you say ``Coogan's Bluff''? Two dusty cowboys go to New York to find the thugs who killed an amigo and rescue his daughter. Even with the predictable culture shock and Big Apple horseback chase, it works. Woody Harrelson's hotheaded Pepper and Kiefer Sutherland's stoic Sonny click. Besides, it's fun pulling for the good guys. Look quick and you'll see Travis Tritt - in a cowboy hat!
(CAST: Woody Harrelson, Kiefer Sutherland. RATED: PG-13 for language, violence and Woody's butt)
``Guarding Tess'' (1994, Columbia TriStar). It's no stretch for Shirley MacLaine to play a cantankerous former first lady. Nicolas Cage, though, turns in a subdued, finely timed performance as the Secret Service agent protecting her. The personality clashes create comic sparks, and the understanding they reach at the end leaves you feeling genuinely good.
(CAST: Shirley MacLaine, Nicolas Cage. RATED: PG-13 for language)
``Crush'' (1994, Fox Lorber). Marcia Gay Harden is memorablygood as a brash American who crashes into the lives of a New Zeland writer and his daughter - befriending the girl, seducing Dad and leaving a friend, a critic Harden was joining on an interview, in a hospital. With all the angst and betrayal, it boils down to an eerie, sinister revenge tale that will give you the creeps.
(CAST: Marcia Gay Harden, William Zappa, Caitlin Bossley, Donogh Rees. UNRATED: language, brief nudity, themes)
``Clifford'' (1994, Orion). Except for flashes of his ``SCTV'' self, Martin Short's turn as a 10-year-old terror ages fast. Charles Grodin is the put-upon grown-up - again. There's a point about why it's important that people like you, but Clifford's such a nasty, lying, little cuss, all because he can't visit Dinosaurland, it's hard to care.
(CAST: Martin Short, Charles Grodin, Mary Steenburgen, Dabney Coleman. PG: Take it to heart - the tone is mean-spirited)
``Shrunken Heads'' (1994, Paramount). Helmed by Richard Elfman (``Forbidden Zone'') and featuring a theme by bro' Danny, this is one of the best Full Moon projects yet. A Haitian magic man turns three boys cut down by street punks into avenging shrunken heads. Twisted for sure, but it's played for laughs. Just get a load of Meg Foster as crime boss Big Mo.
(CAST: Julius Harris, Meg Foster, Aeryk Egan, Becky Herbst. RATED: R for language, violence)
``Plughead Rewired: Circuitry Man II'' (1994, Columbia TriStar). A Fed out to get the evil Plughead enlists Circuitry Man. It's a trap. Plughead needs the DNA he hid in C-Man's head to be immortal. The Fed? She gets to meet her mom. Except said Fed's a synth - a C-Man love program materialized by P-Head - and Mom is noted bio-whiz Traci Lords. Make sense? Didn't think so.
(CAST: Deborah Shelton, Vernon Wells, Traci Lords. RATED: R for language, violence, nudity)
Also: ``George Balanchine's The Nutcracker,'' the holiday fave featuring Macaulay Culkin, Norfolk's Yvonne Borree and the New York City Ballet (G)
Tuesday: ``Black Beauty''
Next Wedneday: ``BrainScan,'' ``Cover Story,'' ``Anne Rice: Birth of the Vampire'' by CNB