Thriller Thursday

photo taken from imdb.com

Okay, so I'm the first one to admit I am absolutely in love with scary movies! And the reality tv series of paranormal and ghost hunters.

One thing I don't like is gore. No, that's not scary to me. It's just disgusting. The more that is left up to the imagination, the scarier it gets for me! For instance, take the movie Jaws as an example. Everyone was so freaked out by the shark attacking the people that I wouldn't go see it when it came out. I was afraid it was too scary! So I went for 35 years and did not see the movie. I read Peter Benchley's book, and that was scary enough for me! But one Friday night, we were bored and my dear hubby says, "So you've really never seen Jaws?" I told him I hadn't, but that I had read the book. "Well guess what we're renting tonight!"

And off to the video store he went to rent a copy. We settled in for the show. I was so bored, because, number one, it didn't follow the book but in the most minute of ways. And number two, I didn't see anything scary about it!

That is until the old seadog starts talking about WWII, and being aboard the ship that was sunk. You remember the scene, don't you?

The USS Indianapolis. It was sunk by a Japanese sub in shark infested waters. On 30 July 1945 the ship was torpedoed. Of the crew of 1,196 men aboard, approximately 300 went down with the ship. The remaining 900 men were adrift in the water for 4 days before being spotted by a Navy plane. Of the 900 who survived the sinking, only 317 survived. And this is the story the old sea captain tells in the movie.

In particular, he told how the men formed a circle and held each others hands, and they faced outward, to better see when a shark approached. They did what they could to stave off the blood crazed beasts. The old sea captain tells of holding onto the hand of his best friend. When dawn approached, he thought his friend had fallen asleep in his life vest. He was gently bobbing up and down in the water. But when the old sea captain shook him to wake him up, he toppled forward into the water. And from the waist down the sharks had eaten him. The old sea dog had spent the night holding his best friends hand, while he was eaten alive by sharks, and because of his own exhaustion he had been totally unaware.

The way he told the story, his inflections and mannerisms in telling the story scared the doodoo out of me! The way he told it, you were there! You could hear the screams of those attacked. You could feel someone letting go of your hand as their body was being dragged into the brine. Now that, to me, was the best part of the whole movie! It sent shivers up and down my spine! I loved it!

It's been years since they made a scary movie that actually scared me, that didn't make me want to throw up from the realistic gore. To me, the imagination is so much better than what they can do cinematically. The last thrilling movie I saw was when Wes Craven's "New Nightmare" came out. (Okay, I said it had been a long time!) When the body on the bed was grabbed from INSIDE the mattress? Oh my! I scared everyone in the house. Because, like the girl I am, I screamed out loud!

What's your favorite scary movie? Let us know with your comment!

*****Did you guess where the place was at from yesterday's Where Am I? Wednesday? No?

The photo was taken in Lystrada, Greece at the Forgotten Temple. Okay, I have to confess, I did not take the photograph. It was from a postcard I purchased there. Has anyone else been there? If you've been to Greece at all, what was your favorite place? What did you enjoy doing most while there? Let us hear from you in the comments.

The Forgotten Temple

Lystrada, Greece