My Number One

A good friend of mine presented me with an excellent idea for a blog and I have chosen to expand it into a series. Dave asked me what I believe are some of the most important movies to watch in the history of film. I am going to twist it a bit and write about some that really inspire me and I believe present shining examples of one thing or another. We'll start with my number one, favorite film of all time; John Carpenter's "The Thing." The first time I saw it I was in middle school, and sitting home alone on a stormy saturday night. No lie, it scared the hell out of me. I can watch scary movies all day long all alone, in the pitch black on the scariest stormy nights and not be the least bit affected. There are select few that can get me. The Thing was the first. Carpenter does a spectacular job of creating a feeling of true isolation. He creates a tiny microcosm trapped off from the rest of the world. He creates 2 options for his characters, die slowly from the cold, or get ripped apart by an alien body occupying menace. He ends it with both characters seemingly defeating the monster, but still doomed to die. Another thing this movie did for me was to create a true appreciation for make-up and tangible special effects. If I were to someday be able to create movies I would limit the CGI as much as possible. The Thing was made in 1982 and the creature effects and makeup are truly sick and scary like nothing I've ever been able to see CGI recreate. The dog in the jail cell transforming into a beast and killing the other dogs set to only darkness and haunting music is a truly scary scene. To say the least, the Thing is the movie the I believe is the epitome of what a horror movie should be and the movie that made me want to make movies. GO SEE THE THING.

I have decided while writing this that I am going to call this epitome serious, where I select genres and select my favorite out of them and then write why they kick ass.