The Devil, Bleeding Walls, Twisted Youth and Nightmares!

Thomas Leupp’s Pick

The Exorcist

Growing up a good Catholic schoolboy, I naturally harbored a healthy fear of the devil, thanks to the fine nuns who conjured up images of fire and brimstone on a daily basis. So on that fateful night when my mischievous older brother goaded me into watching The Exorcist, I was exposed to a version of Satan that was more tangible than anything I’d experienced before, and it scared the living you-know-what out of me. In fact, it wasn’t until I was well into my teen years that I was able to even make it through the entire film.

The Exorcist is timeless; its scares are almost as powerful now as they were in 1973. That says a lot, considering that our society has steadily veered away from old-school Christian dogma of angels and demons. William Peter Blatty’s script, deeply rooted in Catholic theology, carries a certain intelligence and legitimacy that has eluded other horror films.

ReelzChannel Cringe Factor: 8.75

Now Available On DVD from Warner Home Video.

John Halecky’s Pick

The Amityville Horror (1979)

Being a 7-year-old boy and wanting to bond with his father, I asked my Dad one dark evening what he was just starting to watch on TV and he told me it was a scary movie and I probably shouldn’t be seeing it. Wanting to connect with my Dad and also to prove to him that I was a big boy, I told him I could take it and that I would be fine watching it. After 2 hours of seeing a house that had walls bleed and a portal to hell in the basement, I, needless to say, couldn’t sleep that night or for the next few.

The Amityville Horror from 1979 starring James Brolin isn’t the best horror movie out there or even the scariest, but for me, it was my first. And you never forget your first. As a young lad it was tough trying to comprehend the fact that the story was based on ‘real events.’ How do walls bleed? Why was there a gateway to hell in the basement? And why would you go back for the dog? Those were all questions for my young fertile mind to ponder. To this day, I can’t think of Barbra Streisand’s husband without getting chills down my spine – but that might be for other reasons.

ReelzChannel Cringe Factor: 7.25

Now available on DVD from MGM Home Video.

Phillip Nakov's Pick

Hard Candy

Ellen Page plays Hayley, a smart, charming and somewhat overly zealous teenager who meets a guy at a coffee shop she has been flirting with online for three weeks. Patrick Wilson plays Jeff, the 30-something guy she meets up with. As a photographer of high-end fashion, Jeff is cute and smooth and knows how to put a young girl at ease. However things turn dark and ugly as soon as they arrive back at the house. Hayley begins mixing screwdrivers and suggests an impromptu photo shoot. All seems to be going well… till Jeff fades out. Turns out Hayley has spiked Jeff’s drink. When he wakes up he is tied down and Hayley proceeds to torture, interrogate and really mess with his mind. It is clear that this young girl's had an agenda from the moment she laid eyes on him back at the coffee house.

The torture scenes are realistic and hit a HIGH 9 on the cringe factor!

A daring, almost claustrophobic movie with 98% of the action taking place in a house with the two lead characters who are seriously SPOT ON in terms of casting.

It has GREAT cover art. The movie poster is simple and awe inspiring: A lone-girl in a red-hooded sweat shirt (a la Little Red Riding Hood) standing in the middle of a giant animal trap. Priceless. Another reason to watch is the terrific dialogue between Hayley and Jeff. You feel as if you are caught up watching someone home movie and they forget you are there.

In a living room or bed room near you…

ReelzChannel Cringe Factor: 9.00

Currently available on DVD From Lions Gate Home Video.

A Nightmare on Elm Street

I've always had very vivid dreams. As a child, I remember waking up in the middle of the night screaming until my parents came running into the room in a panic. Perhaps that's why I connected on such an intense level with the original Nightmare on Elm Street and consider the entire series a total guilty pleasure to this day. The first is the best, three is pretty good, four is fun and Craven's New Nightmare is a pretty original concept.

But back to the original. On concept alone, Nightmare on Elm Street was one of the scariest premises ever concocted for a horror film. Fred Kruger (Robert Englund) was a child murdered who once stalked the children on the unsuspecting suburban Elm Street. After parents burned him alive, he discovered a way to return in the dreams of the parent's offspring years later, terrorizing their nights in a world where dreams become reality. As teens start dying off in horrible ways, one girl, Nancy (Heather Langenkamp), starts to figure out what's happening. She is the first to come face to face with the demonic, horribly burned, knife-finger wielding "Freddy."

I probably saw the film too young, but it still at once fascinated and scared the $!@# out of me. The first is of course the darkest. This is before the one-liner spurting Freddy Kruger we know so well today. Plus, it's got Johnny Depp's first appearance on the silver screen before he gets sucked into a bed. You'll see...

ReelzChannel Cringe Factor: 9.00

New Line recently released a new two-disc Infinifilm version of the film on DVD that includes documentaries on how Freddy built New Line, a doc on dreams and commentary from the cast and crew.