Do You Like (Scary) Movies?

Maybe it's because I'm reading, "The Historian," about the search for Dracula, aka Vlad Tepes, aka the Prince of Darkness. And whether you believe the Bram Stoker version or defer to Romanian lore, you have to admit, the man was kind of freaky. I've even started sleeping with my Rosary beads. I'm not the most religious person, but a little extra protection from the Man upstairs can't hurt. I think my fellow blogger Tom can attest to that. Anyway, to make a long story even longer, this got me to thinking about movies that freaked me out so much, I couldn't watch them a second time. You know the type: You know when the bad scenes are coming up now, but that only makes things worse. Here are some examples:

American History X: Saw it once straight through. Haven't been able to do that again, and don't want to. Here's just one reason why: There's one particular scene in the beginning where Edward Norton (who was robbed of the Oscar) chases a black kid down the street, catches him, and forces him to put his open mouth on the curb. He then raises his combat boot-clad foot only to bring it down HARD and crush the kid's skull. The accompanying sound effects didn't help at all. One heavy movie.

American Psycho: Christian Bale at his best, before he became known to the masses as Bruce Wayne. Another great movie, but I don't want to see it again. Tried that already and covered my eyes during the bad parts. I know what you're thinking: Why be scared when you know what's coming up? Trust me, you watch the menage a trois scene where he takes a rather rusty tool and procedes to shove it up the woman's *****, and you see the resulting blood. You don't want to go back there.

Schindler's List: This is one of my all-time favorite movies. And I've only seen it once. Never really wanted to see it before but then I went to Poland in August and September of 2003. Toward the end of this goodwill mission (it was with Habitat for Humanity), we did a little touring around. Who would have ever thought that Auschwitz and Birkenau would be places you'd want to visit willingly, considering the attrocities that went down there under Hitler. I almost got sick and had to run out when we were taken into the gas chamber. There was a small tribute to the victims, and no picture or video-taking was allowed. Out of respect, you see. Talk about feeling history. Talk about feeling horrible. Did not need to see the oven or the rooms of hair and clothing and shoes taken from victims. But, I think the worst part had to be the railroad tracks and lone chimney stacks, each standing for bunk houses where the Jews were packed like sardines. These were left just for that purpose. To remind. Needless to say, I rented the movie when I got home. I had to. And I cried the entire time. I recognized all of the scenes in the movies, including the Jewish ghetto in Krakow. Liam Neeson and Ben Kingsley were superb. Ralph Fiennes, as well, although he was the most despicable. But I don't want to see it again. The material is just too much to deal with. Having been there. Imagine living through it.

Thank god the sun still comes up every day, on a world I like to hope can only get better, in which I have the power of choice. Can't you just hear the violins?