Naptown Nerd trivia aficionados and stat geeks, we now have the answer to the question; Who was the first guest writer on Naptown Nerd? The answer is Why So Blu?'s latest addition, LANEY FEESER. This will be the first of a few guest pieces that will be filling out this retrospective. When I asked Laney to throw me something she mentioned she'd never seen the original. I thought - BRILLIANT! It'd be awesome to have someone freshly recollect their first encounter. Anyways...I'll shut up and let Laney speak! Enjoy!
Fall is here my friends, and it comes baring some of my
favorite things: Hot cider. Beautiful foliage. Tall boots and cute scarves.
Pumpkin flavored anything. No shave November (Ladies, can I get an amen?) And
maybe the best of all, Halloween. A holiday that gives anyone and everyone a
reason to get weird, wild, hilarious, and terrifying. Dudes dress like ladies
and ladies dress like floozies and not a one will judge you. But the real
reason for the season and my personal favorite genre is the fright factor.
Bloody chainsaws; black caped vampires (sex-crazed, sparkling teenagers
excluded); Michael Jackson’s Thriller video; teenage babysitters getting phone
calls that are coming from “inside the house!” All of these awesomely morbid
creatures and scenarios have been made possible through the art of cinema.
Horror movies aren’t for everyone, but for the kool kids who know what’s up,
nothing gets your adrenaline pumping and your heart pounding like some good old
fashioned simulated blood, guts and death.
When I was asked to write about John Carpenter’s film Halloween, I jumped at the chance. You
don’t have to read between the lines to clearly decipher from the opening, this
girl enjoys Halloween. But it’s with great embarrassment that I come clean and
admit that I, Laney Renee Feeser, have never seen Halloween. But that’s not to say that I’m unfamiliar with the
legend that is Michael Myers. Being that I am a Trekkie freak, I love, love,
LOVE that the iconic serial killer mask that we’ve all come to fear was
originally a William Shatner, Captain Kirk mask spray painted white. Who knew
that handsome devil could prove to be so menacing!? And I’m not completely
ignorant to the Halloween franchise
either. In 1998, I was 12 and Halloween H20:
20 Years Later was released. Lest we forget, Josh Harnett was one of the
top heart throbs of my tweeny generation. Girlie sleepovers aren’t complete
without late night scary movies and drooling over cute boys. Seeing as H2O was the best of both worlds, this
became a Saturday night staple.
As I planned to watch this iconic slasher, the anticipated
screening brought two more Halloween
newbies out of the woodwork: my two best buds and fellow movie enthusiast,
Michael and Chandler! Scary movies are just plain scary when you watch them
alone, but when paired with good company, shrieks of terror are always followed
up with compensating giggles and in our circle, LOLz are never in short supply.
The evening became an event with a full course meal including appetizer, entrée
and dessert and after inhaling our feast, we optimized the mood. Lights off.
Candles lit. Doors locked (double bolted). With the mood set to perfection, the
three of us plop down ready to be terrorized. It’s now worth mentioning that
Chandler and Michael are dating, and as they snuggled up on the couch, I’m left
to the single seat arm chair. I’m not scared. It’s fine. Really. I’ll be good
over here. Snuggling… myself? <Sigh>
To start from the beginning, we have to talk music. What
“Duuuh, Duh…” (said in slow-mo) did for man eating sharks, “Dee-dee” (said 10x
fast) did for psychopathic serial killers. This oh-so very creepy opening
sequence has become as iconic and feared as the expressionless white mask.
Mask, music, and Jamie Lee Curtis was my only prerequisite knowledge I had
regarding this movie. In the first 5 minutes, it’s revealed that Michael Myers
was just a little tyke when he started his stab-tastical adventures, which
began with his naked sister. Solid start, especially when you see that little
man is wearing a clown costume and I know for a fact that everyone has a fear of knife-wielding, kiddy clowns.
Fast forward 15 years and we have the inevitable
break-out-of-mental-institution sequence. When creatures scuttle and crawl to
catch their prey, I kind of freak out. i.e The
Exorcist: backwards-down-the-stairs move. The Ring: come-out-of-the-TV move. I’m now adding Halloween: creep-up-the-back-of-the-car-onto-the-roof
move. Michael’s head tilting also proved to be quite frightening to me. This
inquisitive look that proves darling for a puppy doesn’t have quite the same
effect for a masked killer. But the most shocking Michael moment for me was in
the final struggle with Laurie when she inadvertently unmasked him. Michael is
presented so mysteriously throughout the entire film, I thought revealing his
face was a bold move. But the face they chose to show was a good choice; definitely
the face of a serial killer.
My favorite part about Laurie is that her character is
compared to a girl scout. My favorite line of the movie is when Laurie gets off
the phone with her girlfriend whom has just agreed to put in a good word with
her crush when she says, “And the old Girl Scout comes through again.” My best friend
refers to me as a girl scout routinely, and I secretly love it. Girl scouts are
smart, resourceful, and can always escape from a psychopathic serial killer
even if they must defend themselves with only a clothes hanger. It was probably
about now when I glanced over at Chandler and Michael canoodling on the couch
that I realized, I am Laurie Strode. But I’m totally okay with that. I know
that I’ll be the survivor of the group when a serial killer comes to town.
The credits roll and we turn the lights up. “It wasn’t that scary,” the three of us agree.
Michael and Chandler make for the door, and I show them out… and now I’m left
to my lonesome. After double checking that all the doors are locked, I decide to
clean up before heading to bed. As I unload the dishwasher, the first thing I
notice is the large kitchen knife, shiny and clean on the top rack. I take the
knife out and pause. Instead of placing it in the drawer where it belongs, I place
it on the counter within close reach. It just seemed smart to leave this piece
for last. And I should know: a Girl Scout must always be prepared.
You can more of Laney's movie reviews HERE
No comments:
Post a Comment