We’re in the home-stretch now!

To get into the spooky spirit of things, I’m doing a countdown of my favorite scary movies of all time. Now, these flicks may not be the freakiest or even the most popular or acclaimed of the genre, but they’re MY faves.

Tune in every weekday for another movie, until we get to my favorite scary movie of all time! Now, a recap of my faves so far:

#20: Jaws

#19: The Last House on the Left

#18: The Faculty

#17: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning

#16: The Exorcist

#15: The Blair Witch Project

#14: Resident Evil

#13: Poltergeist

#12: Lady In White

#11: Friday the 13th

#10: April Fools Day

#9: Pet Sematary & It

#8: In the Mouth of Madness

#7: A Nightmare on Elm Street

#6: The Grudge

#5: 28 Days Later

#4: Dawn of the Dead

And coming in at number…

#3

Photos courtesy of Evolution Entertainment

Saw (2004)

directed by James Wan; starring Leigh Whannell, Cary Elwes & Danny Glover; Rated R

*This movie may not be suitable for kids under the age of 17

The writers of the now-famed Saw franchise knew they wanted to make a movie, but they weren’t sure what….until they sat down and started to brainstorm on what kind of film they could make with a budget as small as theirs. That’s when they decided to confine it to one room. After asking themselves, why would these people be stuck in one room the whole movie, the storyline for Saw began to form. The result is a thriller reminiscent of Seven. Two guys wake up in an empty cell-like room, chained in place. They turn on a cassette tape player, to hear the voice of their kidnapper telling them how they’ve wasted their lives and what they can do to get out of the room. Through some riddles and a series of tests, the men find that the way to safety is going to be a lot more painful than they thought.

WHY IT’S SCARY: I think one of the scariest and frustrating things in situations like this is that you don’t know who your attacker is. You’re left with all these “why’s” and “what did I ever do to you’s” and the inability to put a face and name to the evil that’s trying to take you down is agonizing. Also waking up and not knowing how you got there…that’s such a scary thing to experience.

Don't worry, it's just corn syrup!

SCARIEST SCENE: Jigsaw (the captor) has a way of pushing his victim’s into harming themselves or others to repent for their sins and hopefully teach them a lesson about the gift of life. I just wish it didn’t involve the character hacking off their own leg to get free. You know it’s coming, and you don’t actually see it happening, but it’s awful all the same!

FUN & FREAKY FACTS:

* This movie was shot and cut in 18 days.

* The actors had no rehearsals before filming.

* A casting director for the movie asked the director who he would cast in the role of Amanda. James suggested Shawnee Smith (who got the part) because he’d had a crush on her when he was a teen.

* Many of the scare scenes were inspired by nightmares co-writer/director James and co-writer/star Leigh had as kids.

* When Amanda is sifting through her cellmate’s guts, she’s actually touching pig uterus.

Why I'm not a fan of the dentist...

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