What Scares Me: Body Works

In this second installment of "things that scare me because I'm a big wuss" I take a look at some frightening body-related weirdness.  I should probably tell you, I watch my share of violent movies and though I cringe appropriately at all manner of bodily tortures, there are some things that just get under my skin.

Nails

I couldn't bring myself to image search "torn fingernail" so I went with the relaxing manicure instead.

As seen in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003), District 9, Syriana
Even worse than watching amputation or tooth extraction is watching someone get their nails torn out.  Whether it be from a desperate attempt to extricate oneself from a bad situation, due to mutation, or as a form of torture, nail-tearing-out totally grosses me out.  Hard to imagine that something so small would induce such strong emotions.

Needles

As seen in every other goddamn movie but especially in Saw II
I hate needles.  When I was little I was in the hospital and had to get a needle and it really hurt and I've been scared of them ever since.  And then there was this one time I had to get a needle in my throat...  So yeah, people getting stuck with needles never fails to make me shudder.

Moving in unnatrual ways

As seen in House on Haunted Hill (1999), The Poughkeepsie Tapes
This is a little different from the other two, but you know how you can recognize some people by the way they walk?  That's because we move in patterned, predictable ways.  It's a matter of physiology.  But when people move in ways that aren't possible or don't make sense, I get weirded out because it goes against the natural order.  Try as I might, I can't reconcile what I'm seeing on screen with what I know to be true about human anatomy.

Uncontrolled mutation

As seen in Akira, Planet Terror, Slither
I saw Akira years ago.  Tetsuo's mutation was gross then and it's still gross now.  Tarantino's penile dysfunction in Planet Terror is equally disgusting, though we don't really get to see it (thank god!).  And Michael Rooker's nightmarish chest tentacles in Slither are in a whole other category of "ew."  I purposefully left out District 9 and similar films because I'm talking sudden, wildly unpredictable mutation.  There's just something about your body turning against you, it's the ultimate loss of control and is completely horrifying for everyone involved.

What Scares Me: Story Elements

Or "things I love that I don't see enough of but if I did I'd get upset because I'll think they're being overused by people who don't understand why these things are so great".  Here is a list of things I've seen in horror movies that have blown my mind and/or creeped me right the hell out.  I'm intending this little foray into my psyche to take place in multiple installments.  In this first post, I recognize some things that are specific to the stories being told.

Two realities occupying the same physical space

As seen in Nightwatch, Neverwhere, Ink.
This kind thing can be confusing for the audience without the proper set-up, which is the case in Nightwatch.  But when everyone knows what's going on, having two realities in the same space is an amazing, paradoxical, effect.

Creepy as shit phone calls

As seen in Black Christmas.
A lot of people get a lot of phone calls in a lot of movies, but the mystery caller in Black Christmas stands out as one of the most terrifying.  It's not so much the things he says, which are largely unintelligible, but the manner in which he says them.  Screaming and yelling and breathing heavily, Billy, speaks in a number of different voices, waxing poetic about killing...someone.  The calls are long, agonizing, and they make my skin crawl.

Living shadows

As seen in Vampire Hunter D, Gotham Knight, "Danny Phantom" (numerous episodes).
Yeah, yeah I know what you're thinking: Benji isn't actually a shadow, he just moves inside them.  And yet, like the imagination-enhanced Batman in Gotham Knight and Johnny 13's Shadow in "Danny Phantom", Benji uses the dark to his advantage and overcomes his foes by virtue of his near-invisibility.  This particular power is rare in film and more often than not appears in animated movies and TV shows.

Floating/flying while standing

As seen in "Cowboy Bebop" (Pierrot le fou), "Buffy" (Hush).
There's nothing particularly creepy or weird about flying, but we often don't see people fly while maintaining a vertical posture.  There's just something inherently wrong about it, an incongruity that lends itself well to horror.

Inexplicable or extra-religious evil

As seen in Prince of Darkness, and Phantoms.
I don't mean extra as in "more" or "super".  I mean extra as in "outside" or "beyond".  Don't get me wrong, I love a good Satanic panic, but there's something wholly unnerving about an evil force that cannot be understood in Judeo-Christian terms of right and wrong.  Another word for this kind of evil is Lovecraftian and it signifies a force, that may or may not come from outerspace, and that cannot be fought or reasoned with.