Tag Archives: Scene I Love

Horror Scenes That I Love: Piper Laurie in Carrie

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

So far, this month, I’ve been doing these horror scenes that I love in alphabetical order based on who was featured in the scene.  Originally, today was going to be devoted to Boris Karloff but, last night, I read the news that the great Piper Laurie had passed away at the age of 91.

Have no doubt that Boris Karloff will be honored tomorrow but, for today, I would be remiss if I didn’t pay tribute to Piper Laurie.  Piper Laurie often said that, when she read the script for 1976’s Carrie, she at first didn’t understand the story’s tone until she realized that Margaret White was meant to be as comedic as she was frightening.  Piper Laure’s performance as Carrie’s mother resulted in an Oscar nomination and it also revived Laurie’s career.  (Laurie had semi-retired from Hollywood following her previously Oscar-nominated work in The Hustler.)

In the scene below, Margaret makes one last attempt to keep Carrie from going to the prom.  Her line, “They’re all going to laugh at you” comes back to haunt Carrie in a very big way.

One final bit of Piper Laurie horror trivia: In 1959, when Alfred Hitchcock was casting Psycho, Piper Laurie was his second choice, behind Janet Leigh, for the role of Marion Crane.

Horror Scenes That I Love: Duane Jones in Night of The Living Dead

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

I always feel a bit sorry for Duane Jones, a talented actor who did much of note but still found himself defined by one iconic role.

He studied at the Sorbonne and had degrees from both the University of Philadelphia and New York University.  He volunteered with the Peace Corps. and was working as an English teacher when he auditioned for a film called Night of the Living Dead.  At a time when it was rare for any black actor (outside of Sidney Poitier, who certainly wasn’t going to appear in a low-budget film about the dead returning to life) to get a lead role, Duane Jones was given the starring role as Ben.  Jones gave a performance of such authenticity and authority that it would be years before many people were willing to admit that Ben had actually been incorrect about not going in the cellar.  Jones final scenes, in which Ben is gunned down by a posse of rednecks, gave Night of the Living Dead a political jolt that it would not have had without him and his powerful performance.

Jones acted in other films, including starring in another acclaimed horror film, Ganja and Hess.  But he reportedly always worried that people would only know him as Ben from Night of the Living Dead.  Even while acting, Jones continued to work as an academic, heading up the literature department at Antioch College and working as the executive director of the Black Theater Alliance.  He was also an in-demand acting teacher.  He passed away at the far-too early age of 51 in 1988.

In this scene, from Night of the Living Dead, Ben talks to the catatonic Barbara about what is happening in the outside world.  Jones’s intensity brings the scene to life and gives Night of the Living Dead the momentum to continue to enthrall audiences to this day.

Horror Scenes I Love: Kane Hodder in Friday the 13th Part VII: A New Blood

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Kane Hodder was a veteran stuntman when he first played Jason Voorhees in 1988’s Friday the 13th Part 7: The New Blood.  He would go on to play Jason three more times.  He also played Leatherface in Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III and, when Freddy Krueger’s gloved hand appeared at the end of Jason Goes To Hell, that was Kane Hodder’s hand grabbing the famous Jason mask and taking it to Hell.

Sadly, when Freddy vs. Jason went into production, Hodder was replaced by another stuntman.  (Ironically, Hodder had been considered for the role of Freddy in the original Nightmare on Elm Street.)  Still, for Friday the 13th fans, Kane Hodder will always be Jason Voorhees.

In the scene from Friday the 13th Part 7, Hodder shows off the physicality that made him the ideal zombie Jason.

Horror Scenes That I Love: Sid Haig in House of 1000 Corpses

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Rob Zombie’s 2003 directorial debut, House of 1000 Corpses, is a film for which I have somewhat mixed feelings but I do think it deserves some credit for reintroducing the character actor Sid Haig to audiences.

Haig started acting when he was in high school and attended the Pasadena Playhouse, the same acting school where Robert Preston, Gene Hackman, and Dustin Hoffman had trained.  He moved to Hollywood with his former roommate, actor Stuart Margolin, and Haig soon found himself being cast as criminals and occasionally revolutionaries.  Haig grew tired of playing simple-minded thugs and actually retired from acting in 1992 and worked as a hypnotherapist.  Quentin Tarantino tracked Haig down to offer him the role of Marcellus Wallace in Pulp Fiction.  Haig turned him down but then regretted his decision when he saw the film.  When Tarantino subsequently offered him a cameo in Jackie Brown, Haig accepted the role and returned to the big screen.

That said, it was his performance as the nightmarish clown, Captain Spaulding, in Rob Zombie’s House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil’s Rejects that definitely put Haig back on the pop cultural radar.  In this scene from House of 1000 Corpses, Haig shows that even a clown can defend himself.

Horror Scenes That I Love: Godzilla in Godzilla vs. Megalon

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

For today’s Horror Scene That I Love, let’s take a minute or two to show some respect to one of the world’s greatest (and longest-lived) film stars, Godzilla!  Whether he’s attacking humanity as the literal representation of atomic age anxiety or if he’s saving Earth from a bunch of aliens, Godzilla has always been a superstar.

In this scene from 1973’s Godzilla vs. Megalon, Godzilla shows just how much of a star he is by taking a stand against bullying and saving his friend, Jet Jaguar.  In this scene, Godzilla shows that he was an anti-bullying activist even before it was cool.  Megalon and his friend thought they could just taunt poor old Jet Jaguar.  Not as long as Godzilla’s around!

Horror Scenes I Love: Robert Englund in A Nightmare on Elm Street

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Ah, Robert Englund.

By most accounts, Robert Englund is one of the most affable men in Hollywood, someone who is so talkative and friendly that people are often stunned to remember that he’s best known for playing Freddy Krueger.  Indeed, in his pre-Nightmare on Elm Street films, Englund was usually cast as quirky and often shy characters.  It was rare to see him play a villain.

That all changed when he was played Freddy Krueger in 1984’s A Nightmare on Elm Street.  (Interestingly enough, director Wes Craven wrote the role with David Warner in mind.)  In the role of Freddy, Englund became a horror icon.  Freddy himself became such a quip machine in the later films that it’s easy to forget just how terrifying a figure he was in the first film.

In this scene, we see just how scary Robert Englund’s performance truly was in A Nightmare on Elm Street.

Horror Scenes That I Love: Andrew Divoff in Wishmaster

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Andrew Divoff is a talented character actor who has been making films since 1986.  He’s been played a countless number of different characters, some of whom are villainous and some of whom are sympathetic.  On Lost, he was the most menacing of the Others.  That said, for a certain generation of horror fans, Andrew Divoff will always be known for starring as the tricky Djinn in the Wishmaster films.

In this scene, from 1997’s Wishmaster, The Djinn finally confronts Alexandra (Tammy Lauren) and grants her wish to see the Djinn as he truly is.  In the hands of Andrew Divoff, the Djinn becomes a truly classic horror movie villain.  Who can ever forget the gleam in his eye when he asks, “Is this something that might interest you?”

Horror Scenes That I Love: Peter Cushing in Horror of Dracula

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Peter Cushing was a horror mainstay who played both heroes and villains, often appearing opposite Christopher Lee.  By most accounts, Cushing was a kind and old-fashioned British gentleman, one who was beloved by both his colleagues and his fans.  Christopher Lee described him as being his best friend and reportedly, never fully recovered from his sadness over Cushing’s death in 1994.

(Cushing’s long screen collaboration actually first started in 1948’s Hamlet, in which Cushing played Osric and Christopher Lee had an uncredited role as a spear carrier.)

Though Hammer Films often cast Cushing as the mad Baron Van Frankenstein, I preferred his work as the stern but kindly Dr. Van Helsing.  This scene from 1958’s Horror of Dracula, in which Van Helsing drives a stake through Lucy and ends her eternal suffering, features Cushing at his best.  In this scene, we see both Van Helsing’s determination and also some hints of the kindness that Cushing brought to the role.

Horror Scenes I Love: Jamie Lee Curtis In Prom Night

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The great Jamie Lee Curtis is, of course, beloved by horror fans for starring as Laurie Strode in the original Halloween.  Myself, I’ve always felt that her best horror performance was actually in 1980’s Prom Night.

Just watch her, during the film’s final minutes, when she discovers that the killer who has spent the entire day killing all of her friends is someone from her own family.  This is great acting and one can see why the Canadians gave her a Genie nomination for Best Foreign Actress.  Let’s hope David Gordon Green never decides or gets the chance to mess this one up.

Horror Scenes I Love: Lon Chaney, Jr. in The Wolf Man

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Ah, Lon Chaney, Jr.

He was the son of a famous man and, like many sons of famous men, he often struggled to escape his father’s shadow.  While he would never be mistaken for a man of a thousand faces, Lon Chaney, Jr. did make a name for himself as Larry Talbot, the unfortunate man who found himself cursed to turn into the Wolf Man whenever the man was full.  Chaney spent the majority of his career appearing in horror films and, later, westerns.  Not only did he play The Wolf Man but he was also one of the many actors to take a shot at playing both Frankenstein’s Monster and Dracula.  Later, he would appear in a series of low budget horror films that, quality-wise, were often a far cry from his best-known films.  That said, he was also a favorite of producer/director Stanley Kramer, who cast him in both High Noon and The Defiant Ones and who once said that Chaney was one of the finest character actors in Hollywood.

In today’s scene that I love, Larry Talbot learns the facts about being a werewolf.  From 1941’s The Wolf Man, here is Lon Chaney, Jr in his signature role.