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Terror Tactics

Cillian Murphy in 28 Days Later
  • Posted at 3:45pm
  • 13 August 2008
  • by AndrewCollins-RT

In 2006, Boston neurologist Dr Martin Samuels concluded that it is possible be "scared to death". He cited "certain and very specific circumstances", such as a catastrophic event or even an amusement-park ride, which result in a "lightning bolt" of chemicals being sent to the brain.

In Film4's FrightFest season, designed to coincide with the annual film festival co-curated by RT's Alan Jones, there's no shortage of material to charge up this potentially fatal jolt. For most people, though, this adrenaline surge has no ill-effects: "The heart goes back to normal and we walk away."

But one person's abject terror is another person's cheap schlock - sometimes even a so-so horror movie will have you reaching to cover your eyes. As the season illustrates, with a double bill showing every night, the horror genre covers a vast area, from serial-killer shockers like The Cell (Saturday) to Japanese ghost stories like The Grudge: Ju-On (Friday).

Here's a simple distinction: are you more scared by the lumbering zombies of the old school (as seen in George A Romero's series), or by the all-new sprinting variety, who give chase in the 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead (Monday)? For me, it's the former. My blood runs cold just thinking about the first zombie's appearance in Romero's original Night of the Living Dead. And although 28 Days Later… (Friday) gives its most obvious jolts from blood-lusting plague victims, I was genuinely creeped out by the sight of Cillian Murphy wandering the streets of a deserted London - and then made to jump when he accidentally sets off a car alarm.

If I take stock of my all-time scariest moments in cinema, it's amazing how many of them take place in daylight. Halloween tops my list and, for me, the most unsettling bit comes when Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis) glances out of a window and sees killer Michael Myers standing in the backyard, looking up at her. The next time she looks, he's gone. It gets me every time. We like to think we are safer in the daytime, and director John Carpenter pulls away that security blanket.

FrightFest itself takes place in London over August Bank Holiday. Whether you're attending the event or just enjoying being scared from the comfort of your own armchair, remember this: most people walk away from the "lightning bolt" unharmed. Well, most do.

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