Big screen, little screen, or both -- your choice.
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Beyond here there may be SPOILERS. I don't think my post has them, but y'all have been forewarned and the like.
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My vote goes to the "weeping angels" of Doctor Who's Blink.
Auuuggghh! What an evil, evil writer. They are everywhere.
(And I have an evil, evil husband. He told me to shut my eyes and then came after me in slow-mo. Auuuggghh!)
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Edited immediately to add: I doubt I'd have any reason to take this thread down by deleting this post, but in theory it could happen. However, I'm sure there has been a thread on this topic before, and if you know it, I'll happily link and/or try to port the discussion back there.
[ September 15, 2007, 01:58 PM: Message edited by: ClaudiaTherese ]
Posted by Shigosei (Member # 3831) on :
I didn't sleep well after I watched Blink. It's an excellent use of dread.
SPOILERS!
The creepiest part was when the guy was staring at the angel and it had this awful look on its face. And then he looked away for a second and it got closer! Eek! Lucky for him the angel apparently wasn't moving at its top speed. I think I would have backed up against a wall to prevent other angels from sneaking up behind me.
Oh, the other creepy thing is that you never see the angels move even when no one onscreen is looking at them. Which may mean that you are also affecting the angels. It's a breakdown of the fourth wall in a situation where I *really* want the fourth wall solidly protecting me from creepy statues!
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
VERY MUCH *SPOILER*ICIOUS
I was terrified when they were trapped in the circle of angels. Jimminy Cricket! "And they'll never move again"? Well, dude, you'd better move your head out of any of their possible lines of vision, then.
Shoot. It's a crumbling old house -- there has to be a beam or plaster falling every now and then. Or a crow flying in front of one of their faces -- all it takes is a blinks' worth, and one could get free. Easy enough to free the others with a sheet of tin or something.
Doctor? Doctor? This. is. not. acceptable.
[Edited to add: Well, I guess they can all see a bit of each other one (at least a toe or fold of fabric), so each would have to be blinded for none of them to see. Well, what about the dark of the new moon? An eclipse? Duststorm of falling plaster? Not enough, I tell you.]
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PS: Never thought of the "fourth wall" aspect. Thanks, Shigosei. Now I'll have to carry extra padding on the rewatch. Posted by Reshpeckobiggle (Member # 8947) on :
I'm looking for this on IMDb and can't find it.
Posted by Shigosei (Member # 3831) on :
MORE SPOILERS
I read it one of the reviews, so it's not my idea. And yeah, all it takes is one flicker of that one lightbulb, and the angels will be free again. Perhaps that was the best the Doctor could do without access to the Tardis. There's no reason why he couldn't have gone back and dealt with them in a more permanent way once he had the Tardis back. Toss them in a black hole, or something.
Posted by Shigosei (Member # 3831) on :
quote:Originally posted by Shigosei: Oh, the other creepy thing is that you never see the angels move even when no one onscreen is looking at them. Which may mean that you are also affecting the angels. It's a breakdown of the fourth wall in a situation where I *really* want the fourth wall solidly protecting me from creepy statues!
YES. CREEPY.
The other thing that freaked me out was that there was no real resolution to it. Someday, someone's going to come in and see these gawd-awful statues and move one. I mean, they're ugly, get them out of sight! Blink. It starts all over, but without the Doctor to help. Edit: Or a lightbulb flicker, or falling debris, or whatever.
What I didn't get is how come it never occurred to someone that when they're stone, "smash it with a hammer!" could be a plausible solution. You can't kill a stone, but you can break it into dust.
I ended up watching "The Girl in the Fireplace" tonight, too. Steven Moffatt wrote them both, which may explain why Reinette calls the Doctor "my lonely angel." It could just be coincidence, or it could be a slightly sinister reference to the Doctor's habit of picking companions up and not always bringing them back.
Creepiest episode ever.
Posted by Olivet (Member # 1104) on :
Oh, I have to agree totally. FREAKED. ME. OUT.
Scary freakin' angels. *shudder*
Posted by Amilia (Member # 8912) on :
Just watched it. Agree that it is very freaky, but not nearly as freaky as "The Empty Child" from season 1.
Possibly because I read this thread before watching it and expected too much?
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
For some reason, every. single. time. I watch The Others, even though I know what is going to happen,
*SPOILERS*
when the girl turns into the old lady while she's trying on her communion dress, I scream and scream.
There's a scary part in Signs, too, but it's not quite as scary to me as that.
My mom doesn't like the episode "Darkness Falls", from the first season of The X-Files, where
*SPOILERS*
Mulder and Scully end up in this cabin with a generator running low, trying to make it through the night in the light, so as not to be consumed by blood-sucking luminescent swarms of bugs that operate only in darkness. She's not even sure why but that episode absolutely freaks her out and she would never be in the room while I watched it. She said it was the first thing she could ever remember seeing on tv that gave her nightmares.
Posted by Miro (Member # 1178) on :
Great episode. I'm not a huge fan of the series, but this episode was awesome. Those angels were freaky!
SPOILERS * * * * I loved the brother copying down Sarah's half of the conversation. He's so geeky. * * * * * /SPOILERS
Posted by JonHecht (Member # 9712) on :
Am I the only person who didn't think that it was scary? I love Doctor Who, and thought it was an excellent episode, but I did not think that it was remotely creepy.
Posted by Raventhief (Member # 9002) on :
Yeah, Blink was creepy. My friend thought they could see in the dark, since they didn't have a problem moving in the dark. Still, I thought someone might come and move one.
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
JonHecht, I daresay "scary" has a large chunk of individual context to it, much like "beautiful" and "interesting."
This pushed my buttons in a way that blood, gore, and violence never could.
Posted by porcelain girl (Member # 1080) on :
Where can I find this? I haven't been able to get into Doctor Who from the few episodes I've watched, but this sounds appealing.
Posted by AvidReader (Member # 6007) on :
I adored this episode. The sexy detective was such a nice contrast to the geeky brother. But what I liked best was that it was still great and held my interest with the Doctor as a barely seen secondary character in his own show. I've never seen that done before.
I had trouble falling asleep at first because every time I drifted off, I imagined a weeping angel was outside my window.
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
pooka, Dave and I will eventually buy the CD/DVD (when it comes out) and will happily lend it out, if you haven't seen it by then.
It might be available on bittorrent? (I barely know the name, but I know people download recent stuff from there.)
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Edited to add: We see Dr. Who weekly on BBC-Canada.
AvidReader, I think that because of the schedule where Dr. Who is filmed (England, if I recall correctly), they do two episodes each year that are filmed at the same time. One is always designed so that the Doctor makes infrequent appearance, just so they can get the filming finished.
Posted by Morbo (Member # 5309) on :
I watched part of it last night on the Sci-fi channel but was channel-surfing so missed lots. By the time I got into it was too late. So I'm downloading it now.
Posted by Kama (Member # 3022) on :
oh yes, that episode was scary. good thing i didn't sleep alone that night.
eta: i don't think it matters whether the lightbulb is on. they must have a different scope of vision than humans, they see in the dark. that's why they won't move.
Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
I loved it, loved it, loved it. Beautiful stuff. Totally scary. I've not been that scared of tv before ever since I was a little person.
quote:I read it one of the reviews, so it's not my idea. And yeah, all it takes is one flicker of that one lightbulb, and the angels will be free again. Perhaps that was the best the Doctor could do without access to the Tardis. There's no reason why he couldn't have gone back and dealt with them in a more permanent way once he had the Tardis back. Toss them in a black hole, or something.
I'm pretty sure they can see in the dark, or maybe it just never gets dark enough down there.
Someone could tie blindfolds over their eyes, though, that would free them.
Posted by Speed (Member # 5162) on :
Blast you, Sci-Fi channel! I missed this last night, and it appears that it will never be played again in America. And I can't even get it on iTunes, like I did when I missed an episode of Eureka.
Anyone know of a way I can see this other than waiting for it to come out on DVD?
[ September 15, 2007, 09:14 PM: Message edited by: Speed ]
Posted by JonHecht (Member # 9712) on :
Edit: I never feel bad about watching Doctor Who episodes online because I always buy them whenever they come out on DVD anyway.
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
Thanks, JonHecht! Posted by Speed (Member # 5162) on :
Ditto! Posted by Speed (Member # 5162) on :
Wow. I just finished watching it, and that really was one of the best episodes of any television show I've ever seen. Plot, script, acting, directing, editing... not a weak link among them.
I haven't seen the show since the end of season 1, but if this is what it's become I'm going to have to clear a spot in my schedule for it.
Thanks again for the link. Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
Glad you liked it, Speed.
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
Spoilers, of course.
Oh my goodness, I watched it with all four of my kids and at one point I just looked at my oldest and said "Where's the Doctor? We need the doctor!"
The suspense was really ramped up BECAUSE he wasn't there in the first part of the episode and we had to see this mere human Sally Sparrow trying to fumble through and figure out what was happening.
Then, there was the sad, poignant moment with the detective: "I have until the rain stops."
It was definitely one of the best episodes I've ever seen, but I must agree that "The Empty Child" was spookier for me.
Oh, and CT - my kids and I spent the rest of the evening daring each other to blink and chasing each other in slow motion too. Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
I actually liked the line right before that, Belle. "It was raining when we met." "It's the same rain."
And then on top of that: "I have until the rain stops."
Brilliant. Just fantastic.
Posted by porcelain girl (Member # 1080) on :
Uhm. Amazing. That was wonderfully done television, especially since I was able to fully enjoy it without having seen any Doctor Who to speak of. Absolutely brilliant.
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