quote:reading it on the page and seeing it on the screen can be two entirely different experiences, and several scenes will be disturbing to viewers regardless of age.
I have to respectfully disagree. Reading the words on the page is MUCH scarier to me. What do you think? Are you more scared by words, images or something else. Music in movies certainly scares me more than the images.
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Words and music scare me much more. I am not at all a visual learner and I think that translates into other things.
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Oh, words, a hundred times over. I suspect that this is probably true of just about anyone who reads for fun, but it'll be interesting to see in this thread if I'm wrong.
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I just watched Rosemary's Baby for the first time last night, having read it in HS. I found that several scenes in the movie weren't nearly as scary as they were in the book-- and also that the ending wasn't as uplifting as I found the book.
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I think it depends on the situation. To me, reading a scary book alone at night is much more frightening than watching a movie. Reading a book in a well-lit, busy place (like Barnes and Noble, or in a classroom) is not as scary as watching a movie of the same subject alone.
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I think it depends too. On the author's style or the quality of the movie. I know I could never read Stephen King's Dark Half or Misery alone at night. But the movie version of Misery is not nearly as dark or traumatic. On the other end of the spectrum, I can't watch Pet Semetary without throwing my hands over my eyes atleast once.
I think the Harry Potter movies, while not terrifying, have an added bonus over just reading them. But I think that's because Rowling handles death and scary scenarios in a very unique manner.
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I'm much more terrified by the screen. I'm really affected by the music and the visual tricks they use to get you on the edge of your seat....very gullible, extremely good suspense movie fodder. Maybe it's just because I'm jumpy.
In this particular case, I imagine that the sheer hatred that Voldemort has for Harry could NEVER come across on the screen the way it does in the book. The book feels hopeless. There are more words, more dialogue to really put you there and I don't think the movie will be able to do that.
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quote:In this particular case, I imagine that the sheer hatred that Voldemort has for Harry could NEVEr come across on the screen the way it does in the book. The book feels hopeless. There are more words, more dialogue to really put you there and I don't think the movie will be able to do that.
*nods* That was part of it with Rosemary's Baby, too-- half the scary stuff that was going on was horrifying realizations she came to, stuff happening in her head, and that's a lot harder to do on screen.
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I think that this is because books can describe the *feeling*, the *vibe* of the person or situation, whereas a movie can only try to evoke it through imagery and sound. For example, the description of the Walkin' Dude in Stephen King's [u]The Stand[/u] was one of the most brilliant I've ever read; I don't know how you'd translate that to screen. It would take some kind of a brilliant actor.
Then again, it sometimes works the other way. The incredible, slightly neurotic and ever-so-understated creepiness and just....offness of the Scarecrow of Batman Begins would be very difficult to really capture in print.
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I normally love books more than movies because you can feel and understand so much more. As for the "scary", though, I'm often more scared in the movie. In the book if it's a scary part I can somehow sort of disconnect (I did that in the cave part of HP6) and remind myself, "it's only a book." But the music of the movies really gets to me, and they put those graphic images in there that I would never have imagined on my own.... *shudder*
Oh, and I hate whispering in the movies. Nothing creeps me out so much as whispering. "I see dead people."Posts: 1522 | Registered: Nov 2005
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*thinks* Actually for me it's more a matter of can I let it down easily or not. I can stop reading a book really easily (and did more than once, before the third chapter of It for exemple) but I quasi-never leave the theater before the end of the movie, and even on television it fascinates me and I tend to go on watching even when I know I should stop. Apart from that words are, as far as I'm concerned, as powerful as images or music.
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I am SO easily scared or creeped out that I don't even know the answer, because I avoid anything scary like the plague. (OK, Harry Potter totally doesn't count because it's just not that scary.) But I think I'm probably more scared by film than books, although I'm an avid reader--I can more easily detach from the book, put it down, walk away. (Am intrigued by The Shining but have never gotten up the nerve to either watch or read it.)
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Have you noticed that the writer in Tern's link has read and obviously LIKES the books and movie, but has to say it's EEEVIL because it has magic in it, so nobody ELSE should watch it.
Then at the end of his article he quotes C.S. Lewis. I think the quote is even from Narnia! Double standard, anyone?
He doesn't recommend the movie, not because of the language or violence or because it's scary, but because it's full of magic. Seems to me if you're going to be upset about something, it's violence that's a whole lot more likely to be repeated in real life. Violence is real; magic is make believe. I mean, no matter how many times I try to find my keys with "Accio", it doesn't work!
I have to say I thought the scenes in the graveyard with Voldemort interacting with Harry were handled pretty well. The level of hatred and mutual enmity were very vividly shown.
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READING definitely scares me more. I usually do it late at night in my bedroom with only my little lamp for light... and I am one of those adrenaline junkies who sees scary movies because I like squeaking and surprises and jumping out of my chair, then laughing about it later.
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I almost think that half the movie should have been the graveyard scene. Ralph Fiennes is amazing as Voldemort.
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Reading generally scares me more, but in the case of this book and movie, the movie was much much scarier. I admit it has been four years since I've read it, but I was able to read it, and not imagine or make things scary that I didn't want to be. The movie made them scary without asking me or letting me choose.
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I thought that the graveyard scene would have been scarier if, as I imagined, there were a bunch more Death Eaters. Harry was only outnumbered by like five people, and I missed that idea of a big scary crowd of Death Eaters. But I thought the book and the movie were about equally scary...the movie was sadder though...
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Have you noticed that the writer in Tern's link has read and obviously LIKES the books and movie, but has to say it's EEEVIL because it has magic in it, so nobody ELSE should watch it. 
