Horror Movie Survival Kit

What would  you want handy if you were part of a horror movie?

Do you ever wonder that when you turn on that horror movie or in the process of watching it?  Do you ever think to yourself what would have helped in that moment to get to the end credits alive?

Halloween is the time for horror movies.  As I go through my Halloween horror month and head into the second half of the month of the movie marathon life, I can think of all those movies I’ve seen (whether Friday the 13th or not) of what would be so useful to get through a monster attack, zombie apocalypse, chased down by a crazy slasher in the middle of nowhere (or ever somewhere civilized).

There seems to always be a formula of how the setting is and what happens.  How would you approach it?

Man Crates Gifts for Men is a company that focuses on gifts for men and their community manager reached out and told me about their campaign called the Horror Movie Survival Kit. The concept is simple.  If you were stuck in a horror movie, what would you want as your Horror Movie Survival Kit in your personalized crate.  There is no number limit of items.

I thought this campaign is a really fun idea.  After giving it some thought, I thought about portability, usefulness and durability (especially in the case of a zombie apocalypse or being in the middle of nowhere).

Here’s my list:

1. RECHARGEABLE FLASHLIGHT

Flashlights are the one thing I always would want in a horror movies because they are just so damn dark.  ALL THE TIME! How would you like to have a flashlight to see further ahead and know whats there before you step into that dark room while escaping or at least using it to quickly find your path and see if you are walking into another corpse or obstacle on the ground.  Its usefulness is unquestionable except, I don’t want to deal with batteries because you know in that crucial moment, those batteries are going to run out and instead of fumbling for some in the millions of pockets, I’d rather give that flashlight a few shakes so that it’ll recharge again.  Its relatively quiet and kind of quick.  I’d say thats already a better alternative.

2. HIKING SHOES

Just an example 🙂

Goodness knows where this horror movie is but at least with nice sturdy shoes, it’ll have the grip to climb stuff quickly and run through forests and all that tough work.  If it was at a party or a beach thing, at least its not running in heels or flip-flops.  I guarantee you that its a shortcut for falling flat on your face and whoever and whatever is chasing you is going to attack.  No way I’m letting that happen!

3. WEAPONS(Portable Machete/Guns/Extra Ammunition)

I’m pretty sure this goes without saying that whatever situation, you need some form of weapons. I couldn’t decide between guns (because I’ve never shot one) but then its a movie, realistically speaking, it’ll work out somehow.

At least its something.  Extra ammunition goes without saying.  If you asked me what guns exactly, give me Resident Evil Alice’s Double Shotguns or those Silver Nite-Tac ones and I’m a happy camper.  As for the machete, just portable one is fine, like smaller than the big ones. Something I can tuck away and access easily but not hurt when running.  That sounds like a pretty good plan.

4. FIRST AID KIT

There is no way to avoid getting hurt in a horror movie.  So, disinfectants at the minimum is needed regardless of alcohol or hydrogen peroxide, along with band-aids, Polysporin (if possible) or maybe add in a few painkillers.  I think this sounds pretty reasonable.  On the downtime, it would be useful to have this.  I don’t go anywhere without band-aids and I’m not in a horror movie, just saying 😉

5. NON-PERISHABLES & WATER BOTTLE

Unless you are in a slasher flick, where its usually a one night do or die deal, most of time its a relatively stretched out battle.  I’ll need to keep replenished and hydrated.  I’m hoping that water hasn’t been contaminated whatever scenario I’m trapped in because I’d keep that bottle near by. I just hope that it doesn’t get too heavy.  And well, at least a little bit of food to stay decently nourished.  Its either that or getting some Centrum but pills tend to be heavy and noisy when carrying it around.

Other than that…

The best recipe for getting out of a horror movie alive comes in the form of something I can’t pack in a crate but rather in my mind and its called common sense and quick reflexes.  I need to remember to keep that in check even in panic because you don’t want to be that person that just freezes when some crazy man comes at you with some scary weapon.  Or stop or not shoot them a second time or in the case of Jason Voorhees, chop off his head so he doesn’t come back alive for 11 movies.

I’m not very unique in what I need because I really think sometimes simplicity is the way to go.

Now its your turn.  What would you bring in your horror movie survival kit/crate?

Halloween Marathon: The Caller (2011)

Took me a few days to work up the courage to watch a horror movie by myself.  I ended up starting it and then my boyfriend woke up from my shuffling around opening the lights in my room after a jump scare scene. Yay! Company..haha! I’m building up the intensity of these horror movies.  I’ve been eyeing The Caller for a while.  I’ve never heard of it before I got Netflix and even then, I didn’t even check out what the actual plot was but hey, an unknown horror movie with actors I know: Rachelle Lefevre from Under the Dome and Stephen Moyer from True Blood! Lets check it out!

Director: Matthew Parkhill

Cast: Rachelle Lefevre, Stephen Moyer, Luis Guzman, Lorna Raver, Ed Quinn

Mary Kee (Rachelle Lefevre) moves into a new apartment after her leaving her controlling husband, Steven (Ed Quinn) and settling the divorce with a restraining order.  As she tries to adapt to her new single life and avoid her ex-husband as he ignores the order, she starts getting calls from a strange woman who keeps asking for a man who doesn’t live there anymore.  The mysterious woman, Rose (Lorna Raver), eventually reveals that she is calling from the past and eventually gets attached to her and when she starts to avoid the calls, all the woman wants is revenge.

The Caller is a mystery horror thriller and a really great one at that! Its starts itself in a eerie and dark tone and has a lot of suspenseful music in the background to complement it.  I had no idea what to expect from it, seeing as I didn’t even know the story.  The premise is pretty clever and creative.  Although, it did somehow pan out to be something like Butterfly Effect.  Thats all I’m going to say about it as its filled with plot twists, thrills, suspense, even a little chills.

The characters are focused mostly on Rachelle Lefevre who plays Mary Kee.  I’ve only seen her once before in Under the Dome series.  The reason I chose this was also because I thought she did a great job over there.  I’d have to say she’s pretty convincing in this one.  Mary Kee really tries to brings in and you can see her trying to adapt to life but of course, the unexpected thing happens and things turn bad really quick but still, she tries to keep calm and take care of herself.  As for the other main character, Rose was just a voice on the other side.  Its crazy how a voice can be so sinister and creepy and really send chills up your spine. I later saw that it was portrayed by Lorna Raver. Another instance of properly using the unknown.  Third up, we have Stephen Moyer who plays the guy that Mary Kee starts to date and kind of the only other person who looks out for her. Its one of the bigger roles I’ve seen Stephen Moyer in other than being some random cameo here and there.

As much as the dark scenes sometimes would get on my nerves in the beginning, it really did get on my nerves in a very scary way after a while. It made you feel like there was always someone peeking/stalking/following her everywhere.  It comes with the music, the pace, the camera angle all combined together and it just builds up as the movie goes along. The story itself was a mystery, does it exist, is it a prank? Sure, the story isn’t perfect. Its a very interesting concept that has some parts that don’t completely make sense, but I still think it was a really good horror thriller.

I’d definitely recommend this.  I don’t understand why its not rated well on RT and IMDB but at least, I found that its was a new twist to the normal stuff.  I always enjoy a good thriller and this one is worth your time. Maybe I’m the minority but I’d say to give it a chance! 🙂