We all have our favorite horror film. It could be The Exorcist, The Omen, or the It movies. Those movies are known as the scariest films of all time. However, those films do not compare to the sheer horror of the most frightening films of all time: Pinocchio and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
I know what you’re thinking. You are puzzled that I chose these family-friendly movies that don’t even belong in the horror genre. It cam make one very befuddled when realizing that these movies might be scarier than other horror films, but I will do my best to explain.
I’ll start by outlining the 1940 classic Pinocchio. In one particular scene that was cut from the 2022 remake, Honest John the Fox and Gideon the Cat are at a bar where they run into a mysterious coachman. John brags about selling the titular puppet to Stromboli for profit. The Coachman offers the two some good money, in exchange for some “stupid little boys”.
However, when Pleasure Island is mentioned, John gets anxious and the Coachman flashes a frightening grin that scared the living shit out of me when I first saw it on VHS with my parents in that dark basement. If you don’t believe me, you can watch it for yourself.
Scary, right? I know. I remember when I first saw it and was scared out of my sheets that it traumatized me for a good long while.
Before I saw that movie, I also remember seeing a movie by one of my favorite directors Robert Zemeckis entitled Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The scene that I remember was when Judge Doom was steamrolled and then reanimated into his true toon form and it was horrifying.
Just check it out.
If only I could count the number of nights that that scene has kept me up. I bring up these two scenes and believe that they are truly scarier than other horror films, first, because of their genre. They are family movies and not horror. With that being said, people will watch these film with their guard down while they watch horror movies with their guard up because they know what to expect. They wouldn’t expect it from family movies. Also, since it is a family film and the majority if the film is good and wholesome, having a scare will make it stick out and be a nice reminder of the scene and make that scene all the more scarier.
That’s reason number one. Reason number two is because of the quantity of scares. In horror movies, their are a litany of scares that the more scares there are in the film, the less likely those scares will be as memorable because they may dilute themselves. If you have one very good scare, it will be the most traumatizing thing ever because the film or scene was building up to that point and the payoff was worth it.
Do you agree that Pinocchio and Who Framed Roger Rabbit are scarier than most horror films?
