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(This post is for The Film Experience's "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" series --
head over there for more!) I think a lot of us grew up with
The Wizard of Oz. It's my mother's favorite movie, so I certainly did. It's probably the first movie I saw more than once - they aired it on TV once every year (around Thanksgiving, I think?) so I'm sure I grew up watching it every single year.
And more than anything my main memory of the movie is one of UTTER TERROR.
The Wizard of Oz is many things. It's a Technicolor musical with a little girl in pigtails dancing and getting make-overs and making friends with silly fellas who pratfall and blush and coo. And it's also
a parade of walking nightmares.
Naturally, I was drawn to the nightmares.
When I think of the movie I think of the witch's castle. I think of Flying Monkeys and the giant tornado and the witch bursting into flames then later melting, and those horrible twisted apple trees pawing their branches at Dorothy. I think of the Haunted Forest and those awful owls in the Haunted Forest...
Shudder. But mostly I think of
the monkeys coming to get us...
... and the monkeys getting us...
... and the monkeys just flying away...
... seconds later, leaving the world in ruins.
So my pick for the best shot in the film is the one that always made my little jaw drop as a little kid, and still does today. It's this:
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If I could pinpoint any single image as the one that turned me into a horror fan, that would be it right there. It is awe and it is nightmare, and it warped me but good.
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10 comments:
i thought it was around easter; nonetheless i absolutely remember watching it with a pillow in my lap so i cold bury my face.
You may be right, Laird. I only remember it was around a holiday.
OMG , Judy Garland and Debbie Reynolds 2 icons in one day!-louisfalcony on twitter!!!!!!!
i love that scene so much! the wicked witch is really such an awesome villain. i'm not sure there was any villain as iconic again for another 40 years!
Awesome post, love all the images and gifs. I agree the film definitly can give you nightmares, especially if you watch it as a kid.
I'm planning on seeing it again along with even more nigthmare-inducing Return to Oz before seeing the glittery new one that I'm sure won't be as dark as these two.
I HEAR YOU and think you've just single handedly explained my genre leanings too. I thank you.
I agree!!! I loved the witch the most, and I remember always wanting to be a witch for Halloween when I was little, lol. What are your thoughts of Oz the Great & Powerful?
One of the scariest movies ever made. Don't forget the twister too. The scene where Dorothy is locked in the witch's castle with the sand in the hourglass running out was for me the most terrifying thing. What exactly WAS the witch going to do to her when that sand ran out? (shudder)
I love the Wizard Of Oz the castle scene @ then end spooked me , and the tornado scene was pretty intense and the house falling through the sky intense 2, I never was scared of the monkeys though 2 be honest!!!! or the witch for that matter, just the climatic scene @ the end in the castle! b4 the witch melting scene-Louisfalcony on twitter
You are right about it showing around Thanksgiving. They showed The 10 Commandments every year at Easter.
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