When thinking about the things people are most afraid of, there’s really a set Top 5 which most will admit to. There’s heights, claustrophobia, spiders, dying, and clowns. Ok, maybe clowns isn’t in the top five, but we can all admit more people are afraid of clowns than there should be. Either way though, with fears like these, it’s easy for horror movies to play off said phobias and take advantage of the most popular fears to cash in on horror that will undeniably scare the hell out of viewers.
Then there’s the creative side of horror – the one that strives to take obscure and more mundane themes and make them horrifying. Sure, it’s easy for a film like Buried to strike a chord with the most claustrophobic of people, but what about making someone afraid of an innocent childhood toy? A movie like Child’s Play did that, taking something not typically associated with horror and shining said normal object in a fearsome new light.
This brings us to the article you are now reading – movies that make us fear things found in everyday life. Be it an appliance, auto part, edible delicacy, or type of person, a good horror movie will have the balls to make us fear something by creative filmmaking instead of banking on something viewers already find scary.
With my vast knowledge of oddities, I brought in fellow writer Alex Lowe to help ground some of the picks on this list. I’ll be responsible for the first five picks, and the last five can be tied to Al. Trust me, if I had free reign I’d lose most readers by pick #5, if you can even make it that far. Believe me when I say there are a TON of movies which have made me fear the silliest of objects…