Five(ish) movies to de-stress by...

Last week I was unexpectedly sent a chain letter.  Not a letter made out of chains, but one of those 'pass this on to the next person on the list' type of things.  It was unexpected because I had never thought of the sendee as someone who would take part in chain letters (not to mention that the sendee is someone I haven't seen for a while!)

It wasn't a chain letter that threatened bad things to me/ my postman/ my neighbourhood/ the local rat population if the instructions were not followed.  But it did ask me to send an inspirational  quote to a couple of strangers.  Some words that I have been inspired or uplifted by in times of stress and trouble.

On the face of it, this is a lovely sentiment.  However, when I'm stressed or troubled, I tend to turn to films.  Fairly violent or gory films.  So I wasn't sure exactly how inspired the recipient of, "This stuff will make you a god damned sexual Tyrannosaurus, just like me", would actually be...

So in lieu of scaring strangers, I've decided to list some of my most de-stressing films for the edification of you newer strangers ((c) JD Morrison).

1. Any of the Alien films (dependent on time available)

Ah, Ripley.  The most tragic heroine of all time - even when she killed herself to destroy the monster, she still couldn't escape.  The Alien films have pretty much everything you need to de-stress - acidic slime, crawly strange-jointed teethy beings, betrayal, mad science, greed, gore, heroism and big, BIIIG guns.  A definite pick me up.

2.    The Chronicles of Riddick (but especially Pitch Black)
Richard B Riddick.  The eyes.  The effortless badness.  Here we have the antithesis of Ripley, the archetypical anti-hero - and doesn't he do it well.  Teeth monsters too.  And betrayal, greed, gore... I sense a pattern developing.  Sometimes it's difficult for an anti-hero to become a hero without losing something - you see it in the wrestling all the time.  So far, Riddick is just about managing...

3.    John Carpenter's Vampires
Vampire teethy monsters,  BIIIG explosions, heroes who are also anti-heroes, blood, betrayal.... Did I mention the BIIIG explosions?  The book adds a lot of depth, but the film is loud enough to be another good pick me up.

4.  Predator.
Jesse 'The Body' Ventura in a seminal role: "I ain't got time to bleed".  Monsters, slightly teethy though the teeth are largely incidental.  Big guns, and big guns.  Blood, guts, alien slime.  Mowgli wouldn't have stood a chance.

5.  The Woman
Now this.... is a disturbing film.  Quite disturbing, especially when you find yourself on the edge of your seat cheering on your protagonist.  This is brilliantly played by Pollyanna McIntosh in the lead role, and just proves exactly how amazing how uplifiting a lot of bloodshed can be.

A short list.  But I hope you all now feel suitably moved and inspired...   til next time, "Stick Around"...