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CNN Live Today

Screen Screams

Aired October 29, 2002 - 11:48   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: "The Exorcist" is considered by many to be one of the scariest movies of all times, except for that "The Exorcist 2, The Heretic." That wasn't good. It tops the list compiled by our guest this morning Russ Leatherman, Mr. Moviefone. We are pleased he joins us. He joins us from L.A. to talk about the top scary movies of all time just in time for Halloween.
Russ, thanks for being with us.

RUSS LEATHERMAN, "MR. MOVIEFONE": Are you OK there, Anderson?

COOPER: I'm doing all right. I was a little scared. "The Exorcist" kind of freaks me out. Let's talk about scary movies that are out in release now. I just saw "The Ring."

LEATHERMAN: Just a quick question for you. I know you like to give away the fruit and stuff for the trick-or-treaters. Do you ever wake up the next morning and wonder why there's eggs on your cars or toilet paper in your trees?

COOPER: You think there is a connection?

LEATHERMAN: Yes, something I don't know, think about it.

COOPER: Those punk kids, I tell you.

LEATHERMAN: Those punk kids.

Yes, there are a couple of scary O'BRIEN: vies in theaters right now. Probably you talked about "The Ring," that's probably the best one, certainly the spookiest one. You watch a videotape and you die seven days later, so what's spookier than that.

COOPER: And that was based on a Japanese movie from a couple years back.

LEATHERMAN: It was "Ringu," and that's a very scary movie, like you're looking at the clip with the girl crawling out. That's all very scary stuff. So probably, if you want to go to a movie theater to see a scary movie NEVILLE: is Halloween, that's the one you want to see.

COOPER: There's also "Ghost Ship" which opened up this weekend. I think it came in third behind "Jackass." I always wanted to be able to say that on TV.

LEATHERMAN: Yes, it did come in third. Maybe didn't do as well as some may have thought. It's one of those movies. It's called "Ghost Ship," so you know what you'll get going in. No big surprises. It's a lot of fun. Not nearly as creepy as "The Ring," but you know, it's still OK, still kind of fun for a Halloween called "Ghost Ship." Not as creepy as "The Ring," but still kind of fun for a Halloween kind of movie.

COOPER: Let's talk about the top five scariest movies of all times in your opinion.

LEATHERMAN: Well, you know, we all like to do something on Halloween, and if you weren't invited to the big party or something like that, you got to find something to do. So go out and rent a DVD, and we took a little poll on moviephone.com to find out which movies moviegoers thought were the scariest movies of all time. If you look at number one, moviegoers think "The Exorcist" is maybe the scariest of all time. I don't know if you remember "The Exorcist" or remember the scene...

COOPER: How can I forget it?

LEATHERMAN: ... of Linda Blair, yes, with her head spinning around, and she had that green stuff flying out of her mouth, which also can be seen in the movie "Jackass," by the way, but in "Jackass," it's real. "The Exorcist" was a scary, scary movie, and as scary today as it was then. Really kind of held up over time.

COOPER: I was disappointed that "The Exorcist 2, The Heretic" was not on your list, but number two, "The Shining," I think that is the scariest movie. I was thinking earlier, I've never seen the entire thing all through. I've seen it in little bits, but I just can't watch the whole thing; it's too scary.

LEATHERMAN: You're kind of a wimp, Anderson.

COOPER: I can fess up to that, yes.

LEATHERMAN: I agree with you. I think it's certainly one of the scariest movies of all time. Probably the best work that Jack Nicholson has ever done. You're looking at him right now, and he's getting ready to chop the door down, and here he goes with that famous line -- "Here's Johnny!" So, again, this is another one of these movies you can watch today and still be creeped out just as scary as it was when it first came out in 1980.

COOPER: Also, "Jaws" really holds up. It's a whole different kind of scary, but it really holds up. I just saw it again recently.

LEATHERMAN: "Jaws" is one of those movies that really kind of changed the way Americans behaved. I mean, this movie got into our psyche. Right before "Jaws," nobody thought about sharks. After "Jaws," people didn't go in the water anymore. Tourism was down. It was one of those movies at the time really freaked everyone in America out. Everybody who saw it was really leery of the water. So you look at what makes a movie scary, well, certainly, if you're affected afterwards and your behavior changes, that must be a scary movie.

COOPER: Equally scary is "Mr. Holland's Opus," which the guy from "Jaws" is in.

LEATHERMAN: That and "The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood."

COOPER: I'm sorry we couldn't get to Pia Zadora, because I know she's in at least one scary movie, not intentionally scary.

But Mr. Moviephone, we appreciate you being with us. Russ Leatherman, thanks very much.

LEATHERMAN: Happy to be here. See you next time.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired October 29, 2002 - 11:48   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: "The Exorcist" is considered by many to be one of the scariest movies of all times, except for that "The Exorcist 2, The Heretic." That wasn't good. It tops the list compiled by our guest this morning Russ Leatherman, Mr. Moviefone. We are pleased he joins us. He joins us from L.A. to talk about the top scary movies of all time just in time for Halloween.
Russ, thanks for being with us.

RUSS LEATHERMAN, "MR. MOVIEFONE": Are you OK there, Anderson?

COOPER: I'm doing all right. I was a little scared. "The Exorcist" kind of freaks me out. Let's talk about scary movies that are out in release now. I just saw "The Ring."

LEATHERMAN: Just a quick question for you. I know you like to give away the fruit and stuff for the trick-or-treaters. Do you ever wake up the next morning and wonder why there's eggs on your cars or toilet paper in your trees?

COOPER: You think there is a connection?

LEATHERMAN: Yes, something I don't know, think about it.

COOPER: Those punk kids, I tell you.

LEATHERMAN: Those punk kids.

Yes, there are a couple of scary O'BRIEN: vies in theaters right now. Probably you talked about "The Ring," that's probably the best one, certainly the spookiest one. You watch a videotape and you die seven days later, so what's spookier than that.

COOPER: And that was based on a Japanese movie from a couple years back.

LEATHERMAN: It was "Ringu," and that's a very scary movie, like you're looking at the clip with the girl crawling out. That's all very scary stuff. So probably, if you want to go to a movie theater to see a scary movie NEVILLE: is Halloween, that's the one you want to see.

COOPER: There's also "Ghost Ship" which opened up this weekend. I think it came in third behind "Jackass." I always wanted to be able to say that on TV.

LEATHERMAN: Yes, it did come in third. Maybe didn't do as well as some may have thought. It's one of those movies. It's called "Ghost Ship," so you know what you'll get going in. No big surprises. It's a lot of fun. Not nearly as creepy as "The Ring," but you know, it's still OK, still kind of fun for a Halloween called "Ghost Ship." Not as creepy as "The Ring," but still kind of fun for a Halloween kind of movie.

COOPER: Let's talk about the top five scariest movies of all times in your opinion.

LEATHERMAN: Well, you know, we all like to do something on Halloween, and if you weren't invited to the big party or something like that, you got to find something to do. So go out and rent a DVD, and we took a little poll on moviephone.com to find out which movies moviegoers thought were the scariest movies of all time. If you look at number one, moviegoers think "The Exorcist" is maybe the scariest of all time. I don't know if you remember "The Exorcist" or remember the scene...

COOPER: How can I forget it?

LEATHERMAN: ... of Linda Blair, yes, with her head spinning around, and she had that green stuff flying out of her mouth, which also can be seen in the movie "Jackass," by the way, but in "Jackass," it's real. "The Exorcist" was a scary, scary movie, and as scary today as it was then. Really kind of held up over time.

COOPER: I was disappointed that "The Exorcist 2, The Heretic" was not on your list, but number two, "The Shining," I think that is the scariest movie. I was thinking earlier, I've never seen the entire thing all through. I've seen it in little bits, but I just can't watch the whole thing; it's too scary.

LEATHERMAN: You're kind of a wimp, Anderson.

COOPER: I can fess up to that, yes.

LEATHERMAN: I agree with you. I think it's certainly one of the scariest movies of all time. Probably the best work that Jack Nicholson has ever done. You're looking at him right now, and he's getting ready to chop the door down, and here he goes with that famous line -- "Here's Johnny!" So, again, this is another one of these movies you can watch today and still be creeped out just as scary as it was when it first came out in 1980.

COOPER: Also, "Jaws" really holds up. It's a whole different kind of scary, but it really holds up. I just saw it again recently.

LEATHERMAN: "Jaws" is one of those movies that really kind of changed the way Americans behaved. I mean, this movie got into our psyche. Right before "Jaws," nobody thought about sharks. After "Jaws," people didn't go in the water anymore. Tourism was down. It was one of those movies at the time really freaked everyone in America out. Everybody who saw it was really leery of the water. So you look at what makes a movie scary, well, certainly, if you're affected afterwards and your behavior changes, that must be a scary movie.

COOPER: Equally scary is "Mr. Holland's Opus," which the guy from "Jaws" is in.

LEATHERMAN: That and "The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood."

COOPER: I'm sorry we couldn't get to Pia Zadora, because I know she's in at least one scary movie, not intentionally scary.

But Mr. Moviephone, we appreciate you being with us. Russ Leatherman, thanks very much.

LEATHERMAN: Happy to be here. See you next time.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com