The Horrifying Realty of It All Quiz

Answer: Poltergeist

This house is still a charmer even though it's been on the market for a while. It has spacious bedrooms, a nice eat-in kitchen, new amenities, and need I remind you about the pool? We can cut down the big tree out back if it's a nuisance, but the kitchen floor is well-polished. Oh! And the cable's hooked up!

"Poltergeist" was directed by "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre's" Tobe Hooper and produced by Steven Spielberg. A horror classic from the early 1980s, the film starred JoBeth Williams and Craig T. Nelson. When a family moved into their new house, strange things started to happen and accumulate until their daughter, Carol-Anne, was taken by 'the TV people' into a strange netherworld in her closet. The family fought to reclaim her from the evils brought on from the disturbed bodies still residing under their house.

Answer: Ju-On

Without spilling too much, the last owners of the place passed away due to some unfortunate circumstances. While I'm not at liberty to divulge what actually happened, suffice to say it didn't end well. Anyways, there's tons of storage space in the attic and you can check that out from the guest room closet. It all gives a nice modern, yet traditional feel. Interested?

The "Ju-On" series commenced in 2000 with the original offering and due to its immense success in its homeland, Japan, it was followed by several sequels about a curse born of pure rage. The house featured in the first film contained the curse until later entries in the series. This movie was the basis of one of many Japanese remakes created in the United States. "The Grudge" released in 2004 and earned nearly $200,000,000 in the box office. In the remake, Sarah Michelle Gellar starred as an American working in Tokyo. When she came upon the house for work, she too became part of the horrible curse.

Answer: Saw II

I understand it needs a few touch-ups here and there, but this place is a real gem. Large, open rooms; there's a huge fireplace; and there's enough space in the house to accommodate any interior decorating possibilities. We'll take care of the clean-up, especially the pit of syringes in the bedroom, the musky bathroom in the basement, and the doors that happen to have guns attached to them.

Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman and released to theaters in 2005, "Saw II" was (obviously) the follow-up to the popular torture fare, "Saw". Earning over $150,000,000 in the box office, "Saw II" starred Donnie Wahlberg, Shawnee Smith, and Tobin Bell. It would be followed by several other films in succession for a number of years. Nearly the entire movie took place in a house filling up with nerve gas and those inside were tested by the notorious Jigsaw Killer.

Answer: Psycho

Oh, but I guess I should inform you about the murders. After the previous owner went off the deep end, a couple of people were killed; one in the family-owned motel (in a shower) and another on the second floor of the house. The guy was crazy, though; thought he was his own mother. He kept her up in the bedroom, then locked her corpse in the fruit cellar. Nasty business if you ask me.

"Psycho" was originally directed by Alfred Hitchcock and after its critically-acclaimed releae in 1960, it became a benchmark for the horror/thriller genre. It took in over $32,000,000 in the box office. It starred Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins and was nominated for four Oscars. In 1998, Gus Van Sant directed a lesser-received, shot-for-shot remake.

Answer: The Abandoned

Maybe I should elaborate. Last time anybody lived in this house, it was inherited by an American woman and her brother. The truth is, the place was a real mess, but when they started running into their doppelgangers, I guess things made a bit more sense. The brother was eaten by some boars and the sister ended up getting soaked. I also recommend staying out of the cellar - it's flooded and you might not like what you find there.

"The Abandoned" was released in 2006 and was directed by infrequent filmmaker Nacho Cerda as part of the first set of films for After Dark Horrorfest. The movie followed an American woman (born in Russia) arriving to claim inheritance and discover where she was born. What she found was fate.

Answer: Black Christmas

While this place is part of a good neighbourhood, maybe it's the serial murders that are turning you off the idea. From what I heard, some of the previous tenants were uh... dispatched around the holidays. But don't let that get you down - the bedrooms are spacious, there's a nice, open living room, and it's a beautiful structure all around. They don't build 'em like this anymore.

Even though Bob Clark also directed "A Christmas Story" in 1983, "Black Christmas" allowed him to flex his horror muscles with a film directed in Canada during the winter (scary enough). As a sorority house prepared for Christmas, crazed killer sneaked into their attic and started killing the girls one by one. In one of the more memorable moments of the film, one of the characters was murdered with a glass unicorn, a gift she'd been given earlier that night. "Black Christmas" was remade in 2006, but the original has held a place in most horror fans' hearts as a true classic.

Answer: A Nightmare on Elm Street

Well, if you've got children, I might say that this isn't your best option... especially if you're superstitious. Something about dreams and all. Kids seem to have an almost-uncanny disposition towards Elm Street, but it can't be all that bad, right? Kids.

In this film, Freddy Krueger made his debut as the evil entity hiding in teenagers' dreams. When Johnny Depp fell asleep at this point in the film, Freddy pulled him into his bed, blended him up, and spit him back out. All that was left of him when his parents found him were the remains on the ceiling. This was Depp's first film role. "A Nightmare on Elm Street" has since been one of the most famous horror franchises ever released.

Answer: The Ring

Okay, so the well's not really part of the deal, but it's part of the family history. After Anna Morgan dropped her adopted daughter down a well, she returned home to Moesko Island and tried to live her life with her horses, but nothing was quite the same. Of course, if you've seen that cursed tape and done a little research, I assume you've already taken the ferry to this remote locale. I hear the loft in the barn is well-renovated, but it'll likely need a new wallpaper job; someone tore the old one to bits.

"The Ring" was directed by Gore Verbinski and released in 2002. Single-handedly shaping the genre for many years, "The Ring" was the first in a line of Asian remakes and arguably the most famous. It earned almost $250,000,000 in the box office and received relatively positive reviews before it was followed by a lackluster sequel. The original film, "Ringu", was likewise popular in Japan. Both were written by Koji Suzuki and the US version starred Naomi Watts.

Answer: Final Destination

I'm certain you'll enjoy this place - the front door has a stained glass inlay, there's a nice open concept in the front area, and we've salvaged most of the original wood. You know what they say: lightning doesn't strike twice. What I'm trying to say is that it can't happen again. Right?

In one of the more intense scenes of this James Wong movie, Valerie Lewton, a teacher who had avoided death in a plane crash due to one teenager's helpful premonition, ended up facing death's wrath in her house. Beginning with a cracking coffee mug leaking into her computer monitor, the screen shattered in her face, she came face to face with a fireball from her oven, and had a knife impaled into her chest. This, of course, was topped off by the house exploding. Fate, eh? "Final Destination" became a franchise shortly after and earned hundreds of millions in the box office. Larter returned for the first sequel in 2003.

Answer: Night of the Living Dead

When we found the house it was boarded up from the inside - a clear indication that no one wanted to leave this dream home, I'd say. You could host parties here or just relax in the living room. Either way, you'll probably drop dead at the low prices.

"Night of the Living Dead" was released in 1968, becoming one of the most famous horror films to date. Romero has often been known as the father of the zombie genre for his tale of reanimation and the group of survivors who banded together to survive the hordes outside. Filmed in black and white, the movie has been remade many times due to a lack of copyright after its independent release. One thing that always struck me odd was the ability of the main characters to find wood planks in every room of the house - enough to board up the doors and windows. Ah well.