Rikki-Tikki-Tavi gave me nightmares as a young child, for years. Still, remembering how much I loved it, downloaded it to show my young kids, gave it a watch while they were out. Hell. No.
Let’s just say Orson Wells had no business narrating a children’s cartoon.
Uff, I watched Threads just as there was a “no to nuclear weapons” campaign going on in Norway (1986’ish), so the threat of nuclear war felt very real, to 12 year old me. So yeah, that movie left a mark.
Porn, it’s absolutely worth nothing.
From someone who needs an emotional connection to make sex palatable, I absolutely agree. Never saw the point of porn, engaging with it always made me feel dirty and hollow on the inside. One-night stands are much the same, which is why I have never had any - I’ve backed out every time. No puritism anywhere here, I’m an atheist dude.
Poltergeist.
It’s only been very recently that I’ve been able to watch that movie and then sleep with the lights off. It just hit at that right time when I was in middle school that it cemented in my mind for life.
I feel like the practical effects still hold up, and the acting definitely holds up from the entire family. Just seeing a mom that freaked out onscreen messed with me as a child.
Also, anyone who watches that now needs to understand the social and cultural context of the 70s and 80s. We had this new technology that could allow recording and sharing of video, but it was slow and low resolution. There was nothing like ubiquitous cell phone cameras of today. So there was this constant sense that maybe mysterious things were happening just beyond your ability to see and document them. Like having bad glasses in a foggy room.
The advent of cell phone cameras really washed away that sense, and made the world feel much more concrete and exposed. But back then, there was still a sense that something like Poltergeist might really be out there happening.
I had a nightmare about that damn tree. Which made the Family Guy parody many years late somewhat cathartic. “You shall not pass!”
Poltergeist is a masterpiece of horror because of how well it’s filmed, acted, and how good the special effects are.
It’s one of my favorites and it still holds up as being scarier than 90% of what comes out these days.
This was gonna be my answer. Watched it as a kid when my parents weren’t around. Finally got up the courage watch it as an adult. Yep, holds up really well.
Saw it in the theater the night before 5th grade started. Jesus. Didn’t sleep (for 2-weeks!), didn’t eat the crappy cafeteria food, passed out in the 105° heat with no classroom AC. Yeah, I remember Poltergeist.
Watched it not long ago, and so much hold up like you said. That scene where she turns around and the kitchen stairs are stacked perfectly. Fuck. Me. Got goosebumps typing that.
Return to Oz.
Dooooorrrrrrrtthhyyyyyyyy. GAAAALLLLLLEEEEEEE!
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover.
The first Alien movie. It came on tv once and my dad was all into it. That took years to get over.
Duel at Diablo. That guy roasting over the fire…
I imagine the later part where a bad guy starts melting after getting doused in toxic sludge didn’t do you any favors either!
There was some movie on TV that I caught a glimpse of when I should’ve been in bed. I was probably about 3 yo. It was some blobby monster which in my memory was a bit like a skinny Michelin Man, emerging from a pond or river. Scared the shit outta me and the memory stuck.
Ok so before I say the name I want to explain the story. I was 6 or 7 when my aunt and her friends brought it home and they were insistent I could not watch this movie but I snuck into the living room and eventually sat with my aunt. It took 1 scene to send me into such a panic I to this day can’t sleep for days after I willingly watch it. This movie warped my sense of horror and not a single movie has lived up to it. The movie is the exorcist from 1973 and the 1 scene was the bedroom scene where the bed starts moving and her body begins to change.
When I was 7, I caught a glimpse of this movie from the top of the stairs as my parents watched it in the living room below. It just happened to be the scene when she first twists her head around. It was the only time I’ve ever been paralyzed by fear and could only run to my room after the shock had passed.
Not the entire movie, but this scene:
What is this?
Looks like Signs to me.
Oh man this scene haunted me when I was 8 or 9. A couple years ago I convinced my wife to watch this movie, and I eagerly waited to see her reaction to this scene. And when it finally happened, nothing. No reaction at all. I asked her, “wasn’t that scary?” And she replied, “That?! That was the worst costume I’ve ever seen.”
Your wife Shyamalaned you with that response.
It was all the build up to that point. The fields, the dogs, the encounters where the characters never actually see them. The denial, trying to convince themselves it’s nothing. Animals, or prankster neighbors. Then in an instant, all their worst fears are true.
Who framed Roger Rabbit. I’ll never forget the dipping scene.
Yeah that was traumatic. Even if it’s a little cartoon creature…watching a life snuffed out like nothing is scary. Watching someone kill a live mouse or rabbit on screen would be fucked up too.
He only killed the one, so the shoe’s partner will be alone…forever.
Tommy. So much horror for a musical.
I couldn’t shower with my eyes open for weeks because of Fire in the Sky, I was afraid I was gonna see an outline of the aliens behind the shower curtain.
