Y’know, I randomly went to see Napoleon Dynamite with my mom, of all people, and she LOVED it. Like, laughed so hard it was embarrassing, bought the DVD, still quotes it kind of love. It makes me appreciate my mama more to know that she, too, can get sucked into pop culture phenomena.
I’m one of the few people who has no strong feelings about that movie. I found it mildly enjoyable.
The dismemberment scene in Robocop and the whole concept of the film ‘When the WInd blows’. I think I was about 10 so the thought of nuclear bombs was a bit much. I remember crying downstairs asking whether it would happen in real life. I was fine the next morning.
I’m not a huge horror movie fan, so I didn’t really see too many of them until I was in college and was taking film classes, one of which was about Horror movies.
To this day, I have yet to see 'The Exorcist". You know what? It ain’t happening any time soon either.
The Exorcist is probably the scariest movie I know in terms of how well done it is. I don’t find the idea of possession or demons scary at all, but the direction and editing are so well done, that it just draws you in and makes it scary.
I remember being really freaked out by Independence Day when I first saw it; I was about 10. Really just the part where they cut open the Alien… still loved the movie overall though, then and now.
If you are talking about non-horror that freaks you out, I have to point to “The Second Renaissance” from The Animatrix…
Horror movies never really phase me. That’s why The Rocky Horror Picture Show came to mind, because what I was expecting an actual horror movie. What I saw was unexpected, and for my youth and (relative) innocence, rather shocking.
Although I do remember sneaking into the last 20 minutes of a random midnight movie which turned out to be The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I remember the guy waving the chainsaw around like an interpretive dance, and the girl laughing hysterically, you just knew she lost her mind. The insanity of the whole thing. That kinda stayed with me for a while.
I was wondering what movies most folks would bring up. What I find interesting is that most folks were freaked out around the age of 9 / 10. Now I have a new curiousity. Did you see these films with parental permission or without?
As I said, I saw ‘Poltergeist’ with my parents. But I saw ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ at my buddy’s house while his parents were out. In fact, I saw many R rated films that way and a few…um…X-rated. Is there an added thrill since you are watching something you “shouldn’t”? OR At the age of 10, are you simply more susceptible to the thrill?
I only heard Poltergeist too. Parents were watching it in the other room, and I hid in my room because it scared me so much, but I couldn’t stop myself from listening intently at the door. Very freaky. I think I started out watching it with them, but had to leave. Not sure what age I was, but my guess would be 8 or 9.
Oh, and when I was like 14 I saw Rosemary’s Baby at a friends house and that scared me a lot. I was very religious at the time, so I took the concept very seriously.
What generally freaks me out the most are movies that revolve around serial killers. That stuff is freaky as he’ll to me - still can’t watch anything to do with that topic.
For me it was one of the nightmare on elm streets…I think it was #2? There was a scene in a locker room shower and it looked just like a larger version of my dorm shower. I was completely freaked out everytime I showered for about 2-3 weeks. As a rule I just avoid anything horror genre esp fear-porn & gore (ie saw) cause it just bugs me so badly. As a result I haven’t seen 90% of the movies that freaked out you all & don’t plan to. Only exception seems to be horror with humor because the new fright night only bothered me a tiny bit.
+1 for Event Horizon. I was at once fascinated by the ship’s design and yet aghast at the content. The ship was just plain malevolent…
Gaf
I loved Event Horizon. I would say it’s one of my favourite movies. I really need to buy it again. Since my VHS copy broke.
Three movies come to mind…
The Empire Strikes Back: The decapitation scene. Need I say more? I remembered that scene most vividly.
Do the Right Thing: At the end where the police choked and killed Radio Raheem.
American History X: I’ve never even heard of “curb stomping” before this movie let alone seen it. Took me out of the rest of the movie.
Two more just came to mind…
Close Encounters of the Third Kind: When I first saw this movie when I was young, I thought the gas they used at the end killed animals and people instead of putting them to sleep. They seemed to stop breathing and I missed the “sleep” line. So, my distrust of authority started early. d: I didn’t realize the gas put people to sleep until September of 2010.
Pulp Fiction: The ending around the time Bruce Willis discovers the katana. Yeah, you know what I’m talking about…
TV trailers that freaked me out…
Magic: The mannequin in the commercial was scary and I hid from it when the commercial was on.
Scanners: The countdown (or count up) freaked me out as a kid.
I was easily freaked out when I was younger… d:
Edit: Case in point, I was afraid of seeing E.T. when it first came out. d:
I came into Event Horizon with the wrong mindset. I was thinking Sci Fi, not Horror. When they went into “orbit” within the planet’s (Neptune’s?) atmosphere for - apparently - the sole purpose of being able to have lightning flashes through the windows, I wrote it off.
Maybe I should give it another try.
E.T. scared the poop out of me as a kid. For months I was convinced that E.T. was hiding in my closet with his freaky dying white skin and glowy heart. No idea how old I was but since I was 3 when it came out I suspect not very.
I’ve told this story before but I saw Event Horizon at the cinema late at night and drove home alone. About half way I was on a long highway with no other cars and all of the street lights went out. Freak out city.
The Cell got under my skin as well. That film has such a unique visual style that even now I can recall precisely what a horse looks like when cut into slices. Shudder.