Saturday, April 29, 2006

Scarred for life...

Do you have one movie that scarred you for life? I mean... not in the sense that you can't watch it anymore or anything like that. More along the lines of: you do things now (or DON'T do things now) because of that movie.

For me, that movie was Salem's Lot. The 1979 David Soul version, not the 2004 Rob Lowe version.

I watched this movie with my parents, and I think a couple of my aunts and uncles. I was 10.

Before seeing this movie, I used to love keeping windows open at night. A nice breeze would come through my bedroom window... I could get a glimpse of moonlight shining on my bedroom walls. It was all so serene. And then this show damaged me.

In this movie, you learn that vampires can only enter your home if they are invited. And they like to float up to your bedroom window and come in that way. If you keep your windows open (curtains or blinds wide open, too)... they will trick you into letting them in. If you're a smart person, you keep your windows shut and your curtains/blinds drawn, too. Then they can't see you, but most especially... YOU CAN'T SEE THEM!

Since that most memorable night, I have never slept with my windows open. Oh, I've had "bedmates" who have tried. They even tricked me by waiting until I was asleep to open the windows on their own. Of course, I eventually awoke to a lovely breeze floating over my body, and then shrieked like a banshee! Immediately following the banshee shrieking-- a body-hurling leap to the window to bang it shut and draw those curtains before Nosferatu could weasle his way in. Hell no. Hell TO THE NO!

So that's my "scarred for life" movie. And I'm not ashamed.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I remember watching Salem's Lot with my brother - on television, so I guess we were in high school. We started out lounging on separate seats, but ended up intertwined on the loveseat, saying ohshitohshitohshit.

Psycho III scarred me for life. The whole psycho-wearing-a-wig jumping-out-of-the-shadows of the basement, knife in the throat thing. I could never stand basements since then. Luckily, I've only had one. I used to tear up and down the stairs to do my laundry. You couldn't have paid me to stand around down there or investigate any corners too closely.

Martin Boutros said...

Not so much 'scarred' but influenced...

For me, an Aussie TV series that aired here about ~10 years ago called FRONTLINE - a biting satiracal send-up and expose of current affairs and TV hype (CNNN Chaser sort of does that too). The thing was that it was subtle enough to make you wonder if the episode plot was plausible.. and they wove references to real media scams into the subplots - I've never been able to watch current affair shows with any measure of belief since! Not a bad thing!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frontline_(Australian_TV_series)

Nessa said...

My mom took my 7 year old brother, my 10 year old friend and I (I was 10 too) to see Deliverence. This was way before movie ratings and the movies were on an Army base where they cost a quarter. I haven't been able to eat pork or listen to banjos since. And my inbred relatives really freak me out.

Red said...

Ohhh, I'm glad I never saw that one. I LOVE sleeping with the windows open.

Okay, well, The Ring had me seeing little demon girls around my home for about a year. Mothman Prophecies made me scared to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, despite sharing a tiny apartment with three other people. It was years before I could be in the shower and turn my back to the bathroom door after seeing Psycho. Blair Witch will keep me from ever being in the woods wilingly, but I didn't really need a lot of encouragment for that.

Aren't you sorry you asked? ;)

Ludicrousity said...

Frontline rocks!
And I must admit that EVERYTHING scares me. No jokes, I actually cant' watch scarey movies because I dont' sleep for 2 or 3 or 4 days at a time. I have a very over active imagination and I just dont' cope very well. I stear clear of all scarey movies, or even movies that aren't really scarey, that I think will still freak me out. I'm such a wuss...

richardSandwich said...

Donnie Darko restored my fear in people that wear creepy bunny suits.

But "IT" freak the shit out of me when I was younger. I couldn't sleep for weeks.

Dboy said...

Haha... 'It' was funny. The only thing about Blair Witch that freaked me out was seeing one of the guys facing the corner of the room near the end. That was nuts. The image is firmly implanted.

Oh yeah, I know exactly what you mean about Frontline destroying any shred of innocence and belief when it comes to current affairs programs. Hahaha, I watch them now and think "Pack. Of. Idiots. Do you really think I'm gonna swallow that rubbish?"

I remember seeing one of the Damien Omen series when I was very young. I've got an image of a lady running in the middle of the road with a crow scratching her eyes out, blood running down her front, and then a truck squashing her to pieces. That movie was evil.

I also have a memory of this unusual Indian movie (subtitled) where they were warriors and gods or something (hazy memory), and this lady says to this guy "I will wash my hair in your blood!", and then this other crazy guy runs at the first guy SCREAMING, ripping his stomache open with his bare hands! When the guy is dead, he motions to the lady and she washes her hair in his blood! Eww!

That reminds me of that bit in "Monty Python and the Meaning of Life" where the doctor fellows knock on a guy's door, and forcibly remove his spleen because he was donating it, but they wanted it right then. THAT one gave me so many nightmares. And it was supposed to be funny!

Thanks DCMM! This has been so cathartic!

don't call me MA'AM said...

tammara: I couldn't make myself watch any of the Psycho movies. I saw parts of the original... and was too scared to take a shower!

rev: I can't watch most news programs, real or not, anymore due to all the spin. I don't believe anyone anymore.

MPB: why would we laugh? I think I would have cried watching something like that in an empty theatre... all alone. Yikes!

goldennib: now THAT's scary! I hope you don't live in an area where banjo music is prevalent. ;-)

red: nope. Not sorry at all! I think it's highly interesting what freaks people out (and the "why" behind it all)!

ludi: I'm just the opposite. I love scary movies! But I have a hard time watching ones that involve children.

margus: you and me both! IT really, really scared me. And I think I was in my 20s when that was out. Beep, beep, Richie! *shudders*

dboy: ACK! That is the exact scene in the Omen series that scared me the worst! Anytime I see blackbirds or crows, I have to take the path that is furthest away from them!

As for the Monty Python reference, I just laughed and laughed. I think I'm a little "wrong" sometimes. haha

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