In my last review I talked a bit about films I saw as a child which slipped through my parents strict censorship and gave me nightmares. Very few of these were horror films but they still managed to leave their scars. I understand that some people might bawk at a few of the following, but its just what scared me personally and I'm sure everybody has their own strange childhood nightmare fuel, so feel free to post yours in the comments as it's always something I'm very interested to listen to.
5)Beetlejuice (1998, Dir.Tim Burton)
Okey so this technically may be cheating because I never actually saw the film until I was much older, but as a child I was absolutely TERRIFIED by the VHS box alone. It used to face outwards of the video cabinet in my nans spare bedroom which I used to have to stay in at weekends and I can vividly remember the many many sleepless nights I spent facing the opposite wall sweating and uncomfortable, afraid to turn over and face the box even in the dark.
4) Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991, Dir. James Cameron)
It was a tight choice between two scenes from the Terminator series, but I only wanted to pick one. My Terminator 1 pick would've been the eye surgery scene, but I just had to go with the scene I loved the most from Terminator 2 as a kid. Even if it did make me wince, it was pure awesome. Just watch the video, I don't need to say anything more.
3)IT (1990, Dir. Tommy Lee Wallace)
Like many people I've always been a little afraid of clowns and I put that down to early exposure to Batman, IT and... Uncle Buck. This is the only horror film on the list and I actually haven't dared watch the film since and can barely remember what it's about. My mum was very strict on me not watching horror films, but my dad has always been a big fan. She would've never let me watch something like IT, but dad thought it was okey for me to sit up and watch it with him one night when I was feeling ill and mum was in bed. I like to think I had a pretty good upbringing, but this was definitely a faux pas.
2) Batman Returns (1992, Dir. Tim Burton)
I only want to briefly touch on this one as I'll be reviewing the film within the next couple of days, but whatever was scary about Batman '89 was amplified by 100 with Returns. Famously so dark it had it's McDonalds Happy Meal toyline cancelled, its hard to believe that two films back in the Batman movieverse you had the campy TV show adaptation and two films forward you had Batman and Robin. No child wants to see a nose being graphically chewed off by Danny DeVito.
1) The Mask (1994, Dir. Chuck Russell)
I don't mind blood and gore. I can deal with most monsters. But The Mask is just too much for me. Even now there's something about the film that just doesn't gel right with me. It has a real nightmarish, surreal quality to it which I don't quite know how to explain, but I'm not the first person I've heard of who has had similar feelings of fear regarding the film. There's no particular scene than stands out as being the scariest, but its just the character as a whole. I think from the ages of 4-8 I had a permanent fear that he was hiding just at the bottom of my bed waiting to get me as soon as I fell asleep. Even the thought now gives me shudders.
HONOURABLE MENTION:
It may not have frightened me, but this scene was certainly something my infant mind shouldn't have been shown.
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