Most of us like to watch movies that thrill us, and sometimes even scare us. But sometimes we get scared of the weirdest movies for the weirdest reasons. Here’s a few of mine. (Mind you, most of these were from when I was a little kid.)
War of the Worlds – I saw this in theaters when I was living in San Diego. On my way home, my mind was on spaceships and aliens. And when your mind is on spaceships and aliens, it’s a little disconcerting to be driving home at night and suddenly you see flashes of blue and green and red erupt behind some tree lines and buildings in your rearview mirror. Apparently the firework committee at Sea World weren’t alerted that I’d be mistaking their fireworks as an alien invasion.
It – I think everyone, willingly or not, has had an encounter with this movie. Our pastor’s sons were babysitting my sister and me when I was about six and she was eleven. It was late and they sent us off to bed before their movie came on TV. Unable to sleep, my sister and I snuck out into the living room and crouched down behind their couch to see what they were watching. Surely our pastor’s boys weren’t watching anything bad – right? Oh, it’s a movie about a boy chasing a paper boat down the street. Oh, goodie, there’s a clown in it, how fun! Oh, crap, that clown is about to eat the boy! I think my sister and me screaming our heads off right in their ears taught the pastor’s boys a lesson to never send kids to bed without telling them what movie they’re about to watch.
Jurassic Park – I remember going to see this movie at least three times while it was in theaters. And when I got home at night, I lied awake in bed, not terrified of the raptors or a T-rex crashing through my roof. But of all things, I was desperately afraid of waking up to find a sick triceratops – plant-eater, mind you – in my room. I guess I just didn’t know what I would do with a sick dinosaur had one just magically appeared in my room. Flinstones vitamins?
Sixth Sense – Please tell me I’m not the only one who took days before being able to stand next to my bed without thinking a dead girl was going to reach out and grab my foot.
Volcano – The night I saw this movie was the longest night of my life. If you haven’t seen it, it’s about a volcano that erupts underneath Los Angeles, where I was living at the time. Ate dinner, said good-night to my family and headed to bed. And I watched the crack underneath the door the entire night, hoping, praying, that lava wouldn’t start seeping into my room to burn me up. Never mind the fact that there would have been sirens and evacuations long before the lava reached my house. Didn’t sleep a wink all night, and I sweated enough to drench all my sheets. Wait – was that just sweat?
Raiders of the Lost Ark – Couldn’t get out of bed to go to the bathroom all night because I was afraid I’d step on snakes. Still can’t watch that scene to this day.
The Never Ending Story – Haven’t seen this movie since that night long ago and a wolf or something jumped right out at me. Still haven’t managed to get back to finishing it. Guess it really is a never ending story. For me, anyway.
The Ring – Just kidding. I didn’t find this one scary at all, which is weird, right? It just bored me senseless. I can think of a much better movie about a ring… three of them, actually.
Elf – Okay, the movie itself didn’t scare me, but I laughed so hard at one point that I sprayed blueberry Icee onto the guy’s head in front of me. I was scared that he was going to stand up and clobber me.
Are there some movies that took you by surprise? Share your stories below!
