Movies That Scared The Crap Out of Me as a Kid

I saw The Fly as an adult, and it creeped me THE HELL OUT. I can't even remember whether I saw the original or the remake, but man, I need to add that to my list of Movies That Disturbed Me.

I agree entirely about The Wizard of Oz . Scariest movie ever made.

When I was growing up we didn't have a colour television so Dorothy's stunning entrance into Oz was lost on me... as were the ruby slippers. My mother let me watch The Wizard of Oz when I was far too young. Miss Gulch riding her bike in the twister was scary. The Wicked Witch of the West's entrance was scary. But the shriveling of the Wicked Witch of the East's legs as they retreat under the house was real-ly scary.

But then there was singing and dancing and the "Yellow" Brick Road.1 Next thing you know, Scarecrow shows up and things seem to be going well. And then they find the apple trees. "How would you like it if someone came along and picked something off of you?" I was terrified. The unexpected slap on the hand, the voice, the fact that it looked like the trees were men struggling to avoid being swallowed by the bark of apple trees. It was awful. I thought that was going to be the worst thing.

Poppies come and go, "Surrender Dorothy", the Winged Monkeys are summoned and then swoop down on Dorothy and friends... even Scarecrow's dismemberment. They were all scary but not real-ly scary. Or so I thought. But then Dorothy gets until the hour glass runs dry, she sees Auntie Em looking for her, she begins to cry and then the Witch appears in the glass, mocking Dorothy. I was too terrified to even blink.

If I had been older or more self-assured/aware I would have stopped watching when the doors close on the rescue party and you just know that Tin Man's won't be able to chop them out in time. But I kept watching and I was happy at the end as well as a little proud for having watched a grown-up movie and for having a late bed-time. Little did I know...

I dreamed of monkeys. Flying monkeys. Dozens. Hundreds of them. Thousands of dark silhouettes filling the sky. Blotting out the moon... the sun... overrunning the earth. Pouncing down upon me from the sky on my way to school. Dragging me out of Mrs. Boren's classroom. Waiting for me after school. Swirling around my family's house like bees. Carrying me far away over a wide grey ocean. I started wetting the bed again.

It took me several weeks to get over it. My poor mother. It was her favourite movie and she felt that she had done this to me. To this day she still feels bad about it... and has no idea that my real resentments have nothing to do with flying monkeys.

Years later, at the age of ten, I finally saw The Wizard of Oz on the "big" screen. In retrospect I'm glad that I had only seen the movie in black & white on television. When Dorothy turns around in the doorway and her dress bursts into bright blue and white gingham I gasped. More years later I recognize that it must have been close to what audiences in the '30s experienced... the shock of seeing colour. It was amazing. I couldn't stop pull my eyes away from the Witch's green face. I finally learned that "a horse of a different colour" played as a joke and not just a folksy saying.

It was on the "big" screen because I saw it at the tiny (and only) little theatre in a tiny little college town. The theatre was so small (and the town so college) that there was a table behind the last row of seats with small bags of popcorn, three kinds of cookies,2 and two kinds of brownies. They all had little cards alongside giving "suggested" prices. There was a salt shaker for the popcorn and, to the side, there was a small wicker bowl with money and change in it. It was all run on the honour system. Sometimes (well, twice) I saw someone cut to the head of the line to hand over money for the food they had eaten without paying earlier in the week.3

I once asked my mom why I couldn't get the fifty cent brownies rather than the brownies that cost a half as much. (Expensive means better. Doesn't it?) She said that they had "spices" in them that I didn't like. Still more years later, while the family was reminiscing about how all of us had scarred each other for life, my parents laughingly mentioned the pot brownies that were sold openly next to the popcorn and such. What a great way to sell even more snacks.

What a great theatre.

1 Because I couldn't see that the road was yellow I thought that the term "yellow brick" was akin to "adobe brick"... just a certain kind of building brick. Like a Lego Brick Road.
2 Chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin and peanut butter. Twenty-five cents apiece if they had been made that afternoon. The price would drop by five cents for every day that went by (down to fifteen cents.) If you wanted the glory of a two dollar ticket and the possibility of free cookies you went to the movies on a Tuesday. It was a great mid-week promotion. You wouldn't believe what people would do for the chance at free cookies. When the second show let out you were allowed (especially if you were young) to take an unsold bag of popcorn with you on your way out. Robin Kennedy would always talk about getting our free popcorn halfway through the early show
3 I am almost certain that Jamie Fine's mother knew that her late payments wern't being turned over .