HORROR MOVIES 101

How Have Horror Movies Affected you in Real Life?

I thought this would be a fun question to ask people.  I know that after Psycho came out a lot of people stopped taking showers for a long time and after Jaws came out, people would not go into the Ocean.  But what about you?

I'm saying this because today when I got back into my car after getting my hair cut (in a very cute bob, I must say), that the inside of my window was completely fogged up.  It freaked me out so bad that I screamed and jumped out of my car, scaring a sweet little old lady that was nearby.  Thank God, no one was in the back seat but all that flashed in my mind was Michael Myers waiting for me as I sang the song Oh Paul, Oh Paul...of course I really didn't sing that song, and the sun was shining so it wasn't at night, but it just brought me right to that moment. 

Re:How Have Horror Movies Affected you in Real Life?

   Do you really need me to answer this question, June?   After all, I was the one who started this group and I was the first member.   Also, I seem to have developed the rather unpopular habit of butchering and eating people I don't like!  (ha ha, just kidding!)    I'll tell you what...   FroggyBabe has seen my apartment...   maybe she can shed some light on how Horror Movies have affected ME...

Re:How Have Horror Movies Affected you in Real Life?

Aside from the big one JAWS, the ones that got me the most were Arachnophobia and Friday the 13th pt2. I was very young when i saw these movies and they really messed me up. I became terrified when i saw spiders, I am now over that fear but with Friday it was a feeling i got. I dont know when it happens if the film but you see jason run across a road to have the cop follow him. It was just the felling of seeing him all of a sudden, it made my stomach drop and put a weird feeling over my spine. and where i lived at the time very much look like crystal lake, so that road looked like every road. To this day if i am on a road that looks like that road i still get the chill up my spine and the pit in my stomach. ((Side note- I got over my fear of the ocean about 5 years ago.))

Re:How Have Horror Movies Affected you in Real Life?

I actually tried starting this discussion(or one very similar) awhile back, but didn't get too many responses. You can read my further thoughts in my filmblog(search for anything with the title heading 'Most Influential'). But to reduce it to a list, here they are. The reasons will be obvious to anyone who's seen the movies in question.

Because of Kubrick's The Shining, I can never, never use a restroom where the shower curtain is closed. If I'm at a friend's and have to use the bathroom, and they have the curtain closed, I have to look inside, or open it up, before I can turn my back on it.

The 1988 Blob had two effects; If you ever watch a movie in a theatre with me, I will, at some point in the film, look for the Blob on the ceiling. Also, if I ever have to clean out my garbage disposal, I'm never worried about it turning on and mangling my hand. I am, however, terrified of the Blob sucking me down a drain-pipe.

And lastly; The Stuff. To this day I can't eat yogurt, creamed soups, melted ice cream, or heavy salad dressings. 

Re:How Have Horror Movies Affected you in Real Life?

   I would just like to say a few words about  Friday the 13th, Part 2  ...   This is one of the most UNDER-RATED and BEST horror films ever made!   Remember, this is the movie that introduced us to  'Jason' !   In part 1,  'Jason' didn't exist (except as a corpse) and it was  'Mrs. Voorhees' who was the killer! ...    In part 2,  it is  'Jason' who is seeking revenge...   dressed identical as the killer in  The Town That Dreaded Sundown   (!)  Which, in turn, was based on the 'true-story' of the 'Green River Killer'...(!)

   Anyhow, it was not until  'Part 3-In 3-D'  that Jason gained his infamous hockey-mask...

Re:How Have Horror Movies Affected you in Real Life?

It will take me a while to respond to this thread, for there are so many instances...I used to fall asleep facing the wall, because I knew that somehow, someway, simply facing away from horror, stopped it dead in its tracks. I was safe!!! I already mentioned the Invaders from Mars trauma, both in discussion threads and in the one FilmCouch episode.... the individual Twilight Zone episodes caused all sorts of dread and sleepless nights. I will try to put all these down....

what a wonderful thread! Thank you Ms. Divinemsjunebug for starting this thread out.

Re:How Have Horror Movies Affected you in Real Life?

   Ok, I do have some thoughts on this I would like to share...    Obviously, horror movies have had an enormous impact on my entire life.   Beginning with the classic Universal 'monster-movies' of the 30's and 40's, I became hopelessly addicted at a very young age.   Among my friends and co-workers I am known as 'the horror movie guy'.   One of the reasons my ex-wife cited when she left me is that she was 'tired of watching horror movies every night'!   I'm not kidding!   Anyway, all that aside, there were some negative effects.   Besides the obvious ones that Ms June mentioned earlier (I opted to take a bath instead of a shower for YEARS after I first saw  Psycho  at the age of 5 or 6 and, after seeing  Jaws  and various other shark movies and hearing about various shark attacks on the news and watching 'shark week' on the discovery channel every year etc, I am fairly certain that I will never voluntarily go swimming in the ocean again), there were some others that had a profound effect on me...   Movies such as  Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer  and  Silence of the Lambs  and  Deliverance  and  The Texas Chainsaw Massacre  and  The Godfather (!)  and, yes,  Psycho  again, have made me rather wary of strangers!  (The Hitcher!)   But perhaps that is a good thing...

  I'll be back later with more....

Re:How Have Horror Movies Affected you in Real Life?

I'd say The Blair Witch Project freaked me out of going near the woods at night, more than I would have been if I hadn't seen the movie at least.

Re:How Have Horror Movies Affected you in Real Life?

Risselada:

I'd say The Blair Witch Project freaked me out of going near the woods at night, more than I would have been if I hadn't seen the movie at least.

I saw the Blair Witch Project on it's opening night, and two days later went to Washington for the Twin Peaks Festival(yes, I'm a dork). To save money I planned on camping, and walked around with a huge pack and tent on my back. So, two days after seeing Blair Witch(which didn't scare me at the time) I'm in the middle of those haunted Twin Peaks woods... by myself.  *that* freaked me out.

Re:How Have Horror Movies Affected you in Real Life?

   I can identify, TheWorkingDead!   Being born and raised in Colorado I spent a LOT of time camping and hiking in the Rocky Mountains.  (Not so much anymore as I am not a young man and I miss my bed at night...)   Over the years, I have seen and heard a lot of strange and unsettling things in those forests at night!   It was not  The Blair Witch Project  that made me nervous about camping, but rather CAMPING that made me uneasy about camping!    Obviously, there are some very good horror movies about 'campers-in-trouble' ,  The Hills Have Eyes  and   Deliverance  leap to mind, but here is a great little 'killer-in-the-woods' movie that few have seen...   The Final Terror , with a very young Darryl Hannah and Adrian Zmed.   This is a fun movie that I have watched multiple times.