Scary Movie Nostalgia Trip

So, I'm sitting here watching NetFlix and it reminded me of a story of the first truly scary movie I ever saw...

When I was 8 years old, the closest I had come to seeing a scary movie was the first Jaws at a friend's sleep over birthday party.  You can't really get the full impact of the scares in a room surrounded by a bunch of boys who are more interested in pulling pranks on the first kid who falls asleep.  Technically, this could be considered my first horror film but, it was the movie after that gave me nightmares and forever changed the types of movies I like to watch.

"Whatever you do... don't fall asleep."  That's all I remember from the commercials for A Nightmare on Elm Street.

But for whatever reason, that one phrase had me.  I KNEW that I had to see this movie.  Unfortunately, it was rated R and I was only 7, at the time, so there was no way I was gonna get to see it in the movie theater.  I figured it just wasn't meant to happen.

Then one night, while I was with my mom at the local video store, I was looking on the shelves and there it was... the video box for the movie that I had wanted to see.  Seeing as how I was a much more mature 8 years old, I convinced my mom to let me rent the movie.


When we I got home, I went into another room to watch the movie alone and was just fine... until about 10 minutes in (anybody else remember that first dream sequence?)  I ran into the other room and got my mom to come watch the rest of it with me.  Still not really knowing what it was, she did and all she said when it was over was, "Don't EVER ask me to get anything like that for you again." But, the seed was planted and I was hooked on scary movies.


Needless to say that for the next few nights, I didn't sleep very well because I had dreams about Fred Krueger coming to get me.  It was also a few years before I ever got to see another scary movie again.  I managed this by making a friend who happened to have all five (that's how many there were at the time) of the Nightmare movies on video.  None of them compared to the first because the sequels were a bit of a joke but, there was still that feeling that came with, even the possibility, of being scared.


Even now, as I've gotten older, I still love to watch scary movies.  I especially have a soft spot for Wes Craven because he directed the first real horror movie I ever saw.  I actually own the boxed sets of all the Nightmare AND Scream movies.  And, I can't wait for Scream 4 to come out next year!


Watching a horror movie is, in a way, like playing Russian Roulette.  Only about 1 in 6 is any good but, when you see a good one, nothing beats the rush of a good scare.


So, nostalgia trip over.  I'm gonna go flip through NetFlix and see what else I can find.


Until next time...