Scarred for Life

This one came back to me in a rush just today. I had the most vivid flashback while posting to a forum and I shivered. Turning to my wife I ask “Do you remember the frog mask death scene from Dr. Phibes?” I swear to you, she screamed and ran to the other room with a hasty “I don’t want to talk about that!” I had my next Scarred for Life subject.

I don’t remember when I saw the Vincent Price 1971 horror classic “The Abominable Dr Phibes” but I was very young. Thinking back on it there are many scarring moments that stand out but none as much as the frog mask murder! I could feel it as I watched, stuck in that mask, unable to make anyone understand you needed help, unable to draw breath, and most of all UNABLE TO GET IT OFF!

If you don’t know the movie let me give you a bit of set-up. Phibes is out for revenge. One of the guys he wants dead goes to a costume ball. Phibes has beautiful frog mask sent, anonymously, to the ball for this man. The collar of this helmet mask auto-tightens. You can guess the rest or watch the clip, fast forward about 4.5 minutes to find this scene…

If that doesn’t make you want to see this flick then you should know he eats and drinks from a hole in the SIDE OF HIS NECK! Creepy shit people…crrreeeeeppy…

I know it’s been a while since my last post but you should know I’m still around and still scarred.  I’ve shared some of my most memorable ones with you and as the years rolled by I found myself less and less affected by the things that would have scarred me in younger times.  This is, I think, a natural part of growing older.  But enough about me, here’s one I dodged.

In 1986 this little gem, The Adventures of Mark Twain, smashed the hopes and dreams of children across the nation.  It promised happy-go-lucky fun filled adventure with the likes of Tom Sawyer but delivered Satan!  Luck me, I missed it.  Here is the clip about Satan and I believe it cuts to the creepy chase…

“Life itself is only a vision.  A dream.  Nothing exist save empty space and you…and you are but a thought.”  Wow…I guess if you hate children the thing to do is make a kid’s film!

In 1978 a TV movie was made based on the Dr. Strange comic book.   I only remember two scenes and one of them was a bit disturbing for a 7-year-old.  The one that bothered me was this huge shadowy thing with glowing eyes.  This clip shows that scene about a minute and thirty seconds in.  Take a moment, enjoy those 70′s effects!

Imagine my surprise to find the entire movie on youtube.  Seeing this again after 30+ years was funny and little sad.

As a child, TV delivered the world to me and was my near constant companion.  One Saturday afternoon my friend, the TV, showed me “The Last Man on Earth” staring Vincent Price.  What really resonated for me were things like the burning pit and the bodies on the road and Vincent Price running about driving wooden stakes in to anyone he found.

On a side note, of the three movies based on the story “I am Legend” this one is the truest to the story.

There is a scene in “The Hand” (1981) in which a traffic accident culminates in Michael Caine’s character losing his hand.  I found that moment, when the hand flies free, to be more the a little disturbing.  Sadly, I can not find the clip I wanted for this post so the trailer will have to do.

When the subject of Bambi comes up, I don’t know of anyone that doesn’t think of Bambi’s mom.  As a child, it was the kind of thing that tears your heart out.  Even as an adult we are not completely immune.  So here it is…

As a kid, all I could wrap my mind around was; Evil robot eats dude and rules in hell…wow

In 1979, what became in my adulthood, one of my favorite flix was released, The Warriors.  I didn’t see this one until we got cable in late 1980 or early 1981 but I found the Baseball Furies very disturbing.  It was a combination of the bats, face paint and not speaking.  They had the feel of angry spirits or ghosts.

This is one I saw on cable when I was about 14 or so. If I could have burned my eyes from their sockets at the time I would have. The movie was “Slapstick of Another Kind” and not only must it put Jerry Lewis and Madeline Kahn in to incestuous positions but it is compelled to explain just what incest is and to do so in an uncomfortable way. This is done for a cheap laugh (which didn’t work) and also just in case you happen to be an audience member that is either too young to know or too sheltered to know what incest is. I myself could have gone a few more years (AT LEAST) with out such a creepy demonstration. To Hollywood I say; thank you for this complete and utter piece of SHIT!

Looking back on everything, it seems like lots of people were out to terrorize kids, or at least me. Maybe it’s a natural thing for humans to want to frighten one another or maybe my family is just “extra fun”. Well, this time it was my grandfather. Between the ages of four and seven, most Saturday afternoons were spent with my grandparents. My grandfather would go up to the front room and watch old horror movies, sometimes I would go with him. Looking at these movies now is nothing, but then, it was creepy stuff. Extra creepy on those days that the movie marathon continued beyond dusk. On those chilly evenings the room was lit only by the TV’s glow and a low fire in the fireplace. On just such a day we watched “The Creature from the Black Lagoon”…

It was months before I wanted to be near the water again.