I have never been a fan of scary movies because the plot line scares me even after the protagonists have solved the problem. After having watched a scary movie, when I was little, I would have to shower with the shower curtains open a considerable way just to make sure that no one was coming out of the toilet, the sink, or was trying to come in to suddenly appear in front of me. Even if these things were highly unlikely in real life, in scary films, these situations always worked and was used to the advantage of the enemy. I was a highly imaginative child and I still am very creative but it bothers me that perhaps this is the reason I cannot watch scary films. There were many films that bothered me as a kid but I will give you two prime examples of that horror.
After watching a movie or two about "Chuckie," I haven’t been able to look at dolls and other action figures the same way since I was a kid. I am fine buying toys for kids and I have no problem in playing with them with the kids while the parents are busy and yet sometimes I still wonder about how inanimate they are. It is absolutely crazy to think that these toys can come alive but I believe that the sheer horror that I experienced as a child when I saw these toys turn evil, have impacted me for the rest of my life. It’s sort of like the irrational fear of spiders; house and garden spiders do no harm but the fear is still there. I don’t have a fear of dolls but I do have a slight aversion to them. It has died down quite a lot since I was a kid but as soon as I watch another "Chuckie" movie, I bet it will spike up.
After snippets of the film It, I cannot look at or feel comfortable being in the same vicinity of clowns to this day. I had nightmares as a kid that a clown would kidnap me, set me in the middle of an open cliff, and drive around in an ice cream truck with a rifle ready to kill me. What made it worse is that the dreams happened exactly the same way every single time and it always felt like I would never wake up. I always managed to wake up right when I feared he was going to shoot. Imagine having these recurring dreams for years on end; being 4-7 years old. My fear of clowns has lowered a bit but I still do not want them around me.
The problem with scary movies is that they so easily get in my head because things are always possible. Now that there is a huge surge in technological advancement, having a robot think or be programmed to think for itself is becoming a reality. These dolls in the "Chuckie" movies think for themselves and make decisions; who’s to say we don’t get into a situation with dolls and robots like in the film iRobots. Clowns on the other hand, in my opinion are creeps. When it comes down to it, who’s to say that that isn’t Joe Shmo behind that makeup? Everyone can hide behind that including dangerous people and so who really is that person? Scary films make things real and they open up realms of possibility that I didn’t hope to think about. I can watch these films but it will leave long-lasting after thoughts depending on how convincing they can be and as a gullible kid, everything was, and now as an adult who’s interested in filming and screenwriting, I entertain the thought.
