MovieChat Forums > Invaders from Mars (1953) Discussion > Did this not scare you as a kid? Which f...

Did this not scare you as a kid? Which films still frighten you today?

posted 17 years ago by bgh48
20 replies | jump to latest

I'm a Baby Boomer now, but I swear to you (somewhat sheepishly) that I cannot watch this alone late at night, and especially not that (incredibly well done) nightmarish flashback scene at the end, with that music...and those eerie Menzies sets...I'm getting chills right now. And that alien head, silly though it may be, has a bizarre haunting quality to it. Other films I have trouble watching alone late at night are: MR.SARDONICUS; DR. X (1932); EYES WITHOUT A FACE; THE EXORCIST; THE HAUNTING; CABINET OF CALIGARI (1962 version); CARNIVAL OF SOULS, probably several others I can't recall right now but those are the main ones. How about you?

[–] 1NA2 17 years ago

Scared the @#% out of me as a kid. The loss of people you trust. People, "changing". Shivery.

THEM, THE HAUNTING, INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, cheesy effects didn't matter it, it was the ideas. Bad ideas, bad movies, but these were special. Also the last man on earth type fims.

Good post.

RD

[–] bgh48 17 years ago

Thank you. Oh, and I should add Diaboloque (original French version)

[–] Benedictus_scribebam 17 years ago

For me it was "It Came from Outer Space" -- I grew up in the desert, in Tucson, Arizona, and here was this alien ship landing in the desert and taking everyone over. The desert is really creepy at night, in the dark, with those shadowy things out there... I identified with Richard Carlson character for years while growing up. Guess I still do.

Even more embarrassing -- the other day I watched (the ultra fun and cheesy) "Invasion of the Saucer Men" not remembering I had even seen it ...until the scene where the alien's cut-off hand crawls into the car !!! Over forty years later, and I still remember those alien hand scenes in the car just like I'd seen them as a kid. Scared the daylights out of me then, still pretty creepy now too, though the rest of the movie is a real hoot.

--
"Hollywood makes movies for everyone because everyone has the money" - Pauline Kael

[–] bgh48 17 years ago

I can well imagine the desert being very eerie at night!

Come on, people, let's hear from you about which films still get to you!!

[–] Benedictus_scribebam 17 years ago

This would be a great topic to take over to the main Sci-fi board.

[–] bgh48 17 years ago

That would be rather limiting to only that genre, when I was interested to hear the full spectrum of the spooky, including mystery, supernatural, fantasy, as well.

[–] rdsla 17 years ago

Yeah, me too, this movie scared the bejeebers out of me when I saw it around age 6 or 7......

[–] mlraymond 17 years ago

I saw this movie at a YMCA Halloween party when I was about nine or ten.All the young boys assembled in our costumes were totally involved in this movie, because it so realistically shows the fear and confusion of a young boy, who was the same age. The most frightening part for me was the way the lovable, kindly parents changed into harsh, cold and violent people. What could be more threatening to a child? Then the police chief turns out to have been taken over also; no wonder the boy becomes paranoid about all adults. The other thing that really got to us was the spooky music whenever someone disappears into the sand pit, a kind of unearthly chorus singing a wordless melody. For some reason, that is one of the most effectively unnerving things I've ever seen/heard in a horror movie.

Movies that still scare me as an adult include The Haunting (1963 version), Curse of the Demon, Psycho, Night of the Hunter, Cape Fear ( 1962 version), The Innocents, Eyes Without a Face. Interesting that almost all of these come from the early Sixties. That seems to have been a really fertile period for intelligent horror thrillers.

And when he crossed the bridge, the phantoms came to meet him

[–] grandduchessnoir 17 years ago

I remember seeing this movie on one of the local television stations in New York City when "Chiller Theater," "Creature Features," "Supernatural Theater," and "Panic Theater" were part of the weekend lineup -- at least most of the time. It totally freaked me out, especially when the poor victims slipped underground with that music playing! I brought the movie up with a colleague about my age, who waved her hand as if to say, "don't say it! don't mention it!" To this day, I still have a hard time watching "Curse of the Demon" and a sort of 1950's grade "B" horror teenage type movie called "The Return of Dracula" with Francis Lederer as cousin Bellack (sp?). See I still remember his name!

[–] cwente2 16 years ago

This film (original '53 version) scared HELL out of me as a kid! I must have been about 7. Saw it a few years ago on TV and it STILL scared the hell out of me! Something about the atmosphere, music, ambiance of the thing generally -- SOMETHING! . . . The remake can't hold a candle to it.

[–] jerrodsdad3721 16 years ago

Oh yeah, this one scared the bijimminies out of me. I guess I was 6 or 7 the first time I saw it. Who wouldn't be scared at watching those people getting sucked into the sand pit and I still remember one of the characters about ready to get the drill into the back of her neck. Another one that scared the carrots out of me was "The Crawling Hand". It was the hand of an astronaut who was killed in space. The hand comes back and kills people. The ending of the movie was just too delicious. Don't remember "Eyes Without A Face" Gotta see that one.

[–] midnitelamp 16 years ago

indeed,this was the only movie to ever scare me,and i really cannot remember being more scared all these years later. it was even scarier watching it on a b+w tv.

[–] KStrick662 16 years ago

As another poster here I was raised in Teaneck N.J. I saw this on Chiller theater....I had nightmares for weeks...to bad they don't make em this anymore.

Keith

[–] maxman-5 15 years ago

it was even scarier watching it on a b+w tv.

YES!

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] bananabry 9 years ago

it was even scarier watching it on a b+w tv.

YES!

Absolutely!

[–] NxNWRocks 11 years ago

This absolutely terrified me as a kid.

"Worthington, we're being attacked by giant bats!"

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] flyer-50463 8 years ago

I was born in 1954, so I am the age of the film. I grew up in the 50's. I still find it stupid, sometimes boring. It never scared me. However the ending did give me chills.

I do recognize it as a classic.

Films that scared me were Invasion of the Body Snatchers-the original. Thed Giant Claw was another scary film for me.

[–] GeoSlv 8 years ago

I was 7 or 8 at the time. I can't say it "scared" me, but it was appropriately exciting. Don't think it did harm either. At the same time a film that did scare me in the theater was Phantom from Outer Space. The part in the lab where the helmet is suspended in the air and the theremin music is creepy. Maybe that's why my bladder struck and I was forced to go out for a couple minutes.
I can't think of anything that scares me now.