MovieChat Forums > The Fly (1986) Discussion > I needed therapy to get over this movie....

I needed therapy to get over this movie...

posted 10 years ago by douglas-trueman
38 replies | jump to latest

I know that sounds like a ridiculous claim, but it's true. I saw the trailer for this film when I was 11 years old (back in 1986) and it scarred me for twenty years. I was diagnosed with OCD when I was older, and I couldn't escape the horrific images and sounds I was exposed to as a kid because my OCD kept them looping in my mind. There's also mounting evidence that people can suffer Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from merely being exposed to things like this, and the American Psychiatric Association recently reclassified PTSD as a trauma-induced condition. They also lowered the threshold for what children require to experience life-altering trauma.

I gave a presentation to a group of medical students about my struggles with this movie and what it took for me to get over it. I filmed it and put it online on YouTube here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aWbADwBVLg

It's a long presentation but anyone watching can skip through the non-movie parts. If anyone has anything to say about it, let me know.

Cheers,

-d-

[–] winterview 10 years ago

You will probably want to avoid Re-animator . . .

[–] dragonstephen-1 10 years ago

it took me weeks to get this film out of my head and I saw it on t.v. God knows what it was like on a big screen

Amy Adams and Jenifer Lawrence chained me up and had their wicked way

[–] ccr1633 10 years ago

Wait...the trailer alone scarred you?

[–] douglas-trueman 10 years ago

Yes, the trailer alone. I was 11 and it changed my life. God only knows what had happened if I had scene the actual film.

[–] ccr1633 10 years ago

douglas-trueman wrote:

Yes, the trailer alone. I was 11 and it changed my life. God only knows what had happened if I had scene the actual film.

Give it a shot. Test the limits of therapy.

[–] dsims8 10 years ago

Yeah this film was on my mind for weeks. It was crazy how a well healthy man watched himself slowly leave his humanity and ended up turning into an insect monster. It was a very traumatizing thing to watch.

[–] ccr1633 10 years ago

I agree. The most comparable film of the period with similarly nauseating special effects is The Thing, and even that wasn't quite as disturbing. Seth's self-awareness of his transformation and his human form falling apart is much more difficult to stomach.

[–] oh_no_mrbill 10 years ago

Oh god the shot of his face falling apart at the end. That single image was one of the most horrifying things I've ever seen.

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] Misha0809 10 years ago

I saw the film when I was 9 or 10 and it gave me nightmares ... the film creeped me out. I love this film.

[–] Tayte 10 years ago

@douglas-trueman - So do you think they should not show such movies on TV or something like that ?

[–] joshua_carpino 10 years ago

i myself was traumatized by the 1958 version at age 4(i also suffer from OCD).

[–] Ten-Inch-Toni 10 years ago

I'm not Douglas-trueman but I'll weigh in here. Back in the days of commercial and free TV there was a time frame for appropriate viewing.

Morning was morning cartoons, news and weather.
During the day was daytime soaps, game shows and preschool programs and sitcoms like Bewitched, My Favorite Martian.
Afternoon was basically the same but might include some sort of old afternoon movie usually a comedy or an old monster flick like Frankenstein. And then the after school specials. And the half-hour sitcoms that were extremely family friendly. Like the Munsters, Courtship of Eddie's Father, Julia, Speed Racer, I Dream of Jeanie, Lost In Space, Emergency, Adam-12.
Dinner time was the 6 o'clock news. Sundays would have the Wonderful World of Disney, The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau, Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom,
Seven PM might have some special movie if it was a holiday. Westerns like Gunsmoke, Bonanza, and cops shows like Barnaby Jones, Columbo,

After 9pm was the more gritty shows and movies like The Streets of San Francisco etc.
. 9 o'clock being generally accepted by middle class America as the latest a kid 13 and younger would be up. Most kids age 11 and younger were in bed by 8 or 8:30.

10 O'clock News, Johnny Carson, old B flicks.

There was ALWAYS a disclaimer at the beginning of any movie or even an episode that might deal with something objectionable, terrifying or considered to be graphic that would popup on the screen with the Network announcer reading the disclaimer. Something like "Ladies and Gentlemen the following program may have scenes that are graphic and deal with adult subject matter. Please use caution if younger family members are in the room." Or something like that. I'm certain youtube probably has some old clip available.

Saturday mornings always cartoons. Midday were sitcoms and comedies or monster movies with Karloff and Lugosi. Afternoon, more movies and Bowling For Dollars.

Evenings more Westerns and late night would be Saturday Night Live, Wolfman Jack, Studio 54, SCTV, Monty Python.

Oh, and I also have problems with OCD and ADD, Pressure of Speech, social anxiety issues myself.

A gold star to every one that gets through this in one piece. heh.

It's entirely possible that I am missing the point of your message.

[–] sahandc3-1 10 years ago

Something tells me David Cronenberg would be delighted to hear this haha.

Did you ever see the movie? The special effects are kinda dated now, so I don't think it's as terrifying as it was back then.

[–] NonSequiturL 9 years ago

Dated? Tell me one single film from the last ten years with effects that have the ability to produce such a visceral reaction in the viewer like the ones in this movie do.

[–] Good_Citizen 10 years ago

You need help dude

[–] trunksofac 10 years ago

Did you actually read the thread? He got help.

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] A_Friend_of_Sarah_Connor 10 years ago

How the fck are the FX dated? They look incredible even for today.

"Some men are coming to kill us. We're gonna kill them first."

[–] Ten-Inch-Toni 10 years ago

I'm with you, this film is not dated. Even the female clothing although it's the 80s style is somewhat muted. laughing at myself: it should be male attire not mail attire. Ha!the mail attire is also not as garish or even Miami Vice-ish as it could be. The hairstyles aren't too out there either. The bar scene could be any bar during any decade from the 70s to now.

I gotta say, when he broke that guys arm that look terrifyingly real. I've seen live arm-wrestling matches where a guy's forearm got snapped. Dreadful.

It's entirely possible that I am missing the point of your message.

I just finished watching this. I hadn't seen it since it was first released. It's still sad and terrifying as hell. The fx are still so realistic.

[–] manram24 10 years ago

Yes I just watched it again and it's very sad, the ending always gets me teary eyed, no joke.

[–] Ten-Inch-Toni 10 years ago

You indictment that the OP may be trolling because of the use of the word scene instead of seen isn't proof, either. I've often gotten homophones confused in my writing especially when both words will be used in the text. IMHO the only way you might get a feel for trolling if it exists here is to go to the link and review it. If the OP really was a very sensitive 11 year old I can see something like a graphic film bite could be psychologically disturbing. I've made the link clickable for you, if you wish to use it. At the time of my writing this sentence I have not as yet reviewed this link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aWbADwBVLg

It's entirely possible that I am missing the point of your message.

[–] Jose_Accent_On_E 10 years ago

I've often gotten homophones confused in my writing especially when both words will be used in the text.

I believe I (along with colleagues) have determined, if not the precise origin of this phenomenon, a means of its prediction via correlation with other observable characteristics. I have hinted at this in other posts I have made on this here forum, but am not prepared/comfortable to discuss this in public.

[–] Ten-Inch-Toni 10 years ago

Oh wow, I have no idea what you are talking about.

It's entirely possible that I am missing the point of your message.