My 13 year old daughter was traumatized by this movie today - Dante's Peak (1997) Discussion

[–] sundance65 18 years ago

Oh maybe get here to watch Twister next, Philip Seymour Hoffman is awesome in it Paxton and Hunt are okay Elwes wooden, as well the psychologist is funny even though she isn't supposed to be, as well as the left, right, left, right scene I almost split my sides laughing (you aren't supposed to be laughing at that scene)

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[–] timhoward1111 11 years ago

When you watch Twister, great comments, "We got Sisters!" or "WE'RE GOIN IN"! Yeh, Hoffman was great! I love movies like thus!

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[–] yoshi_1554 18 years ago

I'm not surprised. I remember being 10 or 11 the first time I saw this movie and even though when I watch it today I see how 'unscary' it is, I was so scared the first time that I watched it (Nightmares for weeks). There are a lot of scenes that there is just ... no escape, and I think that's a scary thing. Plus Natural Disaster movies are always scary, because thats stuff that could actually happen. You see the reality in it more than fantasy movies that are scary.

I can't believe they're showing this movie in schools. Although when I was in 6th grade, we were forced to watch a movie about the Holocaust in which (many things happen but this sticks out in my head) a little boy is torn apart by dogs. And we didn't even need parental permission for it (it was VERY traumatizing).

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] yoshi_1554 18 years ago

...
I'm sure there are TONS of movies scarier than Dante's Peak... but that's not the point.

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] bob_oh24 18 years ago

hmm i watched it when it first came it. 1997 i was 13 i think. yeh i rember it scared me (i lived near Mt. Rainer at the time.) but as it states above, i think all natural disaster movies are scary cause they can and will happen.

cept Volcano. that's just stupid.

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[–] natie-4 15 years ago

i feel like younger kids dont pick up on bad acting, I used to watch power rangers when i was 8 and tried to watch it now and the acting hurt my brain

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[–] Barloq 17 years ago

I saw it a while ago (when I was 10 maybe), and I was only a little freaked out when I saw granny's legs burned off. I kinda like disaster movies, though.

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[–] Huttah07 17 years ago

I watched it today for the first time, and that scene with Ruth and the boat and her legs getting messed up, I dunno that scene just won't leave me.

And I can see how this movie would be really scary, I was terrified by stuff like that at her age.

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[–] emmys314 17 years ago

That's the scene that traumitized me a few years ago. I absolutely refused to ever watch the movie agian just because of that one scene. Now, we're watching it in school. A lot of people I know feel the same way about that scene, like the first time they saw it when they were 12 or so they cried because of it.

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[–] markochris 17 years ago

I can understand being a little bit shook up by watching a volcano movie - yes volcanos are awesome things i should know, I was living in Seattle in the early 1980's when Mt. St. Helens erupted - for real: not in a movie. Yes people died, even though there was an almost two week notice about it. And what did many people (myself included) do when we found out that "something's up with the mountain"? We took rides on various weekends to see it! That mountain had its first big eruption at 8:05 on a Sunday morning and to tell you the truth, if it had gone off later, I might have been there that day and may not have been able to write this message - if you get my drift. It was to say the least very real, but to need to see a psychologist because of seeing this movie - puleeze ! Actually, when I grew up I started off majoring in geology and meteorology (also because of wanting to know more about violent storms) - but eventually got my degree in geography.

The earth is a living breathing organism and sometimes it just does what it's going to do. In the meanwhile - it's our job to enjoy the time we're given on it and serve the Creator of it - not live in fear of the creation.

Just remember - THIS IS AN ACTION / SUSPENCE MOVIE. Any such movie which doesn't do a little but of shaking you up didn't do it's job and I'd want my money back.

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[–] Steven2290 17 years ago

I saw it when it first came out, so i was 7. Didn't effect me at all, but then again at that point I knew a movie was a movie.

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[–] Jamiec523 10 years ago

I'm not gonna lie, the first time I watched this I was about 9 or 10 and I was a bit....freaked out by the hot springs scene and when Ruth helps them in the boat...it just..yuck...had trouble taking baths for awhile lol.

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[–] slimshady_bum 18 years ago

i was 8 when i first watched it and it's not scary at all, the only way it would be scary to me is if i lived near a volcano, now twister, that scared the hell out of me

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[–] TerminatorGirl86 18 years ago

ok cami this is completely normal
here is MY story (rofl)
when i saw this when i was about that age or younger.. i was extremely freaked out, i have no idea why, i had no problems with volcanoes before the film and i dont at the moment, but something about it was just.. horrifying lol

i saw this film with my dad and left just before the bridge collapsed. i went out and sat in the bathroom in a cubicle, shaking and scared to death. i didnt go back to watch the rest of the film.

when i got home i was still shaking and i dont think i slept much.
maybe a few days or weeks later and this thing we now refer to as 'the string' came along. for some reason i thought that if a volcano was to erupt near my house (i live nowhere near a volcano infact i dont think theres any in the whole of australia that are active lol), that i would be the first to die or something i dont know.
so i got a real long piece of wool, and made loops in both ends and i made my mum sleep with one end on her hand, and i slept with the other on mine. and the thing went that when i pulled on the string to see if she was still there, shed pull back. i know that sounds extremely selfish and stupid but hey i was only little lol.

when i was in high school for our science class we had to study the film dantes peak! at this stage i was over the whole thing and when i told my parents about having to study it they were hysterical ith laughter lol.

anyway my main point is YES it is normal to be scared of this film. however the whole string *beep* is probably not lol.

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[–] vandy95 18 years ago

I'm from Indiana, so "Children of the Corn" scared me the most... Now it did have that cult of demonic children too, but I still don't like to be in a cornfield.

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[–] hgrainger 17 years ago

I'll just share this, then on the whole "String" episode...

When I was anything from 11 years old up, I used to stay up late at the weekend, with my Dad, and watch the horror movie. This would be back in the late 60s, early 70s, so before round-the-clock TV and hence the movie might start at 2200 or 2230.

Anyway, I was pretty scared by all this, even though I really wanted to stay up and see these films. So I got a bell-push. The plastic box with a button on the front that you wire up at your front door to sound an electric bell in your house. Then I wrapped duct tape round it and added a long needle as an aerial. Every time I got really scared, I'd press the button on my "Gizmo" and I'd feel a lot better.

It's a coping strategy, or a crutch, or a support mechanism, or some other fancy psych name. And it helps, and you can look back on it and smile and that's just darn fine!

Your String? That was a telephone line to safety. Well done. And do it for your kids too.

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[–] TerminatorGirl86 17 years ago

Hg did you mean the string that i had.. (long piece of green wool lol)?
I feel so sorry for my mum having to wear this things for like a year or something haha. i think most of the time she tied it to her bedside table draw handle instead of having it on her hand haha. kids are so stupid lol.. ow this string will protect me!!!

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[–] TerminatorGirl86 18 years ago

that actually coming from someone whose favourite film at this age was terminator lol

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[–] lmb100 18 years ago

The movie irself is a respectable B move but not especially realistically frightening. However, children are put in some frightening situations, and underlying anxieties could have been triggered. When I was a 13 year old girl I went into anxiety states without a whole lot of reason, way out of proportion to whatever caused them. I grew out of it.

I agree with the former poster, I cannot imagine why any school would bother showing this movie. The science is unrealistic and the film itself is not very good. If they had to fill time with a film, there is a wide selection of good ones. That's a question for your principal.

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[–] crooked_spoons 18 years ago

The first time i saw this movie i was about 9 or 10 and i completely remember being scared to death. I have no idea why now..but i guess back then the concept of volcanoes is pretty horrifying, as you don't learn too much about volcanoes, especially the ones in America in early grade school education. I couldn't understand it. I had always thought that volcanoes were some nonexistent monster-like thing that could only be found in foreign countries

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[–] onetimeonly 18 years ago

Dumb movie to show in school. I remember them showing Shane to us back in junior high (middle) school in the 1970s. Made sense because of the straightforward morality of the tale- and it being a classic film too. If they're going to show a film about volcanoes skip a drama like Dante's Peak and show documentaries about the real thing- there's tons of footage on Mt St Helens and the science behind it as well as other volcanoes around the world.

No volcanic eruption the scale of the one depicted in Dante's Peak would EVER creep up and burst forth to such a dim-witted populace as the one in this movie. But there's little drama waiting around for a volcano to erupt in an area long cordoned off by the authorities like in the St Helens case! (laugh)

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[–] im_sofa_king_cool 18 years ago

yea i was a little freaked when my teacher showed this movie to us in 7th grade. so don't worry, your daughter isn't the only one

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[–] omoo22 18 years ago

I saw this film when I was about 30 and was startled, but not traumatised.
But then, I always find Pierce Brosnan a comforting presence...

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[–] dwalker-24 18 years ago

The movie isn't scarey at all. Some scenes can be startling, which is why the movie is rated PG-13 in the USA.
The school's psychologist is probably relating valcanoes to tornadoes in the way that they are both natural disasters. In reality, they're completely different.
If you don't live anywhere near a valcano, tell your daughter it's okay to be afraid; however, you're not near any and there's no way they can affect her.
Also, sit down with her and research real valcanoes.
Although they can destructive, they're extremely interesting as well.

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[–] TllGrl93 18 years ago

i was very scared the first time i saw it when i was like 8. i felt unsafe even thought there arent any volanoes in new york. there were just certain parts that freaked me out soo much. especially when they show the grandmas legs after she gets out of the water. i still have the picture in my head and it still shakes me up.

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[–] 18 years ago

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