A pick of our favourite reader responses to a question raised by Jaws’ 50th anniversary: which films did you watch at too young an age…?
Last week, in the wake of Jaws’ 50th anniversary, we asked: what films did you see at too young an age? For this writer it was – surprise, surprise – the TV premiere of the aforementioned 1975 shark thriller, which made such an impression on my four year-old mind that I refused to paddle in the sea for months afterwards.
“It was Jaws for me too,” says Film Stories reader Big Dunc. “I was seven when it was on TV for the first time, and I made it as far as the head popping out of the boat. I then took myself to bed but couldn’t sleep because I was too freaked out. I’m pretty sure I slept with the light on for a few weeks after that. It was years later when I finally got to watch it and actually see the shark…”
Below, then, is a selection of our favourite responses to that ‘too much, too young’ question. Some well known classic horror films of the 1970s inevitably figure, but let’s kick off with an animated movie that famously terrorised an entire generation of kids…
“The other film that sticks in my mind is Watership Down. My mum took me to see it when I was four. I don’t remember being traumatised by it like many others, but I do remember finding General Woundwort terrifying. I think it was also the film that really introduced me to death, especially with Hazel dying of old age at the end. I remember standing outside the ABC cinema in Norwich just sobbing, and asking my mum why he had to die.” (Big Dunc, Film Stories comments.)
“Galaxy of Terror in a theatre. It had a comic book-style poster so my 6th grade self badgered my divorced, weekend warrior duty Pops to see it, and he relented. Very educational, was way too young. Some of James Cameron’s earliest work in filmmaking, though. Could’ve done way worse.” (Emonxie, Bluesky)
[Roger Corman produced the Alien, er, ‘homage’ Galaxy Of Terror in 1981, which starred Robert England, Sid Haig and Erin Moran from Happy Days, whose head explodes. A young James Cameron produced the special effects.]
“When I was quite young, under ten I think, I was a big fan of the TV series of Blue Thunder. My parents went out one night and left me with the neighbours for baby sitting but they rented me Blue Thunder the film, knowing how much I loved the show. As you’ll know the film is VERY different in tone. Some of it opened my little eyes quite wide! And it also turned out the F in JAFO did not stand for ‘frustrated’.” (Richhoops, Film Stories comments.)
[The original Blue Thunder, released in 1983, was rated 15 for its swearing, violence and brief scenes of naked yoga.]
“Friday The 13th: Part 2, aged 8.” (Jamie Graham, Bluesky.)
“The earliest I can recall was being 10 and a friend, whose mother worked at the local flea pit and who would leave one of the rear doors open for him, sneaked us both into a screening of The Haunting. One of the scariest films I’ve ever seen and I struggle to watch today. (Big D, Film Stories comments.)
“I watched Scream's network premiere on Channel 4 while my dad was on nights and my mam was upstairs with my younger brothers. I was 10.” (Mark Harrison, Bluesky.)
“American Werewolf [In London]… I loved it. I was maybe six years old. Did I find it scary? No, not really; the underground scene creeped me out, and I still get a shiver down the spine if I find myself walking down a tube corridor alone, especially at night. But overall I was more enthralled by the spectacle, and the fantastic effects. At around the same time, I watched The Neverending Story, and the wolf in that absolutely put the shits up me. WAY scarier than American Werewolf. And with the horse scene, far more distressing. And nowhere near as funny.” (David Heslop, Film Stories comments.)
“Saturn 3. I probably would have been five or six at the time.” (Ben Becalel, Bluesky.)
[The 1980 sci-fi flop Saturn 3 was directed by Stanely Donen (yes, Singin’ In The Rain’s Stanley Donen), and starred Farrah Fawecett, Kirk Douglas, Harvey Keitel and a weird robot. Keitel had his voice dubbed by another actor; Douglas refused to keep his clothes on.]
“I definitely saw Wes Craven’s Swamp Thing when I was still in primary school. Mum and dad must have assumed it was cool because the extremely short lived cartoon series was on around the same time. I wasn’t scared by it, but I definitely found the grotesqueness and how heartless and evil the villains were quite unsettling. Haven’t seen it since, but images from it have been lodged in there ever since.” (Jesse Heisenberg, Film Stories comments.)
“Repulsion at around age 12 if I recall correctly.”(Amy Hall, Bluesky.)
“Arachnophobia had a big impact – for months after seeing it on TV, I checked my slippers before putting them on and tried to keep my eyes open as long as possible while washing my hair.” (Foximus Prime, Film Stories comments.)
“1987, I was nine. My dad brought home VHS copies of RoboCop and Predator he got from a ‘bloke at work’…. we did the double bill on a school night under the agreement ‘don’t tell your mum.’” (Brian Comber, Facebook.)
“The big one for me was Alien… when I was somewhere between 6-8, my Dad decided to show me Alien late one night. I made it through the chest burster scene, but that had shaken me up and put me on edge. Then, when the crew starts looking through the Nostromo for the creature, the tension, and suspense just put me over the edge and I couldn’t take it any more. It might have been the attack on Brett that was the final straw.” (John, Film Stories comments.)
“One that really stands out is when I caught the end of Society on TV when I was about 9 or 10. It had the dude from Baywatch in it.That image is still burned in my brain (I’m 44 now).” (Flic Rair, Film Stories comments.)
“When I was seven years old in 1982, my parents, for some reason, took me to see Poltergeist in the theaters. I had nightmares for weeks afterward, never been able to watch it again.” (Michael Weyer, Film Stories comments.)
“The Exorcist – age 12. Saw it on VHS (one of the giant old Warner Bros video cases) – it didn’t scare me whilst watching it, but it stayed with me literally for decades. I’ve probably only just shaken off my fear now, yet it still has the power to unnerve me.” (RighteousBrother, Film Stories comments.)
[Let’s bring things full circle with a final anecdote about Jaws – and electric toastie makers, which scarred a generation of kids in a more physical sense…]
“I can remember missing Jaws on TV while I was at Cubs. Watched shortly after at a friend’s on their VCR as part of a double bill with Alien while we ate toasted sandwiches with scalding fillings from a Breville.” (Adam Bell, Twitter.)
