Category: Name That Trauma!

Kinderpals,

I have a Name That Trauma and if anyone can help me to find the title I can promise him/her riches beyond imagining! (Which is tragic as they will need to imagine them as I am broke.)

Okay, a possibly made-for-T.V. movie with a GIL GERARD-ish-type male lead. Said male lead gets into a pissing match with a gang of untamed youth.

Traumatic scene:

Untamed youth lure the guy's St. Bernard out into the street and play catch with him while one of their friends plows pell-mell towards the dog in a car. They leave the dog's crumpled corpse on the male lead's front porch where he finds it and cries into its fur.

I had forgotten this until we adopted Homer, a St. Bernard, then it all came flooding back. He was most distressed when I told him about, but said that he felt strangely compelled to see it. So, to satisfy his want for canine horror, I really need to figure this out.

Thanks,

Dylan Donnie-Duke Dali Lama

UPDATE: NAME THAT TRAUMA SOLVED! Let's all give a big KINDERTRAUMA salute and welcome back hug to SENSKI who came out of hibernation today and solved this one with 1973's OUTRAGE! (We love you SENSKI!)

O.K., the first one may be easy. When I was about five, I was at my grandparent's house and saw a black and white movie where a tights and leotard wearing invisible woman was walking up a staircase. Then the tights I think fell away and it was just a leotard walking up the steps. It freaked me out so bad. I "think" it may have been an ABBOTT & COSTELLO movie but am not sure.

The second one is very vague and I don't expect an answer but I vaguely recall some kids had a box and in the box was a face or a head that could talk and I think its name was Chico. I could have that all wrong but that's what I seem to recall. Wondering if it was the INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS from the ‘70s… The Chico name really seems to stick with me though.

Any help???

I love the site and still love that you printed my FRIDAY THE 13TH trauma long ago. I have to ask if anyone can name the movie where the elderly tenants of an urban apartment complex kill their land lords, and anyone else who gets in the way of their routine lives, and bury them in cement.

I always remember the final shot of a person's foot sticking out of the still setting fresh cement. I know that it was shown on Showtime in the early eighties because I was traumatized and aroused by the "Aerobics" program they showed between movies. Keep up the great work!

Erczilla

UNK SEZ:: Erczilla, I know this one! That has got to be 1974's HOMEBODIES, a crafty little sleeper that enjoyed an extended lifespan thanks to frequent cable showings! As you said, HOMEBODIES is about a group of elderly folks who protect their home by murdering the developers that threaten it and it's a bit more grisly than one would expect. This is yet another film that needs to be rescued from obscurity as soon as possible. I think a remake starring the red hot BETTY WHITE is in order!

Hi guys,

I absolutely love your site, and it brought to mind a childhood trauma I'd finally managed to forget (thanks!) I must have been around 5 years old at the time, so this happened somewhere around 1994, but I get the feeling the movie was maybe a good deal older than that. I also don't think we had a VCR at the time, meaning this was a T.V. broadcast.

So, on to the trauma! My parents were watching a film, and all I remember about it is this particular scene that scared the living hell out of me at the time and for many years later. I have a pretty spotty memory but even now I can vividly recall the scene – this woman is strapped into a guillotine, but she's put into it the wrong way around – she's laying on her back instead of her stomach so she can see the blade about to descend.

There's this terrible tension as she's looking up at the blade, then suddenly it drops and decapitates her. I can't remember a single other thing about the movie, though I get the idea that it was definitely a modern setting despite the guillotine, and it may have had some weird religious theme.

My parents have denied ever watching such a thing when I've asked them recently, and no one else ever seems to know what I'm talking about.

Help me kindertrauma, you're my only hope!

-Rachael

UPDATE: NAME THAT TRAUMA SOLVED! Tip of the hat to kinderpal Taylor who knew that the beheading in question came from A THIEF IN THE NIGHT.

I really hope someone can solve this for me. It's a made-for-T.V. movie from either the late eighties or early nineties. All I remember is that it's about a boy with a stuffed dinosaur toy that comes to life. I think there is some sort of monster under the boy's bed. If I remember right, the dinosaur toy is attacked and has claw marks across its chest. Towards the end the boy hides under the covers and finds a tunnel that leads to a cave where the monster awaits.

It sounds a lot like NEW NIGHTMARE but this was definitely a made-for-T.V. and was family friendly.

Any ideas?

magired

UPDATE: NAME THAT TRAUMA SOLVED! Kudos to Unk for coming forward with LIVING WITH DINOSAURS!

Hello,

I'm really hoping your very excellent site can help me find this movie. I believe it's a horror film from either the ‘80s or early ‘90s (possibly late ‘70s but doubtful). My memory of it is vague and incomplete, but I remember certain parts of it.

I believe it takes place mostly (or at least it reaches its climax) in a nice, suburban-ish house, where a family or group of people resides. The movie features multiple killers, who are creepy (demented in some way), but I don't think they are supernatural or anything.

There are two scenes that stand out for me: one is a scene in a bedroom where a couple are in bed, possibly after having sex, and one of them is stabbed from under the bed by a killer, while another killer is in the closet. The other scene takes place outside the house at night, immediately outside the house, where a man (I think a plain-clothes police officer or some sort of authority figure) is shot with an arrow by one of the killers and I believe stuck to a tree, while the family/group of people watches fearfully from inside. I think the climax of the movie occurs soon after that scene, and while I'm not totally sure about this I think there's a fire and/or explosion in the house.

That's all the information I can recall, and I hope it's enough. I have been trying to remember the name of this movie for the longest time. It is definitely a kindertrauma for me. Your help is much appreciated.

-Ian

UPDATE: NAME THAT TRAUMA SOLVED! Special thanks to lottie_of_millhaven for knowing that this comes from ALONE IN THE DARK.

Dear kindertrauma,

Here is another old movie that I hope someone will recognize. There is a very pretty young lady (Miss Nywles) looking for her kin (I think, not sure) and she comes to an old house where she meets up with older witch types who tell her she is a descendant of the Selwyn family (the family name is turned around.) That is as much as I remember. The name has always stuck to my memories, so I know that part is true. I always got a chill watching the witches cast their spell with live pretty ladies.

Thanks,

saraeg

AUNT JOHN SEZ: Saraeg, the movie you are thinking of is 1960s THE CITY OF THE DEAD (a.k.a. HORROR HOTEL), which stars PATRICIA JESSEL as Elizabeth Selwyn, a witch burned at the stake in the 17th century who later returns as an inn keeper operating under the alias Mrs. Newless (Selwyn spoken backwards).

Speaking of backwards surnames, this Name That Trauma made me think of SUPER FRIENDS foil Mr. Mxyzptlk:

I just found your site and OMG, thank goodness! Maybe someone can help me Name That Trauma!

When I was little, I watched some show…it seems like it was a made-for-T.V. joint, but I don't know for sure. All I remember is that near the end, some bully kids walked up to the main character's cat and said, "TJ, is this your cat?" and then threw it into the street into the path of oncoming traffic! It didn't show the cat being hit or anything, it was all off screen like the shooting of BAMBI's mother. But I've carried that scene with me for YEARS and I can't figure out what show or movie it came from! PLEASE help!

Love the site, and thanks in advance!

Jes K.

UPDATE: NAME THAT TRAUMA SOLVED! Special thanks to kingmoody for being the first to come forward with J.T.

Hi there,

I was watching T.V. really late one night and this gruesome movie was on. It was so scary; I couldn't even finish watching it. Now I am curious about it but have no clue what it was called. What I can remember about it was this crazy guy running around, maybe running from someone or something, and everywhere he went or ended up at, he brutally killed whomever he encountered.

I think there was a motel clerk late at night and some lady he may have came across and scared her and she got onto a empty bus (she thought) trying to escape this psycho only to realize he was hiding on it. I think she even drove it down the road a bit thinking she had gotten away and here he comes from the back of the bus. She was terrified as was I and I changed the channel.

It seems to me it was from the late ‘70s or ‘80s. It was really scary. Kind of reminded me of THE HITCHER but worse. Any clue what this movie was called? Thanks.