kindertrauma

Kinder-News :: Rob Zombie's H2 vs Final-D in 3-D!

Posted on By unkle lancifer

This weekend should prove to be a riveting one for horror fans as ROB ZOMBIE's sequel to his take on slasher-piece HALLOWEEN goes head to head with the fourth installment of the increasingly popular FINAL DESTINATION franchise. I know not everyone is a fan of ZOMBIE's last effort but yours truly is and even naysayers have to admit that the most recent released TRAILER looks pretty interesting ( C'mon haters, at least agree that THE MOODY BLUES' "Nights in White Satin" is used to amazing effect!). Of course being "interesting" may not be enough when combating the awesomeness that is the perfect marriage of disaster porn and 3-D that THE FINAL DESTINATION offers. Then again, only one of the two films offers a WEIRD AL cameo…decisions, desisions. My only option is to see both but I encourage everyone to see at least one. I can't guarantee either film's quality but something tells me that either way you're going to have a fun time. When was the last time you got to sit in a movie theater filled with like minded horror fans looking for a good scare? C'mon, it's time to support our favorite genre, plus just think about it kids, popcorn, blood and air conditioning, what's not to love?

Trauma-Scene :: Fire In The Sky

Posted on By unkle lancifer

When a group of good ol' boy loggers return from the woods missing one of their group, foul play is suspected. Nobody wants to believe their tale of watching their buddy get abducted by an alien space ship. Days later the missing man reappears naked and injured and eventually recounts his experience through a vivid flashback. FIRE IN THE SKY (1993) which is based on actual accounts (!), is more of an investigative thriller than anything else. Its small scale, dialogue driven nature though, may mislead you into thinking that it doesn't also house one of the most trauma inducing scenes ever filmed (don't believe me, check out these unsolicited testimonials HERE.)

If you are an adult it's scary, if you are a kid it's super scary and if you are a survivor of alien abduction, well, then it's just plain unwatchable….

NOTE: More scary aliens HERE!

Traumafessions :: From the Makers of Frayed…

Posted on By unkle lancifer

KURT SVENNUNGSEN – FRAYED Co-writer, Producer:

I can't just name one particular film that scared me as a kid. It all took place in 1981, at the ripe age of ten. I saw THE EXORCIST, HALLOWEEN and FRIDAY THE 13th PART II. I'm sure my parents were pissed, because that was my year of nightmares and waking them up in the middle of the night scared shitless that Jason was after me. That year was the beginning of my fascination with horror. I think JOHN CARPENTER says it best as to why we love horror, "Fear is our most primal emotion."

NORBERT CAOILI – FRAYED Co-writer, Co-director, Co-Producer, Editor, Composer:

'70s and early '80s horror movies definitely take the cake as having traumatized me as a child, forever burning horrific images in my brain that, to this day, I still can't shake. When I'm alone at night in the dark, they creep back into my brain and make the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. The one that stands out the most would have to be the '70s horror movie BURNT OFFERINGS. This movie had it all – a haunted house, a chilling score, massive suspense, and two of the most unforgettable horror characters to ever appear on screen – KAREN BLACK as Mrs. Allardyce and ANTHONY JAMES, the sinister, smiling chauffeur. I was only 7 years old when I saw BURNT OFFERINGS on HBO and I still remember how I trembled in fear for many nights afterwards, hiding under the sheets, thinking they were going to come into my room at any minute and get me! I will never forget that end scene where Karen Black turns to Oliver Reed, creepily stares at him, with the most chilling violin strings since PSYCHO, and says "I've been waiting for you, Ben!" Then he jumps out (or is thrown out of) the window and lands face-first into the car windshield. A lot of movies lose their creep factor as we grow older, but, for me, this one does not. To this day, when I watch that scene, my heart starts beating faster and my body tenses up. The suspense in that film, like so many films of that era, was so gripping and agonizingly drawn out. It's a style that sadly has been lost in the modern age of fast-paced, short attention span world we live in.

On that note, I have to give a shout out to HALLOWEEN (1978) – the granddaddy of slashers and one of my beloved favorites. I never knew how terrifying a white mask and an eerie piano soundtrack could be. It was the film that got me hooked on horror and made me want to become a filmmaker.

ROB PORTMANN – Co-Director, Co-Writer, Co-Producer:

"Creepy little girls in white dresses" movies scare me. The movie was THE HOUSE THAT WOULD NOT DIE (1970) starring BARBARA STANWYCK. I remember being about 6 or 7 and I couldn't sleep. So I went into the living room to tell my parents. They were watching this "Haunted House" movie. I sat down and watched for awhile. I only watched about 10 minutes. What I saw gave me nightmares for years. It showed a family finding human bones under this house and a "creepy little girl in a white dress" calling in a ghostly voice from the other side of a misty creek. "Aimee, come home," she called. I couldn't shake that eerie image. It freaked me out!!!

THE EXCORCIST then took the "creepy little girl" thing to a whole different level. I will never get that nightmare out of my head, no matter how hard I try!!! That's why, to this day, even though the "creepy little girl" is pretty much standard in every other horror flick that comes out now, it still does the job and scares the hell out of me!!!

UNK SEZ: Thanks guys, for the excellent traumafessions and for keeping the spirit of '70s and '80s horror alive with FRAYED! All you kids out there, FRAYED is being released on DVD tomorrow, make sure you pick up a copy or two (they make great gifts!) at better retailers everywhere. As for now check out this scary scene…

Traumafessions :: Reader Kawaiihanyou on All Dogs Go to Heaven

Posted on By aunt john

ALL DOGS GO TO HEAVEN. Seems innocent enough, right? It can't be bad telling from the title, can it? It involved dogs, one of my favorite animals and heaven? Heaven is a good thing, right?

WRONG.

I can't remember how old (maybe 7 or 9) I was when I saw this movie, but when I think about it, this one scene from near the end of the movie replays in my head: One of the dogs being dragged down to hell by this black demon things spurring out of the concrete. It scared the hell outta me and I couldn't watch it again.

Unfortunately, I was made to watch it again, when I was twelve or eleven. I was at a friend's house and I couldn't bear to watch it. I couldn't watch the poor innocent dogs get killed and be sent back and fourth between heaven and hell. That's a great thing to be showing kids, right? Dogs being killed only to be dragged down to the pits of hell. Riiight…

It's been years since I've seen the movie but it still sparks a bad feeling when I think about it. But I gotta know if I was the only one bothered by this movie or not.

AUNT JOHN SEZ: Nope, you are not alone on this one… just ask Reader Miriam67.

Kindertrauma Funhouse :: Frayed Contest!

Posted on By unkle lancifer

It's Friday again and time for another exciting episode of Kindertrauma Funhouse! You'll notice that the comments section is closed, that's because today we have a special prize to be awarded! Whoever identifies the most movies from the ten images below will win a copy of the brand new slasher film FRAYED! Now, this copy has been opened and watched exactly once by me but I promise it is in good condition. Do you have what it takes to be the first on your block (provided you don't live on my block) to check out this fine film? Good luck, kiddies! Send your answers to kindertrauma@gmail.com. The winner will be announced later tonight!- Unk L

UPDATE: Answers revealed… comments section OPEN!

Traumafessions :: Reader Bigwig on Fat Albert ep. "Busted"

Posted on By aunt john

Hey Aunt and Unk:

FAT ALBERT AND THE COSBY KIDS was always a main staple of Saturday mornings, with good ole' Albert becoming the moralistic voice of reason countering the bad decisions of his cronies.

"You shouldn't pick on little Ginny, just because she's deaf! Hey Hey Hey!"

But somewhere down the line, there was an episode where they just happened to wind up in a stolen car, and were given a tour of a Philadelphia prison in an attempt to be SCARED STRAIGHT by the police. I'm not kidding. I had read a post earlier this year about a gun violence FAT ALBERT episode. I would wager this came from the same "unsyndicated, no holds barred" season.

Does anyone remember how out of place and unsettling this was? Granted there was no profanity, but it was certainly not something for a 6 year old, and I doubt teenagers were the target audience of the show.

I remember my sister and I transfixed by this prison house of horrors as depicted in a trustworthy happy cartoon, listening to the cacklings and howls of the pedophiles and psychopaths.

When the psycho inmate lusts over Albert, "Mmm… give me the BIG one.." like he's some kind of plump New Year's ham, I think it sealed the deal that we were going to keep on the straight and narrow.

So I supposed it worked, Mr. COSBY; thanks for the nightmares!

All the best,

Bigwig

Name That Trauma :: Reader Jamie B. on a Head Driller & Parent Killers

Posted on By aunt john

Do any of these sound familiar?

1. Horror film from the ‘80s or possibly early ‘90s. Throughout the movie people are terrorized by a man with a huge drill on his head. I remember the last scene vividly. The main character thinks he has woken from the nightmare and it's all over, but he's still dreaming. He might wake again two more times? The room is full of neon blues and greens and all the walls are at odd angles, like in a fun house. The drill man rips through the floor at the end, laughing maniacally. That high-pitched drill sound! Yeeeaugh. The fright it still gives me!

2. This must have been an episode of TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE / OUTERLIMITS / CREEPSHOW or something from the late '80s/early '90s. Children are secretly communicating with aliens, plotting a parenticide. The adults are completely oblivious, because their plans look like play. Parents are murdered in the end. This chills my bones just thinking about it.

Your site is spectacular! I hope someone knows these…

Thanks a million,

Jamie

Traumafessions :: Reader Chuckles on Return of the Living Dead

Posted on By aunt john

I really enjoy the site. Keep up the good work.

Anyhow, I suppose that as a young child, I was exceptionally sensitive and was repeatedly trauma'd by 1970s pop culture: the cover of the Queen album News of the World; those huge monsters that ate people on the MUPPET SHOW; the trailer for THE DEVIL'S RAIN (which ran before some thing much more mundane at the drive-in); and of course my cousin Roger's thoughtful description of PHANTASM which I really didn't understand but caused me to steal and bury my neighbor's silver sphere garden decoration.

However, I must (somewhat shamefully) admit that the mightiest trauma didn't come down until I was 12 or 13 years old. I was told by some of the older kids on the block that I should see this hi-larious movie called RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD. Now, I've seen the film a few times as an adult and it is pretty damned witty, but the kids on my block forgot to mention that the film could also be regarded as being UTTERLY HORRIFYING by a kid that was afraid of (certain) Muppets. I was doing O.K. until the "tar-man" zombie showed up. After that it was zero chuckles and pure white knuckles.

There was something about the RETURN zombies that really shook me up. These zombies were so much like living people that their acts of cannibalism seemed much more terrible. Freddy's slow transformation from loving boyfriend to brain-craving zombie really underscored the point. Further, although they were much more human than other zombies, they were essentially unstoppable, which made me feel helpless. Finally, they wanted to eat living human brains, which greatly bothered me for reasons that I still don't fully understand to this day.

My viewing of RETURN began a new phase in my life that lasted for years. I would not go near a cemetery and memorized the locations of every one in town so that I could plan my bicycle rides accordingly. Same with funeral homes, natch. Hospitals were nearly as taboo, as I knew that corpses were kept somewhere therein.

I was very uncompromising about my new extreme phobia. A friend of mine lived a couple of houses away from a cemetery, so he was scratched off my buddy list. My grandma lived near a gigantic military cemetery, and although I could not opt out, I counted the seconds until we left during each visit.

Nightmares about a full-scale zombie uprising were the norm. Looking back, these were really the catalyst that kept the trauma rolling along. I clearly recall waking from these night terrors covered in sweat and spending the rest of the night looking outside my bedroom window, anticipating the moment when that first decaying shambler would appear under the streetlights.

At some point my zombie-phobia simply faded and as I grew older I came to enjoy all things zombie. I'm sure a shrink could bill a few grand dissecting how I embraced my fears and wanted to connect with my childhood and blah, blah, blah. Unfortunately, zombies have of late become so overexposed that for the first time in my life I'm becoming finding them to be somewhat boring….

Oh well. All good things must one day end.

Maybe I'll steal a decorative silver ball and bury it for old time's sake.