kindertrauma

Trauma Scene:: Burnt Offerings (1976)

Posted on By unkle lancifer

I've got a new odd obsession. I was able to purchase one of those small TV sets with a VCR built inside from my local thrift store ($3!) and attached a converter to it so that it could pick up broadcast television. Not only does it get COMET TV, it gets it on two different channels! So now I'm recording movies just like in the old days complete with commercials (I know that's a minus now but in the future, it will be a plus). It's so darn delicious that it feels illegal but nope, this is what VCRs were made for! It's all on the up and up! Of course, I've run out of blank tapes so I'm just picking up any second-hand VHS I can find that's over two hours long and recording over them! So thanks, RON HOWARD for making such long movies! I have no problem covering up CINDERELLA MAN with GHOULIES!

Anyway, the other night I recorded the classic BURNT OFFERINGS, which was a big late-night TV favorite from my youth (as was PHANTASM which utilizes the same abode).  Even though I naturally own it on DVD, I couldn't help desiring a VHS version that I can play as I go to sleep and will rewind and turn itself off and not leave me with a repeating DVD menu screen. BURNT OFFERINGS has a plethora of memorable trauma scenes and when I was younger, I might have said the scariest bits involved the last-blast falling chimney, KAREN BLACK's white eyes or that skeezy, smiling chauffer that pops up from time to time. Today though, I'm leaning toward the swimming pool scene for really delivering the uncomfortable creeps.

You must remember it; OLIVER REED as Ben Rolf is swimming in the pool with his young son David (the underrated LEE MONTGOMERY of BEN, DEAD OF NIGHT, MUTANT, THE MIDNIGHT HOUR, etc.). At some point, he discovers a pair of broken glasses on the pool's floor that triggers him into becoming a wild-eyed abusive nutcase. One moment he's playfully tossing his kid under the water but soon he's dunking him viciously as if he means to drown him. The dubious horseplay becomes so savage that BETTE DAVIS, of all people, is forced to be the voice of sanity in the situation. It's at this point too that you can't deny BURNT OFFERINGS influence on THE SHINING. I seem to recall Stephen King complimenting ROBERT MORASCO's novel in his book DANSE MACABRE and I think that affection must have bled into the Torrance family's drama. There's something innately scary about losing your sense of safety around someone you love and especially so when you're a child and that person is your parent. It doesn't hurt that OLIVER REED is such a gifted and intense actor whose whiplash flip from kind to clobber-y is pitch-perfect in its harsh abruptness. KING famously lamented that JACK NICHOLSON's performance in THE SHINING was too one-note for his liking and I can't help but wonder if what he desired to see was closer to what REED delivers here. In any case, it took me off guard just how unsettling this scene remains and it reminded me how great of a movie BURNT OFFERINGS is, even all these years later.

Do you have a horror scene that sticks out in your head as particularly traumatic? Why not right it down and send it to kindertrauma@gmail.com so we can share it with others?

Traumafession:: Carmen P. on Ghosts of the Old West

Posted on By unkle lancifer

I read a book as a child about ghost stories from the old West. I have bought a copy of the same book I remember from my school library, but there is ONE PHOTO in it that I SWEAR has been changed in the updated edition. I am wondering if anyone can confirm this. The book in question is called Ghosts of the Old West, published in 1976. I bought a newer copy. There is a story about a gal who haunts a stagecoach station. The picture accompanying it was TERRIFYING. A transparent girl in a bonnet with piercing eyes. Honestly, they may have changed it because it was so terrifying. If anyone remembers this photo- and I know if someone saw it they would never forget- can you please let me know????
Thank you!

UPDATE: It looks like Katherine G. found the image!


Hi,
I have a collection of vintage books of ghost stories, among them 1976's Ghosts of the WildWest by Bruce and Nancy Roberts. The illustrations are spooky black and white photographs, some with double exposures indicating ghosts. Included is one that matches the described illustration and it does accompany a story about a woman haunting a stagecoach. Maybe the right one?

Kinder-Gallery:: Eric Messina

Posted on By unkle lancifer

It turns out that our old pal Eric Messina (of Theater of Guts) is a truly gifted artist! Just take a look at the gallery below to view his stunning horror-inspired work! Incredibly, he'll draw commissions for a mere $40 so you'll probably want to look him up on Instagram under his profile name Erok Hell! Here are some links to explore more of his eclectic output: Etsy=HERE, Redbubble=HERE, and Threadless= HERE. Big thanks to Eric for letting us share his fantastic artwork with our beloved readers!

Trauma Scene:: Alligator (1980)

Posted on By unkle lancifer

I was watching ALLIGATOR the other night in honor of the late great Robert Forster when a particular scene popped out at me as exceptionally kindertraumatic. It's kinda crazy it never struck me as such before and I wondered why I hadn't noticed it the last time I watched ALLIGATOR (which strangely enough was about a month ago). First off, ALLIGATOR is a great movie. It's written by John Sayles (PIRAHNA) and directed by Lewis Teague (CUJO) and it's an action-packed, super sly send-up of fifties-era giant creature flicks as much as it is an inevitable cash-in on JAWS. Forster is brilliant in it and always a good sport when the subject of male pattern baldness arises. I also have to give a shout out to the charming and underrated ROBIN RIKER who we come to find out is the little girl from the film's opening whose thoughtless parents flushed her tiny pet alligator down the toilet. There's a very good chance that her long lost pet is the mutated monster eating so many people who actively deserve it (the creature's attack on an upscale wedding and his subsequent chomping of the film's various villains in the climax is so gratifying).

The vignette I feel obliged to spotlight occurs well within the movie when the alligator is in full rampage mode clobbering anyone unlucky enough to get in his path. In a suburban backyard, three little boys are playing pirates with the two older kids bullying the youngest (who is blindfolded) toward the end of a diving board (pretending it's a pirate's plank) and into the deep end of the pool. Unbeknownst to the trio, the titular alligator is (understandably) taking a much-needed dip in the pool! Now, where every other film known to man would utilize this scenario for suspense only to have the kids realize their blunder and escape at the last minute, this flick has the kid fall in. Not only does he fall in, shortly thereafter he is shown colliding with the scaled abomination and not long after that, the pool is turning blood red signaling that his and the alligator's encounter didn't work out so good for at least one of them. I guess considering ALLIGATOR's debt to JAWS it shouldn't be that shocking that a tyke might end up on the wrong side of an animal encounter but something about this scene feels extra vicious (and perhaps darkly humorous).

Mostly though, I can't help feel sorry for the two older kids who have to live forever knowing they are responsible for their sibling's death. Plus I can't help empathizing with the blindfolded kid who became alligator dinner because the initial prank seems like something my older brothers would have done to me without pause. Anyway, I'm not sure if this macabre scene would float in this day and age but it sure has bite.

Sunday Streaming:: Hammer House of Horror Marathon

Posted on By unkle lancifer

Once upon a time, your very own Unk had a "Name That Trauma" of his own. I had fallen asleep watching an episode of SATURDAY NIGHT DEAD hosted by Philly legend STELLA and woke up to a horrifying scenario on my TV. I caught only the very last moments of the program and they included a man and woman screaming from within a window somehow trapped and going stark raving mad inside a house. Miraculously a reader knew exactly what I was talking about and informed me that it was an episode of HAMMER HOUSE OF HORROR entitled "The Silent Scream." Here in the States it seems episodes of the show were often passed off as singular movies. Of course, I had to immediately order the entire series on DVD and boy was I pissed at the time when someone screwed up my order and sent it to me on VHS! Years have passed and I'm actually glad about that mistake so I guess there's a lesson to be learned there somewhere.

Point of all of this is that today COMET TV is having a HAMMER HOUSE OF HORROR marathon and you can watch it free on cable, the airwaves (if your TV is set up with a converter) or just watch it live off of your dearest computer HERE. It starts at 10 am (which is why I posted this so early) and it goes on until 3:30 in the AM! The aforementioned episode "The Silent Scream" is scheduled for 5:30PM but if I were you, I'd catch as many episodes as you can. It's sure to get you in the Halloween spirit.

As Above, So Below (2014)

Posted on By unkle lancifer

As it turns out, it appears that I am a big fan of AS ABOVE, SO BELOW. I'm a little startled by this newfound awareness but maybe I shouldn't be so surprised; it was directed by JOHN ERICK DOWDLE the same guy who delivered above-average horror fare like DEVIL and QUARANTINE. It's just that I assumed that I was basically done with the whole found-footage gimmick and it seemed to have been generally trashed by most critics (its Rotten Tomatoes score is way harsh). I guess it just goes to show you that you have to keep your eyes open and never listen to anyone else when it comes to horror because what scares us is always a very personal thing. In any case, I was very wrong in assuming that AASB was just another cheap also-ran with nothing new to offer. It's actually pretty darn unique in that it works as a rousing adventure flick as much as it works as a claustrophobic, psychological horror tale. There's also something strangely relieving about a found footage flick in which it consistently makes sense that folks keep filming. Plus I think the world needed a good horror movie that takes place in the skeleton infested catacombs underneath Paris; it's such a fascinating location that can't help but bring the dread.

PERDITA WEEKS stars as Scarlett Marlow who means to continue her father's work in tracking down an Indiana Jones-esque alchemy stone that can turn crap into gold and also does the nifty trick of granting eternal life. She's somehow able to corral her ex-boyfriend and a couple of tagalongs in her kooky quest miles below the city. Inspired by the possibility of fame and fortune, this crew is amazingly adept at ignoring blaring red flags and warning signs which include (I believe) flashing subliminal ghosts (?), a cult of possessed females, an impossible piano from the past and a car on fire. Everybody involved seems to have horrible guilt from long-ago events that the evil caves are somehow able to capitalize on (that's what evil caves do). If that weren't enough, there are plenty of traps that can kill you and a wrong move can result in your being crushed under rocks. Things get worse and worse as the group gets further and the only way out appears to be to keep trudging deeper into more and more danger and more and more crazy-making blasts from the past. It's almost as if they are literally traipsing through hell itself and honestly the claustrophobia and phantasmagorical happenings really start to get to me.

When I was a wee lad reading THE AMITYVILE HORROR, I remember the most terrifying part for me was when a hooded figure appeared at the top of the stairs during the climax and (if I'm remembering correctly) pointed a finger at the fleeing Lutz family. I was so disappointed that this scene never made it to either cinematic adaptation because for me, it signified that the shit was hitting the fan and that all debates over the reality of the supernatural threat were over. Essentially it's the moment when the impossible becomes undeniable. AASB has such a scene. It fiendishly takes its kid gloves off and pushes these hooded Knights Templar looking dudes forward and after being so convinced of the reality of the situation, there's something truly alarming about removing any question of the validity of the evil uncontrollable forces (Sorry, I hope that's vague enough to not be a spoiler). AASB is currently on Netflix but I had to get a physical copy for myself in case it ever disappears. This is one truly underrated, almost horrifically poetic movie and I'm looking forward to return to it many times in the future. I also want the poster, the t-shirt and the theme park ride if that is at all possible.