So I let my son watch the original Nightmare on Elm Street

[LouCipherr]

Yeah, and if you capture him doing it on camera you might even get arrested. Shit, I never thought of that! Goddammit, we had a good plan going here and you guys had to ruin it with this!

[krakenslayer]

Shit, I never thought of that! Goddammit, we had a good plan going here and you guys had to ruin it with this! Tie his right hand to the bed beforehand, that way not only do you avoid any potential self-abuse-related embarassment, but you'll increase his terror level significantly when you charge screaming into his room wearing a Freddy glove and he can't get away!

[Mr.G]

I first saw Nightmare around that age and it never really scared me, either. I've been saying for years that it's actually a shit film and somehow people forgive it... I usually agree with you but can't on NOES. It was pretty original for 1984 and had a memorable lead villian. Freddy is up there with Jason and Mike Myers as generally known slashers. I remember watching it at my aunt's on VHS and we were terrified.

[fulci fan]

Shit, man. I saw NOES when I was about 8 or 9 and it didn't bother me at all. I guess my dreams have always been scarier than movies. I think that nowadays, kids are afraid of things that might actually be real. That is why you have seen a lot of the Cannibal Holocaust style or "see it as it happened" style films (i.e. Cloverfield, Blair Witch, Paranormal Activity, Quarantine, etc.). That is what kids find scary today. ---------- Post added at 07:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:41 PM ---------- I first saw Nightmare around that age and it never really scared me, either. I've been saying for years that it's actually a shit film and somehow people forgive it... I agree. Teeny bopper film made by Wes. That is all he makes. I just don't see why this film has the following it does. At least it is somewhat original and does not rip off of 'Bay of Blood' like his hockey masked friend.

[krakenslayer]

I agree. Teeny bopper film made by Wes. That is all he makes. I just don't see why this film has the following it does. At least it is somewhat original and does not rip off of 'Bay of Blood' like his hockey masked friend. The Last House on the Left and The Hills Have Eyes were not teeny bopper films. I'm sure he made some other serious horror flicks in the late 80s and early 90s, before Scream, but I can't remember offhand... I always get mixed up between the 80s outputs of Wes Craven and Tobe Hooper. They kind of blend together for me, for some reason...

[MikePizzoff]

I was born in 1984, so the first time I saw Nightmare was around the age of 4. I can remember MANY sleepless nights due to that film, all through my youth; every time I would watch it, I'd get the shit scared out of me all over again, up until about age 11. It could be a 90 degree summer night and I'd still be hiding under the blankets in my room, sweating bullets. Anyway, that sucks that your son isn't into it. I show my little brother 80's horror movies that scared the shit out of me, and they have the same effect on him as they did on me. It's probably just that your son has a different mindset on things than you do/did.

[DjfunkmasterG]

I was born in 1984, so the first time I saw Nightmare was around the age of 4. I can remember MANY sleepless nights due to that film, all through my youth; every time I would watch it, I'd get the shit scared out of me all over again, up until about age 11. It could be a 90 degree summer night and I'd still be hiding under the blankets in my room, sweating bullets. Anyway, that sucks that your son isn't into it. I show my little brother 80's horror movies that scared the shit out of me, and they have the same effect on him as they did on me. It's probably just that your son has a different mindset on things than you do/did. His son thinks we are ancient because we were born in 1971. When showed an Atari 2600 Game his only comment I believe was something like... "The Graphics Suck."

[MinionZombie]

His son thinks we are ancient because we were born in 1971. When showed an Atari 2600 Game his only comment I believe was something like... "The Graphics Suck." You need to smack some respect into the boy. I too was born in 1984, although the first time I saw ANOES was when I was over a friend's house for the night and we watched ANOES 1 & 3, which was - at the time - kinda rebellious in a mild way cos my mum absolutely didn't want me watching that movie, haha! I remember dropping a hint that Poltergeist was on one time, and lol ... my Mum didn't like that, and barred me from watching it, lol. Anyway, can't remember when I saw ANOES for the first time, but I was 11 or 12 at the time ... while relatively late compared to some of you lot, my first horror flick was at age 9 (Alien, closely followed by The Fly 2 ... but those were part sci-fi as well, so it was a dip of the toe into the genre ... whereas ANOES is full-blown gory horror). Where was I going with this? Who knows...

[Tricky]

I didnt see nightmare on elm street till my late teens even though I was born in 1982, but as I said recently in another thread on the subject it had dated horribly by then in terms of special effects & the acting was pretty poor, plus like MZ said it always felt rebellious seeing a film like that when you were younger, but if you watch it when your older it doesnt have that same impact, the forbidden fruit type thing! The films I did see when I was a kid/in my early teens that scared me were The Thing (which still does), An American werewolf in London, The Tommyknockers (dont know why that scared me, it was just the beginning bit when that woman turns round in the woods), Salems Lot (still cant sleep with the curtains open), "it", In the mouth of madness, Candyman, Lifeforce, and a few others I cant think of at the moment! My parents didnt let me watch any of those type of films, but when my parents went shopping or were both out working during school holidays I used to sneakily watch them, and seen as it was videos then I had to remember where in the tape the film had started from so I could put it back to that point in the hope my dad wouldnt know I'd been watching them

[MinionZombie]

*sneaky video watching on the sly five* I did the same thing with Basic Instinct ... although I watched it when my folks were in the other room. I had the door closed and the sound way down and just fast forwarded to the good bits. Yeah, the rebellious thing was always a kick as a kid, I remember dubbing a mate's copy of Friday 13th (which was a dub in itself) but telling my Mum I was dubbing something like action or sci-fi. The floodgates were open by the time I was 14 though. Day of the Dead, The Evil Dead ... a whole slew of gory gems flooded in to my life. Indeed I have very fond memories of my first time watching The Evil Dead - friends at school had seen it just before me (and all they said was "pencil in the ankle" and "green mashed potato" ) and then I got it on video for a fiver from our local post office (my Mum technically paid for it, but they knew full well it was for me and didn't mind at all ... indeed I had a run of flicks from there, such as Mutant, and ANOES 2 & 3) ... anyway, watched it right after school that day and it just blew my mind when the final act kicked in and it was just balls-to-the-wall. I also distinctly remember being stunned by the language in Day of the Dead when I first saw that at 14 ... not entirely sure why, perhaps it was the pervasiveness and creativity of it all ... but I'm not entirely sure why I was stunned by the language, considering I'd been swearing like a sailor since I was 8 years old. I do remember being very impressed by the gore though. I flipped my shit when Rhodes got bi-sected ... again, that whole final act is just balls-to-the-wall for the gore hounds, but actually there are tons of great gore moments throughout. Ahhh memories. Like the time I first watched The Texas Chainsaw Massacre - by this time my folks were fine with all these horror flicks - I was 15 at the time I think, and I was making a 4th generation dub from the same mate who loaned me his 2nd gen dub of Friday 13th ... I sat and watched this fudgy 4th gen dub of TCM whilst having my dinner that night and man, that was a memorable time. Sometimes I wish I could experience these moments again - like being able to see these movies as if for the first time with the same sly grin on your face as you did in your early teens. *gets all wistful*

[LouCipherr]

His son thinks we are ancient because we were born in 1971. When showed an Atari 2600 Game his only comment I believe was something like... "The Graphics Suck." You need to smack some respect into the boy. Hey, he can't help it he grew up with a PS2. an Xbox360 and the gaming PC's I build. He is kinda spoiled in the 'electronics' department. Dad always has to have the "latest thing" and he gets to benefit from it all. Lucky dog.. lol Funny thing is, he did comment on how bad the graphics looked on the 2600, but he went through a few weeks/month where it's all he played.. but then he got smart again and switched back to the 360. Y'know, speaking of movies that freaked my kid out (and some movies that didn't) - I do remember one flick that creeped him out, and it's quite funny. For those of you who have seen "Signs" - the part where they were showing the video at the kids birthday party - where it shows the alien walk across the alley way in back of the house - THAT freaked him out! He did NOT like that - then again, he was only 7 or so when he saw it, but that one bothered him. Nothing in the rest of the movie did, but that quick scene spooked him, that's for sure. I still can't figure out how THAT scares him but some weird dude with knives for fingers slaughtering people in their dreams had zero effect. I mean, he was a lot older when he saw NOES, but still... As far as Wes Craven and his films, I was seeing a LOT worse horror flicks in 1984 than NOES. I mean, c'mon, CHUD? Silent Night Deadly Night? Children of the Corn? NOES was far from a dud compared to some of its other 1984 horror flick companions... at least imo.

[Ghost Of War]

I've been toying with the idea of showing some great horror films to my son, he's almost 10. He watched Army Of Darkness with me, and loved it, but that's more comedy than horror. I might just throw him in at the deep end and make him sit through Day Of The Dead. And Lou, Children Of The Corn freaked me the hell out when I was a kid, I was 10 in 1984 and remember watching it at home. The first horror film I watched was Dawn Of The Dead, I remember vividly pestering my dad to rent it on Betamax because I though the picture of Roger after he turned on the back cover was awesome. It took me 2 attempts to watch it, the first time I switched it off at the first arm bite, but managed to sit through it the second time. Didn't sleep properly for months. I was about 7 or 8 I think, my Dad said "Well, I did warn you, son".

[DjfunkmasterG]

I've been toying with the idea of showing some great horror films to my son, he's almost 10. He watched Army Of Darkness with me, and loved it, but that's more comedy than horror. I might just throw him in at the deep end and make him sit through Day Of The Dead. And Lou, Children Of The Corn freaked me the hell out when I was a kid, I was 10 in 1984 and remember watching it at home. The first horror film I watched was Dawn Of The Dead, I remember vividly pestering my dad to rent it on Betamax because I though the picture of Roger after he turned on the back cover was awesome. It took me 2 attempts to watch it, the first time I switched it off at the first arm bite, but managed to sit through it the second time. Didn't sleep properly for months. I was about 7 or 8 I think, my Dad said "Well, I did warn you, son". I never found COTC very scary. I don't know why, but it seemed kind of lame to me. But just about every other horror flick made scared the hell out of as a child. Most of the horror from the 70's and 80's shaped me into the person I am today. And in thinking about that I am not so sure that is such a good thing.

[darth los]

As far as Wes Craven and his films, I was seeing a LOT worse horror flicks in 1984 than NOES. I mean, c'mon, CHUD? Silent Night Deadly Night? Children of the Corn? NOES was far from a dud compared to some of its other 1984 horror flick companions... at least imo. That's a very important point. We have to think back to that time. It was the tail end of the slasher film craze and the market was absolutely oversaturated with trash. Relatively speaking NOES is a masterpiece.

[fulci fan]

Hey, he can't help it he grew up with a PS2. an Xbox360 and the gaming PC's I build. He is kinda spoiled in the 'electronics' department. Dad always has to have the "latest thing" and he gets to benefit from it all. Lucky dog.. lol Funny thing is, he did comment on how bad the graphics looked on the 2600, but he went through a few weeks/month where it's all he played.. but then he got smart again and switched back to the 360. Y'know, speaking of movies that freaked my kid out (and some movies that didn't) - I do remember one flick that creeped him out, and it's quite funny. For those of you who have seen "Signs" - the part where they were showing the video at the kids birthday party - where it shows the alien walk across the alley way in back of the house - THAT freaked him out! He did NOT like that - then again, he was only 7 or so when he saw it, but that one bothered him. Nothing in the rest of the movie did, but that quick scene spooked him, that's for sure. I still can't figure out how THAT scares him but some weird dude with knives for fingers slaughtering people in their dreams had zero effect. I mean, he was a lot older when he saw NOES, but still... As far as Wes Craven and his films, I was seeing a LOT worse horror flicks in 1984 than NOES. I mean, c'mon, CHUD? Silent Night Deadly Night? Children of the Corn? NOES was far from a dud compared to some of its other 1984 horror flick companions... at least imo. It scared him because it looked real. That scene looked like it was actually filmed by a regular person that happened to catch a "real alien on film. Romero tried to do it with 'Diary' but fell way short. I'm sure Freddy would be scary again if they made a NOES movie seem like it really happened.