I’m not a horror movie watcher.  Never have been, never will be.  Here’s my tolerance meter for such things:  The Sixth Sense is about as scary as I’ll go.  Which means I don’t go very far.

image courtesy the web

But sometimes I like to pretend I’m brave.  Like when I was little and my sister – who could watch a horror flick, turn off the lights, go to bed, and enjoy a peaceful night’s sleep (I never understood any of that) – watched Poltergeist (1982).  My wise mother didn’t allow me to watch such things because, well, she’s my mom and she KNEW me.

So, I “accidently” watched it with my sister.  Which really means, she watched it and I was in the room playing “not paying attention.”  That’s not how I described it to mom because she of course found out about it when I couldn’t go to sleep. I had to spill the beans in a victim-total-innocent sort of way.  My poor sister got in trouble.

At any rate, this movie was the reason why I could not fall asleep with the tv on.  Until I was in my late thirties or early forties.  That’s right.  That was the big takeaway from this movie for me.  Don’t fall asleep with the tv on.  Did I see the remake? Uh, no.  I chose to not even watch the commercials.

And while we’re on the topic of movies that messed with my head, I have to give credit to another flick.  The Mummy (1999) is the reason I’m always a little nervous when I have to look away from a mirror for a second.

What movies have gotten into your head?