Preparing for a scary movie
nellebelle
12 yo Lisa told me she wants to watch a scary movie. Up to this point the *scariest* things we've watched are the 3 Harry Potter movies. And Snow White. Lisa was disturbed by the witch in the Disney version.
I believe this desire was prompted by some friends seeing scary movies and telling her about them. I'd also shared with her the email about music in scary movies. We watched Jaws together (dh, me, & kids) recently when dh happened upon it channel surfing, and we talked a lot about what to expect, special effects, and gave the kids warning on parts they may not want to see. We offered to not watch it at all if they preferred that. (We'd both seen it years ago, but not recently.)
She has a number of friends whose parents have convoluted rules about which movie ratings they are allowed to watch. I've always considered content over ratings when choosing movies for my kids.
The only two movies that really terrified me were The Excorcist and The Shining. (OK, the ending of the 1st Harry Potter with the double faces freaked me a bit.) I've enjoyed Sandra's comments about her experience vs. her kid's with The Excorcist. Lisa has had lots of questions about my experience with these movies. Today I told her that The Excorcist scared me because at the time I believed in The Devil, but I don't have that belief any more. I told her about some of the freaky parts - head spinning and split pea puke - and how it would probably seem corny to me now. I explained what an excorcism is.
We checked the library first. They didn't have anything she wanted (though they do have The Excorcist and The Shining both on DVD!) but I grabbed a video copy of The Day The Earth Stood Still: Aliens Invade the Earth, from 1957. It looks like it might be fun for some cheesy special effects.
Next we went to the video store where we browsed covers until Lisa chose The Sixth Sense. She said that most scary movies have THE in the title. Her friend saw this movie and has told her about it. We've been talking about the parts her friend told her about - Grandma says hello. I see dead people.
Thank you to whoever mentioned watching such movies in the am, rather than right before bed - was that here?
Lisa also went to screen-it dotcom and read about this movie and some others. She told me about The Forgotten, in which a child dies and everyone except the mother acts as if the child never existed. She mentioned another movie where the F word is spoken a bazillion times. We joked about a future will people will say "F" and the letter alone will be considered nasty.
My concern now is that her 9 yo sister wants to watch The Sixth Sense with us. She is the one who is more likely to report disturbing dreams. I'm not sure what to do about having her watch it too. I guess I was thinking we would watch it when she was busy doing something else.
Mary Ellen
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
I believe this desire was prompted by some friends seeing scary movies and telling her about them. I'd also shared with her the email about music in scary movies. We watched Jaws together (dh, me, & kids) recently when dh happened upon it channel surfing, and we talked a lot about what to expect, special effects, and gave the kids warning on parts they may not want to see. We offered to not watch it at all if they preferred that. (We'd both seen it years ago, but not recently.)
She has a number of friends whose parents have convoluted rules about which movie ratings they are allowed to watch. I've always considered content over ratings when choosing movies for my kids.
The only two movies that really terrified me were The Excorcist and The Shining. (OK, the ending of the 1st Harry Potter with the double faces freaked me a bit.) I've enjoyed Sandra's comments about her experience vs. her kid's with The Excorcist. Lisa has had lots of questions about my experience with these movies. Today I told her that The Excorcist scared me because at the time I believed in The Devil, but I don't have that belief any more. I told her about some of the freaky parts - head spinning and split pea puke - and how it would probably seem corny to me now. I explained what an excorcism is.
We checked the library first. They didn't have anything she wanted (though they do have The Excorcist and The Shining both on DVD!) but I grabbed a video copy of The Day The Earth Stood Still: Aliens Invade the Earth, from 1957. It looks like it might be fun for some cheesy special effects.
Next we went to the video store where we browsed covers until Lisa chose The Sixth Sense. She said that most scary movies have THE in the title. Her friend saw this movie and has told her about it. We've been talking about the parts her friend told her about - Grandma says hello. I see dead people.
Thank you to whoever mentioned watching such movies in the am, rather than right before bed - was that here?
Lisa also went to screen-it dotcom and read about this movie and some others. She told me about The Forgotten, in which a child dies and everyone except the mother acts as if the child never existed. She mentioned another movie where the F word is spoken a bazillion times. We joked about a future will people will say "F" and the letter alone will be considered nasty.
My concern now is that her 9 yo sister wants to watch The Sixth Sense with us. She is the one who is more likely to report disturbing dreams. I'm not sure what to do about having her watch it too. I guess I was thinking we would watch it when she was busy doing something else.
Mary Ellen
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Robyn Coburn
<<<<<<My concern now is that her 9 yo sister wants to watch The Sixth Sense
with us. She is the one who is more likely to report disturbing dreams.
I'm not sure what to do about having her watch it too. I guess I was
thinking we would watch it when she was busy doing something else.>>>>>
Someone once suggested watching any "making of" bonus features on the DVD
before the film, especially if they talk about the makeup effects and
stunts. "The Sixth Sense" has a couple of pretty gruesome dead people,
including a boy with his head shot out the back which is a deliberate
startle moment (he looks fine from the front).
Robyn L. Coburn
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with us. She is the one who is more likely to report disturbing dreams.
I'm not sure what to do about having her watch it too. I guess I was
thinking we would watch it when she was busy doing something else.>>>>>
Someone once suggested watching any "making of" bonus features on the DVD
before the film, especially if they talk about the makeup effects and
stunts. "The Sixth Sense" has a couple of pretty gruesome dead people,
including a boy with his head shot out the back which is a deliberate
startle moment (he looks fine from the front).
Robyn L. Coburn
--
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Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.6.4 - Release Date: 3/7/2005
[email protected]
-=- We watched Jaws together (dh, me, & kids) recently when dh happened upon
it channel surfing, and we talked a lot about what to expect, special
effects, and gave the kids warning on parts they may not want to see. We offered
to not watch it at all if they preferred that. (We'd both seen it years ago,
but not recently.)-=-
I haven't seen it, but I'm in the midst of a chapter on it in "Cinema
Nirvana," so maybe I will. I've thought about it long enough, and the book I'm
reading pretty much (assuming readers have seen it) has told the story, so
nothing left but the pictures and the scary music. I read in this book that when
John WIlliams first played the "theme" for the director, he thought he was
joking. But no, Williams figured those two notes and the seemingly uncertain
rhythm would be enough to make the watchers scared. Even people who haven't
seen the movie know that "song."
-=-Next we went to the video store where we browsed covers until Lisa chose
The Sixth Sense. She said that most scary movies have THE in the title. . .
. I see dead people.-=-
I want Holly to watch that one with me.
I was thinking of stirring up "the poop game" again, for two reasons. I was
cleaning off my desk and found notes I'd made while brainstorming that with
kids (and my favorites of the online contributions), and then Holly said in
her most serious voice yesterday, following someone's fart, "I fart dead
people." I said it should be "I poop dead people," if only that were the name of
the movie.
Watching in the morning's a good idea (or any daylight, busy-house time).
Also watching parts at a time, with breaks. Also maybe making poop jokes. <g>
The poop game, for those new to the group (I think it was played on this
list) was to replace any word in a movie title with "poop," and there are a lot
of new movies out since that session. It can be a scream with kids, and if
you make a list and lose it on your desk, the fun can last and last.
Sometimes you have to mess with part of speech (not by name, but maybe pooping's
going to have endings), and there's a touch of grammar (however crappy). Poop in
its natural state, though, can be a noun, verb, adjective or exclamation.
(Well, the WORD "poop," in its natural word-state.)
Some I saved from the last time:
Stand by Poop (or Poop by Me)
Dude, Where's my Poop?
The Poop of Zorro
007-Golden Poop
Octopoopie (you don't have to watch James Bond movies to know their names)
The Sixth Sense doesn't really lend itself to this game, nor do Unbreakable,
Signs or The Village. Perhaps M. Night Shyamalan had played the poop game
before he named his movies and made them poop-proof.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
it channel surfing, and we talked a lot about what to expect, special
effects, and gave the kids warning on parts they may not want to see. We offered
to not watch it at all if they preferred that. (We'd both seen it years ago,
but not recently.)-=-
I haven't seen it, but I'm in the midst of a chapter on it in "Cinema
Nirvana," so maybe I will. I've thought about it long enough, and the book I'm
reading pretty much (assuming readers have seen it) has told the story, so
nothing left but the pictures and the scary music. I read in this book that when
John WIlliams first played the "theme" for the director, he thought he was
joking. But no, Williams figured those two notes and the seemingly uncertain
rhythm would be enough to make the watchers scared. Even people who haven't
seen the movie know that "song."
-=-Next we went to the video store where we browsed covers until Lisa chose
The Sixth Sense. She said that most scary movies have THE in the title. . .
. I see dead people.-=-
I want Holly to watch that one with me.
I was thinking of stirring up "the poop game" again, for two reasons. I was
cleaning off my desk and found notes I'd made while brainstorming that with
kids (and my favorites of the online contributions), and then Holly said in
her most serious voice yesterday, following someone's fart, "I fart dead
people." I said it should be "I poop dead people," if only that were the name of
the movie.
Watching in the morning's a good idea (or any daylight, busy-house time).
Also watching parts at a time, with breaks. Also maybe making poop jokes. <g>
The poop game, for those new to the group (I think it was played on this
list) was to replace any word in a movie title with "poop," and there are a lot
of new movies out since that session. It can be a scream with kids, and if
you make a list and lose it on your desk, the fun can last and last.
Sometimes you have to mess with part of speech (not by name, but maybe pooping's
going to have endings), and there's a touch of grammar (however crappy). Poop in
its natural state, though, can be a noun, verb, adjective or exclamation.
(Well, the WORD "poop," in its natural word-state.)
Some I saved from the last time:
Stand by Poop (or Poop by Me)
Dude, Where's my Poop?
The Poop of Zorro
007-Golden Poop
Octopoopie (you don't have to watch James Bond movies to know their names)
The Sixth Sense doesn't really lend itself to this game, nor do Unbreakable,
Signs or The Village. Perhaps M. Night Shyamalan had played the poop game
before he named his movies and made them poop-proof.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Emile Snyder
On Thu, 2005-03-10 at 07:12, SandraDodd@... wrote:
Unpoopable?
The Poopage?
With a little stretching of the rules we can poop anything... except
maybe Signs... ;)
> The Sixth Sense doesn't really lend itself to this game, nor do Unbreakable,The Sixth Poop?
> Signs or The Village. Perhaps M. Night Shyamalan had played the poop game
> before he named his movies and made them poop-proof.
Unpoopable?
The Poopage?
With a little stretching of the rules we can poop anything... except
maybe Signs... ;)
diana jenner
nellebelle wrote:
different perspective to the film. As a mom, *I* feel protective of the
child in this movie, but not to the level my kids do; they really watch
how adults don't believe him even though *we* all know he's telling the
truth, how he struggles to talk to his mom but is afraid she won't love
him anymore, how he just wants to do what's right -- luckily in the end
he does, he *is* finally listened to and respected. It's an intense
movie. There are secrets in it, too :) Everything red in the film is
meant to be something *touched* by the other side and it's fun to "watch
for the director" [he does the Alfred Hitchcock thing of cameos in his
own films]. The graphic gunshot-to-the-head kid sparked an invigorating
gun safety conversation -- the consequences of irresponsibility are
undeniable in this film.
Now that I think of it... if she wants to do this kind of scary film,
maybe Signs is better, just because it's easier to write off as
make-believe and the cool message is there [all things happen for a
reason] to tie it all up prettily. And still the middle is exciting and
intense.
:) diana
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>Next we went to the video store where we browsed covers until Lisa chose The Sixth Sense. She said that most scary movies have THE in the title. Her friend saw this movie and has told her about it. We've been talking about the parts her friend told her about - Grandma says hello. I see dead people.Both my kids have seen this movie and I think youth brings a very
>
>
different perspective to the film. As a mom, *I* feel protective of the
child in this movie, but not to the level my kids do; they really watch
how adults don't believe him even though *we* all know he's telling the
truth, how he struggles to talk to his mom but is afraid she won't love
him anymore, how he just wants to do what's right -- luckily in the end
he does, he *is* finally listened to and respected. It's an intense
movie. There are secrets in it, too :) Everything red in the film is
meant to be something *touched* by the other side and it's fun to "watch
for the director" [he does the Alfred Hitchcock thing of cameos in his
own films]. The graphic gunshot-to-the-head kid sparked an invigorating
gun safety conversation -- the consequences of irresponsibility are
undeniable in this film.
Now that I think of it... if she wants to do this kind of scary film,
maybe Signs is better, just because it's easier to write off as
make-believe and the cool message is there [all things happen for a
reason] to tie it all up prettily. And still the middle is exciting and
intense.
:) diana
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Mary
From: <SandraDodd@...>
<<The poop game, for those new to the group (I think it was played on this
list) was to replace any word in a movie title with "poop," and there are a
lot of new movies out since that session. >>
Well I can't say I ever heard of doing this!!! Somehow it seems so funny
coming from you Sandra!
One of the girls in my homeschooling group just told us about doing that
with car names but using the word anal instead. I can't seem to drive
anywhere now without giggling at the car in front of me.
Anal Probe
Anal Explorer
Anal Expedition and the list goes on and on!!
Mary B
<<The poop game, for those new to the group (I think it was played on this
list) was to replace any word in a movie title with "poop," and there are a
lot of new movies out since that session. >>
Well I can't say I ever heard of doing this!!! Somehow it seems so funny
coming from you Sandra!
One of the girls in my homeschooling group just told us about doing that
with car names but using the word anal instead. I can't seem to drive
anywhere now without giggling at the car in front of me.
Anal Probe
Anal Explorer
Anal Expedition and the list goes on and on!!
Mary B
[email protected]
-----Original Message-----
From: SandraDodd@...
To: [email protected]
Sent: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 10:12:09 EST
Subject: Re: [UnschoolingDiscussion] Preparing for a scary movie
-=-Next we went to the video store where we browsed covers until Lisa chose
The Sixth Sense. She said that most scary movies have THE in the title. . .
. I see dead people.-=-
I have a refrigertaor magnet that reads: "I see dumb people." I'd rather have
it as a bumper sticker! <bwg>
-=-=-=-=-The Sixth Sense doesn't really lend itself to this game, nor do Unbreakable,
Signs or The Village. Perhaps M. Night Shyamalan had played the poop game
before he named his movies and made them poop-proof. -=-=-=-=-=-=-
Naw--- The Sixth Poop, UnPoopable, and The Poop.
REALLY< Sandra!
~Kelly
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
From: SandraDodd@...
To: [email protected]
Sent: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 10:12:09 EST
Subject: Re: [UnschoolingDiscussion] Preparing for a scary movie
-=-Next we went to the video store where we browsed covers until Lisa chose
The Sixth Sense. She said that most scary movies have THE in the title. . .
. I see dead people.-=-
I have a refrigertaor magnet that reads: "I see dumb people." I'd rather have
it as a bumper sticker! <bwg>
-=-=-=-=-The Sixth Sense doesn't really lend itself to this game, nor do Unbreakable,
Signs or The Village. Perhaps M. Night Shyamalan had played the poop game
before he named his movies and made them poop-proof. -=-=-=-=-=-=-
Naw--- The Sixth Poop, UnPoopable, and The Poop.
REALLY< Sandra!
~Kelly
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[email protected]
In a message dated 3/10/05 10:11:54 AM, mummy124@... writes:
<< Well I can't say I ever heard of doing this!!! Somehow it seems so funny
coming from you Sandra! >>
It does seem a way to help a movie seem less weighty, to have messed with the
dignity of its name. <g> Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Poop.
Once they've laughed some, maybe the movie won't seem so horrifying.
It's only a movie. And at home, it has a remote control mute, pause, and
off, unlike in a theatre.
Sandra
<< Well I can't say I ever heard of doing this!!! Somehow it seems so funny
coming from you Sandra! >>
It does seem a way to help a movie seem less weighty, to have messed with the
dignity of its name. <g> Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Poop.
Once they've laughed some, maybe the movie won't seem so horrifying.
It's only a movie. And at home, it has a remote control mute, pause, and
off, unlike in a theatre.
Sandra
nellebelle
We watched the movie on Friday afternoon. Jackie was invited to go rollerskating with a freind, leaving us alone for a few hours.
Within a few minutes after starting the movie, Lisa's friend Allison came over. Her mom limits her movie intake, so I first called her mom to ask if she could watch with us. She didn't answer, so I sent Allison home to ask. The answer was no. The mom said she had seen the movie and it disturbed her. (Later, after I watched it, I talked to her mom some more and found out that she didn't watch it to the end. I told her that was the best part!) Lisa told Allison she could play later, but wanted to watch the movie then, while Jackie was gone.
The night before, Jackie had pulled a twin mattress and a bunch of pillows onto the living room floor. We started the movie on the couch with snackes, then moved to the mattress to watch the rest. Lisa's friend had seen The Sixth Sense recently and had warned about some "cover your eyes" parts. It helped to have all those extra blankets and pillows handy!
Throughout the movie we talked about it. At the end we watched the extras on the DVD, then went back to look at a couple scenes to see how we had missed that the Doctor (sorry, I'm not going to tell. You'll have to watch it to see for yourself!)
We decided the movie wasn't "scary" so much as it had a fair amount of gore and the shock of the ghosts appearing suddenly.
Thank you for all the tips!
Mary Ellen
PS I'm still watching The Day The Earth Stood Still (1957 movie where an alien space ship lands on Earth in 1951). Now I know why we don't see aliens more often. The Earthlings treated them so horribly that they never want to visit us again!
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Within a few minutes after starting the movie, Lisa's friend Allison came over. Her mom limits her movie intake, so I first called her mom to ask if she could watch with us. She didn't answer, so I sent Allison home to ask. The answer was no. The mom said she had seen the movie and it disturbed her. (Later, after I watched it, I talked to her mom some more and found out that she didn't watch it to the end. I told her that was the best part!) Lisa told Allison she could play later, but wanted to watch the movie then, while Jackie was gone.
The night before, Jackie had pulled a twin mattress and a bunch of pillows onto the living room floor. We started the movie on the couch with snackes, then moved to the mattress to watch the rest. Lisa's friend had seen The Sixth Sense recently and had warned about some "cover your eyes" parts. It helped to have all those extra blankets and pillows handy!
Throughout the movie we talked about it. At the end we watched the extras on the DVD, then went back to look at a couple scenes to see how we had missed that the Doctor (sorry, I'm not going to tell. You'll have to watch it to see for yourself!)
We decided the movie wasn't "scary" so much as it had a fair amount of gore and the shock of the ghosts appearing suddenly.
Thank you for all the tips!
Mary Ellen
PS I'm still watching The Day The Earth Stood Still (1957 movie where an alien space ship lands on Earth in 1951). Now I know why we don't see aliens more often. The Earthlings treated them so horribly that they never want to visit us again!
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
queenjane555
Its funny how often subjects discussed on this list, then
immediately come up in real life. Just yesterday my sister and I
were discussing a show she saw on Bravo about the "100 Scariest
Movie Moments" that prompted a whole discussion about Jaws (was it
Sandra who said she'd never seen it?!?), and how we can watch that
every time it comes on TV, its so good. She told me about one of the
movies listed, a Japanese film "Audition", the plot is super creepy,
and i guess it inspired Rob Zombie, who then went on to make the
very disturbing "House of 1000 Corpses"...My son was playing
Neopets, and there were fava beans for sale in one of the
neoshops...i told him that my only experience with "fava beans" was
a line from Silence of the Lambs (#7 on the list)
Anyone interested in Horror films might want to check out the list,
its not actually the scariest *movies*, but the scariest moments
(Wizard of Oz and Willy Wonka are on the list)...
http://www.bravotv.com/The_100_Scariest_Movie_Moments/
Katherine
immediately come up in real life. Just yesterday my sister and I
were discussing a show she saw on Bravo about the "100 Scariest
Movie Moments" that prompted a whole discussion about Jaws (was it
Sandra who said she'd never seen it?!?), and how we can watch that
every time it comes on TV, its so good. She told me about one of the
movies listed, a Japanese film "Audition", the plot is super creepy,
and i guess it inspired Rob Zombie, who then went on to make the
very disturbing "House of 1000 Corpses"...My son was playing
Neopets, and there were fava beans for sale in one of the
neoshops...i told him that my only experience with "fava beans" was
a line from Silence of the Lambs (#7 on the list)
Anyone interested in Horror films might want to check out the list,
its not actually the scariest *movies*, but the scariest moments
(Wizard of Oz and Willy Wonka are on the list)...
http://www.bravotv.com/The_100_Scariest_Movie_Moments/
Katherine
Heidi
I'm surprised that Lord of the Rings "Return of the King" isn't on
there, for the Shelob scene, where she is over Frodo's
head...shudder. Maybe not the MOST scariest. But...that's pretty
scary. Maybe there's another list, though, of CREEPY scenes. But
then, The Ring would be on that one, too.
Speaking of horror movies, anyone seen "Shaun of the Dead"? It's
worth a watch. Funny, but also graphically horror genre, too.
HeidiC
there, for the Shelob scene, where she is over Frodo's
head...shudder. Maybe not the MOST scariest. But...that's pretty
scary. Maybe there's another list, though, of CREEPY scenes. But
then, The Ring would be on that one, too.
Speaking of horror movies, anyone seen "Shaun of the Dead"? It's
worth a watch. Funny, but also graphically horror genre, too.
HeidiC
>
> Anyone interested in Horror films might want to check out the list,
> its not actually the scariest *movies*, but the scariest moments
> (Wizard of Oz and Willy Wonka are on the list)...
>
> http://www.bravotv.com/The_100_Scariest_Movie_Moments/
>
>
> Katherine