There are ten differences between the image above (A) and the image below (B). How many can you find?

These movies (most likely Italian) were played late night around 1989-1991 on cable TV usually around 1-3 am.

A very strange movie where a man is essentially lost and stumbles upon a family in a house where the family is a little weird. It’s a bizarre movie and during a dinner scene they converse with him about the subject of death, whereas one of the family members states that their guest is a young man and would probably rather talk about life instead of death.

That is all I have, although I found it strange that a foreign film was repeated played in the US.

Another film (and perhaps this may even be the same one) is a man is lost and trapped in a casino in the middle of the desert. He has no idea where he is or how he got there. At one point he tries to leave, but the heat of the desert exhausted him and strange people from the casino find him and bring him back to the casino where he cannot leave or escape.

That is all I have unfortunately and wish I could locate what in hell I saw.

Thanks and best,

Chris B.

Hi,

First off, I love your website! The Name That Trauma section is one of my favorites to browse in my down time. I was an easily traumatized child and searching the depths of the internet for the culprits of my fears has been a long term hobby. However, there’s one vague memory I have of what I believe to be an episode of a TV show (possibly even a show for kids or teens? Disney channel? I swear the intent wasn’t to scare) in which a giant insect, I think it was a bee, is roaming the halls of a high school.

Here’s where my memory gets hazy and weird. I believe it’s possible this trauma was truly a dream because I’ve never found anything online that sounds remotely like what I remember watching. In my memory, the insect was possibly a human who found the head of a costume (or school mascot?) of the bee/insect thrown in a trash can. When they picked it up and put it on, they became the insect and started to fly around the halls. I think the cause of the whole situation and center of the episode was a science experiment gone wrong.

That’s it. That’s all I remember. It deeply bothered me as a child. I always hated bodily transformations as well as costumes/masks changing people, so it really affected me. If anyone has an idea of what this could be, let me know. Even if it’s only slightly similar to my memory. I suppose it’s possible the giant insect was not a human to begin with, and that I’m combining multiple traumas in my head. Again, it’s hazy and could have been a dream, but I’ve been searching for this for years. For time period reference, I’m 20 now and I want to say I was between 5 and 10 when I saw this.

Thanks for your help,

Emma D.

I was lying on my parents’ bed alone watching TV on a babysitter night. It’s funny how, especially when you’re young, you don’t know when a movie is suddenly going to emerge and weave itself forever into the fabric of your life. Of course there are direct parallels with falling in love. The scrolling TV listings on the Prevue Guide said that some channel—it must have been either channel 5 (TV38 out of Boston) or channel 9 (WWOR out of New York)–was showing The Watcher in the Woods with Bette Davis. “Oh,” I thought to myself, “that’s the actress I love from Wicked Stepmother.” The only time anybody has uttered those words.

I flipped the channel and saw Bette, looking surprisingly unglamorous without the blonde bob that she wore in her late ’80s swan song. She was showing a little girl a music box and saying “This belonged to my daughter. I gave it to her for her birthday.” Could there be a more perfect moment to suck a five or six year old boy into a movie and change his life forever? I love music boxes in movies, and I immediately fell in love with Bette’s character’s living room, with its old-fashioned furniture and gothic knick-knacks. Bette’s living room was emblematic of Watcher‘s tone, with which I also immediately fell in love: different from everything around me in my day-to-day life, comforting in its cozy darkness, eerie but relaxing. No other movie has ever made me feel the same particular brand of contentment, although the Disney TV movie Child of Glass from the same period tries.

Doesn’t everybody know the story of The Watcher in the Woods? Carroll Baker and her famous musician husband move their daughters Jan (Lynn-Holly Johnson, who must have made a deal with the devil to make sure that this and Ice Castles played on the same networks on a loop throughout the ’80s and early ’90s) and Ellie (Kyle “Lindsaaaaaaaay! I need a robe!” Richards, who I gather eventually appeared on some obscure TV show) into a giant creepy mansion surrounded by woods. Bette Davis plays Mrs. Aylwood, the no-nonsense caretaker who lives in a cottage on the land, and has a weird fascination with Jan. “Are you kind?” she asks her the minute after she meets her, which is both weird and a really good question to ask new people. She’s wise. Soon everything that I ever wanted to happen to me happens to Jan: She sees a mysterious light in the woods from her bedroom window while reading a paperback. She falls in love with a cute skinny ’70s British boy. She finds a scary church in the woods. She encounters the ghost of a blindfolded blonde girl in a carnival funhouse. Meanwhile, Ellie becomes obsessed with the word Nerak, going so far as to give the name to her dog. Then she starts having visions and showing signs of possession! Jan becomes Nancy Drew, as all teen girls of the period did at some point. She is determined to find out the identity of the ghost girl in the mirror, and figure out why the woods glow. After she falls in a lake and Mrs. Aylwood saves her, she discovers that the ghost might be Mrs. Aylwood’s daughter KA-REN. She went missing after a game gone wrong in said church, traumatizing all of her playmates who eventually grew up to be Jan’s friends’ parents. In 1980 doing something horrible to your childhood playmate and then getting punished by being in a horror movie when you grew up was very big.

It took me forever to see The Watcher in the Woods in its entirety because my TV viewings kept getting interrupted by issues like parents making me go to bed (I was lucky, I had a friend whose parents wouldn’t let her watch it at all because they were Christian!). For some reason it never occurred to me to rent it. It seemed like a magical talisman that you had to stumble upon on a local network affiliate. Luckily, that happened constantly. So I ended up watching 15 minutes here and 15 minutes there, out of order. This weirdly worked for The Watcher in the Woods. I received the gift of walking in Jan’s shoes, trying to solve the puzzle, beholden to chance. I remember once I was finally about to see the ending and find out what happened to KA-REN and my mother told me we had to go to her friend’s house. I was livid, and as soon as we got there I said “YOU MUST SHOW ME TO YOUR TV IMMEDIATELY I NEED TO FINISH WATCHING SOMETHING! HURRY!” The ending did not disappoint. I think that the theatrical ending—where Karen’s grown playmates can only bring Karen back by re-enacting their trauma and owning what they did during a total eclipse of the sun—is somehow more satisfying, evocative, and profound than the film’s notorious alternate endings, where we see a gigantic grasshopper creature carrying Jan to The Other Side to rescue Karen from permanent limbo (that’s still a kind of brilliant ending, too, and it’s interesting how much Watcher foresees Poltergeist). The opening credits of Watcher were the last part of it I ever saw, and it was a huge deal for me. Finally, I knew everything.

Disney (and Watcher‘s filmmakers, director John Hough, writer Brian Clemens, cinematographer Alan Hume, musician Stanley Myers, and art director Alan Cassie) did something so kind by showing kids that that which is mysterious and scary can also be fun. They did us a favor by suggesting that the unknown could be exciting. I saw this movie shortly before I learned that in life safety is not guaranteed. Since then, I have been consistently amazed at how scary the world can be, how it can surprise you in the worst ways, and how the fear that it generates has absolutely nothing to do with the joy of horror movies. I am frequently disappointed by how much the dread of life’s unknown future has nothing to do with the tantalizing possibilities of the supernatural. These days I often feel like Phyllis in Last House on the Left (one of the horror movies that most perfectly captures the feeling of real world, pleasure-less terror) running into Krug’s machete right before she escapes from very different woods onto the highway. Given the social context that Last House was responding to, perhaps it makes sense that it resonates so much now. In this moment more than ever, I’d much rather be in the woods with Jan and Ellie, experiencing Watcher‘s masterful ability to keep you scared and safe at the same time.

That said, there’s some seriously scary shit in The Watcher in the Woods. I consider Bette Davis to be a friend, guardian angel, and advisor in times of trouble, but damn that scene where the viewer takes on Lynn-Holly Johnson‘s point of view as she’s drowning in the lake and Bette starts pushing her further down with a giant stick is chilling. She’s trying to save her, but we don’t know that! For years I would sometimes see that image and get spooked when I closed my eyes before bed. And then there’s the narrative that you don’t see in the theatrical version of The Watcher in the Woods: What happened to Karen before she was saved. I realize now that Watcher‘s horror is only safe if you align yourself with Jan and Ellie, as the filmmakers intended. When I was young, and knew less, it never occurred to me to align myself with Karen. But now I think about her, trapped in some other dimension beyond the realm of where she ever thought it was possible to go, separated from her loved ones, forced to rely on strangers to save her yet barely able to communicate with them. I wonder if maybe Watcher‘s scares are more adult than I realized.

–Ben Sher

Oy veh, sometimes I’ll be having a perfectly nice day and then out of nowhere the movie EXCISION pops into my head and re-haunts me. Have you guys witnessed this beautiful yet horrendously ugly dive into tragic madness yet? It may ruin your life but it does have TRACI LORDS in it (and she’s phenomenal). Please read my bewildered full review way back HERE to save me from repeating myself. Sorry this post is so brief but I must prepare for the eclipse/apocalypse tomorrow. In closing, I both highly recommend you do and highly recommend you don’t watch EXCISION on TUBI TV right HERE while you have a chance. This one cuts deep.

Here are ten images from ten horror movies. How many can you identify? Extra points for figuring out what they all have in common. Good luck!

It was an old B&W horror about identical quint boys who are about 10yo. 4 of them were adopted out to good families. But at 10 they start getting terrorized and murdered. Turns out it was by the 5th baby. The grandmother comes forward and explains that #5 killed her young daughter so she threw the baby into the ocean to die.

Can you name this movie? My friend told me she has looked for the name for years!

I gravitated toward EXTINCTION not because I’m a huge zombie fan but because I have a warm spot for snowbound horror. I caught the icy trailer on a random DVD and I couldn’t understand why I had never heard of it before and then fortuitously, a couple weeks later, it popped up at a yard sale because I’m the luckiest person in the world. Now EXTINCTION is on CRACKLE and I am strongly urging you to check it out. It’s one of my favorite finds of the last ten years and it’s the type of movie I’ll watch again and again. If I had to make a list of underrated horror films, I think I’d put it smack on the top. I want this movie to be my pet so I can pat it on the head and it can sit in front of my fireplace. Do you know how many zombie movies I don’t care about? I’d say about 97%. This one is particularly unique and it has interesting characters and the atmosphere is through the roof. You have to see the shot of an abandoned, snow-covered movie theater with a marque that reads “AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS.” It’s so darn beautiful…

The less you know the better so I’ll just throw a couple selling points at you and hope it will be enough. The bulk of this movie takes place about ten years after a zombie-type outbreak wipes out most of civilization. The tale follows two adult survivors (MATTHEW FOX, JEFFREY DONOVAN– both excellent), a little girl (QUINN McCOLGAN) and a faithful doggie. These folks are holed up in a couple of adjacent houses in the middle of nowhere covered in ice and hoping never to see a zombie again (in truth, the creatures are never called such and are referred to as simply “monsters”). The two men have had a falling out but they both feel responsible for the little girl and eventually they have to reconcile in order to persevere. Slowly we learn the details of the slight that divided them and it becomes a genuinely compelling character driven drama. Of course the monsters return, as they always do, and there are some real nail-biting action sequences as this likable group fights to survive. In some ways, it’s more faithful to the homebound isolated terrors of RICHARD MATHESON’s I AM LEGEND than previous official adaptions. Plus, I kinda just want to live in this movie were modern culture is dead, everything is covered in snow and I’m in a boarded up house filled with books eating beans out of a can.

Watch EXTINCTION right HERE for free thanks to the folks at CRACKLE.

I thought the previous ANNABELLE (2014) movie was an entertaining enough diversion but I can’t say I remember much of it. I may have passed up its new prequel ANNABELLE: CREATION altogether but then I heard they were showing a 4-minute sneak peek of IT introduced by STEPHEN KING himself and that sealed the deal (btw, I was mesmerized by every frame of the IT preview). Did I just say I almost passed up ANNABELLE: CREATION? That’s a total lie. If someone makes a killer doll movie, I’m going to go see it. That is my duty and I will beg, borrow and steal to accomplish my goal. In any case, my expectations were not the highest but I ended up thoroughly pleased. I’m not saying you should grab your coat and keys right this second and run out the door to see it but if you are looking for solid late summer chills, it’s super generous in handing them out. There’s some seriously spooky business gong on in this movie and that freaky looking doll is only the tip of the iceberg. If you enjoy a good haunted house or possession film this baby delivers both. Not to spoil anything but they also throw in a damn animated scarecrow as if there weren’t enough satanic shenanigans going on. Really, it’s like watching five horror films at once and I’m completely down with that. It gets a little too chaotic for its own good at some points but I’m not one to look a demonic gift horse in the mouth.

What really elevates this film from the standard franchise extension is its setting and characters and the obvious talents of its director DAVID F. SANDBERG (LIGHTS OUT) and cinematographer MAXIME ALEXANDRE (HIGH TENSION). Director SANDBERG really knows how to torture you with silent, empty spaces and ALEXANDRE makes half of this movie resemble a gorgeous painting. The heart of the film is a friendship between two young orphan girls (TALITHA BATEMAN and LULU WISON) and the actresses are both super effective at convincing you of their tight bond. There’s a scene in which the two trade dolls when they realize they will be separated and it’s really rather moving because the acting is so real and unaffected. Plus, I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before here but I can really get into a horror house and this movie not only offers up a glorious, painstakingly detailed gothic wonder but also a miniaturized dollhouse version that likes to light up on its own from time to time. Before I make this all sound too precious, let me tell you there are some seriously alarming monsters roaming these halls. I’m talking clawed, glowing-eyed demons that shapeshift, melt into the darkness and burn into your noggin like the cover of an early eighties horror paperback. Even if you’re not a fan of ANNABELLE’s first outing this one is a pretty safe bet and if the lady who sat behind me screaming was here, I’m pretty sure she’d say the same.

Hey, it’s Freaky Friday and me and Matt Sunshine Have switched places! Matt knows all the answers and I know none! How many of these mystery film images kindly provided by Matt Sunshine can you identify?