Back in the 80s, the idea of a family bonding session centred around watching a horror movie was not, as Eric Andre would say, considered to be particularly controversial nor brave . As a matter of fact, it’s quite possible I watched more horror/slasher flicks from the age of 7 to 12 than I did the rest of my adult life combined.
I watched all of the following movies as a pre-teen child, and to be completely honest some scenes terrify me as much right now as when I was eight. Which says a lot about the movies as well as the importance of sound parental supervision (Dad, Mom, I love y’all but I’m pretty sure Common Sense Media would rate 鬼掹脚 an R -definitelynotforaneightyearold).
In the spirit of Halloween, these are some horror gems from my childhood that still send a chill down my spine. May it bring you as much terror as it brought me.
The Exorcist (1973)
My debut into the world of horror films began as an eight year old in 1988 when the head-turning antics of Regan, a demon-possessed girl and the subject of The Exorcist, made my own head spin and my insides queasy. When Father Merrin (presumably the titular exorcist, played by the inimitable Max Von Snydow) dies of a heart attack from his failed solo attempt at an exorcism, my young heart rolled into a fist ready to knock myself unconscious from fright.
Watching this on VHS on a tiny 20” CRT television did nothing to diminish the imprint that Demon Regan would have in me for the rest of my life. If I were to meet a person in a Demon Regan costume at a Halloween Party I will, without hesitation, set her on fire—just to be safe.
That aside, the film holds up remarkably, disturbingly well, and the sense of pervasive doom throughout culminates in an ultimately cathartic, if not exactly happy ending.
鬼拉脚/ 鬼掹脚 (1988)
1988 continued to be a horrifying year for me in the most literal sense. For a family outing, we decided to head to the old Mandarin Theatre at Kallang Bahru for a yet another age-inappropriate movie screening. This time, it was a Hongkong horror-comedy movie called 鬼拉脚, translated as “Ghost Pulling Leg.”
Peruse Exhibit A, the IMDB synopsis of the film:
Years ago, a village head in the Hong Kong countryside executed a man for committing adultery by drowning him in the ocean. His mistress, in attempts to flee the village, dies when she plummets into a pool of quicksand. Years later, people swimming in the ocean mysteriously vanishes, and their bodies wash ashore days later. A local policeman named Lu Hsien who practices Taoist magic believes a water ghost (presumably the ghost of the adulterer) is responsible for their deaths. Therefore, he joins forces with his colleague, Wang Hsiao-Ming, to rid the countryside of this demon before he can strike again. However, Hsiao-Ming is unaware that the ghost of the mistress, having risen out of her muddy grave, fell in love with him and will see to it that no other person falls for him.
You’ve got to be pulling my leg kidding me.
The movie has not quite aged the same way as The Exorcist has (you can check it out yourself, the entire movie is on YouTube here.) but rewatching snippets of it made me a little wistful for the golden years of Hong Kong cinema. I mean who doesn’t love risqué, gore-filled drama starring hoppity-skippity Oriental vampires? Good times.
Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Ah yes, another VHS classic. I watched this as an 11-year-old (yay to progress) and first of all, I just want to say—damn you and your stupid claws, Freddy.
Nightmare On Elm Street made the choice between staying awake and sleeping an unnecessarily dreadful decision for weeks after. Sleep wasn’t just for the weak; it was for the suicidal, apparently, seeing how easily Glenn, Rod and Tina were taken out.
That said, as a Primary 5 student prone to dozing off in class, I did find renewed incentive in paying closer attention to Mr Lee during Mathematics. Silver linings, I suppose.
