A Scary Movie That Made Me Jump

This morning I was reading an excellent article by a very good writer friend of mine, Akos Peterbencze, and he set me back thinking quite a lot really. You see, I studied film at university and ended up teaching the subject. I also went into acting in film and television as an actor.

Apart from doing lots and lots of soaps and drama series, I had a role in 'The Dresser' (blink and you'll miss me) with Albert Finney (for whom I was a stand in) and Tom Courtney. And yes I was on the platform at York railway station when 'Sir' (Albert Finney) yelled out......

"STOP THAT TRAAAAAAAAIIIIIINNNNNN."

So I do have quite an abiding interest in the subject.

And before you ask which are my fave films, I have to tell you one of my all time favourite films was '2001 A Space Odyssey' by Stanley Kubrick. I just love a good sci-fi movie, as long its science is believable.

And then I was thinking back to about 2005 when post separation and divorce I took to staying at home watching dozens, if not hundreds, of films. I saw many great films during that reclusive period of about ten years, some long forgotten, some not so.

And thanks to Akos, I got to thinking about scary movies in particular and those that had left a lasting impression on me. And there was one film, which to this day, scares the living daylights out of me.

The film was called 'White Noise', starring Michael Keaton, and belongs to the genre known as supernatural horror movies. And I suppose it left a lasting impression on me for very personal reasons.

I very much identified with the main character, simply because he had lost his wife in an apparent accident. And I too had effectively lost my wife to divorce.

The two experiences are not that dissimilar in many ways. Your life partner has gone for good and you do miss them a lot, even if it ends out of your own personal choice, as indeed is what happens in any separation.

I sat watching the movie in the dark (always a circumspect decision) with more than a little intrigue and settled down to see how the main character was going to work his way through this awful time in his life.

Then one day he realises that he is being followed by somebody who he doesn't know. It turns out the guy has had what is called e.v.p. contact with the deceased wife, via the white noise of a deliberately mis-tuned television set.

Now I don't want to spoil all the fun if you want to seek out this scary movie, I'll let you discover for yourself how the adventure pans out and what happens in the end.

I had become him.

However, there is one point in the movie when the bereaved husband has left his own television on. For a while nothing happens. And this is where I got sucked in as it were. I was driftily watching his tv via my tv and in so doing I had become him. In fact, you could photoshop my head onto Michael Keaton's shoulders in the photo above and voila, that was me. Now this would not have been the same on the big screen at a cinema. To get the full effect it had to be the way that it was.

His tv had become my tv.

So there I am just staring at a tv via my tv emitting lots of white noise. His tv had become my tv. Lulled into a false sense of security I began to drift. That was one big mistake.

She screamed out her husbands name.

Suddenly the palm of the hand of deceased wife slapped right up on the inside of the screen with a very loud thump as she screamed out her husband's name.

I leapt off the sofa.

I leapt off the sofa like a scalded bloody cat and ran for cover. My nerves were shattered. I was a nervous wreck. Since that time I have not been able to stare at a tv emitting white noise. It scares the hell out of me.

Now this was not by far one of the best movies I have ever seen, though it is a very good film (ignore the professional critics, what the hell do they know anyway) and it is certainly one that has made one of the most lasting impressions on me.

Box office surprise.

Box office wise the film took everybody by surprise by doing blockbuster business raking in almost 100 million on a ten million production budget. It was a complete surprise, especially given that it was released out of season and the critics had panned it. I love it when a dark horse becomes something of a curveball for the so called experts. So the film made a lasting impression on the studio as well as me, albeit for very different reasons.

You have been warned!

Do feel free to seek the film out at a video shop or some such. But when you watch it make sure you have the lights on and maybe even somebody to watch it with you. Unless of course you want to catch the full effect of what I have described to you above. But do not say you were not warned.