MovieChat Forums > Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) Discussion > Was anyone else terrified when...

Was anyone else terrified when...

posted 9 years ago by fountaincap
18 replies | jump to latest

...Barry [Got his name wrong, thanks for pointing out!] gets abducted? This scene used to give me nightmares as a kid. I guess because it's the same fear as a poltergeist - having your own home invaded by an alien entity and nothing you can do about it, complete with having the child in a trancelike state. It's terrifying - the clouds opening up like a biblical event, the music, the red lights, hell, I even remember being scared of the damn vacuum cleaner in this scene, lol.

[–] gp12345us 9 years ago

It's Barry who gets abducted, and yes, that is a very intense scene. For me, it's the shot going down the chimney and we see Jillian's arm frantically trying to close it, very creepy. An interesting fact about that scene, it almost got the entire movie cancelled. It was a last minute script revision that Spielberg made, and when the executives at the studio found out, they threatened to cancel production unless he took the scene out. A compromise was reached when Spielberg promised to shoot the scene with two endings, one where Jillian manages to keep Barry from being pulled out the doggie door by the aliens, and the one we see in the movie. In the end, it was much further into production when it came time to shoot the scene, and Spielberg shot only the version he wanted, with Barry getting abducted, so that's what we have in the movie.

My Top 5 Movies: "Dazed & Confused", "Close Encounters", "Vertigo", "Melancholia", "Rushmore"

[–] parkpunk 9 years ago

I was very young and that scene was like a horror movie for me. I used to always put my hands up over my eyes.
When Barry opens up the door and it looks like hell outside, terrifying.

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[–] estcst-3 8 years ago

It's not Barry... it's Barrreeeee-eeeee-eeeee-eeeee

[–] sage2112 8 years ago

lol

[–] RiniculousNick 9 years ago

Interestingly enough, when I was little I was terrified of the vacuum cleaner coming alive more than anything else. I had a phobia of vacuum cleaners for several years because of that shot.

[–] CashHog 9 years ago

When you're young your imagination is wide and far. The creepiest thing for myself was for Barry to open that door. You've no idea the things that go through a kids mind especially when parents act bewildered and scared too.

[–] mike_cable 9 years ago

Yes, it was a frightful scene for me as a kid. The lights outside, the chimney, the screws. I had visions of this scene when I watched Signs. However, having watched CE3K recently, I was more aware of the effects of lighting, music, sound and editing combined to make what they made, so it had less effect.

Another scene which always spooked me was the kitchen/eggs scene in Ghost Busters, as well as the scene where Dana gets taken in her chair. And the Beta unit/android bedroom/transforming scene in The Last Starfighter.

[–] fede_4488 9 years ago

It still terrifies me to this day as a grown ass man!

If I don't reply, you're probably on my ignore list for something I forgot already

[–] slim_sanders 8 years ago

The whole first 30 mins of the film are very eerie, I was watching it last night and was still slightly unnerved by it all.

[–] TheArgentinian (7251) 5 years ago

[deleted]

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] sage2112 8 years ago

Yeah it's really eerie when the orange light spurts through the keyhole, then Barry opens the door - the way the trees are violently swaying around and such. And then where you can see the big lights of the descending ship through the venetian blinds. Oh and then they start coming down the chimney and up thru the vents!

[–] CromeRose 8 years ago

And the weirdest thing is throughout every scene with Barry and the aliens, including that horror-movie-esque abduction scene, Barry isn't afraid at all. He keeps telling the aliens to come in and play and all that. He clearly wasn't distressed by his mom's distress.

[–] a_l_i_e_n 8 years ago

Barry isn't afraid at all. He keeps telling the aliens to come in and play and all that.

Yes, Barry looked at them without the fear of the unknown that adulthood brings to most of us. That's why Roy was chosen by the aliens, too; he looked at what was going on with the wonder of a child.

[–] Blueghost 8 years ago

I was scared for his mom, because I was wondering how she would get him back, or if he had been abducted forever.

[–] degrimstead-1 8 years ago

YES! It stands out from the rest of the film for being really scary. When I'm watching it alone, at that point I usually hug a blanket or something, ha ha. Sometimes, if I'm not in the mood, I'll skip that scene altogether and come back to finish watching afterward.