worth seeing for one scene.

I saw this when I was 12 and it still freaks me the **** out at 22. It's gotten to the point where the fear has developed into a type of anger. Rest assured, if one of these little bastards steps foot in my room he is going to get a facefull of lead.

anyone else really scared of windows at night thanks to this movie?

I first saw this film when I was 15 with my little brother who was 10.

To this day, we only have to peep at each other with one eye around a door to send the other one batty. Usually followed by an urgent "Please, don't do that, I won't sleep for a week now" and a promise never to do it again!

This film (largely due to that scene) and book led to me making a prat of my teen self by believing that I was being visited by aliens, something I managed to talk myself out of quite quickly thank goodness. Now at the grand old age of 32, I'd like to see this film again, this time to see Chris Walken's portrayal of a man wrestling with his personal demons, rather than as a factual account of an alien abduction.

That "peeping" scene sure has the power to make you lose control of your bodily functions though. Just looking at that link about made my tummy turn over. It's Chris Walken's almost indifferent delivery of "Is that someone there?" before the shiny @*?!er does his slippery peep manoeuvre. For me, it's right up there with Hitchcock's birds on the climbing frame, or "Red Rum" in the Shining.

Are WE afraid of the ALIENS ?


...the truth is out there...

The big headed/eyed aliens are commonly refered to as the Greys, check the new book by Strieber by the same name... if you dare!

The same scenes had my own heart kicking 120bpm too when I read the book, but unfortunately by the time I watched the movie I had resolved my issues surrounding that... a bit of a shame on my part actually, looking back I feel I'm missing out. There's an entire 'Visitor' arc of books by Strieber (Communion, Transformation, Majestic, etc), for those looking to enhance their trauma. ;)

Strieber also headlines an alternative news site, of which also reports on UFO/abduction news:

http://www.unknowncountry.com/

Saw the post about "Jacob's ladder" and have to remark that the point when he moves the mirror and the "shaking" guy "shakes" and Tim robbins cries
...same feeling as the aliens.
On the same trip can anyone think of other specific scenes that have the same reaction?
gotta put the final 20 minutes of "The Rapture" in the list.

It's not a door, just saw it, it's some sort of bookshelf or tv stand or even a dresser, he peeks out from that, then the door opens and they come in. the reason it scared me so much is that he was in the room the whole time, in the dark... aaack!

First a definition of terms (a nod to Socrates). Our *fear* is that emotion/state within us of great anxiety, vulnerability, a sense of mortality, an utter lack of control, being threatened or impending doom. Our *fears* are those situations, people, creatures, and so on that triggers this *fear*.

Situations or entities can be less or more successful in evoking or eliciting that fear, but it is our OWN *fear* that is causing the anxiety, etc. A good exercise to understand this is to imagine your worst fear, and then carry it out to its completion and beyond. For example, if your fear is aliens, imagine the worst scenario. The alien is in your bedroom, hiding behind a door, slowly it reveals itself, a blank, emotionless stare upon its face. It moves toward you... you recoil in terror, it seizes you. It carries you into its ship, strips you and lays you out on a table. It probes your mouth, ears, and anal cavity. It probes your mind with its superior, more powerful mind. Then what? Does it torture you? Let say it does, lets say it tortures you. You are screaming as it does everything it wants to do to you. Then what? Do you see what I mean? Carrying a fear to its logical conclusion is often not NEAR as scary as the THREAT of that fear, the UNKNOWN.

Anyway, I always tell my children to think about the worse that can happen, and they tell me they don't get that far, they just think about the moment before. I try to get them to carry it all the way and then it removes some of its power. Or I ask them to consider a scenario where the monster or whatever is afraid of you, or decides to leave them alone. Usually they find that the fear lessens that way. The reason why most people only think about the moment before the "whatever" gets them is because a feeling fills in the rest, rather than the actuality of what may happen. Filling in the reality of what might happen can significantly reduce the impact of the fear.

"...nothing is left of me, each time I see her..." - Catullus

Add my name to the list. I probably saw this movie about 10 or 15 years ago, so would be around 17, and it scared the crap outa me! Still find it rather eerie, and if I watched it again it would probably still freak me out. :(