MovieChat Forums > Jacob's Ladder (1990) Discussion > My mother took me to see this when I was...

My mother took me to see this when I was 4

posted 12 years ago by sultrystarlet05
27 replies | jump to latest

I always remembered going to the movies and being so completely freaked out by a scene where a man was placed in a tub of ice that we had to leave. I never could recall anything else about the movie until recently when I rented this title. I was *so* amazed when I saw the scene again; the flood of memory was incredible...but then I thought,"Why did my mom think this was an apporpriate movie?"...but then I remembered seeing "The Silence of the Lambs" and "House Party 2" in theaters as well....anyone else remember seeing something that they probably shouldn't have when they were small?

[–] ben-leos 11 years ago

Your mom is awesome

[–] goo-goo-ga-ga 11 years ago

I'm sorry to hear this. I think some parents have very poor judgment. This is why it should be regulated by movie theatres. I saw a five-year-old at District Nine. It was clear the dad was there for his selfish purposes. Who would take a child that young to see something so violent? The little girl was horrified. I should have complained to theatre management. It's entertainment for teens or adults but not children. It's unfortunate we live in a society with people who need rules and regulations telling them what is appropriate social behavior.
I did see Silence of the Lambs as a tween, but at that age children can make a distinction between reality and fantasy. There are films now that I wouldn't want to see as an adult. No one needs images forced upon them, stuck in their brain without consent. A child does not have the reasoning ability to make those decisions and that is why parents need to monitor and protect children.

[–] silvana_mcd 11 years ago

I've been watching horror movies with my parents since I was about 4 or 5, and I have no problem with that. I never had nightmares, and I was rarely frightened by the movie. I think if a parent knows their child and can explain to them the difference between a movie and reality, then they should decide what movies the kid can watch. I do agree with you that taking the girl to the movie theater to see a horror movie was not a wise idea, especially since the little girl didn't enjoy it. I, personally, have loved horror movies since I started watching them, and it's still my favorite genre.

[–] sirbaboo 9 years ago

4 or 5 sounds pretty young, but then I myself was around 13 before I saw a proper horror movie, and as a result I imagined them to be a lot scarier than they actually were, haha. I recall the first one, renting some crappy film called 'Berserker' and being genuinely afraid to watch it. Knowing what a ridiculous piece of *beep* that was makes it even funnier.

[–] daverindone 9 years ago

That's epic, man! We took our 4 and 6 year olds to the Blair Witch Project because it was the only night we could go and told both it was a movie about camping (which was sorta right). I think the closest non-Godzilla horrorish flick I saw was Jaws at 8. I do, however, clearly remember seeing Burst Offerings at home one night with my Dad and seeing that Limo Driver nearly gave me a heart attack.

[–] drgnndblls88 11 years ago

whaaat. that is not ok. I did read and watch some things that were a little beyond my full comprehension at a young age but nothing like that. I definitely wouldn't want to show this movie to a 4 year old.

[–] fanslayer 10 years ago

I saw "Scream" when I was about 5 and it was scary. Although, I was instructed not to watch it, I did when nobody was home. Had nightmares for a long time afterwards.

I exist.

[–] Burning_Sosobra 9 years ago

I was 6 or 7 when Arachnaphobia(1990) came out, and remember begging my mom to take me to see it at the theater because I think some school friend had seen it and was talking about it. So, against her better judgement, I convinced her and she took me to see it. I got about 20min in, and the scene where they open up the coffin of the guy that had been killed in the Amazon, and his corpse was all nasty from the spider feeding off his corpse freaked me out. I handed her the popcorn and walked right out of the theater. Anytime the movie is on, we laugh about it to this day. I love the movie now, but I wasn't quite ready for it at that age.

I look at my red hands and my mean face, and I wonder about that man that's gone so wrong.

[–] JudgeNotLestYeBeJudgeReinhold 9 years ago

Man, none of you guys were traumatized by your folks like I was. When I was 5, they took me to see HOWARD THE DUCK. I've been F'd up ever since.

[–] JudgeNotLestYeBeJudgeReinhold 9 years ago

Don't feel too bad, I was 12 or 13 when it came out and I saw it opening weekend. Most of it was pretty scary, but the opening with Drew Barrymore was so damn intense I almost pissed myself. That's one of the last times I honestly remember being scared by a movie. Although, at 33 years of age, The Exorcist III (Legion) scares me. If you haven't seen it, or if it's been a while since you have, watch it. Watch it by yourself. At night. Lights out.... If it doesn't scare you, nothing will. A lot of people overlook this one, and I think it's because the second one was so god awful, but I'm telling you... This is one of my favorite films of all time. Not just out of horror films, but favorite regardless of genre. Do yourself a favor and find a copy.

[–] Horror-yo 9 years ago

Yep, irresponsible parents at the time who couldn't fathom the concept movies can scar children at a young age...
for me it was a bunch of em, from Alien, Predator, Child's play, the Freddy movies, some cartoons... but I remember the worst was, I was about 8, at a friend's place and their dad had left a rented VHS for us if we wanted to watch a movie.
The film was 1986's The Fly.
We got so freaked out by that it left and indelible mark on me forever. Never saw it whole again in my life, just parts here and there, and I wouldn't want to now even.

[–] sirbaboo 9 years ago

Haha wow. What puzzles me is that you weren't freaked out by any of the earlier scenes at such a tender age..

[–] charlzonder-es-maas 9 years ago

I think I was about 10 when I saw What lies Beneath. We had just had all surround sound system installed in our apartment and someone had advised my father and stephmother to rent this movie to test it out. That was quite an experience indeed, even for them.
I was far from as young as 4 ofcourse but it still kept me from sleeping properly for two weeks.
Fun fact is that, since I am from the Netherlands and understandably my English wasn't good yet at that age, I interpreted the title as "What lies need", with lies as a noun instead of a verb. It just happens that that interpretation actually fits the premisse of the story very well to!

[–] venanttout 8 years ago

You got a great mother.

[–] thecalhouns 8 years ago

My mom took me to see Event Horizon when I was 7 because I was such a Jurassic Park fan and it had Sam Neill.

The funny thing is it didn't scare me that bad since I already seen Alien by that point.

[–] anthonymbaruch 8 years ago

hahaha saw event horizon and thought the same thing the 1st time.. Sam *beep* Neill The Dino Hunter! Also saw the Piano first time around then too and was confused the whole film why Sam was so cruel to Holly Hunters character.. In my mind at that age I was like *beep* hes not even that cruel to the dinosaurs! Two films that scared the living *beep* out of me back then were DEAD ALIVE(aka Brain Dead) because of the insane amount of gore and The FLY.. when he starts transforming into the fly is when I got the nightmares.. plus that scene in the end where he throws up all over that guy with his fly acid.. DEAD ALIVE makes me laugh now but man The FLY is some sick *beep* so is THE THING.. there both brilliant.