Do any of you get asked why you love horror films so much? I know there are countless studies on the whole “why do we love being scared” question and people who aren’t into horror think we’re all demented for loving such a brutal genre; but for as long as I remember I have always been into them. I think a part of it was because I was never allowed to watch them (or any R-rated movie, for that matter) until I was in my late teens, so of course I wanted to watch everything that I wasn’t allowed to. My dad was really into horror films though, and I think he really wanted to be able to share that passion with me. So lucky for me, whenever my mom was out of town (which was very rarely) he would sneak me a movie or two that wasn’t too inappropriate so I could get my fix. My mother probably still thinks my first R-rated movie was The Patriot (well, probably not anymore after she reads this…sorry Dad). While all of that backstory isn’t completely necessary, it’s all part of the memory of the first R-rated horror movie I ever saw: The Faculty. I have a lot of strong emotion and vivid memories of watching it, so my question is: what was yours?
I didn’t see The Faculty until I was in fifth grade, so I would have been ten old. I remember spending an insane amount of time looking for PG-13 (or in some cases PG) horror films that didn’t look terrible which, as you know can be a rather difficult thing to do. I’d made my way through Poltergeist, Temple of Doom (I consider it to have many aspects of horror), Gremlins, Tremors and other various classics but at some point I was really scraping the bottom of the barrel and watching things like Komodo and King Cobra (I really liked creature features). I used to walk around my local Blockbuster (RIP) and just stare at the VHS covers and read the backs of the boxes just to get an idea what watching an R-rated movie would be like. Similarly, I would roam the halls before every movie at the AMC Theater in my town looking at all the posters hanging on the walls, to see if there was something new coming out. I remember coming across the poster for The Faculty, which got me really excited because it had Elijah Wood in it, whom I had loved ever since seeing him in North (not proud of that statement, but I was 10).
Anyway, my dad had rented the movie to watch himself (my mom isn’t really a fan of these types of films so he never got to go see them in theaters) and for some reason, my mom was not going to be home all afternoon the Saturday after my dad watched it, and it wasn’t due back until Sunday. My sister was going over to a friend’s house for a few hours so he called me upstairs and (very seriously) told me that he would let me watch the movie but I couldn’t tell my mom or my sister and if I had nightmares I had to stay in my room and deal with it. Also, if my sister or her friend came back home we had to turn it off. I agreed to his terms.
Needless to say I got to watch the whole movie, but there was a point near the very end of the film when Mary-Beth had just punched Stokely and started turning into the queen alien where my sister and her friend came back. Luckily I saw them coming in the backyard through the window and I ran and locked the door so they wouldn’t be able to come in. They eventually left on their bicycles and went back to the friend’s house, probably thinking my Dad had left to run an errand. I know it was kind of douchey but I was on a mission: I was going to finish this movie and no one was going to ruin it.
In the end, I got to finish the movie, and then I went to school the following Monday and told everyone about it. It was the highlight of my life at that point, which sounds dumb now but my 10-year-old self was ecstatic. I also got to watch Deep Blue Sea and Halloween: H20 that same year which pretty much made my memories of fifth grade the best ever (it’s also why I love all 3 of those movies, no matter what their quality is).
While I know some of you might not find this story that interesting, it’s one of my favorite memories and I just thought I’d share it to ignite some friendly discussion. I’m very curious to know what your memories are of your first time seeing a R-rated horror movie (or ANY horror movie, for that matter). Discuss in the comments below and share your experiences!