The only movie (I think it was a made for TV movie) that profoundly affected me was The Day After Tomorrow...1983 I think. I'd just had a baby and was terrified of nuclear war, so my hormones must have been ridiculously out of whack because I cried for days on end after watching that movie.

I watched Independence Day...AGAIN last night for probably the 30th time. I LOVE that stupid movie. I don't know why, I just do. Face/Off is another stupid movie I watch all the time. I love escapist fare, I guess.

Lenny. I saw it years after it was produced and was depressed for days. Two other emotionally disturbing movies that I made the mistake of watching are Terms of Endearment and The Piano.

Pesky!!

That is the very same movie I saw as a child that has given me nightmares my ENTIRE life. I have had nightmares since I was a child that I am forced to live in my basement covered in aluminum foil and eat contaminated food. It also led to my fears of natural disasters like earthquakes, hurricanes and tornadoes. I have nightmares of them too and I am stuck in my basement.

I have no idea why my parents allowed me to see that movie.

I saw a movie (TV movie?) like that, and it really affected me too. I think it was called "Testament"- about a family's life after a nuclear attack. It was in the 80's too, and I still think about it. Chilling!

And I'll never forget a movie I saw about Anne Frank.

My sister can still freak me out if she whispers "When is she coming? Don't worry she'll be here soon" from an old Kim Darby movie. I just checked IMDB and it was the 1973 movie Don't Be Afraid of the Dark. It's more a silly fear than what it sounds like the rest of you experience with your movies. I think I knew to avoid all those movies because I knew it wouldn't be good for me to see them.

When I saw the movie "Picnic" at age 17 and it portrayed people in REAL life, I saw all the musicals and happy ending movies growing up and finally saw one that made sense. Felt the same way about "Rebel without a cause".

Wow, you all have some great stories. I must be a glutton for punishment, because I feel myself wanting to find and see some of these! Interesting to hear how many people's memories go back to childhood. The Twilight Zone used to give me the heebie jeebies as a kid. Was Don't Be Afraid of the Dark the one where the blind woman has to fend of an attacker in her home? My mom and sisters and I all watched that together one evening, and had to stay up together all night. We could NOT close our eyes!

Let's see:

1)Philadelphia Story
2)The Thin Man series
3)Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House
4)Star Wars
5)Lord of the Rings
6)Independence Day
7)Harry Potter
8)The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
9)Practical Magic
10)The 13th Warrior
11)The Bishops Wife
12)Bringing Up Baby
13)Paul
14)Dracula (1958) -- as well as many of the Hammer films
15)Scrooge (1951?) -- black&white with Alaistair Sim
16)The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad (Harry Harryhausen films of all sorts and kinds)
17)Robin Hood (Errol Flynn)
18)Mrs. Miniver
19)The Enchanted Cottage
20)Some Like it Hot
21)Jaws
22)ET
23)Poltergiest

... as well as "The Civil War" mini-series

... the Twilight Zone was a groundbreaking accomplishment in so many ways ....

...also the Classic Star Trek TV series ....

Wow, you all have some great stories. I must be a glutton for punishment, because I feel myself wanting to find and see some of these! Interesting to hear how many people's memories go back to childhood. The Twilight Zone used to give me the heebie jeebies as a kid. Was Don't Be Afraid of the Dark the one where the blind woman has to fend of an attacker in her home? My mom and sisters and I all watched that together one evening, and had to stay up together all night. We could NOT close our eyes!

The only thing I actually remember from the movie was the creepy little people waiting for her to arrive. The one you're probably thinking about was Wait Until Dark (thanks again to IMDB for helping me name it) with Audrey Hepburn and Efram Zimbalist, Jr. She's blind, she ends up with a doll full of drugs, someone comes to retrieve it - it was scary. Remember when she sticks her fingers in the light socket to short out the lights so that he doesn't have the advantage of light/sight?

When I think of happy or charming scenes, instead of scary ones, I think of the French movie Amelie. It had many delightful scenes. I also loved the Italian movie Life is Beautiful. There are some wonderful scenes of love and joy in that one. I don't want to describe any and possibly spoil the movie for anyone who might be interested in seeing it.

Remember the movie Ordinary People? I never see that on TV anymore, it's an oldie but goodie movie and I cry every time. That movie really captures how the death of a son or brother affects a family. I remember being disturbed by all the emotions and then lived the real life drama of my brothers death a few years after that movie came out. Love Terms of Endearment, another tear jerker. One of my all time favorites is Fried Green Tomatoes I have watched it at least ten times and I love how wonderfully all the mix of characters work so well. The Jaws movies ruined my life, I used to go to the ocean and swim way out and now I'm afraid of my own shadow.

Does anyone remember~or has even seen~Grand Canyon with Kevin Kline? For some reason it's been one of the unforgettable movies, but really didn't do that well at the box office.

Here's a link if you would like to read a short summary.

Here is a link that might be useful: Movie

Forgot about one of the best ....

..... Waking Ned Devine .....

The movie Taken with Liam Neeson was just about the scariest movie I've ever seen. It literally made me sick. My DD was in college at that time and planning a trip to Europe with her BFF, who was then going on to Eqypt. It was a Good Thing DD was not able to do the Egypt portion of the trip (had to return for a class) because I would have laid down in front of the airplane wheels to prevent her from going after seeing Taken.

I know it was a completely irrational fear, and I have been to north Africa several times --- the first when I was just 14!--- but there would have been no chance of talking me into it at that time!

I saw a charming movie today, "Sixty Six," about an English boy's bar mitzvah that conflicts with the soccer world cup in the 60s. It is based on a true story and was a gem. Helena Bonham Carter and some other recognizable Brits in the cast.

I know this isn't answering the question, but a co-worker told me recently about a movie that I really enjoyed (didn't change my life or anything ...). It's called "Hear My Song." On Netflix. Very clever film!

Now onto the question: "Truly, Madly, Deeply" -- man dies, man comes back to help girlfriend emerge from grief, man returns to the world of the dead. 4-hankerchief movie. Stars a young(er) Alan Rickman.

Two that were pretty silly (looking back now), but disturbed me beyond belief at the time were "Videodrome" with James Wood and "The Ring" - where the little dead girl comes crawling out of the television set. (I'll admit - sometimes I still wake in the middle of the night and glance towards the TV, just to make sure that's not happening.)

When I was a child, I had a babysitter who always tuned into "The Twilight Zone." It totally freaked me out, but I felt babyish admitting that to her, so I forced myself to watch with her and then huddled under my blankets fearfully when I went to bed. Now I love nothing more than a "Twilight Zone" marathon - I think it's TVLand that often plays those on certain holiday weekends.

When I was young (in the 1950's) a couple of my family's teen friends took me to the neighborhood movies with them - a real treat for me. I don't remember the name of the movie but it had a cyclops in it and I remember hiding under one of their coats and peeking out just in time to see someone stab the cyclops in the eye with a spear. Ewwww. Don't know if it was the start of my lifelong aversion to eyeballs and anything having to do with eyes (my own included) or not. But I can still (50+ years later) conjure up a vivid visual of that movie. I don't, however, have any fear of cyclops.