I had my seven year old grandson with me for the weekend. I was wondering how I was going to entertain him for three days! We were walking through the town market looking at all the stalls, when we came upon a stall with some old video tapes.
“Wow, look at these old movies, Granddad.”
“You don’t want to watch those,” I warned.
“Why?” The usual question from a kid.
“They are all old horror movies and they will give you bad dreams. They’re scary!”
Little Johnny started reading the titles:
“Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, Frankenstein Meets Wolf Man.”
I tried to pull him away from the display.
“Hold on, Granddad, what’s a mummy?”
“ A mummy is a very scary guy who’s wrapped up in bandages.”
“Did you see these movies when you were a boy?”
“Yes John, I saw them all.”
“Were you scared?”
“Yes, very scared, in fact I crawled under the theatre seat and hid.”
“Let’s buy one, they’re cheap, three for five dollars.”
“I told you, they’re very scary. You will be the only kid in your school with gray hair.”
“Come on, please, Granddad.”
“Okay, you’re lucky I still have my video tape player.”
So, I bought three videos, Dracula, Frankenstein, and Frankenstein Meets Wolf Man.
We watched Dracula, the first night. When the vampire leaned towards a sleeping woman’s throat, the scene ended.
“Hey, what happened, Granddad?”
“Dracula bit her on the neck and sucked some of her blood.”
“Why didn’t they show it?”
“I guess it’s too scary.”
Little Johnny looked bored.
The next night we watched, Frankenstein. Little Johnny fell asleep!
The last night we watched, Frankenstein Meets Wolf Man.
“How come there’s no color in these movies, Granddad?”
“Because, it’s scarier in black and white.”
“They didn’t show the good parts, Wolf Man killing the people!”
“It’s too horrifying.”
Johnny yawned and said:
“Too bad Wolf Man died, he was a nice guy.”
I smiled.
“Granddad, you didn’t really crawl under a seat at the movies, did you?”
No, of course not, I was just kidding!”
they were scary back then, but now they are rather boring when compared to movies like the new wolfman, which shows all that gore in color. my grandson likes the old king kong of 1933 better then the new one, but he’s not scared he just likes the big ape.
Today, kids have already seen it all on TV and video games. I remember being scared by King Kong!
Times have changed. Sigh.
A few years back my grandson watched “Jurrasic Park” with my wife and I. He was scared and told Grandma. “Don’t be scared Grandma. It’s only a movie.” as he moved closer to her and her protective arms.
Dave: The wife and I just returned from 10 days in Las Vegas. We were visiting our son who has lived there for 20 years. But I digress.
Now, LV is one scary city. The resorts and hotels are an architect’s dream. Beautiful–but they might as well all be the Tower of London. I can visualize Boris Karloff as a Vegas pit boss. Bella Lagosi sucking blood from senior slot players and Peter Lorry, as a shift manager. Anyone for a ride into the desert?
Tell grandson John that there are many more horror movies today than the chillers of yesteryear. It was the late 1930s and there I sat in the Lakeland theater on Brighton Beach Avenue in Brooklyn. The movie was “The Mummy.” I purposely sat in the first row as a test of my bravery.
Oh, how I wanted to crawl under my seat when the movie started. I covered my eyes and peered through shaky fingers. To my surprise, I lived.
Dave, you entertain me every time I read one of your works.
Best, Larry Primak