scary movie (not that one)

This week I conquered a fear which I have harboured since childhood. Many Christmasses ago I was staying with my Grandparents in Sheffield. The crackers all pulled, the turkey demolished, we sat down to watch some festive 80's telly. How can I describe the terror that I experienced on that night, forcing myself to stay and watch because I didn't want to go to bed alone. All my life I have carried the memory of that fateful evening and the horror that is Labyrinth.

For the uninitiated, this film stars David Bowie and an awfully large cast of puppets, that was about all I remembered until this week. On the evening of my birthday on Sunday, I received a shiny new DVD of the scary scary film. It wasn't without a degree of foreboding that I put the DVD into a machine about the size that calculators were the first time I watched the film.

Two hours later I had been amazed by the magical devilry of Jim Henson and the freakish eye makeup of Mr Bowie. There were some scary moments but I only needed to hide behind a pillow once or twice. As the credits came up to the sound of eighties music I felt liberated. I had lain the ghosts of the past to rest. And I still maintain that that film should not be rated 'U'.

: 02 Jun 2005 22:17 |  Comments (2) |  Report a problem