We all remember the movies that scared the be-gee-burrs out of us when we were children. Depending on the generation you grew up in, your first memories of these movies or TV shows might be in black and white. The first two that I remember are since that was what kind of TV we had when I was growing up.

The first movie that gave me nightmares as a child, was the 1963 Japanese film 'Matango'. The film is about a group of pleasure-seeking young people are shipwercked and stranded on a mysterious island. One by one they succumb to a terrible fate. I can’t tell you how old I was when I first saw this movie, all I can tell you is that, it was only many years later that I would make myself eat a mushroom!

Watch the trailer for Matango:

The other film that provided constant fodder for my nightmares was 5 Million Years To Earth otherwise know as Quatermass And The Pit. 

Although popularized in the US with the Hammer version (retitled Five Million Years to Earth), Quatermass originally aired on the BBC in the late 50s as a serial. Though the Hammer version is certainly worthy, the BBC version (which can be seen in its entirety here) is nothing short of a sci-fi revelation. Brilliantly written and produced, the series would become a monster smash in the UK and a profound influence on a generation of sci-fi fans and writers. From the Independent:

Kneale's greatest achievement as a melder of science fiction and horror was undoubtedly Quatermass and the Pit, which kept people out of the pubs while it was running. He cheerfully threw aliens from Mars, pagan rituals, the "Horned God" and race memory into the mix and scored a huge popular success.

If you looking for evidence of culture's reverse-evolution with the rise of television, Quatermass is your motherlode. Kneale's script puts nearly everything on TV today to shame. In 1958, mind you, he was warning of the militarization of space, racial tensions, government cover-ups of alien contact... - The Secret Sun

Watch the trailer for 5 Million Years To Earth:

Tell us that movies gave you nightmares as a kid?

 

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