A number of weeks ago I was watching one of the Rental Boys episodes on the RTE website. One of the characters in the particular episode had a scene with a customer where he talked about his favourite film, Requiem for a Dream. I’d never heard of it but put it on my list of films to watch.
So, one evening I settled down to watch the film and found it to be an absolutely compelling story of 4 lives destroyed by drugs. I rate the film very highly but it’s not an easy film to watch. It’s a bit depressing and bleak. The character played by Ellen Burstyn (a 50 something mother of a similarly drug addicted son) was particularly heartbreaking to watch.
As the credits rolled, it was getting late so I just switched off the TV and headed for bed. Although tired, I just couldn’t get to sleep. Images from the film kept buzzing in my head. I twisted and turned for a long time and eventually did get to sleep but the film still haunted me for a time after.
So today I thought it would be a good idea to ask Twitter what films have given people a sleepless night. And here they are, as recommended/warned away from/by Culch_ie followers – some films to keep you awake at night! Thanks to all for taking the time to share these,a good many which I haven’t seen. Definitely ones to look out for, but not for a school night…
Alien – bloody movie kept me awake for weeks.
Pulp Fiction watched it 3 times in a row when it came out. Also, Let the Right one in. Thinking about it long after. Also, Tale of Two Sisters and Old Boy.
The Medusa Touch with Richard Burton and the original Wicker man
Night of the Demon (classic), The Shining, The Haunting (original one) and the utterly terrifying Dead of Night (the old black and white one)
I only remember being frightened by one movie. Ghostbusters. The marshmallow man still freaks me out to this day! (It’s his face)
Return To Oz is the most disturbing “children’s” movie ever. No one believes you, Dorothy! Have some lekky shock therapy!
Movie to keep me up at night. The Never Ending Story. It never ends dammit!
Believe it or not, Jaws! There I was, living in a Dublin suburb, worried sick about being attacked by a Great White at Dollymount.
The Blair Witch Project and the remake of The Grudge are the first two that spring to mind
Evil dead (was only 9!!) and Nightmare on Elm Street. And Superman 3 as a kid, the scene where woman gets transformed into the robot freaked me out.
don’t like that American Haunting… Amityville when I was ten
Gremlins - When I was a kid I used to have nightmares about the scene where the gremlin melts at the end and jumps out again
The Ring - Gave me the cold sweats.
I once put Requiem for a Dream on when I came home drunk one night and duly fell asleep. Dreaming about being in that quiz show is not a pleasant experience!
And Fire Walk With Me is another one.
Watership Down. I saw that film in the Stardust before it burned down too… Lots of scenes from that film have always stayed with me and still wig me out.
Sherry Baby - I felt like I’d kicked a baby when I was leaving the cinema. Mind numbingly bleak.
I’ve seen Requiem for a Dream once and once only. I don’t think I could bear it again. Loved it, mind.
I saw Hard Candy in the cinema and wasn’t over the moon about it. I didn’t think it a great film at the time. Since then, it has stayed with me - I’ve thought about it more than any film in recent years. It raises so many ideas and questions and, yes, I have been awoken at night by one particular scene replaying in my head.
When I was a kid there were several. Jaws, Alien, The Thing and Halloween would have been the main ones. In the last few years there was a movie called Session 9 which really freaked me out.
The Others. Freaked me out. It’s the last spook movie I have watched.