It seems like there is a definite demographic for people most affected by this movie. Just curious to see if that's true. I saw the original telecast in '73 and was 10 at the time, obviously now 44...curious what others were/are.
shareSame here. I was nine, fourth grade, 1973, and I'm now 43.
But let's hear from EVERYONE -- what age and year then, and what age now?
You are right -- about 90 percent of us saw it in 1973, and were between the ages of maybe 7 (six at the youngest) and eleven
--- and MOST of us between ages 8 and 10 in 1973.
It scared the bejabbers out of us, true-- but it was a 'fun' scare. We changed our habits at night, to be sure, but weren't seriously traumatized. We weren't used to the baddies and darklings winning in horror movies. Usually a crucifix or some other miracle would save the victim. Sally's husband should have gotten there in time and the lights come back on with a 'pow' and Sally would be saved. But this movie broke the rules.
(to be honest, however, we were kinda glad. Weren't we? We were used to seeing the victims wholesomely attending church the morning after the night th darklings almost got us. But this movie, well, it verified what we always knew -- dark things from down under really COULD get us, take us away -- and that Holiness and Sunlight's protection were really just illusionary comfort...
In other words, good didn't always win. It was as we feared.
.........
Here are some 'fun facts' about those of us who fall into this caragory:
You are the very last of the Baby Boomers, and sometimes count yourself as a Generation X'er, which is OK because you are very borderline (Baby Boomer/Generation X'er). You are still probably youngish, though college kids see you as their parents' generation.
--------- You were in kindergarten or just entering school when the major Moon spaceflights were taking place;
---------- You were the original target audience for Scooby Doo, who taught us that there was no such thing as ghosts -- just mysteries to be solved.
--------- You were the original target audience for Sesame street (1969) and The Electric Company (1971), saw Willie Wonka about this time (1971) and during your early elementary school years, the Draft was abolished and music on the radio was very hip and groovy and everyone believed the world was getting to be a better place (if we could just stop polution and the energy crisis).
--------- You had a strong diet of Sid and Marty Kroft cartoons on Saturday mornings, from HR Puffinstuff to Liddsville and Sigmund-and-the-seamonsters.
--------- The Fonz was cool and a mainstay definition of cool in your modeling years. You also remember shows like Baretta and Starsky and Hutch.
--------- Your childhood was fading into adolescence when Star Wars came out in 1977.
--------- You remember when Billy Joel, Barry Manilowe, Elton John, Linda Ronstadt, etc. etc. were big, and probably enjoy them especially for nostalgia purposes nowadays.
--------- Disco (including Grease and Saturday Night Fever) was extremely common in your early teens, but was pretty much out of style well before you graduated from high school.
You were the first generation to have to REGISTER for SELECTIVE SERVICE, and were probably equally traumatized to find a decade or so later that the army would no longer take you and was no longer a career option.
Computers were only begining to become useful when you were in college and probably didn't help you much then, but helped those who came after you.
But let's hear from everyone.
How old were you when this movie came out, what year did yu first see it, and how old are you now?
And 'cause' never was the reason for the evening,
--Or the Tropic of Sir Galahad.
Well, I was a freshman in college when I saw it in 1973. I'm 53 now and I am afraid to even go to the YouTube link to watch it. This is THE movie I wish I could show the tween crowd that come to my library and want to be "scared." They keep claiming things can't be scary unless it's Hostel or Saw...I keep trying to explain to them that those flicks are either gorey or simply disgusting (my humble opinion, obviously) and that there is a difference between gross and atmospherically scary.
Some get it, some don't. Me? I continue to be afraid of little Demon Raisinette Creatures that might try to drag me into the fireplace. This movie is one of my top scary flioks--along with The Changeling, House on Haunted Hill (Vincent Price) and The Fog.
They don't teach anything at University. I had to recognize ducksh*t for brains by myself.
I agree with everything said by jesse above.
This movie scared the crap out of me. I saw it in '73 when I was around 7 (Thanks, Mom!) and I'm 40 now. Those little demon guys walking around the house continues to creep me out.
Haven't seen it in a while, but I used to watch it every single time it was on TV when I was younger and it always did the trick. The last time I saw it was probably 20 years ago, but whenever anyone asks me what the scariest movie I ever saw was...this is the film I tell them about. Most don't get it.
I was 6 years old and I remember being terrified of the demon creatures. I always thought their heads looked like Brussel sprouts. To this day this movie is still one of the most terrifying ever and also led to my uneasiness of furnace rooms. If you ask someone if they ever saw it, depending on their reaction you immediately will know how old they are. As I have found myself an entire section of kids in 1973 had the crap scared out of them by a made for tv movie!! Kids today would think we were insane but this movie still holds up today as I watched it 3 months ago and just hearing those things whispering "let's get her" got me all over again!
shareI was 7 yrs when I first saw it back in '73 and I had nightmares for many years because of those little "monkey demons" (how I saw them!) and I am going to NetFlix it soon and exersise those demons! LOL But now, I love scarry movies!
Dang! I just found out it is not on DVD!!! Not Fair!
Live for today, tomorrow might never come.
Monkey Demons is a good description. A bit more descriptive than mere 'goblins.'
And 'cause' never was the reason for the evening,
--Or the Tropic of Sir Galahad.
I was 7 and am now 41. This movie affected me like no other. I mean, it *beep* scared the *beep* out of me. I watched it recently on youtube and I didn't find it scary at all, though. Believe it or not, I found myself rooting for the goblins.
shareIn the end, Sally didn't seem to mind being one. Maybe the monkeys appreciated her more than her husband Alex obviously did.
And 'cause' never was the reason for the evening,
--Or the Tropic of Sir Galahad.
I think I was about five or six, so the first time I saw this was in the late seventies. They used to have these shows called creature features and it would start with an ugly hand animation that came out of a grave. These shows were on during the afternoon on sundays. This particular one terrified me to no end, those little shriveled dudes with their incessant whispering.
shareI was 9 in '73 (43 now). Completely traumatized by it -- moreso by a neighbor who drove over to our house after it aired, shaking like a leaf and unable to sleep alone (her husband was away on business). When THE EXORCIST opened 2 months later and the TV news showed people passing out, I figured Hollywood really was attempting to frighten us to death.
I showed DBAOTD to my teenaged nephews last Christmas, and they couldn't stop rolling their eyes. It's true, the scariest thing about the movie today is the production/costume design. That dumbass checkerboard floor was in every 3rd ABC Movie of the Week (and later recycled on FANTASY ISLAND). Kim Darby's pre-mullet shag is probably the fugliest hairdo I've ever seen on a leading lady. And what about that gasbag of a husband played by Jim Hutton! Hell, feed HIM to the prune-gerbils; he'd argue them to death.
Honestly, the one stroke of genius in the teleplay is the name "Francisco Perezh" (sp?). That's my favorite character name of all time (after Arturo Bandini, natch). How come there was no arty rock'n'roll group from our generation called The Francisco Perezh Band?
Rarely do i ever reply to a message board, but I feel the need to reply here.
I was 8 when I saw the original telecast of this movie,43 now, and it scarred me for life.(it didn't help that I would have staked my life that I was already living in a haunted house to begin with, but that's another story)I had nightmares for years.
I have watched horror movies for as long as I can remember and NOTHING has effected me the way this movie did. I went to youtube to watch it and to excorcise my demons and found it wasn't as frightening as I remember. I guess it was just the age group we were in as far as being very impressionable. Don't get me wrong, the hair still stood up on my arms a little and it still creeped me out.I plan on letting my teenage daughter watch it and seeing what she thinks...
Let me first explain that I am a huge fan of the old Movies of the Week, I have been collecting them for about 5 or 6 years or so, I now own over 150 movies that aired on TV. This happens to be one of my favorites along with Dark Night of the Scarecrow, Don't go to Sleep, The Dead Don't Die, Satan's School for Girls, Satan's Triangle and a list of other horror oriented movies that originally aired on network TV. The funny thing is the only movie that I originaly saw as a kid was Dark Night of the Scarecrow at age 11 and it scared the **** out of me. Check the post under Dark Night of the Scarecrow, my comment is under the name shanakin.
The age that I saw Don't be Afraid of the Dark for the first time is 34. I know what your thinking how could a grown man enjoy this movie, well I guess my explanation for that would be because I grew up in the seventies and I have a strange appreciation for almost everything 70's, these simple movies of the week were quite entertaining and alot of them are well remembered by those who grew up in the 70's.
A couple of reasons I love this movie so much... pondering... I love the old look to it, it is quite spooky to watch in the middle of the night (I'm a night owl so I miss old movies at night instead of all the infomertials), and just to mention it's just a damn good movie. It has good performances from the cast especially Kim Darby.
I can understand why todays kids are not freaked out by it especially with the state of television and movies the way they are. Also the movie is dated, the movies from the late 60's and even until the later 70's have a look to them simply because of the clothes and hair styles, and the style of film making. Alot of these made for televsion movies were produced with out alot of money and because of that they look cheaply made, I for one love that about the movies of the week.
I guess to close out even at age 34, it was probably in late 2004 when I saw this and I watch all my horror movies in the dark and being that I grew up in the 70's I watch these type of movies in a frame of mind coming from the 1970's.
I think what is so cool is that so many people were affected by this simple movie, If it had been done by someone other than John Newland from the old One Step Beyond series and done without a sense of flair it could have of been easly forgotten. I think that shows alot for the quailty of this movie. It's a fun old not forgotten movie that I hope gets a dvd release.
9/43 here. Scared me pretty good. I clearly remember after watching it, putting my ear next to a floor heating vent, wondering if I could hear any creatures in the crawl space. Fortunately, I heard nothing.
Get this... I have tried to figure out my age the first time I saw this movie. I knew it was before we moved into our first house when I was a child because I distinctly remember it being t my grandparents. Which means that I was 3 or 4 years old the first time I saw it, which makes me 38 now. It had a huge impact on me at that age and I had terrible nightmares for years about it. I definitely look tot hat experience as one of the main things that Made me a horror fan. By the way, don't blame my parents, they had no idea I watched it. ;)
shareI was 7 when I saw this and am 42 now. This made a big impact on me. For years I was afraid soemone would turn off the light while I was in the bathroom. I saw some clips on youtube and it looks silly, although I can see (and know) how a child can be tramatized by it. My daughters are 4 and 8 and I will make sure they don't see this. It is really not good for kids, it's too intense.
shareI was 7 in 73...seems like I was a little older when I saw it, not sure. Just remember being creep'd out, just loved that movie. Finally tracked it down through Kim Darby on this site and bought it last Fall 07. My niece (11) just loved it... she did end up sleeping in our room that night though. The good thing about this movie though is it really is pretty creepy even now... the voices... just enough peeks at the creatures... obviously not as scary as when we were kids but still packs a punch... unlike the "zuni" warrior doll one, that one was just plain silly.
shareSe7en. Forty-three now. Only saw it the one time (original broadcast, in bits and pieces, freaked me out too much to watch it in its entirety). Owned a VHS copy for ten years now. Can't screw up the courage to pop it in the player to watch.
Can't even sleep with any part of my body hanging over the edge of the bed. Afraid the little guys from the basement are gonna get me (even though I don't have a basement in the house I'm currently living in.
...Dan
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Junior in high school then, 51 now. I had forgotten that it didn't have a Hollywood happy ending! I'm surprised at how many people remember and love this film. It needs an official DVD release.
Next time you see me, it won't be me
Year: 1973 (original broadcast), Age:8
Today: July 2008 Age: 43
I will simply repeat what so many others have already said. SCARED-THE-SH!T-OUT-OF-ME!!! I watched it in the upstairs bedroom with my mom, and 2 brothers. One 11 years old, the other 4. The 4 yr old brother actually just slept in the other bed. Watched in its entirety. Remembered each commercial break gave me a much needed moment of relief.
To this day, the scariest experience i have ever had. The Exorcist, which i did not see until i was an adult, is a scarier movie today. BUT, the experience of watching the exorcist did not equal the trauma felt by this 8 yr old in 1973. Insisted on my mom leaving the light on for the longest time after that. There was a small hole in the wall of my upstairs bedroom, which as a teenager made me nervous. Shadows, dark corners, even my linen closet made me nervous for christ sake!!!! Yes, the scarse are endless. I bought the dvd from monstersinmotion website afew years ago. If i watch it a midnight, it still has the power to make me a little...well...uncomfortable. Its dated,(the DVD needs the full studio polish), but it still maintains that wonderfuly creepy atmosphere.
I was bummed when they cancelled the remake. I was sure the theatre would be filled with 40 year olds.
If the project is ever revived, i'll see you guys at the theatre!
Actually..forget the remake. Just polish up the original, and release that in the theatres!!!!
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