Bri Lockhart—Pee Wee’s Big Adventure (1985)
As a child, there wasn’t too much in the way of pop culture that scared me—having spent much of my younger years watching Are You Afraid of the Dark? and The Twilight Zone, I was more frightened of real life threats such as fires and tornadoes than anything pop culture had to offer. However, a piece of Pee Wee’s Big Adventure certainly got to me—while admittedly not anything close to a horror flick, Pee Wee’s Big Adventure has one moment that is practically seared into my brain for how much it freaked me out when I was little.
At some point during the movie, Pee Wee hitches a ride with a lady trucker. She unblinkingly details a horrific car accident, which you quickly realize is the accident that killed her. She’s dead, and she doesn’t care if she takes Pee Wee with her into the afterlife. To really send the message home, she turns towards the screen and her face goes CRAZY.
Every time I watched Pee Wee’s Big Adventure when it was the WB’s Saturday afternoon movie, I dreaded that scene. The feeling has carried over into my adult life; finding the below gif caused a visceral reaction, making me feel like I’m still seven years old, watching the scariest part of an adventure comedy I’ve ever seen.
So, sharing time! What movies freaked you out when you were a kid?
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