From children’s classics to intense thrillers, some movies would be absolutely terrifying to experience if they ever came off the screen.
Movies have always played a significant role in our lives, whether it be in the classroom, at the movies, or in the comfort of your own home. They allow us to escape reality and let us experience and feel things we normally wouldn’t in the real world. It’s not every day you’re going to be caught up in a car chase down a military runway (Fast & Furious 6) or trying to survive a zombie outbreak on a harrowing train journey (Train to Busan).
Think about that time when you tried to decide what movie you wanted to stream. How did you decide on the film? Flip a coin – doubtful. You most likely considered “What do I feel like watching?”, “Do I want a film with more action or romance?”, “Does the movie description sound interesting?”. We watch movies to feel something – love, fear, sadness, joy… since the brain processes most of the stimuli from a movie the way it would process real life. This allows movies to contain an element of disbelief and disconnection that people can choose to ignore. But what if these movies became reality?
“Jurassic Park”
As the name implies, a team of genetic scientists have created a wildlife park of de-extinct dinosaurs, set on the fictional island of Isla Nublar, located off Central America’s Pacific Coast near Costa Rica. This, in theory, sounds like a very interesting park to go to, but can you imagine the power going out and trying to survive from being eaten by these huge, terrifying dinosaurs? And if you followed the franchise and watched “Jurassic World”, there is a new dinosaur theme park, set 22 years after the original Jurassic Park, where a genetically modified hybrid dinosaur, the Indominus Rex, escapes containment and goes on a killing spree.
The hybrid was created by modifying the genome of a Tyrannosaurus rex with the DNA of various other theropods, and it was mentioned that the Indominus Rex would be larger than the T. rex when fully grown. Based on fossil specimens, scientists have determined that a Tyrannosaurus rex could be up to 40 feet long and 12 feet high, weighing between 11,000 and 15,500 pounds (5,000 and 7,000 kilograms). Not to mention, the hybrid dinosaur was said to have an incredibly strong bite that could crush bulletproof glass and had high levels of intelligence, giving it the ability to make plans and decisions. I don’t know about you, but I would be absolutely horrified if I ran into that dinosaur on vacation.
“The Hunger Games”
This film is based on a popular young adult fiction series, where 24 children must fight to the death in a yearly government-mandated event where there can only be one victor. These ‘Hunger Games’ are held in an attempt to intimidate the masses, and are a reminder of past failed rebellions by the 12 districts inhabitants. For the games, one female and one male between the ages of twelve and eighteen years, referred to as “tributes”, are chosen by lottery.
I can’t even fathom why these cruel and barbarous games would be something worth experiencing, and to make matters worse, the entire “game” is displayed on public television for the nation to see.
“Toy Story”
Even though this beloved Pixar film isn’t as scary as the other two I mentioned above, I felt like this was a necessary addition to the list – as funny as it sounds.
This uplifting tale basically highlights how much your toys love you, and how you should enjoy them before you outgrow them. But as we all know, toys aren’t supposed to act like sentient beings, so I believe that any rational person would faint if they saw toys walking around and talking like humans.
“Harry Potter”
From magical spells to magical creatures, a nose-less antagonist, Lord Voldemort, intends to become immortal to overthrow the wizard governing body known as the Ministry of Magic and subjugate all wizards and muggles (non-magical people).
Now don’t get me wrong, I am a huge Harry Potter fan, and I would be so excited to be able to wave a wand and do magic, but the wizarding world can be terrible. With access to dark magic, which is any type of magic that is used to cause harm, exert control over, or even kill people and creatures, I feel like our already violent and crime-ridden society would become even more dangerous.
“Jumanji”
Have you ever wished you could just get sucked into a game and experience it whenever you wanted to? Well, Jumanji, a well-loved cult classic, tells the story of a boy who gets stuck in the game’s inner world for decades. The board game tests your will to survive and will only reset once it has been finished.
The reason I included it in the list was because of the spiders, the uncanny monkeys, the grabbing vines and the stalking crocodiles that the game contains. If you didn’t find Jumanji scary, just think about getting sucked into games like ‘The Last of Us’. I had to turn off that game a couple of times while playing through it, simply because of the terrifying sounds you hear from the zombies and all the jumpscares. It would be horrifying if I got sucked into that game and couldn’t get out until I completed it.
