Delayed reaction

[Dr. Briggs]

Has anyone made it through a horror film in a sort of trance-like state, just taking in the events as they come at you, then snapped out of it once the film was over and realizing just how disturbing or just plain strange the proceedings were?

I have. It's a rare occasion for me, as usually I'm conscious of the types of films that keep me up at night, being creeped out throughout. For me, it's special when a film less outright creeps you out and more "creeps up on you".

For me, this comes in two basic flavors. The more "fun" type is where you take events as they happen because you accept certain elements of the film as essential parts of the plot... but then, you start to think about just how odd the plot really is. Tourist Trap is the quintessential example of this for me: on the surface it's just a supernatural slasher, but when you think about it, it's a film about a man with both true to life mental issues and the completely fantastic power of mind over matter, and possibly illusion-casting. Due to this it is worthy of some analysis over whether the powers in question were real or not, but somehow the film is all the more effective if you accept the supernatural element (and the supernatural element is pretty damn hard to dismiss)!

The second flavor is more malignant. These are films like Pin or Splice in which you watch the film expecting to be scared at first, then get engrossed in the plot, and then realize just how fucked up the plot is when you take it more emotionally then mentally. With Pin I wondered where the main characters' mental state would lead him, and only after the film was over, really got freaked out by what I just witnessed. Same with Splice; throughout the film I was too busy trying to wrap my head around the genetics angle and possible symbolism for the freakiness of the whole affair to really hit me... until the words "INSIDE YOU"

Anyone else felt this?

[FreddysFingers]

Yes I have the movie that comes to mind is The Mist. After watching it I walked out of the theater speechless. I didn't eat, talk or think about anything else but what happened. As I sat in the car I was running the entire movie through my head trying to come to terms with what I saw but I couldn't. Finally I was broken out of my trance when I got back home but this still happens to me whenever I see it. I guess the ending it too powerful for me.

[Dr. Briggs]

I'm not a big fan of The Mist, but I can see how it'd have such an effect. Was it just the ending? If any scene in Mist would have had that effect on me it'd probably be the pharmacy scene or the soldier getting stabbed and tossed out of the store.

[FreddysFingers]

SPOILER ALERT

I think it was the fact that I felt so close to the two main characters and to see one of them, especially since he was young, get shot as well as the supporting characters (whom I grew to love) get shot as well. The scene when the soldier gets stabbed was another one, in fact that was one of the scenes I kept coming back to. I always found it to be a very powerful sequence.