The Wilful Sunflower

"Go review this," my supervisor said last week, tossing an invite onto my desk. Turns out it was for the press screening of Darkness Falls. A ghost/horror movie. Gaaah!

You have to know that I never watch such movies. NEVER. Frankly, scaring myself silly is not my idea of entertainment. And my imagination has always been wild enough without needing any extra help!

When I was young, I loved reading fairy tales... and at night, I used to be scared of that dark shadowy place between the open door and the wall. A hideous witch was probably hiding in there, waiting to pounce on me, I thought.

So I'd walk into the room with one eye on the ominous shadow, singing "Jesus loves me, this I know" in my head to remind myself that I was not alone, and that God was watching over me. It's the only phobia I remember having. I slept on a mattress on the floor, so I didn't need to worry about monsters under my bed!

I grew out of that phobia (singing the song helped tremendously!), and in a childhood where TV was regulated, I didn't get the chance to see any scary movies. Later, I realised that images have a way of sticking in my head, and I decided that I just didn't want to chance nightmares and such. So I didn't.

But this - this was work. I had to review the movie.

Someone once told me that it's the music that makes these things so creepy. "Remove the sound, and it'll lose its bite," I was told.

So, this morning, I went prepared: I brought my walkman, and a loud (read: contemporary) praise & worship cassette.

I prayed, asking God to protect my imagination. Yes, it was THAT serious. To me, at least.

And then I sat through the movie with my walkman plugged in and the volume on low, so that I could hear the characters talk. Anytime the movie soundtrack began to build up ominously, the walkman's volume would increase in tandem to drown it out, and I'd focus on the praise & worship lyrics. Anytime anyone was about to be attacked or killed (and a great many people die in this movie!), I'd close my eyes and start praying in tongues under my breath.

I wonder how many of you are laughing at me right now. *sheepish smile* Meet Miss Wimp, journalist extraordinaire... Yep, I'm a wimp, but I'm happy being one! And I don't intend to change, thank you very much. :)

Anyway, I survived the movie without any undue trauma. Thank God I'm reviewing it for the youth, so I'm not expected to be very technical or critical in my assessment. *whew*

As we filed out of the cinema, I heard one of the journalists exclaim, "Scared the shit out of me, man!"