How SKINAMARINK Awoke a Childhood Nightmare

[@JamieJJL_FGC]

I love this film, but I can also never watch it again without thinking of that one video that's like "Go into the tunnel Kevin. It's real, you can run right through it. Full speed, Kevin, run right at the wall-I mean the tunnel."

[@RocklinGraves]

That is, no word of a lie, one of the greatest videos on the internet. That shit broke me lmao

[@MadailinBurnhope]

it's the narrator not being able to keep from laughing that does it for me

[@MuddsThomas]

One of the funniest videos I've ever seen

[@jenniferseth5146]

"Full speed, Kevin..."

[@thevimonsterinyourcloset]

I also love this movie and that video fucking KILLS me every time!!

[@DigiMyst]

This movie had one of the most _oppressive_ atmospheres I've ever watched in a horror film. The sound mixing alone gave me goosebumps

[@barthhokanstilltalking901]

Yes! ‘Oppressive’ is the word that kept occurring to me throughout.

[@jenniferseth5146]

The 'look under the bed' scene is a harrowing experience in building tension and just NEVER releasing it. I actually felt sick by the end of it waiting for a traditional scare to break the terror. The second look under the bed I was just about hyperventilating. So simple, so effective!

[@the_angry_empath]

Same. My jaw was hanging open behind my hand for what felt like a full 10 minutes

[@thevimonsterinyourcloset]

SAME!!!

[@mikankitsune0440]

This movie reminded me of the time I was locked in my playroom as a child. Some older kids were over, and locked me in the room and shut off the lights, which a switch outside of the room. The room was windowless and down a long, narrow hallway in an old, mid century house built in the 1970s somewhere in Arizona during the summer of 1998. It was only for a few minutes, but I swear something was in there with me and I hid under the desk in there hoping it didn't find me. I hid until my mom found me and took me from the room. I never went back in there. I'm 30 now, almost 31 and I have sincere fear of the dark to this day. Skinamarink is feeling of that distinct memory as a film.

[@za_vishmoongarr]

Because of the backyardigans comment 12:33, you should review an episode of it like a horror movie on April 1st

[@Omni-Blast]

This movie affected me in a way no other movie has. It filled me with so much dread. It is the closest visual representation of the feeling I get from nightmares I've had. What an experience!

[@chasehedges6775]

💯💯

[@Gedagnors]

Thank you for your comment! Just a questıon - what does it improve? I mean, there are things that are scary and I can't get any experience from it. The only thing I understand is to avoid it. What am I missing?

[@chasehedges6775]

Skinamarink captures the fear of something unknown and innate - the childhood/adult terror of being alone and afraid in the darkness.

[@WobblesandBean]

There's something about childhood that made nightmares so much more frightening. Skinanarink brought those long forgotten fears back, that weird, uncanny sensation we all had looking down the darkened hallway as a kid in the middle of the night through a cracked bedroom door or looking for the bathroom.

[@chasehedges6775]

Well said.

[@121071b]

It feels weirdly nostalgic but in the worst way. Like when you wake up at night and cant find your parents. That weird feeling of your house no longer being safe. It feels like the forst time I felt fear

[@Jvich]

Just bought a steelbook blue ray of this because I loved it so so much. And dude SCREW what the edgy horror Gate Keepers say , fear is subjective. Horror is subjective. Skinamarink was scary for those of us with very specific childhood fears come to life. I would have such horrifying nightmares as a child that this movie captures so specifically. My parents abandoning me and saying good bye , being left alone in my home, not recognizing areas of my own house in the dead of night. I don't know how the director did it, but he did. Keep doing you and keep making videos ! Subscribed :)

[@TempyTeacup]

Skinamarink didn’t scare me. But it did deeply upset me, absolutely grip me, and leave me unsettled for several days. It captures a child’s deep need for parental love and guidance, and the horror of its absence. It broke my heart. I don’t think I’ll ever watch it again, but it was a really powerful experience.

[@vodkasvoice]

Skinamarink is a horror movie that I would say is definitely scary, but not the way you expect horror movies to be. As I watched it, I felt anxious and unsettled, but never outright SCARED other than for the bedroom scene... but it was the aftereffects that I felt the most. I noticed that I cringe anytime I see a clip from it, and the idea of rewatching it is terrifying to me. My brother described it as feeling like "going back to the place where something terrible happened to you." It's horror that crept into my brain and the more deeply it sunk in, the more upsetting it became to me.

[@thevimonsterinyourcloset]

I love your analysis! I also see it as "baby's first haunting." Like, the entity is learning how to be scary. It starts off almost playful and becomes more sinister as things progress.

[@tesshatton]

It makes me think of how, when you're just a kid, your parents have absolute power over your life. If you have parents that want to hurt you, or even just neglect you, there's nothing a little kid can do to escape or really understand why it's happening :( I think when we grow up we often forget what it was like to be so powerless.

[@jamesupton5601]

The film has that muffled and disorienting feeling that you got when you were a kid. Say sleeping over a relatives and waking up at night, not knowing where you are.

[@GreyGramarye]

I was explaining to my wife why this movie resonated with me and I used basically the same language as you - it feels like a nightmare I had as a little kid. It’s the clearest encapsulation of that feeling I’ve experienced since the times I actually had those nightmares.

[@thatonechick1318]

I absolutely loved Skinamarink! I'm a less is more kind of person when it comes to horror. Letting my imagination fill in the details makes it way scarier for me because then I internalize the horror. So glad that an experimental film like this was released to wide audiences.

[@pillowsrocker]

This was how I felt every time I watched Unsolved Mysteries past my bedtime because mom had already fallen asleep.

[@DrCatterBox]

I have always thought that this movie was one big metaphor for child abuse/ family abuse/ generational trauma/ family secrets that we’re told never to talk about outside of your house. How disconnected families can become, how the walls can slowly close in, all ways out slowly closing you off, so no one knows what’s really going on.

[@rhino5100]

Yes, the mother's voice saying that she 'loved them very much,' when clearly they are alone and unprotected by parents who are oblivious to their needs or any dangers they face, and they are too young to protect themselves or each other. It's the emptiness. Its almost worse that the parents are present and don't function at all, but are more like ghosts themselves.

[@erikschwartz1214]

I never experienced any of that, but I was aware of my surroundings very early, and that made me feel absolute fear many times when I was alone in the dark. The grainy footage feels very true to my memories of what I could actually see in those moments

[@aptharsia]

Yes! It gave me this strange, sad feeling similar to how it felt as a kid in an abusive household. I had forgotten that feeling, not understanding what was going on around me yet feeling scared, alone, terrified. The loss of innocence into feelings you can't explain.

[@ScrimmyBingus42]

This movie reminds me a lot of me and my older sister, and the troubles we had with our parents. It's why the scene in the parents room scared me so much.

[@paulinekeown2472]

Thank you so much for making a video about Skinamarink. It's one of my favorite movies for the exact reasons you mentioned. You are just incredible at making these videos. I would watch a 4 hour long video of you breaking down and discussing a horror film. Keep up the good work

[@curtissmith5924]

I could not agree more!

[@lividka]

in the video: there's going to be a jumpscare, a sound, and an arm quickly appearing me: ok, got it *jumpscare* me:*scream*

[@madz2013]

I will never not click on a video about this movie. I'm obsessed with it. I've never had something capture the feeling of early childhood trauma or abandonment in my life. I was abandoned by my cousin when she was supposed to be babysitting when I was no older than 3. I'm 30 and can still vividly remember sitting in the empty living room crying until my parents finally came home. That and my parents fighting constantly effected me deeply, and Skinamarink brought all that flooding back

[@Coniophanes]

Same! I will watch every analysis that comes up. So good

[@Helloyousilverdevil]

Dang. I had a pretty similar upbringing, but this really doesn’t remind me at all of that kinda childhood helplessness. Maybe it was cause my dad was amazing and i felt safe even when he wasn’t there like he’d be by my side in a second. It’s definitely viscerally scary as a movie, but it’s crazy how detailed everyone’s explaining how liminal and familiar this feels but I get nothing relatable. My era of helplessness was in middleschool/highschool, and I can’t even watch tv shows like Shameless cause it’s disturbingly relatable with the constant chaos. Don’t mean to rant but I love hearing stories about these kinda memories as much as I love hearing people’s dreams. That babysitter leaving you alone and you remembering that moment for the rest of your life is fascinating

[@suzybearheart530]

That's so sad! I hope your cousin got in big trouble for that. One of my favorite things about Skinamarink videos is reading the comments and how it invoked different memories and feelings in us all. For me, I was never neglected and, as the youngest out of 7 kids, I didn't feel "alone" often. The one exception was nighttime as I suffered from extreme insomnia ever since I can remember. I never felt more alone and scared than I did during those long, quiet nights. I felt like the only person in the whole world and time moved so incredibly slow. It got worse as I got older because I then had the deep dread of knowing I had to get up for school and I mostly hated school. The only thing that helped was clinging to the distant sound of cars driving on the highway and the occasional sound of a red-eye flights from the airport. Those sounds reminded me that somebody somewhere was awake at least. Skinamarink captured those long, nightmarish nights perfectly.

[@madz2013]

@ Wow. Your comment really triggered a ton of memories for me! I used to get sleep paralysis as a kid and thought a demon was after me so I was alway afraid to go to sleep. I know that night time loneliness you mentioned all too well. I actually had a mantra about my grandfather's house (a place I loved and found comfort in) that I would repeat over and over until I fell asleep. I too found comfort in the passing cars

[@ethancooper4154]

I know a lot of people don't like this movie but I swear I had this exact kind of nightmare as a kid. It was the only outright recurring nightmare I've ever had, really - I would wake up in the night to go to the bathroom, but someone was using it already so I would go downstairs to use the other bathroom. When I went to go back up, I would get stuck at the foot of the stairs, and a voice from around the corner would laugh at me while I stood there, telling me I couldn't scream for my parents, and all I could do was cry. Idk about you guys, but when I watched this movie for the first time I was just viscerally planted back into that nightmare. Awesome horror movie.

[@aylaosborne9548]

I had one as a teenager and it's still the scariest dream I had. I was allowed to leave the house during the daytime but I had to go home at night and I would get in my house and couldn't leave, no lights and a poltergeist mocking me. It told me It took my family and I had to fend for myself, against it, in the dark. I thought my heart was going to stop it was beating so hard in my chest when I finally woke up.

[@Tyler-ec2pb]

Terrible movie lame dream

[@iMatty_2]

I’ve had a similar reoccurring dream for most of my life, but kind of the opposite I guess? Long story short the entity in my dream controls me, but my body is paralyzed. I basically float along at its will, whichever way it wants me to go, but I’m completely conscious and aware of what’s going on around me. It makes me watch as it lures loved ones, friends, etc into my bedroom where I can only assume it ends them. I can’t see what happens in the room, but there’s laughing from the entity, flashes of red lights, then silence. All I can hear from myself is muffled yelling/crying/screaming in my own head begging it not to take them. That’s usually when I wake up. This movie instantly made me think of those dreams, and recreated that feeling of pure dread so well that I’ve never actually been able to finish it.

[@fknyikes]

​@@Tyler-ec2pbi'm so sorry for what happened

[@muegeedo4354]

​@@Tyler-ec2pbmean >:(

[@madam-mint]

I don’t know that I could fully sit through this film. Because hearing Kevin screaming-every time-made me realize that I have at least some protective instinct. It made me want to cry. I’m an older sister, a nursery worker, and a caretaker. There is almost no worse feeling than to hear that distant thud or scream. Call me soft, you’d be right. This movie is tailor-made for the child with an overactive imagination who grew into a creative if anxious adult.

[@andyroobrick-a-brack9355]

Soft people are the strongest of all. When soneone calls you sensitive or a snowflake, embrace it. Logic and empathy are not oppositional, they are peanut butter and jelly.

[@metaleg23]

I’ve never wanted a movie to end as badly as I did this one, and I mean that in the best way possible. I wanted out of this experience. I just wish there wasn’t any jump scares. It didn’t need them. And they were STUPID loud.

[@horrorbusinessproductions]

My interpretation was that we're seeing childhood itself fading and dying, because of how trauma forces children to grow up. The memories are unclear because they are being suppressed

[@Asidchild]

If you’ve grown up in a house with parents who didn’t regulate themselves well, you don’t need to have experienced physical abuse to understand the dissonance that this movie evokes-the loneliness, the isolation, the surreal disappearances and vacancy, the silence that doesn’t feel quiet or empty at all, the menacing sense of vulnerability that oppresses you and contorts your sense of what’s real-when you’re that young, outside doesn’t feel within reach the way it does when you’re grown up. Losing access to safe, consistent care injures you in ways you can’t even comprehend, and the reality of it doesn’t fit inside your mind coherently.

[@andrewholmes3116]

Never expected to essentially hear "Skinarmarink is the Dark Souls of horror movies" but here we are

[@waxedllama2966]

This movie has always had an extra level of fear and nostalgia to me as I have had visual snow syndrome for as long as I have remembered. It reminded me of those nights as a kid where it was pitch black, and all I could see was the constantly moving static, thinking that there might be something there like at the end of the movie. I think that is one of the reasons I love it so much.

[@sleepwithghostsasmr]

It scared me too but as a mom, it made me incredibly sad. 😞

[@MachinShinful]

My favorite thing about this movie is how frequently lights get turned on. Night lights, kitchen light, hallway light, etc. And then, after Kaylee is taken, they just stop. Kevin is too young to reach the light switch.

[@michelle18887]

YES🎉 Ive been hoping for this one!!!

[@chriswakefieldmusic]

A little while after this movie had been available on streaming, I’d always wanted to watch it, but there were a few times where I sat down and started it and wasn’t in the right mood or focus to sit through the whole thing, even though I still was very interested in it. Finally, the night came where I turned off the lights and tried it again, and found I was in the right mood for it, and settled in. Even though there were brief moments where it was difficult, I fell into this days and by the time it came to the scene where it was slowly zooming into the little house in the distance, I realized I really felt like I was moving through a portal into hell. The last scene of the face was so horrifying and tragic that it’s stuck with me for days.

[@MAGGOTxINFESTED]

This movie brought back a very specific childhood memory. It reminded me of how I felt after I woke from a nightmare- I believe it was one where I was brought to a adoption center and was abandoned (I remember this because it was one of my first nightmares I can recall), I didn’t run to my moms room, I had just sat there in my bed too scared to leave my bed worried they would abandoned me. Skinamarink reminded me of this memory, I can’t help but feel haunted by it in some extent. This movie was haunting, I know my mom hated it and teased me for liking it but I couldn’t help and love it for it’s horror. The film truly messed with your brain.

[@sofiaestrada6238]

I totally agree with you. Lake Mungo stayed with me for sooo long, I felt scared like a week after watching it.

[@iamjackspyramidshapedhelmet]

0:59 Liminal spaces are oddly comforting to me and I absolutely love them. The way they’re presented in images online is very heavily influenced by millennial nostalgia and that’s probably why they appeal to me so much. I think the younger generation finds them creepy/unsettling because you guys don’t have those memories of the 90s that they so deliberately tap into.

[@curtissmith5924]

Absolutely nailed it again! You are able to distill the thoughts I have about some of my absolute favorite movies in a way that I cannot. Having only recently found the channel I am absolutely loving your content. Keep up the amazing work!

[@hellobirdie0617]

The aura of this movie is what it’s like when I have sleep paralysis. It’s like being underwater, foggy, oppressive yet familiar as well. I get it.

[@wowsew]

when you shapeshifter demon guy rewinds time just to kill the kids over and over was such a brutal concept. Flawed Peacock made a really good deep dive into all the aspects of the film and what's actually happening. Once you get all the events its actually a brutal movie and dark as hell. Pun intended. Loved both of y'alls videos on this horror gem. thanks

[@timk6181]

You are right, it's very sad, heartbreaking even "can we watch something happy?" 😢 Skinamarink brought back feelings I'd forgotten about from being a kid. As 80s 90s kid I remember sneaking out of bed when my parents were asleep and creeping into the third unoccupied bedroom which had a TV and watching it sat on the floor in the dark, volume on low, tense that my parents may wake up any moment and tell me off. Just that slight unsettling atmosphere of sitting in that flickering light seeing stuff on TV that I probably shouldn't, slightly afraid of the dark surrounding me. Chills of recognition.

[@leelalo6625]

This movie woke up a fear I once knew. I watched it alone, late at night in the dark. Amazing.

[@therulerthedon420]

love your vids man keep doing your thing

[@chasehedges6775]

Same

[@Asidchild]

1:27 giggidy

[@KillJoyJakeLovesHorror]

I will forever love this movie mostly made up of carpet and ceilings. Nightmare nostalgia overload!

[@purpleshutin]

Despite not liking movies all that much because of my ADHD and short attention span, this movie managed to grip me in a way that nothing has been able to do before or after it. Its also one of the few horror movies that left me having nightmares and being scared of the dark. I found by chance after not being able to sleep and looking for a horror movie to watch. It ended just as my dad woke up to get ready for work and i didn't notice how much time had passed because i was so immersed. For a movie that is so bare bones, its incredibly captivating and scary for the right people.

[@solidspooks1290]

The description you gave at 3:45 reminds me a lot of Alan Wake. I think that series might be something that you could find interesting based on some of the content you've covered before, but it requires a LOT of user investment to get the full story, taking a little bit more than Dark Souls does to really get the greater picture. I'd love to see your interpretation of it some day.

[@WobblesandBean]

I love Alan Wake, but I don't agree that it requires more effort than Dark Souls to get the story. Alan Wake still has a straightforward plot, but Dark Souls really makes you work to figure out meager hints of a greater narrative. Which is similar to Skinanarink. ...I'd love to see him cover Alan Wake though, I fully agree on that!

[@solidspooks1290]

​@@WobblesandBean I wouldn't say its straight forward in the slightest. The plot runs as deep as Dark Souls, and it's only gotten bigger in the last few years. I'd actually be really interested in hearing your take on the franchise if you did find it that easy, because I'm still to this day struggling to piece together all of the content. I find it easier to go through Dark Souls because everything is within the context of each game, and its in chronological order. Once you've gone through the entire series, you have essentially everything you need to start piecing stuff together. You don't need to go outside of the games to understand them. Alan Wake requires you go through two short films, several in game QR codes that lead to KZbin videos, Comic Books, tons of full length songs and music videos, two games that a lot of people didn't think were even connected to Alan Wake until Alan Wake 2 and its DLC, and even after all of that and more, you're still not getting the full picture. That to me makes it a lot more of a struggle to approach, but it really depends on the angle you tackle the series at. There are still so many unsolved questions and plotlines. Even if all of this external content was shoveled into the games and made more digestible, we don't even know the half of the full story.

[@maruwinchester67]

I'll be honest I've been avoiding this movie bc it looks like an edgy project for film school, but you explained it so well that now I kinda wanna watch it (also I used to have a dvd that included the old-timey cartoon about the spider, and yes as a kid it horrified me lol)

[@dadandvideogames]

I say this with love in my heart for the film- it's a great movie to put on to go to sleep to. I don't mean that as an insult. For a particular kind of horror nerd, this fits a very particular niche.

[@Onibabayaga]

I loved this film because I experienced similar things as a child and they nailed it.

[@randycunningham7318]

Listening to this at work is giving me goosebumps. I'll watch when I get home. Saw the film a couple years ago. I liked it a lot. Now must see it again.

[@cassandralittle]

It changed the way I think about horror. It definitely tapped into a feeling for me that doesn’t exist anymore - that childlike fear of your own home. That feeling when your brain starts filling the shadows with monsters. I was fully captured. Had to watch it twice though because I was worried I missed things, with all those looooong drawn out shots of nothing lol.

[@cassandralittle]

And yes, I didn’t know “I love you” could make me feel so scared and worried for a character 😭that moment broke me. You just want to save those damn kids so bad

[@WMUsiv1]

I’ve been meaning to check this one out but totally forgot about it! Thanks for the reminder. Any chance of doing The Ritual?

[@thesixfootsixexperience8781]

I really liked this video. Awesome perspective you shared regarding the spatter scene possibly being the sister’s memory of her mom

[@codyhanson1344]

I was tense even just watching the footage through this video. There's just something about that movie that chills me more than any piece of fictional media has. Watching pretty much any mainstream horror movie is like a warm comfort in comparison. I had trouble keeping it out of my head for a few nights after I first watched the movie. I've been afraid to re-watch it alone since. Perhaps I should try and get a family member to watch it and see what they think.

[@theDatatsushi]

This literally feels like an actual childhood nightmare I had!! Watching the movie I kept being reminded of a very vivid nightmare I had where I was in my room, shrouded in tinted red. Everything was normal but felt off. I was alone except when my mom randomly appeared to give me a bowl of food. In my dream I knew it was poison. Afterwards, my childhood dog appeared and jumped into a cup in the ground and disappeared. It was like the kids in this movie being toyed with, every interaction only proving that what is familiar is actually not and feels ominous

[@jacobl2222]

The movies I love most are the ones that stick with me long after watching, and I've spent a lot of time thinking about Skinamarink. It goes beyond scary. It manages to evoke dread. I was tense and anxious the entire time I was watching it, it's one of the darkest endings I've ever seen, and now when I'm laying in bed falling asleep and find myself thinking back to it, it sends chills up my spine in a way few other horror movies have ever managed. An actual masterpiece.

[@az2695]

This movie terrified me when I watched it, but I never really understood the story behind it. I really enjoyed your take on it!

[@sinstarinablak]

God I wish I could watch this movie. It's too harrowing for me to even flirt with the idea of and I have to live vicariously through videos on it. I've got a four year old son and I just can't deal with kids in danger and pain very well anymore.

[@Sab_MJsMama]

This is exactly my problem with it. I understand why people like it because there's something about it that taps into a deep subconscious level of dread and fear. I think more for people who may have trauma in childhood possibly. But I'm bothered about watching children get preyed on in a most "satanic", twisted, unnerving, drawn out way. The manipulation was probably the worst. I have kids too. I totally get it. The fact that it's kids that this stuff is happening to. If it was adults it wouldn't bother me so much. Still messed up but okay.

[@Coniophanes]

YES thank you for covering Skinamarink! It is so good and unfortunately it did not affect everyone the same way. It scared the shit out of me and even watching video essays on it spooks me out.

[@KentuckyWallChicken]

I still occasionally have dreams like this movie as an adult. The last one I can remember happened probably a couple of months before it came out. I had a dream where I was in a small cramped space station and it was incredibly scary and isolating. When the movie came out I was immediately reminded of that dream.

[@laurmankowski1084]

I’m so glad people are still talking about this movie. I agree that no other horror films have touched the feeling that this one gives you and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since I watched it for the first time

[@DoomdayProphet]

I love the way this movie lulled me into vulnerability because of how it so closely mirrors my own childhood. It tugged on my nostalgia with the rubberhose cartoons, the wooden wall texture, the light on the ceiling in the hall. I remember the feeling of staying up late past when my parents were asleep to play with my toys longer, and the static of the CRTV. And then the movie makes me remember the nightmares I had as a kid, the way that adult experiences were processed by my child brain, and then kept me there for the next NINETY MINUTES!! This movie made me so scared I thought I was going to vomit. I don't think I'd ever watch this movie again because of how deeply it fucked me up but I love how others talk about it

[@PatrickMcKenna-c5d]

I'm in my 60's now, but when I was small I slept in a large house that had a toilet downstairs. I was too small to reach the light switch, so if I had to go to the toilet I used to experience genuine terror. I was convinced that 'something' was watching me from the dark. Kyle said that this movie was specifically designed to recapture that experience, and by god he succeeded! During that final scene when the face appears out of the dark I had to look away from the screen. Absolutely terrifying.

[@ScrimmyBingus42]

That scene in the parents room scared me more than anything I've seen in any other horror movie

[@audreyandrews8350]

Watching this movie in theaters felt like the longest hour and 40 minutes of my life because I was TERRIFIED the entire time. No other movie has filled me with dread or fear like this one did. My friend and I saw Skinamarink at our local small theater (the seats are all very close to the scream) and at one point my friend was jumpscared so bad that she stood up out of her seat and screamed while still clinging to me. I had anxiety every time I thought about this movie for months!! Literally a phenomenal nightmare of a movie

[@pipboy181]

I think you just convinced me to finally watch this

[@jahipalmer8782]

I just didn't get it. I have never been so disappointed in myself after viewing a film. Skinamarink is only the second movie I have seen in my life where I got absolutely nothing out of a viewing (with the other being Gerry 2002). This isn't me saying that Skinamarink is "bad" or anything, just that it wasn't a movie for me and that I wasn't able to grasp it. ANyway, I'm really glad to hear you talk about it so passionately.

[@clare8894]

I feel the same way - I really wanted to enjoy this film but I have tried twice now and just found it so boring I couldn't finish it (weirdly enough the same with Lake Mungo - found it super boring and really do not understand the hype of it at all). However I love hearing perspectives from people who enjoyed it and why it effected them so much.

[@chickensalad3535]

While there’s a lot I enjoy about it, I really think that it should’ve been capped at an hour. It’s way too long for what it is.

[@sofakinghigh]

This movie affected in me a way very few do. I couldnt shake off the feeling after seeing it, like it was playing to my subconscious mind and fears

[@tonicarr3113]

This movie made me feel like I did the night I watched The Blair Witch Project for the first time. I was way too old to be that scared but I still was. The night was endless. One cousin fell asleep halfway through. My brother and other cousin fell asleep after and were unfazed. I had the memory of Mike standing in that corner seared into my eyelids, even jut my eyes. I saw it on every blank space. I just sat there ALL NIGHT waiting for sunrise. I was too scared to turn on the tv or I would get in trouble (I was an anxious kid. No one would have been upset with me but once the fear spiral starts...). I'm sitting there on the blanket pallet we made, surrounded by sleeping people and the night just won't end. Watching this brought it all back. The uncertainty, the inability to get anyone to comfort you, the perception of time.

[@Sadkoi]

I agree with the life experiences comment, influencing our fears. I’m a very sensitive person, and I struggled with the length of this movie but was scared the entire time. It does remind me of my childhood dreams.

[@vicked]

Never have i ever been more scared when watching this film. Constant unnerving atmosphere that i had to take a break during the movie. When the entity said put that knife in your eye i froze it was the scariest thing ever.

[@WeebBaptism]

Watched through my finger and was relieved when the movie was over. Pure imagined and implied terror and a nightmare i wish I could wake up sooner from

[@timdornaus]

this hit hard for me, one of my favorite horror movies of the last years. i guess its very hit or miss for folks, but for me it was exactly what i wanted

[@kiradattei]

I first heard about Skinamarink through the reactions to it in FB horror groups I'm in. I just couldn't recall ever seeing another movie that was so evenly split between the two extremes where it was loved or hated with so little middle ground. Hereditary sort of came close but even that had plenty of people just in the middle about it. I was intrigued and managed to go in with very little plot and style details. I watched about half an hour of it and was intrigued but knew I needed to adjust my approach to get the full experience. It is the only movie I've specifically watched with headphones for that isolation of noise and that made more difference than I expected. It is also the only movie where I started checking the time stamp starting at about 45 mins in not because I was bored but because I was becoming exhausted by how much I was paying attention and the movie was using it against me, like pointed out in this video, where I was fighting my brain filling in things that weren't there. It was oppressive. Ultimately, like Hereditary, Skinamarink was not a movie I enjoyed but absolutely loved. It was affecting and impactful and I have such deep respect for the creative mind behind it that genuinely understands how to be horrifying rather than just startling. And, like Hereditary, it is not one that I just jump to recommending to anyone. Part of that is that I try to recommend things I think the person I'm talking to will like based on their preferences and not just what I like and this movie just isn't that simple. It comes with a disclaimer that I'm not sure if it'll click with them and if it doesn't, they probably won't like anything about it 😊.

[@nanabun2426]

i haven't been able to watch Skinamarink, but I watched Heck, and by god is it hard to rewatch. When I first watched it, I was in my room, with only one dim source of light, finishing up on some uni homework and decided to play it for some bg noise, however what caught my attention was the lack of said noise, almost no voices, no somber music, nothing, just that heavy tv static sound throughout the whole short. I kept watching it and when the scene with the mom turning around in pure silence to face the kid I felt my heart burst out of my chest, I almost screamed and threw my computer off my bed. I have not been able to rewatch it ever since but I love it so much. The fact that a soundless jumpscare can go so far with just the right amount of tension is wonderful, it makes you feel like when you were a kid and something "normal" scared you to your core because, in your common sense as a child, you know there's something deeply wrong with what you just saw, but either adults or the situation itself give context and it's only then when you understand. I will never forget how that scene made me feel. Brilliant.

[@HavvelMusic]

Skinimarink is one of those movies that at first you hear a bunch of people say it's horrible and you don't really understand why YOU enjoyed it so much, but after a couple of years the dust starts to settle and people slowly start to realize how masterful it truely is, and how they dared to create something completely new

[@corvidae_s]

Time to give this movie a rewatch 😌

[@10Gpixels]

The entity from Skinamarink VS AM would go crazy

[@hotlikewasabi25]

I'm with you in loving this movie!! I can appreciate a movie being this tense, since no normal horror movie scares me.

[@geevienicks]

This film is very Ethel Cain core, I wonder if Hayden has ever cited it as inspiration for her music

[@biospark4758]

So, a few things: The first time we see the entity is when the family is at the hospital. It’s a detail that a lot of people miss, but we see it watching tv at the start of the movie, which it then shuts off when it hears the family getting home. I’m pretty sure the mother is “gone for good” after divorcing the dad, and the dad is talking to another family member on the phone at the beginning. That would explain why Kaylee doesn’t want to talk about her and it likens back to Heck I don’t think dream/coma theory applies to this story, not only because it’s cheap and there are scenes from other people’s POV, but because Mr. Ball said there’s a definite storyline which he likened to Hansel and Gretel (which hits on your points of wayward kids finding danger) Mr. Ball also said there’s a person hidden somewhere in one of the shots of the movie. I think someone may have found it but I’m not sure

[@GHOSTLYGUNK]

would honestly love to see you analyze how terrifying a backyardigans episode is for april fool's or something. like jus tplaying it totally straight

[@allieconzola]

You have fantastic taste and it seems like you get scared to the bone by the same things I do. This movie and Lake Mungo are maybe the most horrifying things I’ve watched. I think there’s something about how intimate both of them are, it makes it seem so real, just like a nightmare. I’d love to know what else fits into this category for you!

[@JonahLobeDraws]

Since childhood, I've had a dream that I'm in a room or a location and the lights are all dimming down to nothing. Lightbulbs are reduced to 5% effectiveness, creating a dull, sickly light in the dark... with the sense that something very close by was causing this draining of light. Even while in the dream, I could feel the reality around me slowly morphing into a nightmare. This movie made me feel like that.

[@forcicri93]

My favorite horror channel making a video about my favorite movie??? I'll have this one on repeat for months, I already know this

[@robertwilliamson2856]

Great video. Skinamarink is one of my favorite horror movies of all time.

[@BladeBigD]

Was on the edge of sleep when you made the last mention of the face and how it says “go to sleep.” Safe to say I woke right back up.

[@kamplaysbass]

21:00 this shot gave me goosebumps three separate times looking at it

[@bifflover7]

Watching reviews of Skinamarink scared me so much for a while that I absolutely know that I can never watch this film. Every now and then, I feel like I might be at a point to view it, but then I come to my senses; it is not worth the inevitable sleepless nights 😅

[@lynnbowers4722]

When I watched the director's short film, I felt sad not scared. Interesting how these works evoke both emotions.

[@RedSpade37]

It's neat that you're posting this now. Other Skinamarink videos have ended back up in my recommended section (shoutout to both the Dead Meat Podcast and The Flawed Peacock) and I just finished rewatching them. Excited to hear what you have to say!

[@TaraCicora]

You don't watch this movie, you feel this movie.

[@joseluisherreralepron9987]

Great video and discussion. I first saw this in April, 2023 after recovering from a fall. I'd read a great deal about it and was really curious. I didn't move for the entire run time. I ordered the Blu Ray and watched it again twice. It really is a divisive film; I champion it to everyone I know who hasn't seen it but only about 1/3 actually get something from the experience. I always give the same 'rules' to watching it: 1) be alone 2) it needs to be at night in a totally dark room and 3) under no circumstances be on a phone or device of any kind. It's a film more about how it makes you feel than being narratively clear. When I was a child I had a sleepwalking issue for a year or two and this sure brings back memories of lying awake in the gloom, anxiously scanning the room and seeing not a jacket thrown over a chair but a stooping monster. The intense video noise and filtering really do evoke that sensation of dread. Things really do seem to center on the mother somehow. I find the "I don't want to talk about mom" line the most interesting in the film. I'll continue to champion this one to those around me who haven't seen it and who love film.

[@refkiriswansyah2830]

I like the explanation from Lextorias about horror: It is a feeling. Not a theme, not a genre. Not a single thing encapsulate the aspect of horror. Its combination of things, that makes you feel it. Its a combination of sound, visual, action that makes you 'feel' endangered. Watch any horror movie, mute the sound and the horror turned down almost 80%. Watch the movie, then play the game (single player), you will realize the scariness of the game upped by a lot. Because it introduce the action part. Any scares isn't there because you get shown/timed by the directors, its because you yourself go there. You choose to go there. Its your action that gets you killed. You need someone to be able to feel horror to make something horor. You cant put someone fearless & tell them to make horror. They wont know anything about it and would just copy any aspect from other media without able to feel their own creation.

[@Jessmanseventy7]

Legit scariest movie ive ever seen. My brother said the place we lived at when i was like 3 and i really dug down and yeah. My very few memories of that house are kinda similar

[@Jessmanseventy7]

Watch something happy is a phrase i used when I saw something as a kid that disturbed me. I was legit pale and felt cold when it happened

[@nachgeben]

While this certainly is meant to appeal to more the Millennial and Gen Z crowd, he was so clever in putting old cartoons on the TV, and using toys that existed well before the 1980s-1990s. I also read somewhere that, for his short before this, he'd done some sort of survey to get an idea of dreams/nightmares people had, and the visuals of scenery that stuck out to them? I'm not sure how true that is, but if so, that is a great way to do things, imo. If it isn't how he did it, then he's just keyed into the aesthetic of liminal horror and analog horror to a maddening expert degree.

[@x2xsavage]

This movie gave me ptsd of the sleep paralysis I Used to have as a kid, I couldn’t finish it lmao

[@gwaaand]

That jumpscare of Kaylee’s eyeless and mouthless face really fucked me up

[@gggthsb]

To me, this movie was scary at all, but,as you said, it's just really sad. We watch kids being neglected and being haunted by an unseen entity and while again it didn't scare me, I felt for the kids and was deeply saddened by how much THEY must be scared.

[@codalanguez]

the beginning of this video reminded me of what I swear is the first memory I ever had (I was three year olds). It was of a porcelain doll on a swing at night, after which we see it come to life and kill a little girl approaching it. I swear a movie from the 80s (or a show, or something) with this scene exists but I could never find it and it STILL haunts me cause my brain tells me that I saw that scene on a grainy tv when I was three years old.

[@biipo4064]

I have so many similar things. I have a scene in my head that i swear was a horror movie commercial from my childhood that really freaked me out of a woman being in the shower and these demonic hands coming out of the back of her head and grabbing her hands while she washes her hair. Ive tried so hard to find that scene and what movie its from and never been able to. Similar content in other scenes but never THAT scene. Its led me to be terrified of showering in the dark or closing my eyes at all in the shower and led to this constant feeling of unease whenever i shower and to this day i dont know whether it was from a nightmare as a kid with a very disturbed and active imagination or something i actually saw as a child.