When a film triggers your childhood fear

[@SpikimaMovies]

Here's the big question. Is there ANYONE here besides me who's actually seen that picture before?

[@qurimpv3]

He-he-hell naw

[@shaggyzaza-o5v]

That’s genuinely terrifying but I would love to know more

[@adamjirihikl8116]

I think i have seen something similar. It reminds me of primary school when my classmates tried to scare each other

[@archiox0628]

Never seen it, but from the lighting and makeup, i agree that it's probably from asian horror. Mabe Filipino or Vietnamese. Do share though, where is it from?

[@cookieanddabutt2843]

Can't believe The Fall is available. I loved the visuals in The Cell. So beautiful and brilliant. Vincent played every scene perfectly. Couldn't find The Fall anywhere. I didn't like Pace back then and didn't watch the film. Love him in Foundation. Right on time! Thanks for letting us know!

[@ulyanak.1596]

The image is from the Korean movie Woman's Wail (1986)

[@nerd9552]

Thank you! i reverse image searched and you beat me to it 😆

[@RainTheStrawberry]

i searched it up and regret it so bad omg

[@danhouston4931]

​@@RainTheStrawberry The related images are brutal

[@nicolebogda1482]

…now I want to see the flick

[@MegaFrannypants]

Ah! Thank you!

[@javax6]

Your deep personal relationship to horror is what makes you stand out. Ever since I watched that first video on Kairo I've always been struck by your style. I'd love to hear more about that picture but of course only if you're comfortable doing it.

[@riaboke2654]

He has a deep understanding of what makes a horror movie horror. He gives creditable analysis and objective pov 😭😭😭

[@alizahhassan1702]

Does anyone else also feel a sense of eerie stillness with his voice overs and editing style? I dont know if it's the way he breaks down his analysis in invisible bullet points

[@rebekahm6672]

The photo part made me flinch and scream in the theater. The rest of the movie felt so silent but the scene was so loud

[@billyworkmna]

Ough, you're a talented editor with the reveal of that photo. You cultivated a really impressive sense of build up and the payoff was genuinely incredibly unsettling. Actually put me in a state with that, I felt exactly what kind of dread you wanted to convey.

[@aesthetistic]

This movie genuinely creates an eerie atmosphere that you can sense it from the very first scene and then it slowly grows and intensifies just like in Hereditary.

[@ataridc]

Legs was too long 🦵 🦵

[@daveauburn1561]

I'm sorry but I think its criminal to compare Hereditary to Longlegs. Hereditary is easily the best horror movie of the last 25 years and will be studied for generations to come. Top 3 of all time.

[@юлиязверкова-й1ш]

can’t be compared🤷🏻‍♀️

[@BioCraftHero]

⁠@@daveauburn1561As someone who likes horror, while I do agree that Hereditary is a fantastic film, I disagree in it being held up so highly. The comparison to Longlegs is quite apt, especially considering how both films deal with themes surrounding trauma and the deconstruction of the "traditional family structure." Even though both films have the same core premise (satanic/demonic influences destroying the lives of families and children), they take it in two distinct directions, which I think makes comparison not just accurate but very interesting!

[@daveauburn1561]

@@BioCraftHero hereditary is an infinitely better film than Longlegs imo, and in general a brilliant film even outside of horror (an opinion shared by Scorsese as well). Toni Collette’s performance is already considered one of the best performances to have not been nominated for an Oscar. The writing is infinitely better, and the narrative is significantly more cohesive. Hereditary also doesn’t leave any loose ends, which Longlegs is a huge culprit of, to the point where it almost comes off as pretentious.

[@alisa_edits4354]

He's so brave for talking about this. It's always hard to reveal your biggest fears and come to face them.

[@stanislavlitviak18]

Finally someone talked about this aspect of the movie! It made the viewing much more intense for me as well, the way the movie depicts and deals with the hollow pain of remembering (but not quite the same thing as initially experienced) and trying to make sense of it. Thank you for your video :)

[@mylamename14]

The name Longlegs is so reminiscent of “the Boogeyman”. A made-up term for a child’s worst nightmare. And, like a nightmare, Longlegs haunts Lee’s entire life despite her not remembering Kobble specifically. A depiction of the very real traumatic response of repressing and forgetting something awful.

[@paulsillanpaa8268]

Apparently, "Daddy Longlegs" used to be a term for an older man preying upon a younger, naive woman or girl. It's based on a Fred Astaire character from a movie of the same name, and for people of a certain age it was synonymous for a creeper. As in, you're at a college party and there's a fifty year old professor hanging out with the students "Who invited Daddy Longlegs over there?"

[@lydiaboll2872]

Yep! Might not remember specifically what the Wormy images from SpongeBob looked like, but god knows I’m screaming my head off if a butterfly gets too close to me (a monarch, same one used in that episode, got too close to me while I was swinging at my dad’s and I had a meltdown in the park).

[@mjgfromDDD]

Fear can change and transform as we get older, handling it also does the same. Thank you for doing this and handling it in a way your younger self would be at peace with.

[@adoresessy101]

This is me with the internet meme picture of that "have you seen this man in your dreams?" IDK WHY, but that face brings out a VISCERAL fear reaction out of me. I clicked on this video thinking MAYBE it was about that face and I LITERALLY scrolled the video up so I can listen to this like a podcast incase that face shows up lol. It's not the same face we're talking about, but I can relate!

[@tmdtt]

Same here. I was also anticipating that picture for some reason. I realise now that's the face of fear for me.

[@LottePea]

Same!

[@kc-ze6wz]

@tmdtt totally thought it was gonna tie in with nicholas cage in dream scenario which adapts that meme in a comical way. goddamn yall i just looked it up and it was just an art project! im finally free from the idea that im gonna see that man irl one day 😭

[@luv4eva1111]

omg me too it always made me feel some sort of primal fear like nothings right nobody is safe to interact with and idk why bc its just a picture😞😞 but im glad im not alone in it!!

[@loveserenity9872]

SAMMEEE Even though I know the dream thing wasn’t real it still scares me I genuinely don’t understand how a lot of horror characters don’t scare me but an off looking drawing of a man does

[@enby_kensei]

The feeling I got from watching Longlegs kind of reminds me of how I felt while watching Skinamarink. Skinamarink recaptured that childhood fear of the dark and being alone without my parents. Longlegs triggered that feeling of looking back at a childhood memory as an adult and realizing, "...Oh, what happened to me that day was kind of fucked up."

[@extofer]

Yes! Skinamarink is a perfect example. I felt a lot of dread during that film and reminded me of when I was young in the 80’s and scared of the dark. It’s as if those old forgotten fears just came back.

[@breannaxo]

This gave me a new appreciation for the depth of this movie. I, too, have been haunted my entire life by an image from a particular horror film I saw when I was very, very young. Unfortunately for me, it’s a popular film, so I’m retraumatized quite frequently. But every time it happens, it feels just like the scene from Longlegs. Plot twist aside, I like thinking about Lee’s awkward, despondent demeanor as her being in a post-traumatic dissociative state, and her “halfway psychic” powers being hypervigilance. She’s us, haunted by an unwanted memory. Waiting for it to come back, not knowing when, just knowing when it’s near. All this to say, I can’t imagine how hard it must have been to make this video. I wouldn’t have been able to do it. Bravo. And thanks for making me feel not so alone in the world with my irrational childhood fear.

[@unfinished8kt]

Is it Samara from the ring? This girl in my highschool was talking about one day, said it was the scariest thing she ever saw and felt like she was haunted by it

[@nicolebogda1482]

Mine is more mainstream too, thankfully as I got older, actually saw the film (several times) it lost it’s nightmare fuelled power over me.

[@tylociraptor8131]

@@unfinished8kt For a few weeks after seeing the Japanese original in highschool, i could get started by someone flipping their hair over their face

[@tomemyscoobies]

As much as it pains me to hear other people have experienced this deep-seated level of trauma, I'm glad to see I'm not alone in experiencing this. It changes your psychological development at a time that your brain is particularly susceptible to fear.

[@jinjoo7092]

@@unfinished8kt for sooo long I was incredibly scared of Samara but simply because I had heard tales of it and seen promotional pictures or dvd covers only. Then at like 20 something I watched the original japanese movie. I loved it but it didn’t freak me out. I was like "all of that crazy fear as a kid for that?" But I was also a very scaredy kid. Things that weren’t scary scared me. I had a very chaotic, rough childhood, could barely ever sleep and had nightmares constantly. It’s crazy how things change when you get out of your own living nightmare - now no movies can scare me. Now, real life scares me more - and yet, I don’t suffer like I did when I was young. The brain does weird things as coping mechanisms.

[@bamb0ostick]

I had a very primal reaction to the box scene in Longlegs too. I blame myself for watching the movie alone in a dark airplane. I was surrounded in cold darkness with total strangers around me. The scene made me recoil in fear like if I were a child. I totally understand your reaction to it, I myself didn't have a childhood fear associated with it, but it still gave me the same effect.

[@bianca7614]

Same. I haven’t gotten jumpscared that hard in years. My body tensed up so fast I almost got cramps in my calves and my chest physically hurt. It was extremely effective!

[@peggy237]

What Longlegs did for you, Skinamarink did for me.

[@Cristalskulle]

Yeah Skinamarink scared me the same way horror films would when i was a kid. I haven't been terified like that in a very long time...

[@peggy237]

​​@@CristalskulleFr, i honestly thought my childhood fear of the dark, or more specifically, the fear of finding myself being left alone in the dark, was completely gone. But then i watched Skinamarink...

[@Halcyon485]

Same

[@Cristalskulle]

@@peggy237 yeah exactly, for a couple of months I was scared every time I needed to get up at night, I just kept hearing the voice of the entity talking to the kids, especially "put the knife in your eye" 😓

[@Osh123-2]

They both had same effect on me

[@Johnconno]

The dwarf turning around near the end of Don't Look Now. His realisation just before it happens.

[@Ryoufriggingserious]

That movie is creepy good.

[@Doom_scroll_generation]

I've had the exact same thing happen with the police composite sketch of Derrick Todd Lee (way, way, way before it went mini-viral. I'm 33). It actually happened to me with a bunch of composite sketches, but this one was the worst. I don't know you but I am SO PROUD of what you did for this video. You'll realise what a good idea it was as time goes by (in the beginning it can feel like it was a mistake). Also please don't feel like "apologizing" for how regular this picture might possibly seem like to other people. It's all about context and age. And with context and age in mind, let me tell you, it seems absolutely traumatising. Lastly, I hope this video inspires more grown-ups to make the children they were proud. ❤

[@bianca7614]

Beautiful comment!!

[@daniilashurov135]

The build up to picture reveal is even more tense, than what Longlegs achieved)

[@JordanVanRyn]

This was hands down a brilliant analysis video on this film. You hit so many on the nose points about why Longlegs definitely unnerved me. When I was a kid, I remembered that aside from my fear of Sharks and heights, it was scary faces in childhood movies (ex: "Pinocchio", "Brave Little Toaster", "Wizard of Oz", etc.) and creepy people that used to freak me out. What makes our skin crawl when we see a scary face on someone is that it gives us the sense that this person is not trustworthy and the initiative of the "fight or flight" response. Nicolas Cage basically nailed this performance that I shudder at his role.

[@thebarghestiest]

God as a child who was so frightened of freaky imagery that I literally went to therapy for the level of anxiety I experienced (that cover from the IT miniseries....ugh) who grew into a horror loving adult, this hit so hard!

[@alexandrahill9176]

I will admit, despite the film's scenic beauty and the uncanny-ness of Long Legs himself, I was underwhelmed by the scares of this movie after seeing it. But after you explained how you truly understood the terror this film brought you in such a personal way and how you related to Agent Harker, I think I now understand the true horror of the plot. There's an image from a horror movie I saw 20+ years ago that can still give me the same reaction Harker had when she found her picture if I'm in a fragile state of mind. It's been less scary to me the past couple of years and it's easier to burn the image out of my head, but it still gives me a hell of an adrenaline rush when I first see it. That image is one from "The Ring" of the girl found dead in her closet. Just typing it out now is making my heart beat faster; I was going to describe it but I think I'll leave it for people to look up themselves.

[@njdotson]

The funny thing is I actually saw that movie after seeing the image and was just reminded of the other times I've seen it

[@jsnification]

When i was young, 9 or 10 my asshole stepdad showed me a picture that was somehow in the newspaper... He laughed and said "look at this!" and showed me a pic of a young teen who got impaled by a speared fence post through the back of his head and out his mouth. He was still alive.. and had medical assistance cut it away.... but that image and my fuckall stepshit laughing about it scarred me for life. 1980's.

[@TheSykobanana]

Despite not seeing it before, i NEED to know about that photo now.

[@DruDruia]

7:37 yes. Yes we do

[@januaryXvictim]

Agreed

[@nobinobitre]

Woman’s wail (1986) South Korea

[@shamblepants1450]

My childhood trauma face was from the movie 'Black Sabbath', a 1963 anthology film by Mario Bava. It's the face of the dead medium in the third story, 'A Drop of Water'. That gave me years of terrible nights...and yet...I'd watch the dang thing again whenever it showed up on t.v. This retraumatizing of myself is probably a study in itself, but it also might explain why horror fiction is so important to me. Thank you for the amazing video. And personally, I think 'Longlegs' is the finest thing I've seen this year. But that's just my opinion.

[@Sarah-qx4vz]

I’ll need to check it out. For me, it was the scene of the twins from the shining. I was so young and the symmetry of that shot terrified me. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw them. I was so scared to even look down the hall of my house for years.

[@shamblepants1450]

@Sarah-qx4vz Yikes! With the centered cinematography of 'Longlegs' and the hallway stretching in 'The Substance', this must have been a challenging year in horror! Filmmakers weren't playing around this year! The one other movie face that traumatized me as a young teen was the face of possessed Regan in 'The Exorcist'. I had a lot of problems being on my own in our creaky old house for a long time.

[@cosmiceggs2385]

While I've never seen that specific image, I can relate to your experience. There were photos I saw on the internet as a kid that made me extremely scared and I just couldn't force my head to stop thinking about it. I think the major one for me was Smile Dog. I could tell myself it was a heavily edited image of a random dog, but I couldn't get the image out of my head. It was made even worse with the story behind the image. And I'm sure there's other pictures that scared me more, but I might be pushing them down as well.

[@amandamcintyre8159]

Same here with those damn creepy pasta images. I'm embarrassed to say they got me so bad, especially considering some I never saw until I was already an adult. But they get burned into your head. The more I think about them, the worse the feeling gets. Truly feels like a curse.

[@lydiaboll2872]

@@amandamcintyre8159 Russian Sleep Experiment and Jeff The Killer, especially the latter.

[@samjuan1332]

I always find your contents really interesting. Keep up the good work mate.

[@SpikimaMovies]

Appreciate it. Will do.

[@bananafriends1847]

I do think sometimes spikima edited the films in such a stylised and narratively intriguing manner it almost detached from the aforementioned films and become an entity of itself especially so when it’s a film that I haven’t watched, I’d get different nuances and preconceptions after actually watching the films

[@natandiaz2911]

The best way i can describe that image is that it gives off the same vibe as the Mystery Man's first appearance in Lost Highway

[@Doom_scroll_generation]

This, and it also reminds me of something from The Exorcist for some reason. What was it? It wasn't Regan's possessed face.

[@rezzwastaken]

Thank you for opening up about your fear. It’s so much more interesting when you find a personal connection with a movie-and even better when it helps you overcome some fears or struggles. I really loved the movie, and one of its most underrated aspects is the mother’s commitment and dedication to the quest. It’s incredible how she maintained her motivation and discipline just to protect her daughter, despite their strained relationship. It was creepy and weird, but it also felt meaningful to me.

[@Sirene1134]

Another great video. I've had similar experiences with encountering unsettling pictures on the internet as a youth so I'm really sympathetic with your experience and having it drudged up watching Longlegs. I'm grateful for you digging into a personal trauma to make this video for us and I hope the process managed to help you unpack some of it and heal a bit. Also, controversial take, but I loved Longlegs lol It's absolutely not a perfect film (which doesn't exist anyways), and the ending made me sit for a while and think about whether or not I liked the film, but overall I think the work Oz does and his own personal baggage he put into the film makes for a great viewing experience. Unfortunately I think people really got sucked into the red herring that was Longlegs from the marketing and put a lot of expectations onto the film for it to play out a certain way. So when it didn't go how they expected, they were disappointed. Which may be a good argument for those folk not to watch trailers anymore lol

[@nicolebogda1482]

Interesting POV regarding the marketing~ I thought it was brilliant actually. Not just the Uncanny effect it had, but the fact: Once you see Cage is in it, ppl set an expectation. I think hiding that fact alone & letting the audience form opinions NOT based on that, brings a truer quality to the part he played.

[@barrywallisable]

Spectacular video. Wow! Entertaining, insightful, courageous and personal. I believe there are many, many people interested in imagery of all kinds who battle with fears related to that imagery and events from childhood. I know I do and my 10 year old son also struggles with images he can’t forget, that haunt him. Thank you for sharing this video and being brave enough to explain the impact this face has had on you. ❤

[@victorko13]

I've had the exact same experience with another picture. In my case it was/is Jeff the Killer (you can laugh if you want lol). Even in my mid 20's my heart skips a beat whenever I see it unexpectedly, but now it doesn't scare me as much as it did.

[@breakfastttttt]

I can agree that mine was Jeff the Killer also! It's comforting that someone else on the internet has the same image-phobia. I even got a chrome extension so I can manually hide videos where hes in the thumbnail. youtube recommendations kept giving me jumpscares lmao

[@ruliak]

Yes especially because it used to be a pop up that screamed at you and flashed! Gahhh the worst Mine were that, no face, and the woman from The Dream in scary stories to tell in the dark.

[@njdotson]

It's gone away for me over time but it's definitely the scariest image I've ever seen

[@gadiesandlentlemen]

mine was smile dog, surprisingly bahahahah i think it also had to do with the story surrounding the photo- of how he gets stuck in your head and terrorizes your sleep. i think a part of me is still waiting for him to appear in my dreams.

[@bubblegumnnebula]

Nah Jeff the Killer's face is fucking scary, don't let anyone tell you differently

[@mclare71]

This was brilliant! Thank you for expressing what we all probably feel but perhaps couldn’t identify. Thank you for sharing and facing your own fears. I have an image from childhood as well. I will never forget it. It was an optical illusion photo from the 70’s. It portrayed a woman but if you shifted the page her face became a horrible witch. I never got over that.

[@crowley4081]

easily one of the best videos you've made. I loved longlegs, and hearing your personal connections made me appreciate the film, and you, more

[@BrentonDevs]

This is one of my favorite theater experiences ever When Longlegs smashed his face into the table I backed up into my seat a couple inches. Fantastic atmosphere in this film! Love the content, I’m always excited for a new video 🎉

[@marmiteghost]

amazing job building up to the image. without context, you're right - it'd probably just be a typical horror movie still to me. but the way you laid out everything so well almost forced the image to stick in my memory long after the video ended. i'll admit i even held my breath during the countdown.

[@Waggsification]

Absolutely excellent video. You captured the tone of Longlegs perfectly and even made me afraid to see the photo for myself.

[@okiedokie4326]

7:29 me after a sip of that cranberry juice:

[@najbwz]

After she says she's on her period

[@shreddedemocheesebag666]

@@najbwzLOLOL

[@kirstyfairly4371]

Thank you for sharing your story about your childhood fear. I had a very similar experience as a kid when watching the made for tv version of The Woman In Black. There's one moment towards the end of that movie that terrified me as a kid in a way that nothing has really been able to as an adult, & to this day if i ever rewatch that movie i still find myself unable to look at that particular image, & get creeped out even just thinking about it.

[@fengyuanzhao352]

Great film essay! Beautiful filmmaking, I LOVE the feeling this movie gave me that night, it was a fun, eerie experience.

[@Neptune_EQ]

I just spent so long looking for it only to realize you revealed it 😭 definitely scary, and I’ve definitely experienced the same thing with different things before.

[@cloverkill]

Never had a movie analysis video makes me almost cry?? Amazing work

[@lydiaboll2872]

Literally same! FFS, my heart rate is up.

[@emieru]

Rarely I get chills from a piece of media, but I loved how you built up the tension, I genuinely was a bit afraid to see the picture and then I shuddered! Loved the video

[@hyp3rview]

i appreciate this vulnerability so much. I have a few images in my head that i dread seeing as a kid who has early internet exposure but the one that genuinely makes me scroll youtube with caution in case it comes up in a youtube thumbnail is the Erratas face/police sketch. the proportions, the stark contrast, the eyes…the eyebrows… I don’t know what it is and i’ve asked so many of my friends to look at it and let me know if they feel the same kind of imminent, primal danger as i do but nobody has expressed as such. so as twisted as it is, this video makes me feel a whole lot less alone in knowing that other people have/are experiencing this ❤ thank you spikma!!

[@beomdear]

i appreciate the comments sharing their experiences with imagery that has scared them since childhood, i finally feel seen a bit with my own reoccuring image that scares me. sadly it's a popular (yet old) children's book that regained popularity this year but it's helpful to know im not the only one. :)

[@ghostla9213]

If it's what I think it is then I 100% feel you, it rarely haunts me anymore but sometimes it strikes back and just messes me up.

[@bubblegumnnebula]

Oh man I can't even imagine what it is. Having a scary image in a children's book is very sinister lol

[@sarpbakrsoy8125]

May I ask, if you don't mind, the name of the book?

[@beomdear]

@@sarpbakrsoy8125 The Bad Case of Stripes

[@tommartinart]

I have one of these. When I was about three or four I wandered through a room I wasn’t supposed to and looked at what was on the TV, the adults were watching something that seared itself into me. I’ve been afraid of it since, and I’ve learned what that movie is, and it’s not a terribly frightening movie or anything. When I think about watching it, though, I absolutely can’t. Just thinking about facing that fear is really, really stressful. I’m amazed you were able to do it. I told a social worker friend once about my reaction to thinking about watching it and she said “oh, that’s PTSD, you have PTSD.” When I talk about this I don’t even tell people what the scene or movie was because I’m terrified of people jokingly sending me pictures from it or something. This was really interesting, thank you for talking about it.

[@k-sdesssd122]

At first i was 100% sure you were talking about "Have you dreamt with this man?", wich was my personal scary face image that scarred me as a kid. Very interesting how we as people can have so different yet similar experiences that make us relate to horror, because i was dreading the idea that the image that scared me so many years ago would appear on screen on this video.

[@shyedit]

mad respect on conquering your fear and capturing the essence of Longlegs in the process! 👏🏼

[@annedauphinais4218]

Thank you for making this video! It was absolutely compelling, brilliant and a perfect analysis of a movie that stuck in my mind ever since I left the theater!

[@tychuk5802]

Thanks for sharing that with us. If you want to share more with us about the picture, I think folks would benefit from your story of facing that fear. That being said, it's a super personal experience, so don't push yourself. Another great video, cheers!

[@Ryan6586]

This is like Stewie with robot from the cover of News of the World by Queen. Lol it's comedic but it kind of captures how a certain unsettling picture can latch onto your mind when you are a child. PS that face was terrifying

[@himuraakame4850]

while the movie is very extraordinary sensory wise, i couldnt help but feel disappointed with how they build the characters and end it just like that. if being held confused was the goal, then they did it well i guess

[@SurrealSurrender]

I sincerely agree

[@BinaryPLUR]

Your video essays on movies are the absolute best, your delivery is so impeccable. Been here since your Nightcrawler essay.

[@sydposting]

The Fall is my FAVORITE movie! I'll have to watch the restored version and see how it lines up compared to my original DVD copy. I'm so glad to see it reaching a broader audience! Also, your essays are always so crisply edited, but this one especially had me at full attention. I had to pause and search ahead to look at a thumbnail of the image because of the dread you were building up - so well done on both facing your fears and integrating them into your work! I can see why it was so upsetting for you, and I would LOVE to hear more about it. Your storytelling was seriously compelling!

[@ignorantrempit]

Most of the time when someone criticises a scene in a movie for being borderline comedic, I find that it's always a scene that is intended to be funny to begin with.

[@RobinCould]

I didn't really get why people were so disappointed with this film. I've seen it approximately 4 times with various friends and family since it released and I loved it every single time. It was such an intense film with a lot of foreshadowing that really got under my skin. Maybe people were expecting it to be a jumpscare gore fest with thrills and action, but I knew what I was getting into when I saw the trailer and it hit the mark. While I don't think it was perfect, I do think it was fairly close.

[@chucklebutt4470]

Same here! I've heard people say they were disappointed by the supernatural stuff cuz they wanted a more silence of the lambs thing but I really love how it was subverted.

[@beatricewhitcombe]

How very terrifying making this video must’ve been for you… kudos for the bravery it took, and the willingness to commit to so much growth and resolution. I’d LOVE to hear more about your experience and how you worked through it

[@laurisaarinen1126]

This was interesting, because your trauma of that image reminds me a lot of my experience with a video, except i wasn't a kid, i was 24 or 25, but the impact was almost as severe. Although i have watched it again, even twice since the first time, now at age 32 i'm still scared of it and will probably never get over it completely. It still has an impact on my nightmares and every time i'm alone and close my eyes, my mind starts to obsessively trying to remember how it looked and if i get the image in my mind, my fight or flight gets activated. It's so frustrating when i don't understand why it made me basically feel like i saw the devil, it might be connected to a certain childhood trauma of my own, except that wasn't THIS bad even though i was a child. Your video helped me feel less like i'm actually crazy, so thanks.

[@Doom_scroll_generation]

May I ask if it was a "shock" video? Or was it something otherwise random that still scared you?

[@amandamcintyre8159]

I relate to this 100%

[@laurisaarinen1126]

@@Doom_scroll_generation Not exactly a shock video, but a creepy video for sure. The weird thing is, i am a huge fan of horror and i'm used to it so much that i find most horror movies kind of dull and not scary. That's the extremely confusing part.

[@lydiaboll2872]

@@laurisaarinen1126 Everyone has different horror thresholds. Someone could be bored by Nightmare On Elm Street but be riddled with paranoia after Silence Of The Lambs cuz they find realistic horror more terrifying.

[@grantous67]

I had a similar experience but with captain howdy. Cliche now perhaps but this was a time before youtube and the internet could desensitise viewers by repeatedly showing screenshots so all you had was those haunting little flashes and appearances in the movie

[@slinkyatrest]

I just posted about this too. Even catching glimpses of the face in thumbnails breaks me into cold sweats. Seriously, traumatizes haha.

[@lutfihasani7530]

3:48 Yeah if you have heart problems just skip this part.. Spikima chill on the jumpscares man this made my palms sweat haha

[@lutfihasani7530]

and also please doa video about the photo and the origin

[@MelchVagquest]

I love The Fall! It's such a visually stunning film with a lot of heart

[@cassiecarpenter]

That rips off David Lynch

[@Frijolero18]

@@cassiecarpenter Of all the movies to accuse of ripping off David Lynch, The Fall is such a weird pick lmao

[@1108REDX]

For me it was always (and still at times when I lay in bed with my eyes closed) the image of Regan from “The Exorcist” used in “Scary Maze”. That still image of her face once you beat the game followed by the blood curtailing scream still to this day (I’m 25) scare the hell out of me. I have the movie but have yet to watch it in its totality because of that god damned game haha

[@easy2bify]

OMG i was looking for this comment!!! Same exact thing happened to me, some older guy made me play it when I was a child. Not fun at all. It terrified me

[@headchest6616]

I was too looking for this comment! Thank you for it! However, I don't think I would ever watch this movie, since the trauma is still lives somewhere beneath. I remember both being shaky for the good 20 minutes after I was jumpscared and the moment I had to look at it again after the initial reaction because I didn't know any hotkeys and had to close the tab using the cursor.

[@VedderGirrl]

Every single one of your videos is such a treat! The editing, storytelling.. keep ‘em coming!

[@yvespochara]

Please make a separate video on that terrifying image!

[@국멍-b4c]

정말 재밌게 본 영화였습니다. 영상 만들어 주셔서 감사합니다. 한글 자막도 기다리겠읍니다.

[@SpikimaMovies]

자막 올라왔습니다 감사합니다 :)

[@DandyOh]

Mine was Billy the puppet from Saw. I saw like 15 mins of that movie when I was way too young and it scarred me for years. I had a crippling fear of ventriloquist puppets. When I had to go to sleep, I used to wait in my bed with my eyes glued to the crack in the door, waiting for my mom to go to sleep. I also used to check every corner of the attic for a puppet before I went to bed. I didn't feel safe otherwise. I had nightmare upon nightmare upon nightmare about that fking doll, waking up in cold sweat every other night. Finally, I used that movie dead silence to get over it. I'm almost completely numb to it now and I've watched a couple of the Saw movies (they're shit, what was I afraid of), but I still get like a tiny little jolt around my chest area whenever I randomly see that doll's face. I'm glad that experience never limited my love for the Horror genre though. I loved Longlegs from beginning to end btw. Great build up, some lovely creepy shots. Awesome acting by Cage. Loved the ending as well, hardly anything to complain about. It's one of my favorite movies of the year.

[@rageagainstmyhairline5574]

The elite of movietubers uploads, I come. You're the best, man. Thanks for another great video :)

[@03dashk64]

Your analysis and personal experience with Longlegs are awesome. Great breakdown. I am one of the people who felt incredibly let down by Longlegs, but I’m glad you enjoyed it! I know some people loved it.

[@lostythevoid]

I have not seen Longlegs yet but I relate so hard to this video tho the thing that traumatized me for some reason wasn't even an horror movie but instead a very popular family movie that was impossible to avoid! I even started to associate it with Shrek because in the vhs copy we had there was an ad for a re release of said movie... I am still not 100% free from the emotion and I still try and look away/scroll when it appears... Said movie? Fucking ET... I almost punted a statue of him in a store once because I get such a visceral reaction and watching this video made it feel like... better? with the whole that "Maybe it just looks like an image to you" part...

[@edgargein_singz7221]

This was such a good video. Thank you so much for being courageous to talk about your experience

[@hessflix]

Mate, I love how this video essay capture the mood of the film you're speaking about so well, so good

[@ivarent3784]

Amazing video, you really capture what makes Longlegs so unnerving despite it's flaws. Something similar happened to me with a picture, or more exactly a... film? Short? I dunno, it was on a segment in a local tv show where they showed paranormal stuff, ghost and the likes. It showed to japanese school girls filming themselves exploring a school at night, so everything was tinted in night vision green. Then one of then enters a classroom and the door closes, one of then tries to look through the door's window and I get hit by the most horrifying face I have ever seen, a girl with her eyes white, blood and scars everywhere and a wide smile, lingering in there. To this day I have never been able to find the og video.

[@Warrior1Spartan]

I had that happen to me once. I was watching "Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction" when I was a kid. There was an episode where a woman insulted the woman who did her hair. So, the hairdresser placed a curse of ugliness on her. At first, she thought nothing of it. But as time went on, people started keeping away from her. She lost her job or left it, her fiancé left her, etc. She tried calling the hairdresser to apologize only to find out that she was on vacation for another 3 months. And the whole time, the camera doesn't show her face. As a last resort, she calls some kind of dermatologist to see if he can help her. He tries some creams and other things before giving her a hand mirror to see if it was helping. The reflection in the mirror SCARED. THE. ABSOLUTE. SHIT. OUT. OF. ME. The story ends with the camera panning around to her face only to show that her actual face was the exact same as it was before, it's just that the curse made people believe she looked that bad. I came close to looking up the episode and watching it again once. Twenty years on and I'm still too terrified. I've completely blocked it out of my mind, it was THAT bad.

[@cheesybirdmess7349]

Obsessed with the cinematography. The atmosphere reminds me of twin peaks season 3. Love it!

[@scottttt95]

I knew nothing about this film going into the cinema and had seen no marketing. The first scene gave me such a feeling of dread in preparation for the full face reveal. The cut away is perfect and brief enough that it gives you a glimpse of his uncanny facial features but lets your mind fill in the gaps. Longlegs’ face is as scary as you imagine it to be. I actually breathed a sigh of relief at the reveal. Love this movie and great video!

[@Yony42]

Man...that feel when Spikima Movies overlays a dotted line into scenes from a film and distresses you all over again but in a different, more lucid manner X__X I do think some more acknowledgement for people's trauma from seeing/experiencing real-life things as a child could be acknowledged briefly, alongside the main (and beautifully done) point of how visual media can traumatize you as a child. Doesn't take away from the idea of this video, just feel it could be added. I think Possum (2018) is a good companion to this movie. If you haven't seen it, I hope you do! Thank you!

[@viiviviviiv]

i would love to know the orgin of the photo and your experience. i really love watching your reviews, you word things so clearly and it's so easy to follow your points. i love dissecting movies but i never approach them the way you do so you have so much insight for me. the horror of longlegs being harker's memory of him feels obvious now even a few seconds after hearing it but was a revelation to me lol. thank you for sharing, as always!!!!!

[@mono90286]

For me it was the cover of Terrified (2017). Scared the hell out of nine-year-old me.

[@bubblegumnnebula]

...you were 9 years old in 2017??

[@mono90286]

@bubblegumnebula Yup.

[@CouchEconomyTX]

For me, it was an illustration of la llorona from a childrens picture book. It was after she drowned in the river. Her body was gray or brown, I can't remember exactly, and behind her was a desert landscape at night. The image HAUNTED me for years. It would stay in my head every time i closed my eyes. That image was the reason why I would always reach my hand into a room to turn the light on before i entered it. I only moved past it in the 3rd grade once I had forgotten the exact details.

[@studioGIMMICK]

While I didn’t have a personal fear coming into this film I definitely had a new one coming out. I loved Longlegs as a character. I liked that they showed you that he’s just really fucking weird but we audience know EXACTLY what he’s capable of. It also gave a sense of who he is an individual. Because ngl if we only saw him through brief moment periods I would’ve been kind of sad. He’s a massive threat throughout the entire film so I would like to see my maker. Nicholas Cage carried the character so hard and the fact he based him off his own mother made it even better. This was a personal piece for him and he put everything he had into it. I went home that night the first time I watched it and I had nightmares about him for a week. I couldn’t sleep because all I would see is his face. I am so glad this movie filled my every expectation and then some.

[@nilvolenti]

Thank you Spikima, I really appreciate your videos, I would love it if you shared more about the image and its origin.

[@tristanderoo]

The original Scary Maze game with the face of the girl from the original Exorcist (combined with a terribly nonrelenting scream) did that for me. It haunted me for days, perhaps more than a week. I feared encountering it unexpectedly aswel. It gave me a trauma of horror that made horror much worse for me than it was most of the time for many years. I just could not stand the idea of a jumpscare like that again. A few days ago I played Panicore with a friend. The third stage has a female enemy in it that screams terribly when she is encountered. After surviving two chases in a row, I was nearly stunned, drained, unable to move. My bravery had left me for a moment. But after we finished the stage, I somehow felt stronger with horror. I still didn't dare look at your picture though. ;) Too soon, they say. You did an amazing job at this essay, your storytelling and editing is terrific. You capture everything so well. Thank you.

[@tristanderoo]

I just saw 'your picture'. When my mind was set on facing it, up until seeing it, my heart would almost beat out my chest. Needless to say, I had to cover the screen and pause the clip, because a sudden reveal I would not tolerate. But to me it turned out to be not so scary, perhaps like you expected, although it has a potential that is chilling and I felt that too. Thanks for sharing.

[@sirtorchington]

Really love your videos. This was a very interesting analysis, and I appreciate how personal you made this one. Great film

[@paigewhit4249]

I love your take on the movie. I found that I loved the sense of dread and the cinematography but the only thing that really disappointed me was the rushed "let's explain everything with things we didn't entirely set up" bit with Lee's mom at the very end - that cheapened it for me. I was willing to live in that freaky ambiguity and the anxiety but that felt like a cheap move. I do love that you explain that horror is how the individual experiences it though and that's a really excellent point. It also points to why it's so hard for horror movies to get good scores on ratings because everyone really feels it differently based on their life context.

[@vulterina]

This movie also messed with me and brought back some childhood trauma. Not visually but the sounds. The howling/crying/laughing reminded me too much of when my mother was having one of her episodes. I’m sure this movie shook up a lot of people.

[@chescie_]

NGL… that last photo scared the hell outta me. It’s absolutely terrifying. Also Long legs was probably the best horror movie I’ve seen since the Dark and the Wicked.

[@giacor8062]

this was genuinely the scariest video i have ever seen. i'm so uncomfortable. good job.

[@GenericAhhHandle-i6q]

I’m now very interested in the story of that image, and of your experience with it

[@DailyDoseOfRandomLogic]

Dude, your videos are surreal

[@IntotheBangtanUniverseWormhole]

An image from a different horror film has haunted me since I made the mistake of seeing it at age 12. The local theater owners weren't strict about the "no kids" rule for R-rated movies, and as a result, I saw something that messed me up for life. It's been more than 40 years since that day, and I still have a phobia of knives - even simple table knives! I even rewatched the movie once as an adult, hoping to banish the horror, but the phobia still remains.

[@LokiMartin]

I sympathize with you, because something similar happened to me when I saw Longlegs. I saw a movie when I was around 7 or 8, I can't remember the movie, but there was a face in it that terrified me so badly, I had nightmares for years about it, nightmares so bad, they made me cry. Smash cut to earlier this year and me and my cousins, my Aunt and my best friend go to see Longlegs. I had been looking forward to seeing this movie because the trailer was the first trailer in years that gave me nightmares, scared me to my core. We're sitting there, watching the movie, it's living up to my expectations. Then they showed Nicholas Cage's face, and it was like someone had dumped a bucket of cold water on me. His face looked so much like the face that scared me when I was a kid, I started to have a panic attack. I grabbed my Aunt's hand and squeezed it and actually hid my face. It was like that for the rest of the movie, every time he was on screen, I hid my face. When we got out of the movie, of course we all started to gush about how good the film was. I didn't say anything about my reaction until my Aunt and I were alone because I didn't want my cousins or my friend to tease me (they usually don't tease me about what scares me, but you never know and I'm very sensitive). When my Aunt and I were alone, she asked me why Longlegs' face had scared me so badly. I told her about when I was a kid and the face that had scared me. She hugged me and told me about a movie that had scared her when she was young and that the face in it still scares her to this day (no, it was not The Exorcist, for those who are curious) and she reassured me that everyone is afraid of something that gets to them deep down under their skin. I want to show her this video, because it was so good and because of how much better it made me feel.

[@villaine513]

This is fascinating. When I was young, and I tried to watch The Ring when it came out in theatres. The scene where they find a dead man in a closet, the look on his face, that was the triggering image for me. I left the theatre and couldn't leave a door or closet ajar in my room for years. Finally, over a decade later, I got access to a streaming copy of the film, and every night, I would restart the movie and watch it up to that point, then ten minutes further, then twenty minutes, then thirty. I don't know how many times I watched it, but I exposed myself to it so much that all of a sudden, the fear vanished. I never knew this was an experience that others went through. You've recontextualized the Longlegs movie for me, thank you :)

[@aderz8284]

When I was a pre-teen in the early 00’s email chain pranks were really popular. I remember one evening I opened one that I started reading before the image loaded, it read something like: “My name is Jenna, I am 13 years old I have no ears…” -suddenly the image appeared and all I can remember was a bloody face on the pavement of a girl that looked dead. I shouted so hard my parents went to check on me, I cried of fear for a while and then never talked about it again. This video just brought up that memory.

[@amandamcintyre8159]

That's so interesting. I got that chain mail text dozens of times but there was never an image attached. I guess I am lucky.

[@aderz8284]

@@amandamcintyre8159 tbh the image itself might not even be that scary (I bet I sadly had seen worse in the news), and I even had been wondering should I look for it and finally confront it but its still scary to think about it

[@breh7883]

Wonderfully made video. Thank you for sharing your experience. I had a very similar experience as a child with the photo of "Jeff the Killer". I still have a hard time looking at it and when I see it without warning, I still jump. Before I intentionally faced the image head on, I was horrified to the point of nearly passing out when viewing it. It's such an interesting experience that I feel many of us share.

[@Dungeonmaster20]

The Jeff photo really freaked me out as a kid too. I’m older now and saw it again recently and while it wasn’t nearly as bad I still kinda flinched when I saw it and had to brace myself first.

[@JoshFraser-co9zc]

I really loved the editing and commentary on the movie in the video, but I feel like the personal story about the image was very underwhelming. Comparing seeing a scary picture too witnessing extremely traumatic (I do understand they're fictional) events just seems strange. Only really speaking on its effect on you in hindsight, just showed us the issue at face value, just a normal irrational childhood fear. I think it would've worked better if you gave more insight into why it had such an impact on you as a child and what it was about the photo that made it so terrifying. You have a really great voice and it would be great to hear you go more in depth about the pure terror that comes with being a child. I understand that it is a personal story, but described with such vagueness it is really something everyone can relate too, making it no longer unique of interesting to you. Just some constructive critisicim. Keep up the good work!!!

[@shananelson2567]

Longlegs had this effect on my fiancé, while Skinamarink had this effect on me. The both of us are horror nuts, gore hounds, and cinema thrill seekers. But those two movies… they hit something primal and buried. Longlegs made him physically shake. Skinamarink had me in tears, begging for it to be turned off by the end. It felt like some sort of childhood regression, as if the movie crawled inside of my psyche and shook me from within. As uncomfortable as those feelings are, there is so much beauty in them. To know that others feel them too is so cool and uniquely human. Thanks for making this video, you are brave for doing so. Excellent work.

[@SpareMango]

"haha what an exaggeration, there's no way a photo was that ba-" oh

[@lydiaboll2872]

My box is the Wormy episode of SpongeBob and it caused such a horrific bug phobia within me. Maybe one day I’ll have the strength to open my box, but I’m not quite I’m there yet.

[@peanutatomic]

I had a similar experience with the picture of the creepypasta "The Rake" quite a few years ago. For weeks I couldn't stand being in a room alone, its awful appearance was embedded onto the surface of my eyes. I couldn't sleep. It was truly an awful experience.