As a child there were 4 things guaranteed to scare the pants off me. The theme tune and title sequence of Tom Baker era Doctor Who, The ride in the boat in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory; The snake from the Seven Faces of Dr Lao but most of all, the one thing that would make me cry and quake for hours and hours was Jack the Giant Killer. The Giant was bad enough, but then there was the deliriously camp warlock (camp things always worried me as a child Marc Bolan gave me nightmares too); the evil version of the princess with the odd eyes and then worse of all, The witches. Particularly the one with the huge mouth that blew a gushing wind all the time and the one with the three horns. I watched it recently and I can see why it effected me so. Kids today would probably laugh at it. If I had watched Pirates of the Caribbean when I was three or four years old I might have reacted in a similar way to that. I love this film, I loved it when it scared me out of my skin as a child and I still love it now.
Review of Jack the Giant Killer
