{"id":13845,"date":"2016-10-21T21:14:00","date_gmt":"2016-10-22T04:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/?p=13845"},"modified":"2016-10-23T22:35:07","modified_gmt":"2016-10-24T05:35:07","slug":"horror-film-countdown-day-21-movies-anxious-parents-should-avoid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/horror-film-countdown-day-21-movies-anxious-parents-should-avoid\/","title":{"rendered":"Horror Film Countdown Day 21 \u2013 Movies Anxious Parents Should Avoid"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to our countdown to the most anxiety-inducing horror films for parents! \u00a0Today\u00a0is day twenty one!<\/p>\n

Each day, we are covering the films I both love and hate because they\u2019re awesome and they give me panic attacks now that I\u2019m a mom.<\/p>\n

\"trickrtreat\"<\/p>\n

Carrying on the same vein as our film from yesterday, it seems like a good day to dive into a title that crosses the barriers between dimensions. \u00a0It shows us a world between\u00a0worlds\u00a0and walks\u00a0the bridge that binds film and gaming. Today we take a drive into my favorite of all haunted towns…<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: Trigger warnings are a given when you talk about horror, but I\u2019m going to say it anyway.\u00a0 Many subjects covered by horror films are disturbing to parents\u00a0in ways we can\u2019t possibly understand and each is unique to the parent and his\/her\u00a0experiences. Tread carefully and know your limits. \u00a0If this begins to be too much, there\u2019s no shame in closing the window. \u00a0Also, this post contains some spoilers throughout.\u00a0<\/em><\/h5>\n

<\/p>\n

11. Silent Hill<\/strong>
\n\"tumblr_ls1mcqb0km1qbjkms\"<\/p>\n

Before there was “The Upside Down”, before there was “The Further”, there was Silent Hill. \u00a0Originally a survival horror PlayStation game by Konami, the film adaptation appeared on the screen in 2006. \u00a0I admit here first off, after playing the games and being haunted (plagued is really more like it) by its continuously disturbing images for YEARS, the movie left something to be desired. \u00a0But now?<\/p>\n

When we first see our Sharon, she is sleep walking in the woods, about to fall to her death while dreaming of a dark place with fire. \u00a0Once again, we have a child in actual, physical peril. \u00a0She is hanging in the balance between a dreamworld about to kill her, and her mother who is desperate to save her. \u00a0As a parent watching this now, I admit; This sort of scenario is one of the reasons I love having an alarm in my house and doors that are bolted from the top AND<\/em> the bottom. \u00a0It’s the reason I lock all exits of my house and set the alarm if I take a shower or even vacuum the house. \u00a0Because you never know when they’re going to decide to just… walk out the door.<\/p>\n

As we have seen so many times before, the child is suffering from an unknown malady which displays as night terrors, sleep walking and screaming in her sleep, a name; Silent Hill. \u00a0Instead of having her medicated or evaluated by actual doctors, her mother decides to take the child to Silent Hill, hoping to find answers. \u00a0Along the way, we see so many images that feel as though they walked right off the game and into reality. \u00a0We see the horrors of the game unfolding in a whole new and terrible way. \u00a0Why terrible? \u00a0Because we cannot control or manipulate the story, as we are now spectators instead of players.<\/p>\n

When she awakes\u00a0after crashing her car, the mother, Rose, finds Sharon missing and ashes raining from the sky. \u00a0As she wanders the foggy, empty streets of Silent Hill, the anxious pit in my stomach starts to shiver and drop. \u00a0It’s not because of the monsters. \u00a0It’s because of a lost child. \u00a0An empty city. \u00a0Air raid sirens and monsters everywhere. \u00a0A lost child. \u00a0Disappeared in a deadly town. \u00a0I’ve had nightmares like this.<\/p>\n

When we were practically kids\u00a0playing this game for the first time, did any of us think about what it must be like for this parent? \u00a0Did we consider the helplessness, the constant fear of what may be happening to his\/her child? When I played this game ten years before I had children, it\u00a0never really hit me that the entire point of this game was to reunite a missing daughter with her parent. \u00a0This creates a new sense of urgency. A new sense of fear and grief… a terrible, heart-twisting\u00a0kind of loss making it that much more important to win.<\/p>\n

A child being lost is one of a parent’s greatest fears. \u00a0It’s what makes the “stranger danger” conversation a daily occurrence. \u00a0It is what heightens a mother’s\u00a0anxiety and anger when children wander too far ahead on walks or refuse to hold our hands in public or like to play “hide and seek” in department stores.<\/p>\n

When I had both of my children and had to spend a few nights in the hospital, the horrifying images of this story came to mind and when that happened, I thought; how prepared am I for something terrible to happen right now? \u00a0Could I save my baby? \u00a0Could I survive? \u00a0Could I memorize the hospital map on the wall and carry my child while in pain and bleeding heavily through a dark hospital corridor? \u00a0Could I do it? Could I be a survivor if suddenly the nurses all became monsters and my only way out was through the roof?<\/p>\n

\"587092875\"<\/p>\n

That natural fear that instantly transfers from our own safety to that of our children is heightened because in this story, the child has wandered away in a town full of monsters\u00a0and we have no idea how long it’s been between the time they got there and when her mother regained consciousness. \u00a0The lack of awareness of time is another issue. \u00a0The darkness in mid-day, the constant grey haze and ashes falling on everything disorients and confuses us as we try to wrap our minds around the question; just how long as she been there? \u00a0How long has Sharon been alone? \u00a0How far could she have gotten by now? \u00a0Is she even alive?<\/p>\n

As a single girl who loved horror I had blissfully\u00a0enjoyed seeing the game come to life, but I never really internalized the story or allowed it to affect me.<\/p>\n

As a parent, this film hurts far more than it scares which, in turn, scares in an entirely different way. Walking into an empty restroom, down the corridor of a quiet school building, down a dark street at night, the way my hair stands up on end when I hear an air raid siren and the fear of what could come out of the fog are all images I associate with Silent Hill, but there is so much hurt and loss and children in pain, that it all overshadows the horrors now.<\/p>\n

\"silent-hill-1\"<\/p>\n

When you realize the reason for the darkness\u00a0and the monsters in the first place is all because of how much one young girl had been tortured, isolated, experimented on and allowed to live in agony and fear, it all becomes much more sad than scary. \u00a0Her fear and anger became a tangible, living, breathing thing. \u00a0Her fury at what was done to her became a darkness capable of swallowing all goodness and light. \u00a0Sure, it may sound\u00a0like a wild and impossible\u00a0ghost story until you consider; how many brutal and disgusting things happen to children all the time? \u00a0How many chances does this miserable world create for some lost, tortured and powerful soul to create something inhuman, unholy… to seek revenge? \u00a0Is that possible? \u00a0Just because we’ve never seen it, doesn’t mean it’s never happened. \u00a0They say horrifying things can be felt in places where horrifying things happened. \u00a0Asylums, homes where abuse occurred, old hospitals, all carry the weight of the pain they have caused and hold the ghosts of that pain in the walls.<\/p>\n

\"corridor_lier\"<\/p>\n

This is yet another film that shows us just what ignorance in parenting can do to a child. \u00a0It shows us how unsafe they must feel when no one listens. \u00a0When they feel isolated an alone, when they are told they are evil or bad or made to hurt for the ways they are different or for the sins of their parents, a child’s pain is the pain of innocence.<\/p>\n

\"midwich_elementary\"<\/p>\n

In this story, that pain becomes tangible. \u00a0A fictional tale that serves as a warning; judge not and love others, respect their differences and honor their truths. \u00a0Stand with the oppressed and not with the oppressor, or one day, it may be your turn.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\"silent_hill_pyramid-head\"The story of Silent Hill has two major lessons:<\/p>\n

1- Be nice and teach your kids to be nice.<\/p>\n

2- Always be prepared for something terrible. \u00a0Keep flashlights, weapons, lanterns and candles. \u00a0Keep radios and sweaters and extra water just in case.<\/p>\n

…but most of all, if you find yourself in a strange world outside the realm of your own, find a weapon, a flashlight, a radio and a map. \u00a0Pray you can carry your children to safety and do whatever it takes to make it home alive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome to our countdown to the most anxiety-inducing horror films for parents! \u00a0Today\u00a0is day twenty one! Each day, we are covering the films I both love and hate because they\u2019re awesome and they give me panic attacks now that I\u2019m a mom. Carrying on the same vein as our film from yesterday, it seems like […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Horror Film Countdown Day 21 \u2013 Movies Anxious Parents Should Avoid","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[4,9,14],"tags":[546,197,486,533,545],"class_list":["post-13845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog-and-reviews","category-lessons-from-the-mother-ship","category-news","tag-anxiety-and-panic","tag-forbidden-panel","tag-horror-films","tag-horror-films-for-parents","tag-silent-hill"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1opIU-3Bj","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13596,"url":"https:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/horror-film-countdown-day-3-movies-anxious-parents-should-avoid\/","url_meta":{"origin":13845,"position":0},"title":"Horror Film Countdown Day 3 \u2013 Movies Anxious Parents Should Avoid","author":"Janelle","date":"October 3, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"If you haven't stopped by so far this month, let me sum up; Lessons From the Mothership is doing a Halloween countdown just for parents!! Each day, we are covering the films I both love and hate because they're awesome and they give me panic attacks. \u00a0These are 31 of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogs\/Reviews\/Stories"","block_context":{"text":"Blogs\/Reviews\/Stories","link":"https:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/category\/blog-and-reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"trickrtreat","src":"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/trickrtreat.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13646,"url":"https:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/horror-film-countdown-day-9-movies-anxious-parents-should-avoid\/","url_meta":{"origin":13845,"position":1},"title":"Horror Film Countdown Day 9 \u2013 Movies Anxious Parents Should Avoid","author":"Janelle","date":"October 9, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Welcome to our countdown to the most anxiety-inducing horror films for parents! \u00a0Today\u00a0is day nine. Each day, we are covering the films I both love and hate because they\u2019re awesome and they give me panic attacks now that I\u2019m a mom. The movie of the day is a personal\u00a0favorite in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogs\/Reviews\/Stories"","block_context":{"text":"Blogs\/Reviews\/Stories","link":"https:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/category\/blog-and-reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"trickrtreat","src":"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/trickrtreat.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13598,"url":"https:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/horror-film-countdown-day-4-movies-anxious-parents-should-avoid\/","url_meta":{"origin":13845,"position":2},"title":"Horror Film Countdown Day 4 \u2013 Movies Anxious Parents Should Avoid","author":"Janelle","date":"October 4, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Welcome to our countdown to the most anxiety-inducing horror films for parents! \u00a0Today we are on day four and today, I admit.. I kind of cheated. Each day, we are covering the films I both love and hate because they\u2019re awesome and they give me panic attacks now that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogs\/Reviews\/Stories"","block_context":{"text":"Blogs\/Reviews\/Stories","link":"https:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/category\/blog-and-reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"trickrtreat","src":"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/trickrtreat.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13577,"url":"https:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/horror-film-countdown-movies-anxious-parents-should-avoid\/","url_meta":{"origin":13845,"position":3},"title":"Horror Film Countdown Day 1 – Movies Anxious Parents Should Avoid","author":"Janelle","date":"October 1, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Happy Halloween season, everyone! \u00a0It's October 1st and officially Halloween time, so here- have a countdown list! \u00a0It's a fun, little exploration inside the mind of a\u00a0parent with anxiety who also love horror films! Each day we will cover an aspect of my personal brand of crazy as it relates\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogs\/Reviews\/Stories"","block_context":{"text":"Blogs\/Reviews\/Stories","link":"https:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/category\/blog-and-reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"trickrtreat","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/trickrtreat-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13670,"url":"https:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/horror-film-countdown-day-11-movies-anxious-parents-should-avoid\/","url_meta":{"origin":13845,"position":4},"title":"Horror Film Countdown Day 11 \u2013 Movies Anxious Parents Should Avoid","author":"Janelle","date":"October 11, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Welcome to our countdown to the most anxiety-inducing horror films for parents! \u00a0Today\u00a0is day eleven. Each day, we are covering the films I both love and hate because they\u2019re awesome and they give me panic attacks now that I\u2019m a mom. Today's film is like a phonograph. \u00a0It's the gift\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogs\/Reviews\/Stories"","block_context":{"text":"Blogs\/Reviews\/Stories","link":"https:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/category\/blog-and-reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"trickrtreat","src":"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/trickrtreat.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13622,"url":"https:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/horror-film-countdown-day-7-movies-anxious-parents-should-avoid\/","url_meta":{"origin":13845,"position":5},"title":"Horror Film Countdown Day 7 \u2013 Movies Anxious Parents Should Avoid","author":"Janelle","date":"October 7, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Welcome to our countdown to the most anxiety-inducing horror films for parents! \u00a0Today\u00a0is day seven. Each day, we are covering the films I both love and hate because they\u2019re awesome and they give me panic attacks now that I\u2019m a mom. 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