Enter Sandman

Hush little baby, dont say a word
And never mind that noise you heard
It's just the beast under your bed,
In your closet, in your head
Enter Sandman - Metallica


I love watching horror flicks. Although I prefer psychological thrillers, I can also watch slasher and splatter films. But just because I like watching scary movies doesn't mean I'm made of sterner stuff! A lot of things scare me shitless: spiders, waking up in a dark room, Pennywise the clown, Dementors, Pacquiao becoming President. Here are some of the things that scared me as a kid:

1. Chucky
Yes, that movie about the homicidal doll. Its recent incarnations are more of a parody of the original movie and horror genre, but the first film? Scared the crap out of me as a kid. Someone thought it was a great idea to feature this movie in a film showing for GRADE SCHOOL students. I was in Grade 2 that time and everyone in the morning classes were assembled in the school quadrangle. We had no idea what movie we would be watching, just delighted to be pulled out from our classes. And then the scarefest started. The worst part I remember was that the lights were turned off but there were little patches of sunlight streaming through the slits in the school gates and the effect was eerie. I couldn’t even squirm properly because of all the kids Indian-sit-ed on the ground. But there’s nothing more terrifying to a seven year old than the thought of a doll come to life and who would kill just about anybody – and especially its kid owner!

2. Panday
My family watched the movie the night before we’re scheduled to go to the province for a vacation. Great, just great. What better way to precede a visit to the rural countryside than the sight of a white lady gliding across a field chasing after a very scared Lando. I refused to walk on the pilapil and insisted that I be carried for fear of being snatched by a creature hiding in the shallow rice field. My grandma’s bahay kubo reminded me of the house where the white lady lived, so naturally I slept very well (not). To this day, that white lady and Lizardo’s maniacal laugh still make my skin crawl.

3. Lucila Lalu
Erap used to host this show called Hotline sa Trese. One time they featured the case of Lucila Lalu. In the late 60’s(or 70’s?), Lucila was murdered and her body parts chopped and scattered all over the metro. Yes, that show is a very appropriate viewing experience for a grade school student. When the program was over, my mom asked my brother to go to our aunt’s house a few blocks away to get something. My brother, the brave little boy he was, told me to go with him. I, the sweet and obedient sister I was, went with him. On the way to our aunt’s house, he kept muttering “andyan na ang ulo ni Lucila Lalu!” in this annoyingly scary deep voice! So each time he did that, I would say the same thing back… and increase my walking speed. And my brother would do the same thing! The whole time we were doing this scare tactic I was fully and terrifyingly aware how DARK and almost deserted the street was, and thought that random thrash cans and scattered objects we passed by were perfect places to hide Lucila Lalu’s head! Until now, headless and dismembered corpses makes me want to run away and hide.

4. Spiders
If you ever wonder why I’m scared of spiders, here’s why. One time a toy (I forgot what it was, probably a jackstone ball) rolled under a drawer. I tried to retrieve it by reaching in under the drawer through a hole that’s small enough for my arm to fit in. I couldn’t peep through the hole when I put my arm, so I blindly swiped my hands around under the drawer to find the toy. As I was doing this, SOMETHING suddenly crawled on my hands all the way to my elbow! Before I could even remove my arm from under the drawer, that spider crawled out of the hole, pass my elbow and into my shoulder! I was screaming and wriggling my arms like crazy trying to stop that thing from crawling to my face! Those who say that there’s nothing to fear but fear itself, well, dear sirs, I beg to differ. There’s nothing more terrifying in this world than a spindly many-legged creature crawling in your skin… excuse me while I curl myself into a fetal position and try to block the memories of that day.



What are your childhood nightmare fuels?

You Know You Like 'Em, Too

Unlike Bioman and Shaider, I don’t remember how Maskman ended. I’m not sure if it’s because I stopped watching or the show was cancelled.

The DVDs I got were subbed, unlike Bioman which was English-dubbed. The series shown in channel 13 before were Tagalized, so it was weird for me to hear “Takeru!” “Miyo!” instead of “Michael Jo!” “Rio!”. I will always refer to the five as Michael Jo, Lenard, Adrian, Eloisa and Mary Rose. Why I still recall their names I have no idea.

I was surprised that Miyo’s (Rio) malevolent sibling was… a prince. What the hell? They keep referring to her (him?) as Prince Igam (I forgot her Tagalog name. See, I’m not that weird) and she (he?) calls her (him) self as Prince but dude totally looks like a lady. I think there’s more to this, much like Ida in Shaider. Japan really loves these kinds of gender-bending roles. This was also the first time I noticed, but were Miyo and Prince Igam played by the same actress? I think I need to do a research after this.

The head of the evil empire is, for me, scarier than Fuma Le-ar and Dr. Man. There was something Shogun-ish about his appearance. As always, the villains are all pomp and flash. When I was young I never questioned that good always triumph over bad. But now that I have become, uh, more discerning, I wanted the superheroes to have worthy adversaries, not dunderheads with complicated schemes that get thwarted each and every episode. Takeshi (of Takeshi’s Castle) was better at defeating the good guys and defeating them soundly; I only remembered one episode when Takeshi were defeated by the contestants, and that was only because Iwakura usurped his leadership.

Speaking of Takeshi’s Castle, the actor who played Chief Sugata was also the the general who lead the contestants against Takeshi. It’s hard to take him seriously when you knew of this piece of information. (That guy? He never even won against Takeshi!)

So far I’ve rewatched the first five episodes and it brought a lot of memories from my youth. We almost believed that we can achieve the Maskman’s aura power through meditation. We even imitated their meditation gestures! Okerappa was the source of various jokes, green or otherwise. We laughed at the earrings that Yellow Mask and Pink Mask wore, as if their colors weren’t clear enough indication of their genders!

I think I want the Tagalog lyrics of Maskman’s opening theme! “Buong mundo’y magpupuri, magpupugay, mabuhay!” On second thought, it sounded like a song Pacquiao would sing. Better stick to the Japanese version.