Jaws – The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

One movie character who scared me as a child was Jaws, the shiny-toothed James Bond villain. Those silver teeth freaked me out, big time – I remember the early sequence from The Spy Who Loved Me was particularly chilling: Jaws lures a defenceless older man into a trap, and proceeds to bite into his neck, killing him. While we’re shown no violence, the whole scene terrified me: the way Jaws walked slowly towards the man in a knowing, menacing way, and the idea of him simply biting the man to death (though at least he had the courtesy to stun the victim first).

Being bitten by Jaws isn’t like being bitten by a vampire – he drinks no blood. Instead, he just seems to sink those artificial teeth into flesh and tear a hole big enough to cause fatal bleeding. Whenever I’d watch that scene, it made me deeply uncomfortable, probably more than it should have for such a young kid. I still find the idea of him scary, and don’t know which would be worse: being bitten by this Jaws, or his sharky-namesake.

Large Marge – Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985)

Pee-wee’s Big Adventure is a childhood classic, and with good reason. It’s a very energetic movie that successfully combines the talents of Paul Reubens and co. with some cracker-jack direction by Tim Burton before he was well-known. I think that lack of knowledge of Burton is why one of the movie’s most infamous scenes remains a horrifying left turn. As Pee-wee tries to recover his beloved bicycle, he goes through a series of misadventures—going to Texas, getting menaced by Cassandra Peterson, and most crucially, goes hitch-hiking. A dark night, a foggy road, and an incredibly creepy Alice Nunn as Large Marge, a trucker turned urban legend turned ghost who is one of the most terrifying things I’ve ever watched through my fingers.

During re-watches, Large Marge was the part of the video tape nearly worn through due to fast-forwarding; turns out knowing what’s going to happen doesn’t make it any easier on the nerves. Even now, that horrible leering Claymation face remains a little unsettling, if only because the set-up is so brilliantly done. The fact that looking it up for this article made the hair stand up on the back of my neck at the memory is a testament to Large Marge’s lasting psychic impact.