A Mom for Christmas

The only reason I'm giving this movie a decent rating is because of its affect on childhood. I do not consider it a quality film...

This is hands down the one film that has scarred me more than any other. And I'm a huge movie buff and watched countless movies as a child. The second film would be Ernest Scared Stupid. Followed by a few Tales from the Crypt episodes. The last one makes sense, but it was always the films that weren't even horror movies that really scared me in a deep way.

I remember the first time I watched this so vividly. I was at my babysitter's apartment around the age of 4. It was storming outside, much like in the film when the mannequin first comes alive (at least from what I remember). That first transformation had me covering my eyes and my heart beating extremely fast in fear. My mother looked like Olivia Newton John at the time and I imagined her becoming a mannequin. The whole idea of the mom in the film being so perfect and fake really scared me psychologically, especially knowing she was actually a manufactured piece of plastic who somehow acquired a soul. After seeing this movie I couldn't go to clothing stores. I kept seeing the mannequins coming to life. In fact I still see this sometimes when I go to the store, for a split second I will think they are real people and get a shiver down my spine. I might have thought this before I saw the movie and it may have been one of the reasons I was so afraid originally.

For years I couldn't remember the name of this movie. I searched for 'movie with a mannequin coming to life' and it kept giving me the 80s movie Mannequin. But I finally found this one and watched half of it on online in the middle of the night at my grandmother's. I was 23 this time and it still scared the sh*t out of me and I had to stop watching it. Its imprinted into my brain. It sparked a deep fear inside me that will never get out.

I was a very anxious child and would have nightmares every night. But I loved it. It gave excitement to my imagination and as I grew older I became obsessed with horror and the darkness in life. Nothing scares me anymore like the few movies and countless nightmares of my childhood. So I just want to thank the creators of this film for affecting me in such a positive way. There is no sarcasm here. But it is ironic that the idea of a film that is supposed to be so uplifting to some, can be so grotesque to others. That I think has been what has always frightened me throughout my lifetime more than anything mystical and fantastic.