I have always wanted to be an FBI Agent.  How wonderful to track down all those villains, solve seemingly unsolvable crimes and, in my spare time, save the world.  There is however, one little problem.  Unfortunately I faint at the sight of blood.  The same thing goes for movies.  I love a really scary film but cannot watch anything that involves gore and guts.  I immediately cover my eyes and drive my poor husband mad by constantly asking what is happening.  When he suggests I watch, I shriek and dive deeper under the cushion.

The same applies to any film about the supernatural, ghosties, hauntings, exorcism and whatever other devils and demons may pass across my television screen.  The music only has to get a bit spooky and there I am, back under my trusty cushion, my long-suffering husband as usual giving a running commentary until I emerge at the end of the movie having thoroughly enjoyed it.

But there is definitely a proviso on the movies we watch.  I have the power of veto and David realised many years ago that I wasn’t being picky, but there were certain films that I just could not view.  I can generally tell quite early on whether it will be a good idea or not to watch.  It has nothing to do with how menacing it seems or what happens within the first few reels, rather it has to do with any element of truth I may see in it.  I remember starting to watch a movie about students in Rome who think themselves lucky to have found a palazzo to rent for comparatively little money.  I can’t remember anything much about it except the huge stone-flagged entrance hall with an enormous curving staircase next to which was a grandfather clock, ticking loudly.  I really can’t explain why, but I was overcome with a feeling of utter terror.

“I can’t watch it” I exclaimed.

“Why ever not?” asked my poor bemused husband.

“Because there is something evil attached to that clock,” I replied, hastily muttering The Lord’s Prayer over and over again.

Over the years I have asked myself why I should fear something that is just a series of moving pictures.  Why should something on my television screen be so threatening?  Not just scary but seriously worrying.  I can think of two excellent examples of films that are incredibly menacing without being graphic.  One is The Innocents and the other is The Woman in Black both of which have the ability to frighten the wits out of me.  Why do these films scare me whereas others far more graphic do not?  I think it is because not only do I recognise a reality about them, but I also am aware of the fact that they may open portals which should remain closed.

I have said repeatedly over the years that you have to be very careful when dealing with the spirit world because you never know what you can stir up.   Think about the number of people who died early and unexpectedly during the making of The Exorcist.  Do I really want to invite that into my home?

Evil exists.  Evil is sneaky.  Evil has the ability to find your susceptibility.  I really do believe Evil has the power to latch on to anything that will feed its hunger and so, if it recognises a truth in the making of a movie, it will so do.  But how does that affect me, sitting on my sofa in my living room decades after the film was made?  In the space time continuum, there is neither time nor space as we know them nor are there the same blocks and boundaries that we accept, and whatever has been stirred up by giving life to this story has no normal bounds and I certainly do not want to feed its hunger by opening a portal.  

I stick to my power of veto.