Films are something that we all look towards for escapism – the action, the humour, the romance, the animation. Sometimes these can hold so much more meaning then just an image on a screen and create narratives and memories in our own lives. Welcome to the sister article to Music Memories where we take a look at some of these personal stories attached to films.

Film: Mars Attacks!
Original Release Date: 1996

There are some films that you remember from childhood that end up scarring you for life and today we are going yo talk about one of those that had an impact on me.

I was very young when Mars Attacks! came out – I have never been a fan of aliens but one of my family members felt it would be a film I may want to watch. I don’t think they ever saw the film and went into it blindly.

The VHS cover made it look like it was a comedy. I remember the bright colours of the film cover. However out of it there is only one tiny bit of the film that I remember and it is something that emotionally scarred me.

The first time the aliens arrive and they shoot a gun at people and they turn into skeletons it scared me so much that I remember it made me cry a lot. Also, I just watched the trailer for the first time ever and it still freaks me out even now watching that scene. When I saw this film I was under 10 so this was incredibly horrific to me, it upset me for a very long time.

It is a film that I cannot watch ever again, it is silly that one tiny thing can really effect you the rest of your life and this is one of those films.

Facts About Mars Attacks!

• To make the Martian Girl costume as smooth as possible, it had no zippers or buttons on it. Lisa Marie had to be sewn into it every day before filming of her scenes in it could even begin.
• Jack Nicholson accepted his role in the film without reading its script, since he had enjoyed working with Tim Burton on the film Batman (1989) and wanted to work with him again.
• The film’s writers were not sure what the Martians should sound like, so its script used “Ack! Ack! Ack! Ack! Ack! Ack!” for all of their lines of dialogue. This became their actual language in all future “Mars Attacks” merchandise and media.