Theyre goading each other on to leap from the bridge into the dark waters below.
One by one they take the plunge, all the while laughing and whooping.
While this is happening I can hear the local news on the TV in the lounge.
Nobody can understand how he got into trouble.
Apparently he was a strong swimmer.
Anyone old enough to have seen it has absolutely never forgotten it.
So traumatising was it, that it was included in Channel 4s100 Greatest Scary Moments.
It has been a few weeks now since I sat down to write the paragraphs above.
The tragic irony of the situation did not escape me as the seemingly innocent summer fun unfolded below.
So here is another selection some whimsical, some serious, and some downright disturbing!
Richard Taylor Cartoon Films was responsible for some of the most well-known animated PIFs.
But I have chosenAirbeds a fun little film from 1980.
It all starts so well.
Some jolly easy listening music accompanies a cheerful old lady doing a spot of housework.
Better check that the whole place is spick and span for the new arrival eh?
Its a charming snapshot of domestic bliss.
What could possibly go wrong as our intrepid suburbanites visit Grandma?
Will they fall foul of the traffic?
Are there any low hanging power lines?
Is Donald Pleasance lurking behind a tree, ready to push them into a nearby fish pond?
As with many PIFs there is a huge juxtaposition between the mundane and the macabre.
Thatll teach me to not take PIFs seriously…
Good grief!
Where to begin with this!?
I found Punch and Judy to be creepy as hell before they appeared in this incredibly dark film.
Does anybody actually find them charming or endearing?
Now I know how Garth felt when Wayne was scaring him with that Leprechaun impression.
And what about those legs stalking around behind the rapt youngsters?
Maybe start by not showing them this PIF.
Thats not the way to do it.
Around the same time that I wrote my first PIF article I was not very well.
I was kept awake by terrible pain for three whole nights.
By the fourth day, lack of sleep was causing some really disconcerting aural hallucinations.
Jeremy is a naughty lion who eats too many sweets and doesnt brush anywhere near enough.
According to his wife, fear of the dentist prevented him from making an appointment for treatment right away.
Unfortunately, the infection spread from his tooth into his bloodstream, eventually reaching and significantly weakening his heart.
Indeed, Folk Horror had also been enjoying a surge in popularity in the late 60s and early 70s.
Its clear to see the influence of that very British sub-genre on this particular PIF.
Just three seconds in and were already feeling a dreamlike sense of unease.
But its the last ten seconds in which the eeriness really takes hold.
The staging of this scene is not unlike the dream sequence at the end ofCarrie.
Most of us who saw this on TV back in the day have never forgotten it.
Its spine-chilling timbre makes it an incredibly effective film.
The firstGreen Cross Codeadvert resulted in an 11% drop in road casualties.
Unfortunately those figures rose back to their original level within six months of the first broadcast.
Theres something really quite unearthly about the intro.
A few years ago a friend and I hosted a series of 80s nights for our friends.
At one such event I decided, without thinking about my audience, to play the Frisbee film.
But, go out to play we did!
Heck, I still do it today sometimes, even though I live 150 miles away!
In 1973 it was at an all-time low.
Some of the most iconic and shocking PIFs are attributed to him.
So adept was he at killing off youngsters on screen that he gained the nickname Doctor Death.
Something as simple as a clock counting down from sixty seconds becomes almost unbearable.
The mothers haunted face at the end as she realises what has happened is a well-acted, powerful moment.
Its interesting to note that this film seems to contradict the message ofCharley Saysfilm I touched upon above.
To end on, lets lighten the mood with a sing-a-long.
Altogether now…
Make it big!Make it bold!Make it bright!But get yourself seen!
Have you ever walked into a room and forgotten what you went in there for?
If you remember any of these PIFs then of course you have!
Similarly, the lyrics toThe Pedal Safety Songhave never left me and neither has the message.
There are so many things about this PIF that I have never forgotten.
A tonic for all the death, destruction and grey 70s brutalism if ever there was one!
Just one thing concerns me as a responsible, modern cyclist: Why is nobody wearing a helmet?
When hes not uploading PIFs to hisYouTube channel, Paul writes short stories for his website,Badgers Crossing.
