There's no face like Holm
I am absolutely terrified of ever meeting English actor Sir Ian Holm CBE. He is the single most scary man ever. My fear is entirely rational, and these are my reasons:

Alien

Anyone who hasn't seen this film should look away now.

There's a scene in Alien in which Ian Holm's character is revealed to be not exactly human. It's a shockingly weird scene, and being about 12 it scared the fuck out of me. I would much rather have had one of those comparitively cuddly Aliens lurking in my cupboard than Ian Holm being a mental headless robot.

The result? About three nights with no sleep.

Lord of the Rings

I was watching the first one on video for the first time, aged 23. You know, 23. TWENTY-THREE. TWENTY-FUCKING-THREE. That age where you know enough about films and everything to not be scared, especially by a PG-rated movie.

There's a bit in that film where Bilbo (Ian Holm) has been infected by the ring or some shit, and he reaches towards Frodo and briefly makes a scary monster face. A scary monster face that sticks in my head. For the next two nights. I have to check all my cupboards, just in case Ian Holm is hiding inside waiting to burst out with his scary monster face.

From Hell

Again, this has spoilers.

At the end of From Hell it's revealed that Ian Holm is the killer, and for some reason his eyes go all weird and black, and he slits a woman's throat open. It wasn't that scary but my Pavlovian fear of Ian Holm had kicked in and I found it absolutely terrifying. Again. No sleep that night and checking cupboards.

So if I ever saw Ian Holm in actual reality I would run a mile and shit bricks, for fear that he would do something very weird.
( krang, Mon 26 Feb 2007, 10:17, Reply)