# I'm thinking of a horror movie scene - someone using a camera flash to see in the dark **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 7, 2011, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-thinking-of-a-horror-movie-scene-someone-using-a-camera-flash-to-see-in-the-dark/605340 "2011-12-07T03:54:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-thinking-of-a-horror-movie-scene-someone-using-a-camera-flash-to-see-in-the-dark/605340/1 "2011-12-07T03:54:49Z")
What movie is this from? I distinctly remember it: Someone (a woman, I think) is trapped in a dark place and can’t see anything around her. The only source of light she has is a disposable camera. She fires the shutter once to get a burst of flash, in order to see…then you hear her winding the film…then fires again for another burst…etc etc…I think, after two bursts, on the third burst of flash she sees the scary monster/killer/whatever it is that is after her. A great deal of suspense is built up through this extremely clever device. What is this from? ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-thinking-of-a-horror-movie-scene-someone-using-a-camera-flash-to-see-in-the-dark/605340/2 "2011-12-07T04:00:07Z")
Never mind, I remembered it - it was _Saw._ Such a clever technique. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-thinking-of-a-horror-movie-scene-someone-using-a-camera-flash-to-see-in-the-dark/605340/3 "2011-12-07T07:57:27Z")
I didn’t see **Saw** but am sure I’ve seen this in another movie too. Damned if I know what was now. Thanks a lot; that’s really going to bug me! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-thinking-of-a-horror-movie-scene-someone-using-a-camera-flash-to-see-in-the-dark/605340/4 "2011-12-07T10:29:24Z")
Jimmy Stewart uses a flash to blind a killer in Rear Window, and that was referenced in the 1981 film The Black Cat. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-thinking-of-a-horror-movie-scene-someone-using-a-camera-flash-to-see-in-the-dark/605340/5 "2011-12-07T10:55:18Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Jimmy Stewart uses a flash to blind a killer in Rear Window, and that was referenced in the 1981 film The Black Cat. YES! Rear Window is it I think! ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-thinking-of-a-horror-movie-scene-someone-using-a-camera-flash-to-see-in-the-dark/605340/6 "2011-12-07T13:08:46Z")
Also pretty sure I saw the idea used in an episode of the New Mickey Mouse Club (some episodic segment, the episode in question had two of the kids stuck in a cave trying to find their way out). For a fun variation, there was an episode of Due South that had gunfight in a dark hallway illuminated with the gunshots. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-thinking-of-a-horror-movie-scene-someone-using-a-camera-flash-to-see-in-the-dark/605340/7 "2011-12-07T13:13:16Z")
I recommend “The Descent” for excellent use of a night vision mode on a video camera. ---
**Author:** ![Ashes\_Ashes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/db5fbb/32.png) [@Ashes\_Ashes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashes_Ashes)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-thinking-of-a-horror-movie-scene-someone-using-a-camera-flash-to-see-in-the-dark/605340/8 "2011-12-07T13:16:51Z")
Aw, my memory kicked in and I know it’s night vision goggles not a camera flash, that was used in _The Silence of the Lambs_. I was thinking _Rear Window_, too, but mixed it with Grace Kelly in the opposite apartment. Weird, tired brain. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-thinking-of-a-horror-movie-scene-someone-using-a-camera-flash-to-see-in-the-dark/605340/9 "2011-12-07T13:48:27Z")
There was a movie on TV when I was a kid (probably a made-for-TV movie) that scarred me for life — it featured some hideous gremlin-type things that came out of a family’s chimney. They were blinded/dissuaded by light, so in a pivotal scene, when the heroine is being dragged into the fireplace by these loathesome creatures, she keeps flashing a camera at them to drive them back. I vowed I would always carry a camera after that day, to keep the monsters at bay. And hey, I still do! _pats iPhone_ ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-thinking-of-a-horror-movie-scene-someone-using-a-camera-flash-to-see-in-the-dark/605340/10 "2011-12-07T13:49:43Z")
Wasn’t that device used in Wait Until Dark with Audrey Hepburn as the blind woman? She used the flash to blind Alan Arkin. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-thinking-of-a-horror-movie-scene-someone-using-a-camera-flash-to-see-in-the-dark/605340/11 "2011-12-07T13:56:08Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > There was a movie on TV when I was a kid (probably a made-for-TV movie) that scarred me for life — it featured some hideous gremlin-type things that came out of a family’s chimney. They were blinded/dissuaded by light, so in a pivotal scene, when the heroine is being dragged into the fireplace by these loathesome creatures, she keeps flashing a camera at them to drive them back. I vowed I would always carry a camera after that day, to keep the monsters at bay. > > And hey, I still do! _pats iPhone_ This is the original version of “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark,” with Kim Darby. A terror from my childhood too. I’m still a little nervous about opening wall panels–god knows what’s lurking in there. ---
**Author:** ![Paranoid\_Randroid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paranoid_randroid/32/18_2.png) [@Paranoid\_Randroid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paranoid_Randroid)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-thinking-of-a-horror-movie-scene-someone-using-a-camera-flash-to-see-in-the-dark/605340/12 "2011-12-07T14:01:17Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > There was a movie on TV when I was a kid (probably a made-for-TV movie) that scarred me for life — it featured some hideous gremlin-type things that came out of a family’s chimney. They were blinded/dissuaded by light, so in a pivotal scene, when the heroine is being dragged into the fireplace by these loathesome creatures, she keeps flashing a camera at them to drive them back. I vowed I would always carry a camera after that day, to keep the monsters at bay. I never saw the original, but that sounds like Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark – recently, theatrically remade with a little girl in the main role. I found the remake very surprisingly scary (and amusing in that she even seemed to know what a Polaroid camera was). ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-thinking-of-a-horror-movie-scene-someone-using-a-camera-flash-to-see-in-the-dark/605340/13 "2011-12-07T15:24:23Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > There was a movie on TV when I was a kid (probably a made-for-TV movie) that scarred me for life — it featured some hideous gremlin-type things that came out of a family’s chimney. There were hideous gremline-type things in _Gremlins_. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-thinking-of-a-horror-movie-scene-someone-using-a-camera-flash-to-see-in-the-dark/605340/14 "2011-12-07T16:03:23Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > There were hideous gremline-type things in _Gremlins_. We have a winner. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-thinking-of-a-horror-movie-scene-someone-using-a-camera-flash-to-see-in-the-dark/605340/15 "2011-12-07T16:05:12Z")
Apollo 18 also did this ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-thinking-of-a-horror-movie-scene-someone-using-a-camera-flash-to-see-in-the-dark/605340/16 "2011-12-07T17:09:18Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > There were hideous gremline-type things in _Gremlins_. There was a scene in that where they were driven back by flashes from a polaroid camera, but I think that was in a bar. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-thinking-of-a-horror-movie-scene-someone-using-a-camera-flash-to-see-in-the-dark/605340/17 "2011-12-07T17:12:43Z")
> [@voguevixen](#): > > I didn’t see **Saw** Deprived childhood? ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-thinking-of-a-horror-movie-scene-someone-using-a-camera-flash-to-see-in-the-dark/605340/18 "2011-12-07T17:21:14Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Deprived childhood? But if you did see Saw, you had a depraved childhood. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-thinking-of-a-horror-movie-scene-someone-using-a-camera-flash-to-see-in-the-dark/605340/19 "2011-12-07T17:56:17Z")
> [@Alka\_Seltzer](#): > > There was a scene in that where they were driven back by flashes from a polaroid camera, but I think that was in a bar. Yes, this is correct - the waitress/love interest drove them back with her camera flashes to attempt to escape. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-thinking-of-a-horror-movie-scene-someone-using-a-camera-flash-to-see-in-the-dark/605340/20 "2011-12-07T22:12:02Z")
> [@campp](#): > > Wasn’t that device used in Wait Until Dark with Audrey Hepburn as the blind woman? She used the flash to blind Alan Arkin. Yup. Just saw that movie for the first time last week. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-thinking-of-a-horror-movie-scene-someone-using-a-camera-flash-to-see-in-the-dark/605340.md?page=2)