Quentin Tarantino Reveals the Movie That Scared Him off Camping Trips
Quentin Tarantino is a legendary filmmaker who knows his movie references. He has a clear passion for the art form but isn’t afraid to cross some boundaries. He’s regularly criticized for his film’s use of over-the-top violence. Tarantino’s signature style is often marked with this brutality. However, Tarantino once said that there’s one movie that scared him so badly as a kid, he didn’t want to go camping anymore.
Quentin Tarantino’s early film passions informed his mature filmography
Tarantino has always had a passion for movies. His earliest movie memories have frequently come up during interviews. Tarantino’s mother permitted him to see more mature movies at a young age. These experiences have certainly informed many of Tarantino’s movies.
1992’s Reservoir Dogs is Tarantino’s first movie, which is frequently called one of the best independent films of all time. However, producers were initially concerned about the movie’s torture scene. Tarantino’s vision remains confident to this day and embraces both its violence and more tender moments.
One movie did for camping trips what Jaws did for beaches
Tarantino talked about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and early movie memories in an interview on the WTF podcast. He explained how his mother took him at 8 years old with her on a date to see an R-rated movie. However, that movie would end temporarily scarring Tarantino. This film would end up making him swear off camping for a while.
“I saw it [Deliverance] when I was 8,” Tarantino said. “Here’s the thing, not only did I see Deliverance that night, my mom was on a date and she took me. We saw Deliverance on a double feature with The Wild Bunch. And it’s one of the greatest nights of movies in my life…When I saw Deliverance, it scared the f*** out of me when I saw it.”
Tarantino continued: “After I saw it, for a while, I didn’t want to go camping. Because I thought that that could happen. The way people were scared of the beach after Jaws, I was scared of camping. Now, living with a single mom, I didn’t really have to worry about that.”
Quentin Tarantino isn’t afraid to push boundaries
An 8-year-old Tarantino didn’t entirely understand everything that was happening on-screen. However, he did entirely comprehend the meaning behind the images. Tarantino found the movie’s most talked-about scene something that any kid can understand.
“I didn’t know he was being f***ed up the ass,” Tarantino recounted on the WTF podcast. “When I was a little boy, I didn’t know he was taking a d*** up his ass. I didn’t even know what sodomy was at that time. But, I knew he was being humiliated. He was being humiliated. He was being dominated. I knew that. But, any kid can understand that.”
Tarantino’s movies have drawn young audiences to the theaters for years. Pulp Fiction defined a generation and attracted the young audiences that movie studios at the time struggled to reach. Tarantino isn’t afraid to be different and push boundaries. It’s clear that his early movie-watching memories have informed this way of thinking.
