My 13 year old daughter was traumatized by this movie today

I remember seeing this movie when I was younger. I remember being scared by it. It wasn't the volcano that scared me. It was the acid lake! When the grand mother jumps out she gets eated away by the acid. she is screaming and they pull her out of the water I remember half her body being eated away. When I watched the movie again not long ago, her lower half is acid burned, but not totally eaten away. I can see how for someone with an active imagination it could be very traumatizing. Aside from the acid like nothing bothered me.

I watched this movie when I was 13, and it scared me to death. It was at school, for science class. I left the room.

It's not the plot that's really scary. It's the graphic scenes.

A woman has a seizure after a burning rock falls in her face. Two lovers are graphically burnt to death in acid. A person's legs literally turn to rubber when she walks on an acid mat.

I'd be worried if your daughter WASN'T scared. People are too callous these days.

Indeed.... I'm 14 years old and for some odd reason, I was shaking for 2/3 of the movie. It was temporary, but uncontrollable and I have no idea why I was shaking. I know absolutely that this movie isn't scary (at least for people 13 and up) and wasn't meant to be scary (there's a difference between dramatic and suspenseful and downright scary), but I still shook. Someone said the next period (I was watching this in school, and I have no qualms with it being watched in school, it's not that scary) that I looked like I just saw a ghost. Why it makes you shake (despite being actually scary) is beyond me. Maybe some psychologist should look into this. Is it the combination of colors and music? I don't know... pretty good movie though; worth watching again.

I am 16 years old,and we had to watch this in school.
This movie freaked me out to the point where I almost
started crying. If my friend hadn't been sitting next
to me letting me latch on to his arm every time I freaked
out, I probably wouldn't have been able to finish it.
Although this movie has a scientific base, I don't think
that it should be watched in schools. Natural disasters,
such as volcanoes, earthquakes, tornados and the like, are
scarier than the most gruesome monster. Most of us realize
that monsters aren't real,but natural disasters are. I'm
sorry that your daughter was tramatized, and I can
definately understand why.

Er, but I'm a complete and utter baby when it comes to things
I deem "scary", so my opinion might not mean much.

i saw this in grade 7 (not at school), and there's a couple shots that i remember that really stayed with me, and it continues to -

When the mountain first starts to "clear it's throat", there's a town meeting happening and everyone in town panics and scrambles to evacuate while the earth is constantly shaking and a huge cloud of debris and ash grows from the peak. During this sequence there's a quick shot of a little girl sitting on her front porch, crying and screaming, waiting for her parents to return from the town meeting... then a quick shot of her bedroom window shattering, with her teddy bears falling from shelves inside.

This moment really scared me - to think that the child is all alone in such a terrifying moment, and is sitting at the front door -watching chaos take over the town while nature takes command. What else would a child do when it looks like the world is coming to an end in front of them?

It still hangs in my mind now, 10 years later - and in my opinion, probably the most natural moment in the film - just 3 seconds of raw panic.

Another frightening sequence is at the end, when the mountain has a massive eruption, sending the main characters racing down the evacuated, partially destroyed town as a massive pyroclastic cloud (think of the mount st helens eruption photos) rips towards the town. The fact that the entire sky turns to this boiling mass of ash and fire that is quickly closing in is truly frightening. The tense feeling of this scene is highened from the fact that 1/2 the scene takes place inside the truck with the main characters. Shots looking out the windows that show the actor's reflections as well as the special effects creates a feeling that you're there too. (most films wouldn't show the reflected images so they could show off the special effects better - but it adds some amount of realism that you wouldn't really expect it would.)

(on a closing note, i just watched another Roger Donaldson film today - "Thirteen Days", about the days around the Cuban Missle Crisis told through the eyes of JFK and his closely kept team. He nailed the paranoia, frustration, and utter dread of the time and led his actors to some great performances.)

It's probably because the movie is touted by experts (which is why they show it in schools) as being very accurate. Your daughter probably thinks it highly likely that a volcano could erupt in the middle of nowhere with no warning. (Think of Pompeii). You'll need to convince her that the movie is a work of fiction and the only takeaway she needs to have is the sequence of geological events leading up to the eruption (so she can comfort herself that she will see the signs and be forewarned) and the eruption itself. And I agree research can take the sting out of most things. It's like learning about the birds and the bees from a school textbook. I almost fell asleep in that class.

We saw this at school today. In fact, I'm still at school. We saw it about two hours ago. Anyway, it was kind of scary, but not really.
Just don't let your daughter watch The Hills Have Eyes.
EVER.
THAT is traumatizing.

Are you kidding me????

We watched this movie in school when I was in seventh grade and no one came anywhere close to being traumatized.

I was a little scared when I saw it when I was 4, but not a whole lot (no nightmares or anything).

Earlier this evening, I was in the hall. I know because I was there.--Clue