Heroin addicts notwithstanding, few of us relish receiving injections. Yeah, we know theyre for our benefit, and many of us wouldnt be alive to read this today if not for regularly-administered inoculations. Still, who the hell likes being poked with a needle? Hypodermics, whether used to save lives or take them, have been featured in countless films usually gratuitously. Theres no narrative necessity in such scenes; theyre simply included to make us squirm, because everyone in the audience has gotten a vaccination or had their blood drawn at one time or another. But remember the shower scene in Psycho? What made it so terrifying was Hitchcock forced our imaginations to do most of the work. Quentin Tarantino does the same thing with the iconic scene where Vincent Vega is forced to save Mia Wallaces life with a shot of adrenaline. This is a trypanophobics worst nightmare, for three reasons First, its one big-ass needle, at least six inches long. Second, it must be plunged directly into the heart. Third, and most significantly, Tarantino masterfully builds tension by forcing us to think long and hard about whats going to happen showing Mias exposed chest, then the surrounding actors intense faces, then the steely needle aimed right at the screen, a single drop of liquid hanging from the tip. Were horrified before anythings even happened, so when it does, were already squirming in our seats, though we never actually see the needle enter her body.
D.M. Anderson works and lives in Portland Oregon. He is the author of two young adult novels (Killer Cows & Shaken) and a collection of dark tales (With the Wicked). He has also published several short stories which have appeared (or will appear) in various anthologies and magazines such as 69 Flavors of Paranoia, Night Terrors, Trembles, Encounters, Implosion, Strange Fucking Stories, Perpetual Motion Machine. He documents his adventures in the dark on on his movie site, Free Kittens Movie Guide
