Not to forget the countrywide epidemic of frisbees floating into electricity substations.
xpost
― Matt #2, Friday, 22 June 2007 10:19 (5 years ago) Permalink
SERIOUSLY WHY DIDN'T THEY GO HOME AFTER THEIR FRIEND WAS RUN OVER BY THE TRACTOR????????
― HI DERE, Friday, 22 June 2007 10:30 (5 years ago) Permalink
Why let a little thing like that spoil your day?
― Tom D., Friday, 22 June 2007 10:32 (5 years ago) Permalink
"Two of our friends died at this farm; let's go play there again!"
― HI DERE, Friday, 22 June 2007 10:40 (5 years ago) Permalink
Farms were great playgrounds, full of cool things to climb up onto, the only downside was that the farmer would always chase you if he caught you and yr friends playing on the haystack or whetever.
One of the places I lived was near a little railway station - the platforms were concrete/stone for most of their length, then wood thereafter. Crawling under the wooden bit and watching the train wheels go by was the best fun, as was putting small stones or coins on the track and watching them get flattened.
Maybe I should have paid more attention to all these PIFs?
― Pashmina, Friday, 22 June 2007 10:42 (5 years ago) Permalink
when i was a little nipper i had both a friend die from drowning in the local canal, and a friend badly injured from sticking his fingers into a junction box.
kids be doing what they wanna do
― Ste, Friday, 22 June 2007 10:51 (5 years ago) Permalink
I guess I have an overly-developed sense of self-preservation but there's no way my ass would be going back there after dude drowned in the shit pit.
― HI DERE, Friday, 22 June 2007 10:54 (5 years ago) Permalink
We got a two hour DVD of PIFs as a competition prize at a local night a while back.. the nuclear fallout ones are the freakiest..
*shudders*
― Mister Craig, Friday, 22 June 2007 11:03 (5 years ago) Permalink
With the amount of messing around with fire, chemicals, trees, canoes, ropes, bows, airpistols, home made death slides etc etc I did as a kid I should be dead or at least have lost a few fingers or an eye. But no I've never even broken a single bone.
― Jarlrmai, Friday, 22 June 2007 11:23 (5 years ago) Permalink
Don't count thine chickens already!
― Mister Craig, Friday, 22 June 2007 11:24 (5 years ago) Permalink
home made death slides
wau
― HI DERE, Friday, 22 June 2007 11:27 (5 years ago) Permalink
OKAY I FINALLY GOT TO PART 3 OF APACHES, WTF
― HI DERE, Friday, 22 June 2007 11:37 (5 years ago) Permalink
does anyone remember "She survived. You drowned", another grim one about drowning in which this stupid girl falls into a river, this guy ineffectually tries to save her only to drown himself while the little witch makes it to safety? It was very sadface.
But I remember some more enjoyable films... like the one about how you should keep over to the left on country bends, in which this country and western band drove around in an open topped car singing about how you should keep over to the left on country bends.
― The Real Dirty Vicar, Friday, 22 June 2007 12:14 (5 years ago) Permalink
here in Ireland we had our own public information films, which people of a certain age will remember with fondness... notably the "oh me achin' back" one about how it is a good idea to lift things sensibly.
― The Real Dirty Vicar, Friday, 22 June 2007 12:15 (5 years ago) Permalink
But I remember some more enjoyable films...
Oh there's hundreds of those but this thread is for THE HORROR
― Tom D., Friday, 22 June 2007 12:20 (5 years ago) Permalink
I am clearly the only person who noticed that the main kid from "Apaches" was named Daniel Perry.
― HI DERE, Friday, 22 June 2007 12:22 (5 years ago) Permalink
Excuse me sir, if I inquire, but isn't that your house on fire? Well maybe not, but if it were, I mean, suppose fire did occur? What would you do? How would you act to keep your family intact? <can't remember the next bit> If in there you start to choke, lie on the floor where there's less smoke or lean out of the window where there's likely to be cleaner air. But if it gets too bad to stay, your last resort - a getaway. Do all you can to break your fall with cushions, mattresses and all, then lower yourself gently towards the ground for choice, where soft earth can be found. <I think there are a couple of lines in here I can't remember> These rules could save your life, so heed them! Although we hope you'll never need them.
― aldo, Friday, 22 June 2007 12:23 (5 years ago) Permalink
*shudder*
― Tom D., Friday, 22 June 2007 12:24 (5 years ago) Permalink
Is Apaches the shite-pit-pie-crust-ain't-as-strong-as-it-looks one?
― NickB, Friday, 22 June 2007 12:35 (5 years ago) Permalink
It's more the tractor-tires-are-heavy, fences-around-shit-pits-are-slippery, drinking-stuff-from-barn-bottles-is-bad, iron-fences-are-heavy, tractors-like-to-roll-off-the-road one.
― HI DERE, Friday, 22 June 2007 12:39 (5 years ago) Permalink
Oh, that one
― Tom D., Friday, 22 June 2007 12:40 (5 years ago) Permalink
OMG the tractor one - that is some real Sopranos shit right there.
― milo z, Friday, 22 June 2007 12:47 (5 years ago) Permalink
dying in a pool of cow shit: worst death ever OR worst. death. ever.
― milo z, Friday, 22 June 2007 12:49 (5 years ago) Permalink
Is that the one about single track roads? I drove Mister M up the wall singing that song when we drove around Pembrokeshire a couple of years ago. There I was, flashing my flasher, putting on my brakes, and pulling right in to that passing space, all the while thanking my lucky stars that I was on holiday.
― accentmonkey, Friday, 22 June 2007 13:05 (5 years ago) Permalink
"never go parking in a passing place/someone might need that yard of space"
― Pashmina, Friday, 22 June 2007 13:37 (5 years ago) Permalink
Before I click on the links, are these for real (4REAL!)?
Absolutely, you can even enjoy them on dvd.
― Billy Dods, Friday, 22 June 2007 13:43 (5 years ago) Permalink
But I bet they don't have the horrible ones on there!
― Tom D., Friday, 22 June 2007 13:44 (5 years ago) Permalink
Just watched the dark and lonely water, still seems as terrifying as when I saw it 30+ years ago.
Some people seem to miss the point though.
steerpike66 (3 days ago) Marked as spam Lovely. Such a blast from the past; kids today never get the chance to be menaced by Donald Pleasance because they're all inside playing on their Wii. or on stupid fucking 'play-dates' organized by control-freak parents.
― Billy Dods, Friday, 22 June 2007 13:47 (5 years ago) Permalink
I'm intrigued as to what 'Splink' presented by Jon Pertwee might be.
― chap, Friday, 22 June 2007 13:50 (5 years ago) Permalink
Road safety, innit
― Tom D., Friday, 22 June 2007 13:50 (5 years ago) Permalink
Don't splink and drive and all that.
― NickB, Friday, 22 June 2007 13:51 (5 years ago) Permalink
I remember one called 'Bobby' or 'Billy' about some guy who played on a railway line and got electrocuted (but didn't die); anyone else see that one?
― Just got offed, Friday, 22 June 2007 13:55 (5 years ago) Permalink
These are fantastic (and while I can see the horror for a kid watching them as an adult they are really funny.) As I said to my friend when I emailed her the "Apache" link it's like a freaky cross between 7UP, Final Destination and All Creatures Great & Small! And the little dedication at the end is makes me think of the Afterword to A Scanner Darkly!
― Alex in SF, Friday, 22 June 2007 13:59 (5 years ago) Permalink
The scrolling list of kids killed by farms at the end was really WOAH because the first batch of names looked like they were involved in the same incident and when they got to the "a bazillion children were murdered by tractors" part I went "OH COME THE FUCK ON" before I stopped being a dumbass.
Also WTF at the kid in the dedication who blew up on a farm.
― HI DERE, Friday, 22 June 2007 14:16 (5 years ago) Permalink
When I look at them now, I can't help thinking that they were surely just a scheme for getting work for the people who made them--a way of spending government money on the film industry film without the broke-ass public going berserk about it.
But perhaps I'm overthinking it.
― accentmonkey, Friday, 22 June 2007 14:16 (5 years ago) Permalink
Aaaaaaargghh, I wish I could see this!
― Tom D., Friday, 22 June 2007 14:17 (5 years ago) Permalink
How does the penultimate kid die? He seems to jump into a puddle and then the scene cuts to a tractor. How does that work?
Also, drowning in shit = ;_;
― Just got offed, Friday, 22 June 2007 14:20 (5 years ago) Permalink
(SPOILER alert, obv.)
And the little dedication at the end is makes me think of the Afterword to A Scanner Darkly!
Wow, I never thought of that! You're right!
― Pashmina, Friday, 22 June 2007 14:22 (5 years ago) Permalink
-- Billy Dods, Friday, 22 June 2007 13:47 (35 minutes ago) Bookmark Link
I read that one as well. I figured the reason why the parents are control freaks is that they saw all these films when they were children.
― Pashmina, Friday, 22 June 2007 14:24 (5 years ago) Permalink
don't live before you've died etc etc etc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWb5UhdMHvw&NR=1
― Just got offed, Friday, 22 June 2007 14:25 (5 years ago) Permalink
*die before you've lived even
― Just got offed, Friday, 22 June 2007 14:26 (5 years ago) Permalink
things are so much better, now we terrorize children in person
Teachers stage fake gunman attack on sixth-graders aka what the hell is wrong with people
in the future we'll just pick a few kids off to teach the others a lesson
― Edward III, Friday, 22 June 2007 14:26 (5 years ago) Permalink
SPOILERS
kid 1: run over by tractor kid 2: drowns in shit kid 3: drinks poison kid 4: crushed by gate kid 5: rides tractor off a cliff kid 6: still alive, is all sadface at the wake
― HI DERE, Friday, 22 June 2007 14:33 (5 years ago) Permalink
there's an interesting psychological component to adults who deal with their fear of mortality by traumatizing children. cruelty beneath a veil of saintly protective benevolence.
my favorites were the drug abuse ones they showed us in grade school - grimy clips of seedy people vomiting in stairwells and police photos of o.d. victims.
― Edward III, Friday, 22 June 2007 14:34 (5 years ago) Permalink
We were shown photos of someone who had gone so OTT in their glue-sniffing that they'd covered their face entirely in glue, blocking all their breathing passages, and in desperation had attempted to perform an impromptu tracheotomy upon themselves using only their NAILS.
It's still quite possibly the most sobering thing I've ever seen.
― Just got offed, Friday, 22 June 2007 14:36 (5 years ago) Permalink
Oh balls to that, glue sniffing is much more fun that, spoilsports
― Tom D., Friday, 22 June 2007 14:37 (5 years ago) Permalink
Slightly dissapointed that no-one from the US has mentioned RED ASPHALT and it's ilk yet, apart from the (v funny) simpsons spoof on drivers ed films that tracer posted. We NEVER got shown anything that heavy.
― Pashmina, Friday, 22 June 2007 14:40 (5 years ago) Permalink
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyG6NIgpzBM&NR=1
― Just got offed, Friday, 22 June 2007 14:41 (5 years ago) Permalink
It's still quite possibly the most sobering thing I've ever seen./
YSI?
― onimo, Friday, 22 June 2007 14:42 (5 years ago) Permalink
bloody hell. on to the third bit of apaches now. the wee girl's screams will haunt my dreams tonight, i fear. fucking hell.
on a marginally less bleak note: anyone remember "play it safe" with jimmy savile, a series of jolly little five-minute PIFs where the bejewelled funster pointed out how your house/garden/bike/etc was trying to kill you?
― grimly fiendish, Saturday, 29 March 2008 01:11 (5 years ago) Permalink
Am I the only one that remembers The Finishing Line? It haunts me to this day.
― Matt #2, Saturday, 29 March 2008 01:18 (5 years ago) Permalink
xpost ... no, what was that?
as for apaches ... jesus.
that was deeply unpleasant.
anyone seen "building sites bite", then?
i'm off to bed, to sit, huddled and shivering, under the duvet.
― grimly fiendish, Saturday, 29 March 2008 01:19 (5 years ago) Permalink
i am not watching this tonight.
anyway:
the finishing line.
― grimly fiendish, Saturday, 29 March 2008 01:21 (5 years ago) Permalink
(piss: you need to be an accredited school/university/whatever to watch BFI streaming videos, of course. ach. next time i'm in the library, then.)
― grimly fiendish, Saturday, 29 March 2008 01:24 (5 years ago) Permalink
you need more than that - I can't get it to work through UCLs proxy server. I've got 80minutes to try and work out what's wrong I guess..
― Bocken Social Scene, Saturday, 29 March 2008 01:27 (5 years ago) Permalink
poxy server morelike. I think maybe I shouldnt've bothered. still, lots of nice stuff to look at on screenonline at least.
― Bocken Social Scene, Saturday, 29 March 2008 01:56 (5 years ago) Permalink
So I watched one episode of Star Trek TNG (the one with Max Headroom) and went to bed, as the next episode had Worf's son in it, fuck that. Anyone watch the PIF doc?
― Matt #2, Saturday, 29 March 2008 08:59 (5 years ago) Permalink
recorded it, but not watched it yet. hopefully get a chance today.
― grimly fiendish, Saturday, 29 March 2008 13:24 (5 years ago) Permalink
I'm still kind of o_O over "Apaches".
― HI DERE, Saturday, 29 March 2008 13:38 (5 years ago) Permalink
i'm not bloody surprised. it was bad enough for me, and i didn't have to look at a grave with my name on it!
― grimly fiendish, Saturday, 29 March 2008 14:16 (5 years ago) Permalink
documentary: it was OK, if a little short (an hour would have been nicer; maybe a little more social history and a little less of andrew collins stating the obvious). not nearly enough on "protect and survive" for my liking, or the whole banality-of-danger stuff from the late seventies and early eighties (eg your boat/chip pan/electric fire/kettle/bike/frisbee/rug/etc is going to kill you); that said, i'd also like to have seen some more of the immediate post-war ones, so i guess i'd only have been truly happy with a five-hour epic.
― grimly fiendish, Sunday, 30 March 2008 15:02 (5 years ago) Permalink
I still can't bring myself to watch these again. Especially Apaches.
― Noodle Vague, Sunday, 30 March 2008 15:37 (5 years ago) Permalink
I have been looking for this thread for a year, trying to remember the name of that horrifying death farm PSA
"Apaches", I will try not to forget your name this time
― (thinks and smiles) (DJP), Wednesday, 22 February 2012 19:42 (1 year ago) Permalink
Next time you can just search for HUGE SHITPIT OF DEATH
― Feebs K-Tel (NickB), Wednesday, 22 February 2012 22:07 (1 year ago) Permalink
now more than ever, can't bring myself to rescreen
― contreatable logorrhea (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 22 February 2012 22:15 (1 year ago) Permalink
― Feebs K-Tel (NickB), Wednesday, 22 February 2012 22:17 (1 year ago) Permalink
Slurry seems to be the hardest word
― contreatable logorrhea (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 22 February 2012 22:17 (1 year ago) Permalink
jesus those pics made my skin crawl
― (thinks and smiles) (DJP), Wednesday, 22 February 2012 22:18 (1 year ago) Permalink
In Ireland these days they have moved from existential dread to gore in public information films (or advertisements as they call them these days). So we have had a number of ones for various aspects of car safety stuff ("Fasten your seatbelt you moron!", "Turn off your mobile phone, you stupid bitch!", and "For fuck's sake what made you think that driving after a feed of pints would be a good idea?" etc.) that show people being graphically mashed by out of control vehicles. They annoy me.
― The New Dirty Vicar, Thursday, 23 February 2012 17:57 (1 year ago) Permalink
Wish I knew what some of Pashmina's broken links up there were.
― beachville, Thursday, 23 February 2012 17:58 (1 year ago) Permalink
We watched a documentary on herpes that included extreme close-ups of herpes breakouts. It was beyond gross.
I remember a lecturer talking about how gross-out public information films are not that effective at changing behaviour. He was talking about when he was in the army, they made the soldiers watch an in-your-face film about the horrors of veneral disease (as they then called it). It was very shocking, he said, and they were all talking about it on the way down to the brothel.
― The New Dirty Vicar, Thursday, 23 February 2012 18:00 (1 year ago) Permalink
No one ever posted those Canadian "prevent it" ads?
― dead-trius (Eric H.), Thursday, 23 February 2012 18:03 (1 year ago) Permalink
They're on some other thread. I think about that one all the time.
― beachville, Thursday, 23 February 2012 18:10 (1 year ago) Permalink
God, this has been nagging me for a few days now. I can sort of remember an American PSA from the early 1980s, featuring a burnt-out building and narrated by a cartoon cricket. I don't know whether it was for smoking safety, lighter safety, or smoke alarms, but I feel like it had to be one of those. I've already scoped out the various Cricket Lighter commercials on youtube. Would be happy to just have confirmation that something like this existed.
― beachville, Friday, 2 March 2012 10:09 (1 year ago) Permalink
damn, came on this thread via the horror film poll and now i'm looking at horrible public safety ads. as if i didnt have a hard enough time falling asleep.
― Jibe, Tuesday, 17 April 2012 15:13 (1 year ago) Permalink
I'll repeat my request for info/confirmation on the PSA I mentioned above.
― beachville, Tuesday, 17 April 2012 15:33 (1 year ago) Permalink
This was always a fave -
― BlackIronPrison, Tuesday, 17 April 2012 15:45 (1 year ago) Permalink