By Bee Garner
Trying to arrange a date is an immense task, and some Hollywood films make it appear ever so easy! There’s never any issues getting a resturant reservation, nobody gets held up in traffic and no-one walks into the resturant with their blouse inside out (not, that this has happened to me *ahem*). Everything seems to go according to plan and the couple have a great time. It’s enough to make you feel just a little bit down. However, don’t worry! I have managed to find some pretty awful dates that didn’t go well for the characters involved. Happy Belated Valentines Day everyone!
Taxi Driver (1976)
Poor Betsy (Cybill Shepherd)! She probably didn’t expect Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) to be that strange. In Martin Scorese‘s “Taxi Driver” we watch as Travis court pretty blonde Betsy, a campaign volunteer who he is infatuated with. After some seemingly innocent moments together, where Bickle manages to wear her down, she eventually agrees to go on a date with her. The date starts off like another date, with Travis giving her a record and with a trip to the cinema. However, Travis’ idea of a romantic film isn’t “Casablanca” or “Love Story” but a full-on pornographic film. Naturally, Betsy isn’t too pleased with this choice of film and decides to cut the date short. Considering how the rest of the film goes, she has a lucky escape!
Carrie (1976)
1976 was clearly the year not to go on a date if you happened to be a character in a film! After agreeing to go to te prom with kind and consdierate Tommy (William Katt), Carrie White (Sissy Spacek) find herself falling foul to a prank. Chris (Nancy Allen) gets her revenge by covering Carrie in pig blood when she goes up on stage to be crowned prom queen. Humilated, Carrie gets her own revenge by setting the school on fire and killing all of her classmates. As date nights go, we don’t know who we feel more sorry for…Tommy or Carrie!
It Follows (2014)
David Robert Mitchell‘s supernatural psychological horror film follows Jay (Maika Monroe) who goes on a date with Hugh (Jake Weary), and at first everything appears normal enough. However, when he points out a woman which she can’t see, Hugh quickly demands they leave. The night ends with the two of them having sex in his car, but suddenly Hugh incapacitates Jay with chloroform. She wakes up to find herself tied to a wheelchair with Hugh explaining that she will be pursued by an entity that only they can see and that it can take the appearance of any person. If it catches Jay, it will kill her and pursue the previous person to have passed it on. Probably one of the worst date nights in recent horror cinema!
In Their Own League 