M. Night Shyamalan Is Well Aware Of The Most ‘Childhood Trauma’-Inducing Scene From His Movies

There are certain horror movie scenes that stick with audiences forever. The chestburster in Alien. The exorcism in The Exorcist. The ending of The Blair Witch Project. I was too young (and/or not alive) to see any of those films in the theater, but a scene that stays with me is the alien in M. Night Shyamalan‘s Signs. Stripped of context, it’s not even that scary! But I’ll never forget the screams I heard in the theater during my opening weekend screening when that dang alien walked across the screen (“vamanos!”) at a birthday party.

And Shyamalan is laughing at our terror. Over the weekend, the director tweeted, “This Brazilian fan really made me laugh,” along with a photo where he’s standing next to a fan holding a sign showing the alien from Signs. It reads, “Thanks For The Childhood Trauma.”

Thanks… or pay my therapy bill? One of the two.

Shyamalan is currently on the road promoting his upcoming movie, Trap. The filmmaker described it as “What if The Silence of the Lambs happened at a Taylor Swift concert?” which is the best movie pitch since James Cameron changed “Aliens” to “Alien$.”

Trap, which stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills, and Alison Pill, opens in theaters on August 2. Watch the trailer below.