Shower Power in the Movies

Bathrooms have featured a lot in movies over the years. It seems that we Brit’s can’t get enough of toilet humour – be it silly noises, or malfunctioning toilets that wont flush, or flushing what you shouldn’t down the pan.

Baths also have seen some action over the years, especially in horror movies – it’s the vulnerability of being naked, having a lie down, being wet – all it takes is one live electrical appliance and… POW!

Any over-18’s, American high school end-of-year Prom type of movie simply has to flash some flesh in the girls changing rooms or it wouldn’t pass the grade. The Director has to make it saucy enough to make a generation of 12 to 16 year olds want to steal it off their older brother.

What irritates me about shower scenes is that they all seem to be made of steam – and I’m not complaining about not being able to see anything! It’s just I’ve never had a shower that pumps out that much steam – if it was that hot, the actors would be scalded in no time!

Image by stevendepolo

But this piece is about famous shower scenes. Let’s face it, we all do it every day (or at least every other day – hopefully!) In fact, the average British person seconds 82 minutes in the shower every week!

So, here are my top four shower scenes from movies, I hope you agree.

But beware; you might not feel safe under your Triton t802 power shower ever again!

Carrie (1976)

Sissy Spacek starred as the mousy student and the dramatic opening scene is in a shower, where the teenager gets her first period. However, she has no idea what it is and fears for her life, begging classmates to help her – of course, she gains ridicule for this, but also makes a friend out of it.

This friend is the beginning of her troubles though, as Carrie is a “gifted” young girl with special telekinetic powers, and she certainly shows them what she’s made of when she’s humiliated for the final time at the end of year Prom, with horrific results.

Porkys (1982)

This was ground breaking stuff in its day and paved the way for a whole swathe of copycat, practical joke filled movies that were to follow. This high school comedy is about horny high school boys battling through their adolescence, badly. These guys will do anything to get laid.

The boys spend their lives talking about and trying to get to see naked women. So the groundwork was laid for them to embark on the famous scene, where they drill a hole into the wall of the girl’s locker room and get to see many naked ladies all at once in the shower.

A must-see, rite of passage movie for any teenage boy… or grown man for that matter!

Weird Science (1985)

This great 80’s movie included a perfectly cheesy soundtrack, big hair and a couple of nerds. Tackling the themes of class rivalry and geeks that don’t fit in, it follows the story of two outsiders, Gary and Wyatt, who are desperate to be liked.

They figure that if they could create the “perfect woman” on their computer, then they would finally get to be popular. Through a weird freak of nature, the woman, Lisa, does actually materialise, emerging from the bathroom, and invites the boys into their fantasy; a shower with her. Don’t worry; the boys are so petrified they go in with their pants and shoes on.

However, Lisa does put them in other situations in which they must act like men, thus giving them the personal confidence to get over their shyness and inadequacies. Go, Lisa!

Image by Brizzle Born and Bred

Psycho (1960)

This has to be THE most iconic movie scene ever shot. In the film by Alfred Hitchcock, the anticipation and fear levels are pumped up to full volume by his classic film making style, culminating in the scene in which Janet Leigh enters the shower.

Although we don’t actually see the knife, nor the colour of blood, it’s as though you can actually feel the weight of the knife – the imagination is utilised which makes the scene all the more powerful and effective.

Of course, this method has been used to great effect in more recent movies such as The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity, which still scare the life out of me.

Can you think of any other great shower scenes? (And try and keep it clean!)

James Duval is an IT specialist who is addicted to his Xbox. Given the choice, he would rather spend his days roaring around the world on his motorbike seeing the greatest architecture the globe has to offer. He lives for the sound of a great guitar riff, and a well written blog, and writes for Alert Electrical.