BellaOnline Forums TV and Movies Horror Movies Which movie scared you most as a child and why?

I myself remember being quite scared of 'Return to Oz' and then I somehow saw 'The Omen 2' and was really scared of it. A few Disney cartoons unsettled me a bit as well

As a child we were not allowed to watch scary movies. That would never happen these days!!! As a matter of fact, the first scary movie I remember was one of the Halloween movies...in highschool... How sad is that?
Hitchcock's Pyscho was definitely one for me and to this day I STILL peek through my fingers during the shower scene...lol...

The Dark Night of the Scarecrow did it to me! My mom said she was really sorry that she let us watch that one!

I was very very frightened by a movie that I think was called "The Bloody Hand"... sometime in the late 1960s, when I was just a little girl. I'm not sure if I have the title right, and I haven't seen it since. All I remember is a dark, brooding movie that showed a close-up picture of a bloody, dripping hand... the hand made me so frightened that I insisted that my dad and I leave the theater. The only time to this day that I had to leave a movie theater because I was scared of the movie! *AJ*

Dianne - I still love Psycho - that's gotta be one of the best movies ever made. I love Hitchcock. Never heard of that movie A.J.
Conniem - I think they could've made the scarecrow much scarier - he's amazing in the comic books.

We were watching TV the other night and my daughter actually saw the movie "Christine" for the 1st time. Considering the movie was made in 1983 (I think) and she was born in 1992...(besides being horrified that she thought it made her old - yeah all of 18) - anyway she actually thought it was funny what people were so scared of back then. She didn't find anything horrifying about the movie and I remember seeing it back then. It's funny what was so scary back then can be so funny now.

I never found Christine scary in your daughters defence LOL - I think it works extremley well as a book, but it can't adapt well into a movie - not that I think the movie is comical. Horror was much better in the eighties, you should sure your daughter some classic scary movies

I actually liked the book as well. The same with the movie Cujo, better as a book - not so much so as a movie. Sometimes the scare gets lost in the transfer to film.

Yeah, I agree - it's very rare you get a good book to movie transaction, I think a lot of Stephen King's movies have worked, such as Carrie & Misery - I think Cujo is brilliant, but it's more disturbing and upsetting than scary, mind you I thought the book was more upsetting than anything else - I think I sobbed my heart out through the entire second half of that book LOL

I think the Cujo movie for me might have been different with a different female lead. When a lot of the movie is centered around one thing, like the car... I thought it needed a stronger actress. I can't think of the woman that starred in it, even though I can see her face vividly.
Carrie and Misery - I definitely agree.

I personally prefer to read the book first then see the movie. When I see the movie first then read the book, I find myself skipping through the book trying to find "pieces" of the movie - strange, I know...lol...

Dianne, how could you say that? LOL. Dee Wallace starred in it, I interviewed her last year - she's a fantastic actress and a lovely woman, I think a lot of the reason the movie isn't as strong is due to the ending being different (as it was a huge shock for most of the world - banned in most places.) For me personally anyway, the performances were completley on Dee's and Danny (the little boys) shoulders & I think they did an amazing job - that movie always really gets to me. I hate seeing children and mothers in danger though, it really gets to me emotionally.

I prefer to read the book too, it's funny, there are so many movies which are originally based on books and so many ppl don't know - unless the author is really famous. I watched Rosemary's Baby last night with my younger sister, she hadn't seen it before and she really liked it. Now that's a brilliant movie which is literally page for page like Ira Levins book - both of which I think are superb

I've seen her in many movies...she is a great actress - was just not feeling her in that particular movie. Maybe I'll see if I can find it and watch it again...it's been years...Rosemary's baby too. I'll have to see if my daughter likes that one.

You know what's worse though. When they make a movie and then redo the cover of the book to show the characters that were in the movie. More sales I guess.

I'm right there with you... I hate to especially see children in danger. I watched a movie on tv the other day that started off showing off dead children that the father had slaughtered, with the father fixing himself some breakfast with the kids laying on the floor. Horrible!!!

Yeah, I know that movie - it's called 'The Stepfather' - it's quite a good thriller, that's the only real violence shown in the movie, though it is really disturbing. If you get a chance, check it out though (if it's the same one) it's quite a good film. There are two versions (as usual it was re-made) the re-make was quite good though. It's based on a true story (horrifically enough) it's based on a serial killer who used to get involved with Single women with families and he'd kill them all - creepy.

You are so awesome...You must know EVERY horror movie ever made...lol...I think THAT is very cool!!!!
I could not even think of the name of the movie and I JUST saw it.
I think I saw the remade version. I would love to check out the original.
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Thanks Dianne that really means a lot, I appreciate it. Hopefully my horror knowledge will help me with my career, I love writing for Bellaonline, and I've been writing horror fiction - so I'd love to get somewhere with that. It's my dream job to be able to write for a living

I thought the re-make was quite good, especially for young teens coming into the genre, because it wasn't overtly graphic and the cast were all quite strong - and pretty too (LOL).

OK (this is as a child, right?)

As a little girl, "The Blob" had me quite horrified. I owned a little cannister of green slime and I was terrified that it was going to come to life and eat me. So I put it in the freezer with all of my Mom's groceries. She wasn't very happy with me.

Also "The Tingler" with Vincent Price

Later on when I was allowed to watch real horror movies it was "The Omen" and "The Exorcist".

I like the blob! I've seen the original and the remake. Lol...wasn't the freezer the only thing that could stop the blob...good idea! but I could see where mom might not have been too happy...lol...

Steven, have you written stuff that we could read? I would love to read some of your works. I have always wanted to write for a living...unfortunately - I'm starting on this dream a little lat in life, but I'll get there!!!

I still can't watch "The Exorcist" the whole way through Michelle :), it really gets to me. I think it's because I was brought up with everyone telling me it was cursed - plus my Mum always says it. She's convinced - the first time she watched it, her father died, and the second, her boyfriend did. My best friends mother had similar experiences with it too oddly enough.

Dianne, I'm working on getting an agent at the moment, which is prooving taxing LOL. I've had a few poems, interviews and articles published, but my actual novels and screenplays are still waiting... (hopefully not for long though)

Thinking of movies that scared me as a kid, and remembering 'the Blob' made me think of 'The Birds' - I saw that very young and it really scared me - the scenes at the end where they have to sneak out of the house and Tippi goes into that room and gets attacked. It's odd how you remember things differently though, I could have sworn the location was completley different in that scene, but I vividly remembered the bunk beds LOL - probably because I always wanted one

My mom told me that as a small child I was very scared of "Fantasia". She had to take me out of the movie theater during the "Night on Bald Mountain" scene when all the dead and demons fly up to the mountain and party until dawn. The scary music and devilish images made me cry. I must have been younger than five at the time.

"The Birds" by the genius of thrillers, Alfred Hitchcock, did me in. I am not sure of it was the movie or perhaps I was afraid of birds before.

I still cannot be anywhere that birds gather.

Yeah, I think 'The Birds' is creepy - it scared me as a child when Tippi goes up into that attic room - I was terrified LOL.

The cartoon that scared me the most Craig was the 'Lord of the Rings' cartoon movie - I dont know if you remember it or have seen it, but my uncle made me watch it and I was terrified of the Ringwaiths LOL.

Steven, I also remember being terrified seeing "The Birds!" LOL! My dad LOVED horror movies. When we lived in Atlanta (1973) there was a local station which showed horror movies all night long. It was called "Friday Night Frights." We'd put blankets and pillows down on the floor and get down there with Dad and watch the scary movies. I probably made it till about 9:00 before falling asleep, but I bet he watched them all.

Anyway, there was a very old movie, and I don't know the name. (Steven, if you get this one, then you DO KNOW EVERY HORROR MOVIE EVER MADE!) Anyway, there were these creatures--I think they were supposed to be aliens, but I'm not sure. They had needles that came out of their fingertips, and it would show a closeup of the fingers with some kind of clear fluid dripping off those needles! They would kill people by sticking them with the needles. When I think of being scared by a movie, that's the one that always comes to mind. I think that maybe it was because I was so afraid of needles, being a sickly child.

Also, there was one that I think was called "The Giant Spider." It lived in a cave, and...well...it was about a giant spider! It was super old, too. These movies must've been made in the 50s.

"The Birds" scared me but the movie that terrified me was "The Omen." I watched it through my fingers and could not sleep for weeks after.

Amityville for some reason scared me as a child. Now i�m ok with it.

The first really scary movie I ever watched was "The Exorcist". When I was growing up I was also one that wasn't allowed to watch horror, so I think I was about 15 or 16 when that came out.

One that came out when I was little older though was "Poltergeist" and I think I slept with one open for a week after. When the clown grabbed the kid! Wow!

Nancy Welker
BellaOnline Yoga Editor
Founder, Nutrabeautiful, Inc.

I must just be a weirdo LOL. I watched lots of scary movies as a kid, but don't remember being scared by them.

Of course I wasn't allowed to see the Exorcist - so I never saw that until I was an adult. And it CREEPED me out!

Some of the horror movies I saw as a pre-teen and teen I just thought were stupid - you know those B movies where everyone freaks out and eats their skin or whatever :::sigh::: DUMB!!

Loved Alfred Hitchcock and Vincent Price.

Oh!!! The original movie, was it "A Haunting," scared the [censored] out of me as a kid!!

It was remade in the 90s with Catherine Zita Jones and Liam Nieson... Not quite as scary

Omen and Amityville Horror both terrified me.

The Omen didn't scare me too much. Amityville was scary, though I read the book when I was like 11 years old {my Grandma was reading it and I snuck it away LOL}, so I was pretty prepared when I finally saw the movie.

As a kid, I think there were books that messed with my head more than any movie.

I remember when I was 12 I read just part of a book my aunt was reading. It was just sitting on the coffee table, and I picked it up - flipped to the WORST part in the whole book. It was "Suffer the Children" by John Saul. That was one freaky book!

The Thing scared me - it was the first movie I saw in the theater and I swear I didn't get over it till in my mid twenties. Every night after seeing it I imagined it in my bedroom. Yikes.

Ah...

That reminds me... the movie The Hand. That scared me LOL!! I kept thinking that a strange hand was going to crawl out of the dark and get me.

I watched it later as an adult - OMG - how lame! I'm like - it's a hand - throw it out the window LOL!

The original 'Don't be afriad of the dark' was really, really fricking creepy - with those little monsters whispering and running away from the light. They've just re-made it with Katie Holmes and a little girl as Sally. The original was a TV movie, but it SO should have been a cinema release - its superb.

Those twins and the bathub lady in The Shining were very creepy.

My mother wasn't that smart. LOL. I was preteen when I watched Exorcist so it's pretty much still the ultimate scary movie. I still have nightmares if I end up catching a scene on tv which happens more than I would like by accident.

Two others that come to mind are Amityville with the bleeding basement and The Candy Man. I can't open my bathroom cabinet at night without thinking of it. I know, scarred right!

If I could go back and change one thing from my childhood it would probably be my exposure to horror movies so early.

My childhood horrors were The Thing, Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, and then in my twenties, the Audrey Hepburn/Alan Arkin thriller that I can't remember the name of right now. Something about Wait in the Dark? The result: altho I'm an insomniac, I can't walk around the house in the dark at night without feeling like something's gonna grab me.

Curse of the Vampire was the worst by far. I was a seventh grader, and the film had a splice. One minute a person was walking a little dog, quick cut to a slobbering vampire. I slept with my mom for a week and was scared for years!

My mother let me watch all the horror movies as a young teen too LOL, and I was already terrified of Michael Jackson's Thriller video - which my younger cousins mocked me for LOL. The worst was The Omen 2 - the scene in the elevator - because my mum said "you can look now!" (cos I was hiding my eyes) just as an electric cable splits a guy in half - so I was hysterical for about half an hour LOL - my mother felt very guilty about it. I still can't go in them unless I have to even to this day, and I'm so scared they're going to break down.

The worst though was a movie my aunt rented called, "I, Madman" about this character from a book coming into reality, and he was obsessed with this woman - and to prove his love for her, everytime she denied him he cut something off his face. So he had no nose, lips, eyelids, ears - it was SO scary. Then he murdered this girl and scalped her and appeared behind the woman wearing her hair and twirling it in his fingers - at that point we both shut off the TV and went to bed. Then we both had to try and squeeze into my cousins single bed because we were both completley terrified LOL. I've never seen the end of that movie...

I remember being scared out of my wits by 'The Nightmare on Elm Street' movies when I was 8!! I dunno, Freddy seemed so real to me but I admit I do have an over-active imagination! Some movies still scare me but they are more psychological thrillers. Movies like 'The Others' with Nichole Kidman set my imagination into a frenzy. I watched that movie at a midnight showing in a theatre when it first came out, and had a horrible time getting to sleep later!!

Those are both brilliant movies Kdor - I'm not surprised you were scared. Nearly everyone I know was scared of Freddy He's a really brilliant character (or was) - the idea of this twisted maniac who can bring forth your worst nightmares and kill you in your sleep, while looking incredibly scary and having that bladed glove is all so imaginative and intense.

I remember - I loved the others, though I guessed the ending, just before it was revealed. It's a really sad film, as well as spooky. There are some really strong themes in that film regarding life and death and what happens when we die - that's why I love the horror genre, it triggers so many different ideas and emotions

The original "Night Of The Living Dead" was one that terrified me for months every time I thought about it. I thought the remake was not as scary.

Halloween was so scary when I was a kid!!!!

I remember Halloween scared me so much as a kid, and I didn't even see that much of it LOL. I remember seeing that scene where Jamie Lee see's Michael Myers between the clothes lines though and that was enough LOL - such a creepy scene and a great movie.

Night of the living Dead is such a trend setting film, I think it was the first film (if I'm correct) to have an African American in the lead role. Then of course as well, they did that ironic twist ending with him - great social commentry in those films.

Aliens and Hellraiser scared me senseless growing up...not to mention Stephen King's It..... Not only did "It" scare me... my daughter woke up one day while I was watching it and to this day refuses to go near a clown. She won't watch the movie either....

Salem's Lot....

I was never into movies like Nightmare on Elm Street or the Halloween movies.

But Salem's Lot is the first movie I can remember that really, really scared me. It was awesome!

Jontay, I never found 'It' scary, though I do find clowns scary LOL - I love the avatar of the cat BTW - beautiful

Deanna - I love Salems Lot, I love the original where the little boy is scratching at the window and asking to be let in - awesome. I always felt sorry for Susan though

ANOES and Halloween (originals) are two of my favorite films ever, never mind just in the horror genre

Carrie was a film that could keep me from sleeping. Imagine standing there thinking you are beautiful and someone pours a gallon of blood on your head!!!!!!

I love that movie and that book, but it's so sad I think it's more supernatural drama than horror - because the so called horror is actually this poor, victimized, bullied girl. The acting is superb in that film too - it's amazing. I wish they'd have filmed her destroying the entire town though like she does in the book. I love Amy Irving as Sue Snall in that movie, her reaction when she see's what's about to happen and the way the music builds to this horrific mountain of fear is just incredible. DePalma's best work IMO.

"Night of the living dead" and because of the obvious!

The Shining! I was both enchanted and terrified.

Okay then... Little Shop Of Horrors!

Feed me Seamor, Feed me!!!

Great movies, all of them. Carrie is a horror movie Linda, I was just talking about what I personaly thought LOL.

Love the songs in Little Shop...

When I first saw The Shining, I was honestly, really dissapointed - I just didn't think it was scary, but after watching it a few times, I get why people like it so much. It's a great movie. I wonder if the kid was ever in anything else? hmmm...

Well its one and only Halloween movie.. this scare me from my childhood..

The movie that frightened me most as a child was Amityville Horror. I had nightmares for years about red glowing eyes outside my window.

The Birds by Alfred Hitchcock. After I saw it, I would walk outside and see sweet little birds sitting on the telephone lines, wondering if at any minute they were going to get mad at me and...attack!!!

I love 'Halloween' - the original is just superb, and gave us a lot of great movies that were similar to it.

'The Amityville Horror' is great too - I loved the fact that it was based on the family's true story. It was scary. I wasn't fond of the re-make because the original family recieved no money from that film and it was based on their book, plus the original George Lutz (the actual guy) died while they were filming the re-make from the stress of the court battles. His wife had died years earlier.

'The Birds' is fantastic too - Hitchcock at one of his best IMO. I showed my sister it not long back and she was furious with the open ending LOL. I liked the fact they did something different though.

There's some really creepy scenes in that film for it's age. And did you know they tricked Tippi Hedren into filming the scene where she goes into the attic at the end? She kept asking Hitchcock how they were going to film it, and he said 'mechanical birds' which they'd used for a lot of the scenes. She turned up on set though for the scene and they actually tied the birds to her wrists, ankles and clothing - she said she was terrified and got hurt quite badly, but there was nothing she could do 'cos she was under contract. So her reaction there is completley real. Not very nice in my opinion, but a great shot for the film.

There's no way they'd get insurance to do that these days LOL.

I have no idea of the name of the film but I can remember the film vividly.

A woman's son dies. He actually commits suicide. His name is Christopher. She does some black magic spell to bring him back from the dead. Her child returns, but it is not her child and she realises her mistake when the horrible little monster, flies down the stairs at her, his eyes a glowing green colour, screaming, 'Christopher hates you, he didn't want to come back so he sent me instead!' as he bites into her face.

brrrrrr scary when you are 13!

*shivers* That's even scary now as an adult!

Linda, that short film is called 'Bobby' LOL - it does sound creepy even now. I think it was from 'Trilogy of Terror II' The first story was something to do with rats. Bobby was the last story.

heck, when I was a little girl I found Charlie and the Chocolate Factory scary.

Actually, it is quite a bit creepy.

Of course i speak of the original film.

I was deeply disturbed by the movie 'Exorcist'. For one, I was too young to watch it and two, I use to experience sleep paralysis and night terrors as a child so the movie did not help lol. Especially when I did not know the dreams and such had medical causes.

Charlie and the Chocolate factory LOL. I remember finding Michael Jackson's thriller video terrifying - and my younger cousins would put it on and laugh LOL. I never watched it though until I was way older.

The Excorcist terrifies me to this day - I still wont sit through the whole movie. Lots of ppl I know wont - that movie freaks me out the most. I'm most scared of that film. It has a dark vibe about it.

GMS, I used to experience Night terrors, and I still sometimes get sleep paralysis - which is horrible isn't it? It's so freaky, one of my friends gets it too. I've had it last for what seems like an eternity sometimes. I think that was one of the reasons I was so drawn to the 'Nightmare on Elm St' movies, partly. Dreams and sleep are such unknowns. I find it all really interesting.

My father loves horror movies and when I was little, I'd sit and watch them with him. "Dracula" scared the living daylights out of me. Seriously, I had nightmares after watching the movie and sleepwalked, stating, "Dracula, don't get me!"

"Night of the living dead" To this day, because of the memories that stayed with me as a child, I can't watch this movie. Let's just say I couldn't sleep for a while. Thansk for sharing!

Anna, was it one of the Hammer Horror Dracula movies? Christopher Lee did look creepy as Dracula. I think a lot of the effects still stand up to this day too.

I remember me and my Aunt watched 'Night of the Living Dead' - because she loved horror movies. And we kept saying why aren't they running away? LOL. Cos in the end that's what they do. It's a good movie, but we couldn't believe it when the black guy punched the hysterical blonde woman - we started giggling. It was such an extreme reaction LOL.

Oh I loved all of the Hammer Horror movies! They don't make a good horror film like Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Witches, and let's not forget Quatermass and the Pit!!

I used to sit on my own at night in my grandmother's living room, in my grandfather's rocking chair, under the crochet blanket, sucking my thumb and jumping out of my skin. But I loved every scary moment of my Hammer Horror era.

I haven't seen that many of the Hammer horror movies - they're only randomly. I've seen a few of the dracula movies and frank - i watched a great documentry on them the other day though. It's called history of horror. I reccomend it - the entire second show was dedicated to hammer horror.

Steve,

Wow, I really never talked anyone else that ever experienced those things too. As a child I thought it was a demonic attack and stuff because it seemed so real. I never told anyone about it until older when I realized there were medical explanations. PBS wanted me to be in their documentary about it but then I thought, na...that is not what I want to be known for. What exactly happens with you when experiencing night terrors or paralysis?

Like you, I still cannot see that movie, 'Exorcist'. Another movie that kind of freaked me out was, 'Angel Heart', did not like all the voodoo stuff.

When I used to get night terrors, I'd wake up sleep walking and I'd just be hysterical crying and everything seemed warped or wrong. This is going to sound crazy, but things seemed either too big or too small - kind of like Alice In Wonderland.

I'd never met anyone before that had suffered with it - then my friend started suffering from anxiety and she started suffering sleep paralysis as well. I'll have it and it'll feel like I'm screaming for someone to come and help me, but I can't move - sometimes I can't breathe - sometimes I don't know if they're dreams or real. They really freak me out though, and if I have one - I have to get up and calm down for about half an hour, if not I just go back to sleep and keep having them. I've had up to four in a row before. If you look back at lots of artists work they used to think it was demons sitting on your chests - now they believe that your brain is awake but your body is still asleep. I dunno, but they're very scary. It's that feeling of not being able to move and you feel like you're using all your strength just to wiggle your toe or something and then you snap out of it.

I find I usually get them when I'm overtired or vice versa. I felt better knowing my friend had them LOL - it just made me not feel as scared about them. Though when they're happening - you can't help but feel terrified.

Sounds to me like you were suffering from 'petit mal' Steven. Grand mal, is full blown epilepsy, petit mal is a form of epilepsy. I suffered from it all the time as a child.

I would see huge fingers banging together in front of me but they would go from big and fat, to long and skinny. This used to make me feel really scared. My friend who had full blown epilepsy sees a boat that grows big and small.

I always got these episodes when my ear problem flared up or I had a cold which was all the time as a kid!

Okay now I am blabbing and it has nothing to do with which movie scared me the most as a child.

Those flying things on Wizard of Oz gave me nightmares when I was little!!!! Mental block, can't even remember what they were called.