Films that terrified you when you were a child...

[Castor-Pollux Galae]

Movies that scared me

Well, little Castor-Pollux was a bit of a messed up girl.

The MGM lion scared the nine hells out of me for some reason... I'd hide every time it came on.

And Old Yeller scared me a lot, my quote was apparently, "He turned into a Yion and they shot him." (I couldn't say "L"s)

Oh, and the Twilight zone where the little boy has all the powers and he turns his dad into a jack-in-the box.

The scene with the wolf in Never Ending Story scared me a lot too.

Now that I'm all grown up I'm just scared of zombie movies, but for some reason I can't help but watch them. I've seen them all, almost, except for the really bad ones.

And the Japanese version of the Ring... aaaaaah! I thought it was much creepier than the American version. I definately had to sleep with the light on afterwards... and my television off.

Oh, and Naked lunch. That scared me in a special way.

That being said, does anyone know where I can get an army of robot-ninja zombies?

 

[Aeolius]

'Don't Be Afraid of The Dark'. TV-movie. Scared the living crap out of me, and by God it's still creepy today.

"Saaaallllyyyy.......Saaaaallllyyyy....."

The Abominable Dr. Pilbes - his 'traps' freaked me out.

That one ranks as my all time favorite flick. "Theater of Blood" is up there, as well.

...Creature from the Black Lagoon didn't scare me, but my best friend was freaked out by the hand and the mood music.

When I was 5 or 6, "Creature From the Black Lagoon" came on an afternoon show called "Sci Fi Flicks" (it's theme "Popcorn" by Hot Butter remains my favorite song to this day). After watching Creature, I stayed awake all night with the covers pulled tightly over my head. For some reason, that experience changed me. From the time I was 8 years old, I enjoyed staying up past midnight to watch the cheesiest of B-flicks on network TV.

 

[Mercule]

When I was a kid I saw 'Nightmare on Elm Street' and had trouble sleeping for nights.

I'd probably not be scared by it now though.

But you don't know, do you? Heh.

NoES scared the crap out of me, too. I tried watching it few years back again and was fine until she started dreaming in class. Of course, my problem may have something to do with the fact I was alone at home -- and my home, as one of my good friends put it, "looks like the house from Psycho".

This thread reminded me of one of my blunders as a parent. Back in February or so, my wife took my off to see her family for a weekend, but I stayed back. We decided that it would be fun for my oldest daughter (age 3 1/2) to stay home and have some bonding time with Daddy.

I don't remember what movie we were supposed to go see at the 2nd run theatre, but when we got there it had just come down. My daughter was so excited about seeing a movie in a big theatre, though, that we looked at what was there.

She's pretty mature for her age, so I figured she could handle a kid-friendly PG movie -- especially one based on a Disney ride and starring Eddie Murphy (in his new, family-oriented career). Besides, Haunted Mansion was the only option other than going home and she liked the poster.

She was fine until the crypt scene. Heck, she was fine with the first zombie. It was when oodles and oodles of zombies burst from the walls and swarmed everyone that she freaked. So, now I need to go rent it to see the rest. All she'd say for the next hour was, "That was scary."

Tough girl, though. She insisted on sleeping in her own room that night. And she doesn't have a night-light.

Edit: Oh, yeah. She thinks the dragon in Sleeping Beauty is a hoot.

 

[Villano]

I think the movie that scared me the most as a kid, and still gave me the creeps the last time I saw it which was around ten years ago, was a movie called Shock Waves. It starred Peter Cushing, who was a nazi scientist who was exiled to a deserted island, who created a pack of aquatic zombies. The zombies rising out of the water, even a darkened pool, made me afraid to go swimming a for a few weeks after that. Here is the IMDB link if anyone is interested http://amazon.imdb.com/title/tt0076704/.

That's one of my favorite movies of all time. The zombies rising out of the water are creepy.

As far as tv is concerned, I remember three specific things that scared me but I can't remember what series they were from;

1, Roddy McDowel played a rich young adult who left his father's, or grandfather, window open and he died of exposure. The old man was buried across the way in the family cemetary. In the house, there was a painting which showed the front of the house and cemetary. Now every time the RM character looked at the painting, which he does several times, he sees the old guy climb out of the grave and walk closer and closer to the house.

The Night Gallery pilot. There were 3 stories, I think, but the only other one I remember is where a rich, blind woman buys a man's eyes. Spielberg directed that one, I believe.

3, A movie tech, I can't remember what field, finds out that actual ghosts of movie monsters are killing off the people he works with. To stop these ghosts, he has to break into the film warehouse and burn the movie

The only thing that rings a bell is an episode of Friday The 13th The Series. A student gets an old camera that lets him bring to life the Wolfman. Later he turns into a werewolf himself. They had to strangle him with the movie film (which was silver nitrate).

Also, Roger Corman's made-for-tv movie for AMC, The Phantom Eye, has a similar plot. I never saw the whole thing. I really wish someone would release this on DVD.

 

[Thorntangle]

Phantasm definitely. It was so far beyond the veil of anything I had seen at the time. A flying ball guardian. Dead people shipped off to another dimension as Jawas. Tall, gaunt mortician staring at you. Sheer genius.

Original Dawn of the Dead. Watched in on Beta at 1:00 in the morning by myself. Big mistake.

And much younger, Wizard of Oz. Like many others, I just couldn't stay in the room and watch that movie. It was just so old and creepy. Midgets and witches. Wicked, the book, made up for it.

 

[Andrew D. Gable]

There were 3 stories, I think

I think the one was about an ex-Nazi who gets lost in Buenos Aires or something and gets stalked by Jews. Or something like that. I remember it was definitely a Nazi in South America, not sure about the rest. I recall the segment ended with a watercolor picture or something of the Nazi's corpse strung up. I haven't seen that movie for a while...

 

[Fiery James]

.

'Don't Be Afraid of The Dark'. TV-movie. Scared the living crap out of me, and by God it's still creepy today.

Is that the movie with the little monkey-guys who live in the walls and basement? If so, my sister and I still talk about it, like 20 years later. I'd love to have a copy of that some day!

- JB

 

[Richards]

Yep, that's the one.

Johnathan

 

[TracerBullet42]

I'm so lame!

Darn near everything scared me as a child. The earliest thing I "remember" being scared of was "Who Framed Roger Rabbit". Judge Doom was too much for me. I demanded to leave the theater. I'll bet E.T. freaked me out too...but I can't remember that far back. But nearly everything freaked me out. Most things still do.

Heck, I was scared the night I saw Signs...funny story...

I had seen Signs in the afternoon. It's good to see scary movies earlier, because when you leave the theater and it is still daylight when you come out, it's just easier to handle for some reason. It was bright and sunny when I entered that theater. I handled the movie fine, I thought. Didn't cover my eyes or anything. Then it came time to leave. Wouldn't you know it, but a storm rolled in while I was in the theater. It was dark, rainy, and just downright scary outside when I left. So I went with my friends back to their house and we played some video games and whatnot for much of the evening...and night...and then it got to be really late and time to go home. No problem, I could handle it. As long as I'm with company, I do just fine. I drove my friend home, dropped him off...and then I was alone...and then my imagination took over. It was dark, rainy, and really creepy and everywhere I looked I swore I could see the silouettes of aliens running around. I race home, and pull up into my driveway, my mind racing to get inside the safety of my home. I fling open the door and sprint into the house. Standing just inside the door are my two older brothers...who immediately ask, "What's the matter? It looked like you just pulled up half a second ago?" I merely said, "I saw Signs today." They understood...and gave me grief. And I occasionally still get grief about it. Ready for the saddest part of the story? I'm 26. So I was probably 23-24 at the time...

And I still get freaked out by scary movies...

And the Japanese version of the Ring... aaaaaah! I thought it was much creepier than the American version. I definately had to sleep with the light on afterwards... and my television off.

That's my way of getting to sleep when scared...I leave my tv on. So I had better NEVER watch "The Ring".

 

[Mercule]

That's my way of getting to sleep when scared...I leave my tv on. So I had better NEVER watch "The Ring".

That's a fact.

I don't creep easily. For the next week after seeing "The Ring", I looked sidelong at the TV all the time. Even now, it kinda gives me the heebie-jeebies.

Of course, it wouldn't really matter if you kept your TV on or off, since it'll turn itself on when it's time.