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

[johnsemlak]

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.

As an Adult the creepiest movie I ever saw was Silence of the Lambs. It was a different kind of creepiness though.

 

[Dimwhit]

The Shining (original Kubric version). I saw it when I was 9 or 10 (when I wasn't supposed to). That movie scared the crap out of me. I still can't sit through the whole thing...

 

[Kahuna Burger]

I have vestigal memories of seeing an old black and white version of the Hunchback of Notre Dame on TV as a small child. I remember almost nothing about the movie (except that the last scene was of him falling) but I know I was terrified to sleep that night and probably the one after. And I don't even remember what about the film scared me so much, only the fear itself. When I heard disney was making it their big cartoon cuteness of the summer I wouldn't even consider seeing it. I barely knew the plot, but in my mind there was no way that story should be a musical with a happy ending.

Kahuna Burger

 

[Villano]

Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark. Someone mentioned this one before. A couple buy a old house. They are told not to remove the metal plate on the chimney in the basement. Of course, they do and end up releasing some evil, little creatures.

Scared the hell out of me as a kid, especially the ending. Everyone thinks the wife is insane (since she's the only person to see the things), so she's given a sedative. She can't move but is still conscious when the creatures start dragging her down into the basement...

Tourist Trap. The film opens with a guy whose car has broken down or run out of gas on a deserted, dirt road. Walking along, he finds a gas station.

He looks around, trying to find somebody, when he sees someone lying on a cot with their back to him in a back room. The man walks up and touches the person. Suddenly, the "person's" head spins around 180 degrees! It's a mannequin! The eyes pop open and it's jaw drops like a ventriloquist's dummy and it screams!

The guy tries to run out, but the door slams shut. Everything in the room begins to shake. The mannequin won't stop screaming. The closet door opens and another screaming mannequin falls out. Then a screamming mannequin head comes crashing trough the window.

Finally, a pipe on the floor flies through the air and impales the man through the back.

And that's just the beginning!

This film is scary because you never know exactly what's going on. Chuck Conners is crazy and dresses like a little kid? Screaming and laughing mannequins? What the hell?!

On TV, there was an episode of Tales From The Crypt where David Warner was a child psychologist in a death house where a rotted zombie girl lived.

Also, does anyone remember Commander USA's Groovie Movies? Occassionally, he would show this shorts. Three stick out in my mind: The woman in the house with the ventriloquist's dummy. The guy who hears the mannequins in the shop upstairs moving around at night. And Richard "Rocky Horror Picture Show" O'Brien as a guy who builds a giant mousetrap to commit suicide.

The last one isn't scary per say, but it is unsettling.

 

[kingamy]

Sleeping Beauty

When the queen turns into the dragon, she is the most terrifying on-screen depiction I have seen of a dragon, to this day.

Mike Haakstad
Grande Prairie, AB, Canada

 

[Iron_Chef]

Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark.
Also, does anyone remember Commander USA's Groovie Movies? Occassionally, he would show this shorts. Three stick out in my mind: The woman in the house with the ventriloquist's dummy. The guy who hears the mannequins in the shop upstairs moving around at night. And Richard "Rocky Horror Picture Show" O'Brien as a guy who builds a giant mousetrap to commit suicide.

The last one isn't scary per say, but it is unsettling.

I loved Commander USA and his pal Lefty (he used his cigar butt to draw a face on his left hand for those of you not in the know). The shorts were great, but you forgot the one about the lady driver who picks up the hitchhiker and gets killed at a stoplight (in the rain?). The dummy in the apartment short was the scariest, though.

And what about USA Network's SATURDAY NIGHTMARES? Every Saturday, they'd show a different horror movie. Saturday was horror day on USA. Commander USA in the mornings, Saturday Nightmares in the evening...

 

[Harp]

I'm relieved to see that I'm not the only one that had issues with Sasquatch as a kid. I was semi-obsessed, really, and would watch anything that came on related to the beast. The pattern seemed to be that I'd watch some documentary or low-budget horror movie featuring Sasquatch on a Saturday afternoon. Then, somehow, I had to try to go to sleep that night. I was not often successful.

The one that still stands out in my mind is "The Legend of Boggy Creek", about a bigfoot monster down in the swamps of western Arkansas. Scared the snot out of me. My brother managed to find a DVD of the movie and bought it for my birthday last year. The opening sequence with the young boy beating feet across the farm fields at dusk, with the creature screaming in the background, still touched some deep, primal fear in me. Too much fun.

 

[Alzrius]

On TV, there was an episode of Tales From The Crypt where David Warner was a child psychologist in a death house where a rotted zombie girl lived.

I remember that one! It was damn scary! I think the only reason it didn't terrify me more was because I watched it with a few other people at the time. But still, it was freaky...

 

[Villano]

I loved Commander USA and his pal Lefty (he used his cigar butt to draw a face on his left hand for those of you not in the know).

The Commander ruled! You might want to check out this Yahoo Group dedicated to the show:

http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/commanderusasgrooviemovies/

And what about USA Network's SATURDAY NIGHTMARES? Every Saturday, they'd show a different horror movie. Saturday was horror day on USA. Commander USA in the mornings, Saturday Nightmares in the evening...

Those were good times. Growing up, I had Groovie Movies, Son Of Svenghoulie, Dr. Morgus, Uncle Ted's Monster Mania, Saturday Nightmares, and Friday Night Frights.

Sadly, all those shows are gone.

 

[Villano]

I'm relieved to see that I'm not the only one that had issues with Sasquatch as a kid. I was semi-obsessed, really, and would watch anything that came on related to the beast. The pattern seemed to be that I'd watch some documentary or low-budget horror movie featuring Sasquatch on a Saturday afternoon. Then, somehow, I had to try to go to sleep that night. I was not often successful.

The one that still stands out in my mind is "The Legend of Boggy Creek", about a bigfoot monster down in the swamps of western Arkansas. Scared the snot out of me. My brother managed to find a DVD of the movie and bought it for my birthday last year. The opening sequence with the young boy beating feet across the farm fields at dusk, with the creature screaming in the background, still touched some deep, primal fear in me. Too much fun.

I love those old Bigfoot (and Yeti) movies. Boggy Creek has some great moments, but the best (to me, anyway) was Creature From Black Lake. I can't remember if the two friends are researching Bigfoot or what, but, at the end, Bigfoot tips over their van and chases them through the woods.

We need more scary Bigfoot movies today, me thinks.