Event Horizon. Nuh uh. Mmmm, nope. Nah.
I saw that as an adult and it fucked with me.
I watched that one when I was like 15 and it was the first horror movie that ever legitimately scared me lol
I was like 16 or 17 when it came out. It was by far the scariest movie I had ever seen at the time, and a few years after.
I came here just to say this but wasn’t expecting to see it at the top of the thread, I’d seen scary movies before but holy hell this one chilled me to my core and even as an adult I still squinted when I watched it
You don't need eyes to see!
I've been meaning to rewatch Watership Down for the last twenty years but have still not managed to deal with the trauma from forty years ago.
"The Thing" (1982)
I first saw this movie at the age of 13, in a very dark and creepy unfinished basement. It was terrifying.
Even after all these years, this movie still holds up very well to modern standards and stands out as one of the best sci-fi horror movies of all time. I just watched it again in October (my designated horror movie month) and it still never fails to make me uncomfortable and on edge while watching.
That one got under my skin. The original was creepy, but the 1982 version made me want to run screaming into the hills.
I'm using "scare" a little loosely here, but I was waaaay to young to have seen clips of Alien when I did. It really fucked up to the point that I wasn't able to sleep in pitch black into my adulthood. Nowadays, Alien is one of my favorite movies, specifically because it's so scary, but I avoided horror movies like the plague at least up until high school
I can certainly watch that movie no problem now, and I wouldn't say it scares me in the same way it did when I was little, but I wouldn't love it as a horror movie if it wasn't still one of the most frightening pieces of cinema
Alien might be the scariest movie of all time, IMO, so this makes perfect sense to me.
Alien was actually my first movie, although I was too young to remember. But I remember Aliens. That movie scared the shit out of me. I slept with the lights on for a long time. I still don’t like those movies.
Same here. At a family get together my older sister and the other older kids decided they wanted to watch Aliens.
I was all, “yeah, that’s cool. I’m cool. I’ll totally stay in here too.”
That movie scared. The. Shit. Out of 9 year old me.
The Mummy.
Conversation with my mom recently when the new movie came out:
Mom: Something something the old one was better, we should watch that one
Me: hell no I will never willingly watch that damned movie
Mom: What? But we used to watch it all the time! I thought you loved it!
Me: You loved it, I was 4 and the scarab scene traumatized me
The Fly... fuck.
Mother of God ..... I saw that in a theater in Oakland, Calf., when I lived there.
There was a scene that revealed that the female character has been impregnated by the fly.
Right at that moment, some guy in the back yelled out, "Bitch gonna have a thousand babies!"
It took about five minutes for the laughter to die down.
I watched the old movie from the 50s, it was playing on tv during an afternoon on a weekday, I was homesick. That was in the mid 80s. It scared me a lot, and I never watched the remake with Jeff Goldblum because of this.
oh me too!!! The only movie that ever scared me, and I used to watch friday 13 and Elm street at 10. But I think I was too young for the fly.
That arm wrestling scene scared the hell out of me. I was way too young for it.
Wrath of Kahn,
It was the first movie my mom dropped me off at at about 12nyears old. I'm sure she was grateful she didn't have to go.
I was not ready for the earworms. Still gives me the heebie-jeebies.
When I read the thread title, that's what I instantly thought of. I was about the same age and it was about the same situation, and I had the same reaction. And still do.
Ayy me too
The TOS Trek movies had some weird moments like that.
The transporter accident in the first movie is another weird tone mismatch
Gah! The worm scene is the WORST.
Office Space. I could handle horror movies but that one instilled a fear of losing my life to the grind. I pretty much set up my whole career to avoid it. On the other hand, I'm in a pretty good place because of it. So I guess thanks, Mike Judge
Corporate Accounts Payable Nina speaking, just a moment! Corporate Accounts Payable Nina speaking, just a moment! Corporate Accounts Payable Nina speaking, just a moment! Corporate Accounts Payable Nina speaking, just a moment!
What career did you choose?
Animator. And I was freelance for most of that time, so didn't have much to do with office bullshit and felt I'm control of my destiny. I switched gears to software engineering, and now I'm fully remote (since well before covid) and work mostly on things I like, and make my own schedule.
Programmer likely
Not me. My best friend growing up.
Child's Play came out when we were around 5. My friends parents rented it and planned on watching it after putting him to bed even though he wanted to see the movie (and of course theu told him he was too little). They started watching it and his dad noticed my friend had snuck back down and was watching the TV from the stairs.
Well his parents decided to act like they didn't notice and left him there to watch the whole movie.
The next day while my friend was at school his parents went out, bought a my buddy doll, and left it sitting up on his bed waiting for him. He had nightmares a good while after that one. Lol
Not scared, but Bridge to Terabithia scarred me for life.
The book similarly scarred us all when we read it in school
That's the first book I ever encountered with an ending that made me angry.
Surprised nobody mentioned Jaws. My parents decided that it was ok for a four year old to watch.
I am still terrified of the sea.
Funny I had not seen the movie but went on the Jaws ride at Universal studios and freaked the fuck out as a child. It was the 80’s and I guess my parents didn’t realize it was too scary.
Same here. I was twice your age (8) when I saw it. Still don't like being out of my depth in the sea - even the deep end of swimming pools gives me a bit of a shiver...
The first Alien movie. It came on tv once and my dad was all into it. That took years to get over.
Poltergeist.
It's only been very recently that I've been able to watch that movie and then sleep with the lights off. It just hit at that right time when I was in middle school that it cemented in my mind for life.
I feel like the practical effects still hold up, and the acting definitely holds up from the entire family. Just seeing a mom that freaked out onscreen messed with me as a child.
Also, anyone who watches that now needs to understand the social and cultural context of the 70s and 80s. We had this new technology that could allow recording and sharing of video, but it was slow and low resolution. There was nothing like ubiquitous cell phone cameras of today. So there was this constant sense that maybe mysterious things were happening just beyond your ability to see and document them. Like having bad glasses in a foggy room.
The advent of cell phone cameras really washed away that sense, and made the world feel much more concrete and exposed. But back then, there was still a sense that something like Poltergeist might really be out there happening.
Poltergeist is a masterpiece of horror because of how well it's filmed, acted, and how good the special effects are.
It's one of my favorites and it still holds up as being scarier than 90% of what comes out these days.
Saw it in the theater the night before 5th grade started. Jesus. Didn't sleep (for 2-weeks!), didn't eat the crappy cafeteria food, passed out in the 105° heat with no classroom AC. Yeah, I remember Poltergeist.
Watched it not long ago, and so much hold up like you said. That scene where she turns around and the kitchen stairs are stacked perfectly. Fuck. Me. Got goosebumps typing that.
This was gonna be my answer. Watched it as a kid when my parents weren't around. Finally got up the courage watch it as an adult. Yep, holds up really well.
I had a nightmare about that damn tree. Which made the Family Guy parody many years late somewhat cathartic. "You shall not pass!"
The first movie I ever saw was Popeye, in 1980, with Robin Williams. I cried my little eyes out. It's not a scary movie, but I was expecting a cartoon, and seeing it with live actors freaked me right the fuck out.
I'm sure it wouldn't scare me now, but I haven't watched it since.
Sort of a similar thing with The 'Burbs with Tom Hanks 9 years later. Probably wouldn't scare me, but nah.
Such a great, quirky movie. I'm sorry you had that experience with it. It's one of my favorite Robin Williams movies.
arachnaphobia
I instantly tensed when I saw your comment, that movie scarred me for life.
Coraline. I can watch breakdowns of that movie on YouTube, and even watched a several hour long breakdown of the Beldam and the entire story, but I still can't watch the movie itself
I see you man they forced us to watch it when I was 5 or 6 at school, since it lasted longer than an hour I have never seen the end ... I had nightmares for years I still can't see that movie I'm 21 and I fear nothing except that ducking movie ...
Not the entire movie, but this scene:
Oh man this scene haunted me when I was 8 or 9. A couple years ago I convinced my wife to watch this movie, and I eagerly waited to see her reaction to this scene. And when it finally happened, nothing. No reaction at all. I asked her, "wasn't that scary?" And she replied, "That?! That was the worst costume I've ever seen."
It was all the build up to that point. The fields, the dogs, the encounters where the characters never actually see them. The denial, trying to convince themselves it's nothing. Animals, or prankster neighbors. Then in an instant, all their worst fears are true.
Your wife Shyamalaned you with that response.
What is this?
Looks like Signs to me.
SIGNS. I was maybe 7 or 8 when I was in the same room as my parents watching it, I still have terrible nightmares about aliens
That movie STILL creeps me out and I watched it as an adult the first time. I don't know what it is exactly that did it, but the way they hid their appearance from you much of the movie was a big impact.
Glad im not the only one suffering! Lol
Oh my god thank god I am not the only one scarred by that movie (sorry).
I was also around that age I believe and that night I had a nightmare of an alien coming into my room.
I even watched war of the worlds before signs which tells kind of a more grim story but it didn't come close to signs in scare factor. I guess signs feels really relatable with the family setting and them getting attacked in their house which most people would consider the safest and most comfortable place in earth.
I really should see signs again to get over it.
Tales from the Crypt when I was ten years old .
This was I think 1972. There was a scene where a dead guy came back to life in his coffin due to his wife's third wish, for him to live forever.
Unfortunately he had been embalmed in formaldehyde and would live in agony forever .
My father was a manic depressive alcoholic who refused to take his lithium. Maybe not the best person to get popcorn with.
You just changed my whole perception of time lol. I was like, "Tales from the Crypt didn't start until the 80s though." I had no idea there was a movie in the 70s (and a comic series before that.) I only knew the iconic HBO Cryptkeeper
This one didn't happen to me, but I have a friend who is still scared of clowns because he saw Killer Klowns from Outer Space when he was like 8. We're in our 40s now lol
To be fair those clowns look absolutely evil
Sophomore in college probably isn't too young, but probably Requiem for a Dream if I were ever to watch it again, which I'm not gonna do.
First jurassic park
My biggest fear is still being hunted by something
That god damn kitchen scene.
Ok so before I say the name I want to explain the story. I was 6 or 7 when my aunt and her friends brought it home and they were insistent I could not watch this movie but I snuck into the living room and eventually sat with my aunt. It took 1 scene to send me into such a panic I to this day can't sleep for days after I willingly watch it. This movie warped my sense of horror and not a single movie has lived up to it. The movie is the exorcist from 1973 and the 1 scene was the bedroom scene where the bed starts moving and her body begins to change.
When I was 7, I caught a glimpse of this movie from the top of the stairs as my parents watched it in the living room below. It just happened to be the scene when she first twists her head around. It was the only time I've ever been paralyzed by fear and could only run to my room after the shock had passed.
There is no way you'll ever catch me saying Candyman more than once
Yeah, that guy always pissed me off too
That was my pick for our Halloween movie this year. The look on my 12 year old's face during the bee scene was priceless.
I couldn't even describe a single scene, I watched the whole thing but I was young and only retained the fear
Jurassic Park and Poltergeist.
The scene in the start of Jurassic Park in the rain scares the shit out if me... similarly in poltergeist when the graves start floating up in the flood.
JFC Poltergeist.
I saw it on a VCR in 1983, the year after it came out. I had spent the morning in a grammar exam for a Latin intensive program and then on to the funeral of a fellow speed freak.
Then I partied with some friends after the funeral until about midnight. Weed and beer. No hallucinogens.
So I told a shortcut through this sort of underpass that went under the church and saved me a block.
First thing I see is a passed out dude in a polka dot costume, just like the monster in the movie.
As if that wasn't enough, he's next to a shopping cart full of body parts. I'm sure it was just some . mannequin parts he got from some clothing store on Telegraph Avenue.
But some kind of warning bell went off in my head: just keep walking. The memory is still vivid many years later.
The "just keep walking" thing has kept me out of a lot of shit in life.
And yeah, I haven't had speed in several decades .
I was obsessed with dinosaurs as a kid and convinced my parents to let me see it in the theater when I was 6. I was so fucking terrified at the opening scene I pretended I needed to pee so I could step out for a minute.
I did come back and loved the movie though, so I guess it wasn't that bad.
I watched this in the theater when I was 6 or 7 years old. Freaked me the freak out, especially that baby at the end. That baby, man.
That sounds incredibly trippy to see in theaters at 6-7. Kinda jealous of your story!
Yeah I'm not sure what the adults were thinking in that situation. My guess is they weren't thinking at all. They knew I was into sci-fi and space so maybe they thought it was just going to be a cool sci-fi space movie.
Who knew there would be monkey murders, creepy voyeuristic killer computers, and giant space babies?
Unrelated, did you ever watch the sequel? It's sort of great
I did, and I enjoyed it, and in fact the original movie became a bit of an obsession for me. I watched a video that explained the meaning as related to tools and man's use and relationship with them.
I can't find it now, but this article gives a good overview of the concept with quotes from Kubrick backing the idea up. I'm still a pretty faithful Kubrick fan, with exceptions.
Monster house. I vividly remember watching part of it in a best buy when i was younger. I had nightmares that my house was gonna eat me. Ive gotten over houses eating me, but the art style is still rather creepy.
E.T.
I saw it when I was probably 4 or 5? I had recurring nightmares for YEARS. Like, well into my mid teens. I'm pretty sure I even had one or two as an adult. I'm recovered now and I've watched the movie without incident, but I don't like it and I don't really want to willingly watch it again.
Which part scared you? I think for me, the guys in biohazard suits and big plastic tubes creeped me out.
That's a good question. If I'm honest I haven't seen UT in probably 15 years.
I think it was the cornfield chasing parts? I also recall just being super creeped out by E.T. himself. The way he made sounds, the way his fingers move, etc.
The biohazard stuff you're talking about scared me, but I think just the sounds E.T. was making, not the guys in suits specifically.
The Wizard of Oz, those monkeys scared the shit out of me. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the child catcher, was so creepy that he gave me nightmares. And the show Sliders was not at all appropriate, I just remember creepy cannibal sewer people that kept me from sleeping well for months.
Wizard of Oz is definitely more scary than most adults realize when they show it to kids.
Nightmare on elm Street. That scene where he's walking menacingly down alley, his arms stretching so long so his metal fingers scrapping along alley walls... terrifying.
Ravenous and Fire In The Sky.
I couldn't shower with my eyes open for weeks because of Fire in the Sky, I was afraid I was gonna see an outline of the aliens behind the shower curtain.
Lots of the answers here make me feel old
I saw Chucky as like an 8 year old and gave me a ton of nightmares
Terminator 2, when he took off his skin from his arm, I NOPED out of there. I did finish it the next day though. It's also now in my top ten movies of all time.
Not technically a movie, but the 1990 It mini series has always gotten me. I can watch the newer movies and it won't bother me at all, but that show was masterful in terrifying me as a kid.
Return to Oz.
Dooooorrrrrrrtthhyyyyyyyy. GAAAALLLLLLEEEEEEE!
Threads 13 y.o me was not prepared for this, especially as it was set just the next city away from where I used to live.
Uff, I watched Threads just as there was a "no to nuclear weapons" campaign going on in Norway (1986'ish), so the threat of nuclear war felt very real, to 12 year old me. So yeah, that movie left a mark.
The original 70s Texas Chainsaw Massacre makes me uncomfortable still as an adult.
Aliens. It wasn't the movie itself, it was the TV adverts for it. A two-second shot of a door buckling as something pounded against it from the other side. I was exactly the right age to be shocked by the thought that you can't shut the monsters out with just a closed door.
Ghost where the demons drag the bad guy to hell. I must have been 6 or 7.
Pet Sematary. The scene with the diseased old lady was the worst.
Braindead/splatter. Guy kills his zombie mother with a lawnmower I think.
Pumpkinhead. Actually kinda sad but still fucked up.
I had an 5 yrs older brother who would force me to watch scary movies.
That scene in Ghost messed me up.
I think its mostly the sound, for me. The sound of the fast climbing things in Half Life 2 equally terrifying.
Saw Dawn Dawn of the Dead (1978) in the theater when I was 12. Didn't scar me for life, but it did have a big impact.
Rikki-Tikki-Tavi gave me nightmares as a young child, for years. Still, remembering how much I loved it, downloaded it to show my young kids, gave it a watch while they were out. Hell. No.
Let's just say Orson Wells had no business narrating a children's cartoon.
Tommy. So much horror for a musical.
There was some movie on TV that I caught a glimpse of when I should’ve been in bed. I was probably about 3 yo. It was some blobby monster which in my memory was a bit like a skinny Michelin Man, emerging from a pond or river. Scared the shit outta me and the memory stuck.
The Day After.
Killer Clowns from Outer Space
To this day I still get a weird thrill eating cotton candy, knowing it might be a person
I was like 6 when my grandmom suggested we rent The Amityville Horror. I slept with the lights on for a week.
I don't think it would bother me now if I rewatched it but I've also never wanted to rewatch it.. I guess take that for what's it's worth.
The Grudge. I saw it when I was maybe 7 or 8? I was at an Aunts house with some older brothers that had it on. Honestly I barely remember actually watching it, but good lord it scarred me until I was at least 18 or so. I could never get the image of hair growing out of random places, turning into something terrifying out of my head whenever I was showering and stuff. I still haven’t rewatched it :D I’m quite a scaredy cat when it comes to horror movies already and I could totally see it giving me nightmares again if it’s anything like I remember as a kid
My dad used to watch horror movies when he was supposed to be watching me, then fall asleep the couch with the movies still going. I don't watch horror movies at all as an adult, I can't handle them, but here's a list of the ones I can remember that I got exposed to while dad was sleeping:
Scanners
Cat's Eye
The Thing
Any old Twighlight Zone episode
The Lost Boys
Gremlins
Whatever show that was with Elvira
There was some show with a talking skeleton at the beginning all the time, I forget what it's called
Needless to say, ANY horror movie scares me, and i avoid them all, even the "funny" ones
The talking skeleton show was "Tales From the Crypt."
The skellyboi was the crypt keeper.
Holy shit you saw The Thing as a kid!? That's hardcore. I got nightmares when I watched it as an adult.
C.H.U.D.
Early 80s b-grade movie. Absolutely laughable from a modern cinematic perspective, but I haven’t touched it in over a third of a century due to how it scared the fark out of young-teenaged me. I have also taken a disliking to horror movies (in general) for that same reason.
Duel at Diablo. That guy roasting over the fire...
I Am Legend
The cure for cancer creating a bunch of rabid, fast moving, sunlight fearing, flesh hungry, "zombies" ... Yeah that was a bit much
House of Wax and the Saws.
Was far too young to be looking at stuff like that, and I felt unwell for days afterwards.
So when it was a little too young, I slept in the same room with my grandmother during the summer and she would like to watch TV very late at night, even while she slept. Because of that, i would sometimes happen to come across some of the more mature movies that they would be airing. This is a little too specific, but one night they were airing Superhero Movie 2008. I don't remember if I was paying attention or not, but when my grandmother put the channel with this movie on, it was around the funeral scene.
Yeahhhh my young ass was traumatized. Necrophilia is a no no.
I'm old, but "The Mephisto Waltz," a1971 horror film about a dying pianist (and Satanist) taking over a young piano players body. Lots of murder, lots of screaming, and decanters of blue liquid. My parents took me in a drive in to see it, and I guess thought I'd be okay with it at age five, sleeping in the back of the car.
Nope.
Blue liquid still freaks me out.
Mosquito (1994)
My older brother really did a number renting and bringing that movie to my house. I remember I saw it on a summer afternoon with him. You know, the time of the year when mosquitoes are everywhere.
I should watch it again now, I'm sure the effects aged poorly, and maybe that heals my wounds from the past.
Mars Attacks. The screaming aliens and the guns that turn people into colorful skeletons.
flatliners
Flatliners fucking traumatised me as a kid, that and Event Horizon
I saw CHUD way too young.
Bruce Lee's - The Big Boss where they put some dead bodies into the ice in a ice factory and the big ice saw is sawing them into smaller pieces.
I watched it through a crack in the door from a different room when my dad and my uncle watched it after I supposedly went to sleep. Needless to say that I didn't get much sleep that night. But I never told my dad that I've seen it :D
Porn, it's absolutely worth nothing.
From someone who needs an emotional connection to make sex palatable, I absolutely agree. Never saw the point of porn, engaging with it always made me feel dirty and hollow on the inside. One-night stands are much the same, which is why I have never had any - I’ve backed out every time. No puritism anywhere here, I’m an atheist dude.
The banshee from Darby O'Gill and the Little People still creeps me out!
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover.
