The Exorcist. I was about 8 years old. It was on tv one Saturday night. At church the next morning I had a bunch of questions and needed some consoling.
this post was submitted on 02 Aug 2025
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Event Horizon. I saw the first half as part of the second half of a double feature at the drive-in theater with my family. I think Men in Black was the first feature. I was 9 when I saw that topless dead woman scene. It's such an underrated movie.
Saving private Ryan at ten years old.
Not exactly a movie, but a cartoon series.
It was that episode of Power Puff Girls where they went to a dystopic future and everything was a hellscape dominated by Him. That episode made me think about my mortality and future regrets.
A hokey 80s movie called "The Guardian". Its not scary at all but there was a tree with a face on it, and it hit me at the right age and scared the bejesus out of me for some reason. I don't think I understood the plot at the time, just scary tree face.
Threads, not a good movie for 5 year olds.
The Mangler. It's a B horror movie and some of the graphics, which I won't spoil, were more than my 7 year old brain could reconcile.
Jurassic Park 3 when I was 9 for a friend's birthday. I had nightmares about dinosaurs for weeks. I'm not really haunted by it any more but the scene where the skeleton in the parachute swings out of the tree is seared into my brain.
The trailer for Aliens was my introduction to the notion that maybe monsters could get through locked doors!
As an adult, it's one of my all-time favourites.
Sleepers. I was raised watching horror and other movies which I probably should not have (early favorites included A Nightmare on Elm Street and Robocop), but the only one which was too much was seeing Sleepers when I was ten or eleven. Too realistic, I guess.
The Naked Lunch. I was probably 10 years old? I didn't understand any of the plot, I was weirded the fuck out and the giant bugs made me sick to my stomach.
Terminator 2. I saw it when I was 6 or 7 when it came out on vhs. I didnβt want to watch kids movies ever again after that. It was fucking awesome. As far as scarring me, none, people in my elementary school were watching Faces of Death.
2 Movies really.
- Bette Davis in the Nanny. I haven't liked the bath since.
- Death Wish. Wasn't suitable for an adolescent. I'm still traumatized by the home invasion / rape scene. Hey, that was Hope Lange from the Ghost & Mrs Muir!
Creep Show, the segment with the Antarctic wolf creature scared the shit outta me. It still creeps me out to this day for some reason.
E. T.
I don't care that it was rated P. G., they killed my friend and I was just as sad as Elliot. The tubes and the quarantine were absolutely terrifying to me as a child and even seeing clips nowadays gives sends a shiver down my spine. Just sadness and fear.
For me it was The Amytiville Horror (1979). I still can't look out of a window at night and not think of seeing eyes. I didn't see the film until I was about 11, so mid 80s.
The ring, when I was 11. I was scared for years
That movie scared the hell out of me when I was in High School. I crashed someone else's date to see it.
In scrolled so far to find this and fuck yeah that messed me up, was way too young and my sister terrorized me with it
I saw it around the same age and can still remember seeing that dead girl's swirly face in the closet. Overall I didn't think it was too scary overall but that scene has always stuck with me. I was exposed to a lot of this type of stuff as a kid with siblings 8-10 years older than me and can remember watching Tales from the Crypt several years before this, so horror has never really frightened me apart from the first 85% of Hereditary.
The first Ghost busters movie
I saw scenes of it at six years old and some of them were really scary if you are too young. For weeks I had nightmares about chairs grabbing me with demon arms or demon dogs trying to eat me.
Arachnophobiaβ
It doesn't actually still haunt me (I'm the family spider hunter) but I did get nightmares for a while from that one.
I had the same experience with that movie! By the way, please try not to kill spiders...
American News
Event Horizon when I was 10. I think that recalibrated what the entire concept of fear was in my mind.
Oh man I said the same thing. The topless dead woman nightmare scene is seared into my memory.
Same for me, maybe I was a bit older but it scared the bejesus out of me and got me into reading scifi
I saw Full Metal Jacket when I was 12. That one took a while to get over.
I saw that around that age too. The scene with the sniper still haunts me.
They showed us 4 Rooms at summer camp when it had just come out on VHS. I was 13 but pretty sheltered and that movie was kind of nuts.
Moontrap
My Girl. I have a fear of bees because of that movie.
silence of the lambs at like 8. still one if my all time faves but I definitely could've waited a few more years to get into it lol
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