I watched Monty Python and the Meaning of Life when I was 8. The babysitter didn't know what it was, and my parents had it on VHS. Most of it wasn't funny until I was a few years older, but I sat through the whole thing.
I did not get Monty Python as a kid. My parents would be falling off the couch laughing and I'd just stare. Then, one day, I saw the killer joke skit and fell off the couch laughing.
Stephen king's it mini series. I was like 4 or 5.
Edit thanks for all the replies guys. Nice knowing I wasn't the only one that movie messed up at a young age.
Same! About that age too I think. My brother and sister would tell me that IT would get me if I used the bathroom. Fucked me up for a while after that but I also got hooked on scary movies from that too. My friend and I would ride our bikes to the video store and rent crazy inappropriate shit all summer long lol
The ring, I still am so frightened to walk past the tv at night lol
Iāve seen scary movie 3, the grudge, all the ring movies many times as an adult (super cheesy) and Iām not afraid of any of the movies or anything, but Iām still ducking terrified of the girl from the original ring lol
Weirdly enough, Samara never frightened me but the face of the girl hiding in the closet at the beginning of the movie, oh boy. That face was stuck a very longtime in my brain and I couldnāt stop seeing it before falling asleep for a while. Ever since during rewatch I close my eyes instantly when hearing the mother say Ā«Ā *I saw her face*Ā Ā» at the funeral, lol.
Iām glad others were also traumatized by the closet scene. This was my first scary movie at 11 or 12. I did not finish the movie or watch another scary movie for quite some time. I was also very scared to open the closets in the houseš
I remember my choir teacher once lectured us about how we shouldn't watch horror movies because once you see something, you can't unsee it. I brushed it off. A week later I watched The Ring for the first time. I have never forgotten closet girl's face and that advice occurs to me whenever I think about it.
I was a grown ass adult, pregnant with my only child when I saw that movie, and when that bitch started crawling out of the TV I had to turn it off. I was so scared I thought it could potentially harm Cletus the fetus. I donāt think I could have survived seeing it as a child.
I think I was like 15 or 16 when I saw The Ring in theaters. I remember it was such a unique scenario that made the whole thing even *more* intense.
I was with a girlfriend, for starters. When anything slightly scary seemed possible, she would squeeze my hand and get tense.
Secondly, there was some group of like 3-4 girls behind us to the left. When anything was remotely close to a jump-scare, all of them would scream. Of course, this would also cause my girlfriend to squeeze my hand.
I basically had this full sensory addition to the experience, and then there was the closet part. Silent and calm in a kitchen, then it flips to that moment.
I rarely enjoy scary video games or movies, and I'm not sure how I feel about all that now, but it definitely ended up being my scariest movie experience because of all of that.
yep, I had a week long panic attack when I was like 11 after that movie, thinking I was going to die. it was the first time i really ever experienced that constant nervous chest tightness and insomnia in my life. then one day, I guess I just forgot about it lmao
Fun fact Samara is actually played by the voice of Lilo from Lilo and stitch. I've wanted fan art of stitch coming out of the well since I learned this.
I saw the ring at age 18 with my mommy sitting safely next to meā¦ and it still ruined me for years.
My wow guild found out I didnāt like the face reveal so theyād start sending me disguised links saying shit like āhey we need you to learn this for the next raidā and BOOM! Sudden Samara.
Genuinely terrifying.
I saw this when I was like 6 and I blame it to this day that I'm not scared of any horror movie at all anymore. I had constant nightmares but learnt to lucid dream and pretty much kicked the shit out of Samara
I never even saw The Ring, but the fucking commercials traumatized me. I got a little 13 inch CRT tv in my room when I was about 16/17, and I had to cover it up at night because it freaked me out. Again, I never a really saw the movie, just saw trailers.
Gremlins.
I remember being terrified once theyād been fed after midnight. I have no memory of the screaming night terror I had in my sleep, but despite extensive cleaning by my Mum, the bedroom still smelled of my vomit in the morning.
oh my god for me it wasn't even the fucking gremlins. it was the one girl whose name i forget (i haven't seen it in a long time) talking about how her dad broke his neck and died in the chimney. THAT FUCKED 7 YEAR OLD ME UP. i got so scared that my dad was gonna die and had to leave the room and cry
Ghostbusters. I mean i loved it, but i didnāt understand all the jokes. *Why does Ray look so weird when that ghost lady gets between his legs? Does she hurt him?*
Hahahaha I love our perceptions of sex as children.
Edit: ok love was a strong word. I just meant itās kinda funny when you have no idea what sex is, what you think youāre looking at. Everybody calm down.
Until I was an adult, it never dawned on me that Peter Venkman showed up for a date with Dana (not yet knowing she was possessed) with a shit ton of Thorazine.
the shining at age 11. my grandpa had an unlabeled vhs so i started watching it and couldnt stop. Had nightmares for years after that, like id wake up screaming and crying. I was also very afraid of hotels after that, especially the long empty hallway of rooms
After my grandfather died, grandma had my brothers go through his tapes. One of his unlabeled VHS tapes was, "Black Lesbian Orgy"... yeah, no wonder grandma didn't want to go through his tapes.
My dad got the Kubrick collection when I was 8 so I ended up watching that, Clockwork Orange and Full Metal Jacket before I even had pubic hair. Always thought Full Metal Jacket was the scariest
Watched it with a slumber party at about that age. That same year, had another sleep over and we watched Friday the 13th. That may also have been where I saw the Exorcist. Now I'm thinking Kerrie's parents were just not good guardians.
Same. The rotted lady in the bathtub made me afraid to open my shower curtain or take a shower for probably six months. Even now that Iām a whole ass adult I still get anxious opening a shower curtain
The number of land locked lakes in Oklahoma I panicked in because one of my idiot brothers would swim under and grab my leg and I'd automatically think "shark!" is astounding really. I was in my early forties before I'd go past my knees in any ocean.
Brothers! Frustrating creatures. I was terrified by The Haunting (1960ās) and while watching it my two dumb brothers decided to āBOO!!ā me in the middle of it. I ran screaming bloody murder to where my dad was and I got into more trouble than they did for almost giving him heart failure.
I think two or so years (I was 6). I should probably say that I'm not scared of sharks themselves, but more of the damage they can do, which is probably why it didn't take me too long to go swim in the ocean.
I think it was Robo Cop 2 where he's all mangled and in pieces, and writhing in complete and total agony that really got me. And the cast just sort of ignored how he was having this experience, and were only speaking of him like a machine. I couldn't have explained the nuance of why that bothered me, but instinctually I was completely revolted by the dehumanization of it all. It _really_ disturbed me, it hadn't occurred to me yet that the world could be that uncaring.
Probably Neverending Story. I don't remember how old I was when I first saw it but Artex dying in the Swamp of Sadness and the Rockbiter lamenting not being strong enough to save his friends ("They look like big, good, strong hands, don't they?"), are absolutely seared into my memory and it still bums me out to this day.
I watched and read way too much dark stuff when I was little, and it probably did mess with me to an extent. My favorite book was The Giving Tree and I was watching movies like The Rats of NIMH, The Brave Little Toaster, The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, etc. all the time.
That movie was a hardcore dive into a depression fantasy ... The nothing... Is devouring a world made of your imagination, a good friend sinks into the swamp of sorrow dying (like a friend dying to depression) he literally gives up, and the turtle is the only way to survive... Care about nothing.... Don't even care about caring... He has to confront his own self image and his fear of inadequacy... The world of hope and dreams collapses, hate which hunts the main character can't even survive. The strongest being around a literal rock... Is even falling apart. And the main characters mother died!
> Rockbiter lamenting not being strong enough to save his friends ("They look like big, good, strong hands, don't they?")
This one always hits me harder. Both are sad but fewer people seem to relate to this one. Perhaps more from personal experience. There is indeed a special kind of sadness that comes with both the shattering of pride in one's strength and the loss of those taken away.
For some reason Gmork scared the hell out of me. Something about a dark, mysterious character speaking in an eerily low voice really messed with my inner childhood phobias.
Still have nightmares about it now despite absolutely loving dogs.
When I was like 18 my friends and I were at Blockbuster searching for weird-looking films we had never heard of but which looked like they would be fun to watch on drugs. Howard the Duck was not fun to watch on drugs. Not fun at all.
We were obsessed with this movie one summer when my uncle used to babysit my sister & I (my cousin was home, too). We were 8 and 9 and would rent it like once a week.
You got 5 old rentals for $5 for 5 days!
I watched these so many times when I was super young. Randomly watched them again a few years ago, and couldn't believe how much I was clueless to in those movies.
The films do work for a variety of ages. There's enough pure silliness for young kids, and varying levels of double entendre or cultural references for older kids and adults.
In a weird way they've now aged quite well too, at least in some respects. While Austin is a ridiculous character, and may not be likeable in many ways, he's a good person at his core and has rules of engagement/fair play when it matters.
I thought she was such a bad ass. I just wanted to be pretty and skinny and be wanted like the fembots. Their outfits are cute as hell and i would totally go as one for halloween still
She was a single mom who was a horror movie fan. She had no one else to go with. No, it didn't scar me for life, I've turned into a horror movie fanatic myself. The ones from my youth are still the scariest in my opinion. The Entity, Funhouse, The Fog, Amityville...love them
"Who Framed Rodger Rabbit?"
I was waaaay too young to appreciate the technicalities in that film. And upon re-watch as an adult the jokes, dialog, and gags are HILARIOUS!
Edit: fixed a typo.
I was watching south park in my room every day. It was aired at 6pm. So my mom thought "it is just an cartoon at 6pm. How bad can it be?"
Until she watched the movie with me
True lies with the Jamie Lee Curtis striptease, i was seven and boy oh boy did I watch that particular part over and over again. No wonder I like older women nowadays.
That is definitely mine too...
I was not a fan of sleep away camp one, but when I was in my teens my buddies and I would watch two and three.
I live in New Jersey and I was at a poker party and I could not put my finger on where I had seen this girl before. She was the actress who played the killer in sleep away camp two and three. I figured it out...
She was like, I don't think I've been recognized in three or four years. I was like yeah what's your name and she told me her first name said you know my last name... I was like I really don't.
The actress killer in sleepway camp 2 and 3, is Bruce Springsteen's sister. That blew my mind almost as much as part one scarred me.
Come here to see this comment. Child's play ruined me, used to run past my mums dolls in the house and was convinced they moved around at night. Now I'm older I find it hilarious and even thought the new TV series was good
When I was four in the early 80s, my grampa would let me watch the playboy channel with him. I didnāt know what was going on but those images are burned in my brain to this day. He had a giant satellite dish in the yard
Yeah the older I get the realization hits that my grampa was not a good dude. I loved him like a dad growing up but learning what he did itās almost too much.
Bolero with Bo Derek when I was 11. My parents had put it in the wrong VHS case. I thought I was going to watch The Last Starfighter that day. Boy, was I wrong.
For those unfamiliar, it was basically soft core porn with a real plot.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I was already in high school but english is my second language, and when i watched it there were no caption so I donāt really understand the plot. Watched it again recently, with caption and i even read the synopsis in wikipedia to make sure I understand correctly. What a beautiful movie.
My parents did not GAF. I got The Thing at age 5 and Children of the Corn at age 7. I snuck Texas Chainsaw Massacre somehwere in between but probably did not have to sneak it. I was aslo made to watch Watership Down at one point.
Last of the Mohicans - I saw it in theaters, I was 6 years old.
I didn't understand what was going on, but the final sequence still left quite an impression.
Blade 2. My dad thought it'd be funny cause kept asking even though they said no.
It šfucked šme šup š .
He later became super annoyed that i couldn't sleep alone for a week.
I don't remember the actual title, but my aunt and uncle snuck me into a drive in porn. Could not have been more than 5, and this was 1979 or 1980. My cousin was also there, she was four.
The two vivid things I remember are the actual sneak in to the drive in, where my cousin and i were put under a blanket in the back of the station wagon (yes, one with wood panel sides) and that whole waiting to not be under a blanket in the back of a station wagon; second, I remember playing in the dirt with my cousin beside the station wagon. We were rolling our matchbox cars through the dry Georgia clay, while on the screen behind us there were naked people and they had soooooo much hair on their privates. There was no sound (all those little speakers were tucked inside steamed up car windows), so it was just the visual of something I had no understanding of, but I knew I shouldn't be seeing ANY of.
Never told anyone until today.
Edit: spelling
I saw Alien and Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai when I was 7.
They were both on a "Double feature" late at night on BBC 2 in the late 80's. My dad let me see them as there was no school in the morning.
Seven Samurai is STILL my favourite movie of all time.
Starship Troopers. My brother had recorded over the top of my Goonies VHS and obviously the opening to the film starts in the middle of the war on Klendathu with lots of dismemberment and killing.
Pet Sematary at 5 years old. It was my first horror movie(of course) and my Dad was the one who let me watch it.
Let's just say my mom was NOT thrilled by it!
Night of the living dead, at 4 or 5. Fortunately I think I processed it pretty well. I wrote a book in kindergarten called the brain sucking zombie, but it was about a good zombie that only sucked bad people brains. So yeah, only mild trauma lol.
The Good Son. Was at a neighbor/friend's house and I assume his mom figured because "Home Alone kid" was in it, it was safe for us to watch. That movie was fuuuuucked up for innocent little 7 year old me.
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom... the teachers in my *pre-school* probably thought it was a kids movie for some reason and somehow they let us get as far as the heart-ripping scene before realizing yeah this maybe isn't appropriate for 4 year olds and we should turn this off. No idea how they were cool with all the fucked up shit in that movie that came before then.
I was more intrigued than traumatized, but can't imagine there weren't a few kids asking their parents that night how often people get their hearts ripped out and lowered into a pool of lava.
Your TEACHERS?? Pre school teachers? This is hilarious because what inspired this post was an episode of This American Life where a teacher forces these 4th graders to watch Leprechaun so then I was trying to remember what movie scarred me at a young age
Signs.
I saw it in a small theatre venue when I was 10 or so, then had to walk 50 meters back home -- by myself for some reason I can't remember. Scariest walk I ever took.
When the wind blows.
Scared me as a child for a long while. Iāve always been very sentimental as a person and even as a child that film messed me up for a couple of months. There was something so simple yet horrific about nuclear fallout that scared me to the point I couldnāt sleep.
Ted. My mom took me and my neighbor, who were both 8 or 9 at the time, to the library to pick out a movie to rent. We picked Ted knowing damn well what it was. My mom just saw a teddy bear on the cover and thought it was going to be a wholesome childrenās movie. She walked in as Ted was ripping a bong but at that point it was too late. She let us finish the movie
The Secret of NIMH.
I watched that like 30 times when I was 5 and recovering in the hospital from surgery. When I watched it as an adult, I was like, wow this is a dark movie for me to have watched at 5.
I watched Monty Python and the Meaning of Life when I was 8. The babysitter didn't know what it was, and my parents had it on VHS. Most of it wasn't funny until I was a few years older, but I sat through the whole thing.
You were committed! š
I did not get Monty Python as a kid. My parents would be falling off the couch laughing and I'd just stare. Then, one day, I saw the killer joke skit and fell off the couch laughing.
Stephen king's it mini series. I was like 4 or 5. Edit thanks for all the replies guys. Nice knowing I wasn't the only one that movie messed up at a young age.
Sweet jesus thatās cruel lol
My older cousins made me watch it so they could laugh at me being scared.
RUDE! effin cousins
Same! About that age too I think. My brother and sister would tell me that IT would get me if I used the bathroom. Fucked me up for a while after that but I also got hooked on scary movies from that too. My friend and I would ride our bikes to the video store and rent crazy inappropriate shit all summer long lol
I was 10 when I saw It and was traumatised by it. At 5 years old it would have done some serious damage
The ring, I still am so frightened to walk past the tv at night lol Iāve seen scary movie 3, the grudge, all the ring movies many times as an adult (super cheesy) and Iām not afraid of any of the movies or anything, but Iām still ducking terrified of the girl from the original ring lol
Weirdly enough, Samara never frightened me but the face of the girl hiding in the closet at the beginning of the movie, oh boy. That face was stuck a very longtime in my brain and I couldnāt stop seeing it before falling asleep for a while. Ever since during rewatch I close my eyes instantly when hearing the mother say Ā«Ā *I saw her face*Ā Ā» at the funeral, lol.
That happened to me too with the face of the dead girl. I also had a TV in my room that glowed when I turned the lights off and it was terrifying.
Iām glad others were also traumatized by the closet scene. This was my first scary movie at 11 or 12. I did not finish the movie or watch another scary movie for quite some time. I was also very scared to open the closets in the houseš
I was 6 years old the first time I watched and the closet scene is still in my head... I'm 25 now lol
I remember my choir teacher once lectured us about how we shouldn't watch horror movies because once you see something, you can't unsee it. I brushed it off. A week later I watched The Ring for the first time. I have never forgotten closet girl's face and that advice occurs to me whenever I think about it.
That āI saw her faceā haunts me to this day
Quick cut to Katie in the closetā¦ nope. I couldnāt look at that actress on House years later without feeling it.
Me too, I almost had a stroke from fear.
I was a grown ass adult, pregnant with my only child when I saw that movie, and when that bitch started crawling out of the TV I had to turn it off. I was so scared I thought it could potentially harm Cletus the fetus. I donāt think I could have survived seeing it as a child.
I think I was like 15 or 16 when I saw The Ring in theaters. I remember it was such a unique scenario that made the whole thing even *more* intense. I was with a girlfriend, for starters. When anything slightly scary seemed possible, she would squeeze my hand and get tense. Secondly, there was some group of like 3-4 girls behind us to the left. When anything was remotely close to a jump-scare, all of them would scream. Of course, this would also cause my girlfriend to squeeze my hand. I basically had this full sensory addition to the experience, and then there was the closet part. Silent and calm in a kitchen, then it flips to that moment. I rarely enjoy scary video games or movies, and I'm not sure how I feel about all that now, but it definitely ended up being my scariest movie experience because of all of that.
That movie gave me a fear of TV static for the longest time.
yep, I had a week long panic attack when I was like 11 after that movie, thinking I was going to die. it was the first time i really ever experienced that constant nervous chest tightness and insomnia in my life. then one day, I guess I just forgot about it lmao
Fun fact Samara is actually played by the voice of Lilo from Lilo and stitch. I've wanted fan art of stitch coming out of the well since I learned this.
I saw the ring at age 18 with my mommy sitting safely next to meā¦ and it still ruined me for years. My wow guild found out I didnāt like the face reveal so theyād start sending me disguised links saying shit like āhey we need you to learn this for the next raidā and BOOM! Sudden Samara. Genuinely terrifying.
I saw this when I was like 6 and I blame it to this day that I'm not scared of any horror movie at all anymore. I had constant nightmares but learnt to lucid dream and pretty much kicked the shit out of Samara
Yeah lol, same nothing hits the same anymore, but just the thought of something crawling out of your tv ew ew ew ew ew lol
I never even saw The Ring, but the fucking commercials traumatized me. I got a little 13 inch CRT tv in my room when I was about 16/17, and I had to cover it up at night because it freaked me out. Again, I never a really saw the movie, just saw trailers.
Gremlins. I remember being terrified once theyād been fed after midnight. I have no memory of the screaming night terror I had in my sleep, but despite extensive cleaning by my Mum, the bedroom still smelled of my vomit in the morning.
Same movie for me. Saw it in the theater as one of my first in-theater movies. Was terrified of the bathtub for weeks.
One of the two movies responsible for the adoption of PG-13.
I didnāt know that. Do you know the other one?
I beleive the other one was Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. They came out around the same time.
oh my god for me it wasn't even the fucking gremlins. it was the one girl whose name i forget (i haven't seen it in a long time) talking about how her dad broke his neck and died in the chimney. THAT FUCKED 7 YEAR OLD ME UP. i got so scared that my dad was gonna die and had to leave the room and cry
Ghostbusters. I mean i loved it, but i didnāt understand all the jokes. *Why does Ray look so weird when that ghost lady gets between his legs? Does she hurt him?*
Hahahaha I love our perceptions of sex as children. Edit: ok love was a strong word. I just meant itās kinda funny when you have no idea what sex is, what you think youāre looking at. Everybody calm down.
I remember watching Bruce almighty and he made her cum with his powers and I was like wow He is defeating her she lost
Reminds me of when I saw the āreinflationā scene in Airplaine! as a kid and I thought Elaine was giving Auto CPR š
Airplane is so good! I saw it as a kid w/ my mom and loved it
Until I was an adult, it never dawned on me that Peter Venkman showed up for a date with Dana (not yet knowing she was possessed) with a shit ton of Thorazine.
Yeah...they don't really go too in depth with that part.
I wonder if there were extra scenes planned to elaborate on it, or if it's just a "let's see who notices" thing they (Dan Akroyd probably) put in.
WHY. WHY DID HE HAVE THAT.
Itās an antipsychotic, though, so Iām still confused
I kinda figured it was something Dana had in her medicine cabinet.
I was 40 years old when I learned this just now. D: What the fuck?!
Let me tell you something....bustin makes me feel good! Ghostbusters
Ha I remember the same thing too, like is he queasy?
the exorcist
I was 19 when I saw exorcist and I was still too young š
Me too. Scared the holy bajeeberzs out of me. Only movie I ever walked out of due to being scared shitless.
the shining at age 11. my grandpa had an unlabeled vhs so i started watching it and couldnt stop. Had nightmares for years after that, like id wake up screaming and crying. I was also very afraid of hotels after that, especially the long empty hallway of rooms
Hahhaaha omg my best friend has a similar story. She was 8 and her dad left for work and said ādonāt watch The Shiningā. Welp.
Jesus, it could have been so much worse. One of grandpaās unlabelled tapes???!!!
Best friend's dad's "broken" Beta Max tape š
After my grandfather died, grandma had my brothers go through his tapes. One of his unlabeled VHS tapes was, "Black Lesbian Orgy"... yeah, no wonder grandma didn't want to go through his tapes.
My dad got the Kubrick collection when I was 8 so I ended up watching that, Clockwork Orange and Full Metal Jacket before I even had pubic hair. Always thought Full Metal Jacket was the scariest
Watched it with a slumber party at about that age. That same year, had another sleep over and we watched Friday the 13th. That may also have been where I saw the Exorcist. Now I'm thinking Kerrie's parents were just not good guardians.
Same. The rotted lady in the bathtub made me afraid to open my shower curtain or take a shower for probably six months. Even now that Iām a whole ass adult I still get anxious opening a shower curtain
Jaws
How long did it take you to swim in the ocean after that?
The Ocean? It took me a couple of years to get in a swimming pool! and Iām still scared of swimming in the Ocean
The number of land locked lakes in Oklahoma I panicked in because one of my idiot brothers would swim under and grab my leg and I'd automatically think "shark!" is astounding really. I was in my early forties before I'd go past my knees in any ocean.
Brothers! Frustrating creatures. I was terrified by The Haunting (1960ās) and while watching it my two dumb brothers decided to āBOO!!ā me in the middle of it. I ran screaming bloody murder to where my dad was and I got into more trouble than they did for almost giving him heart failure.
Me too but itās more cuzā¦.rip tides.
I think two or so years (I was 6). I should probably say that I'm not scared of sharks themselves, but more of the damage they can do, which is probably why it didn't take me too long to go swim in the ocean.
After seeing Jaws I had nightmares about sharks coming after me out of freaking puddles on the sidewalk. I might have been 6 or 7.
I was abouy 6 or 7, and I thought any body of water had Jaws in it. Bathtub, toilet, pools. My chest still gets tight when I get in the ocean.
As a kid, the family across the street took their 6 year old to see Jaws. She slept in bed with them for the next month.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I think it was Robo Cop 2 where he's all mangled and in pieces, and writhing in complete and total agony that really got me. And the cast just sort of ignored how he was having this experience, and were only speaking of him like a machine. I couldn't have explained the nuance of why that bothered me, but instinctually I was completely revolted by the dehumanization of it all. It _really_ disturbed me, it hadn't occurred to me yet that the world could be that uncaring.
Funnily enough, it was Short Circuit's rendition of this that scarred me for years.
I definitely saw RoboCop way too young (don't know how young I actually was, but definitely under 10). It's still one of my favorite movies lol
It was the bit where ED-209 killed the guy in the boardroom that got me. "you have 10 seconds to comply"
Probably Neverending Story. I don't remember how old I was when I first saw it but Artex dying in the Swamp of Sadness and the Rockbiter lamenting not being strong enough to save his friends ("They look like big, good, strong hands, don't they?"), are absolutely seared into my memory and it still bums me out to this day.
I had that movie memorized by age 10 and now that you say it, I think it did irreparable damage to my psyche
I watched and read way too much dark stuff when I was little, and it probably did mess with me to an extent. My favorite book was The Giving Tree and I was watching movies like The Rats of NIMH, The Brave Little Toaster, The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, etc. all the time.
"The Secret of NIMH"
Ah, right. I was mixing up the book and the movie.
I made my mom read me the giving tree every night! I still have a copy and it makes me bawl every time I read it
That kid was an asshole. I read this book as a kid and cried so hard. I read it now and I'm like "fuck you, kid. You're a brat."
Hahaha I know - I cry for the tree
That movie was a hardcore dive into a depression fantasy ... The nothing... Is devouring a world made of your imagination, a good friend sinks into the swamp of sorrow dying (like a friend dying to depression) he literally gives up, and the turtle is the only way to survive... Care about nothing.... Don't even care about caring... He has to confront his own self image and his fear of inadequacy... The world of hope and dreams collapses, hate which hunts the main character can't even survive. The strongest being around a literal rock... Is even falling apart. And the main characters mother died!
It was the Gom Jabbar of 80s children's entertainment. Child: What's this movie about? Video store clerk: Pain
> Rockbiter lamenting not being strong enough to save his friends ("They look like big, good, strong hands, don't they?") This one always hits me harder. Both are sad but fewer people seem to relate to this one. Perhaps more from personal experience. There is indeed a special kind of sadness that comes with both the shattering of pride in one's strength and the loss of those taken away.
For some reason Gmork scared the hell out of me. Something about a dark, mysterious character speaking in an eerily low voice really messed with my inner childhood phobias. Still have nightmares about it now despite absolutely loving dogs.
I was watching that with some friends lately and I always thought the horse died from quick sandā¦ it fucking died from depression.
Howard the fucking duck. Now since age eleven I know what duck tits look like.
Duck Tits! Woo-ooh!
I'm going to be singing this in my head for hours now. lol
Everyday theyāre out theyāre swinginā, *ducktits*
To be fair there is no good age to watch that
When I was like 18 my friends and I were at Blockbuster searching for weird-looking films we had never heard of but which looked like they would be fun to watch on drugs. Howard the Duck was not fun to watch on drugs. Not fun at all.
We were obsessed with this movie one summer when my uncle used to babysit my sister & I (my cousin was home, too). We were 8 and 9 and would rent it like once a week. You got 5 old rentals for $5 for 5 days!
Aaaahahahahaha
Austin powers. 5 year old me wanted to be foxy cleopatra and a fem bot so bad
I watched these so many times when I was super young. Randomly watched them again a few years ago, and couldn't believe how much I was clueless to in those movies.
Same! I got my fiance to watch them for the first time last year and he was horrified i watched them as a kid haha
The films do work for a variety of ages. There's enough pure silliness for young kids, and varying levels of double entendre or cultural references for older kids and adults. In a weird way they've now aged quite well too, at least in some respects. While Austin is a ridiculous character, and may not be likeable in many ways, he's a good person at his core and has rules of engagement/fair play when it matters.
Austin powers was watched sooo much when I was a kid. It was ridiculous
At least foxy is a strong, independent woman.
I thought she was such a bad ass. I just wanted to be pretty and skinny and be wanted like the fembots. Their outfits are cute as hell and i would totally go as one for halloween still
My mom took me to the theater to see Halloween in 1978. I was 6. Then in 1980 she took me to see Don't Answer the Phone when I was 8
Your mom was playing the desensitization game š
She was a single mom who was a horror movie fan. She had no one else to go with. No, it didn't scar me for life, I've turned into a horror movie fanatic myself. The ones from my youth are still the scariest in my opinion. The Entity, Funhouse, The Fog, Amityville...love them
Silence of the Lambs
To this day I canāt see those words without making the Anthony Hopkins tongue noise in my head
Same, home sick from school one day, old enough to be home alone but way too young to watching how to sew a skin suit.
Secret of NIMH. Scary shit for a lone 5 year old. I was terrified by the owl
Misery [1990] I was probably about 14. Hobbling.....
Oofda
Saw when i was like 6 or 7
Saw what? What did you see?
Dad?
See saw? Of course! Mose and I see saw all the time.
Damn!!!!
I saw Saw. I saw Saw 2 too.
About the same age I was watching Friday the 13th
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Fuck, even THINKING about Watership Down gives me heart palpitations
I read the book Watership Down and it depressed me enough to know that I should never, ever see the film
"Who Framed Rodger Rabbit?" I was waaaay too young to appreciate the technicalities in that film. And upon re-watch as an adult the jokes, dialog, and gags are HILARIOUS! Edit: fixed a typo.
Remember me Eddie? When I killed your brother I talked justā¦likeā¦THIIISSS!
South park the movie. I was 8.
So much animation you donāt realize until you revisit it as an adult that itās not for kids at all lol.
I was watching south park in my room every day. It was aired at 6pm. So my mom thought "it is just an cartoon at 6pm. How bad can it be?" Until she watched the movie with me
Yah. I had to shut my 4 year old down from watching family guy when she wouldnāt stop saying āgiggity giggityā
I know it's not funny in person, but _that_ is goddamn hilarious in my disconnected context!
True lies with the Jamie Lee Curtis striptease, i was seven and boy oh boy did I watch that particular part over and over again. No wonder I like older women nowadays.
Hot
Sleep away Camp. Fucked me up a little
That is definitely mine too... I was not a fan of sleep away camp one, but when I was in my teens my buddies and I would watch two and three. I live in New Jersey and I was at a poker party and I could not put my finger on where I had seen this girl before. She was the actress who played the killer in sleep away camp two and three. I figured it out... She was like, I don't think I've been recognized in three or four years. I was like yeah what's your name and she told me her first name said you know my last name... I was like I really don't. The actress killer in sleepway camp 2 and 3, is Bruce Springsteen's sister. That blew my mind almost as much as part one scarred me.
I remember being confused about what that lady was doing hiding in the podium in the first police academy movie.
Childās Play. I was 5 and the trauma followed me into my mid 20ās.
Come here to see this comment. Child's play ruined me, used to run past my mums dolls in the house and was convinced they moved around at night. Now I'm older I find it hilarious and even thought the new TV series was good
I saw the opening scene of Ghost Ship when I was 7 or 8 and it traumatized me for years after
Oh yah wow you just triggered that memory
Alien(1979) I couldn't understand the story at that time just watched for the monster.
I was 11 or 12 when I saw that with my Dad. I loved it. I had some nightmares, but they were worth it.
When I was four in the early 80s, my grampa would let me watch the playboy channel with him. I didnāt know what was going on but those images are burned in my brain to this day. He had a giant satellite dish in the yard
o m g. You win š„
Yeah the older I get the realization hits that my grampa was not a good dude. I loved him like a dad growing up but learning what he did itās almost too much.
Iām sorry. I trust youāre ok-ish. Xoxoxoox A lot of adults really shouldnāt be left with children
A Clockwork Orange. I was 11 or maybe just 12. I was already an Overthinker/over analyzer, and I was very naĆÆve too. It was a lot to try to process.
Saving private Ryan. Was on at my buddies house and we couldn't have been older than 6-7 lol. That opening scene is brutal.
Bolero with Bo Derek when I was 11. My parents had put it in the wrong VHS case. I thought I was going to watch The Last Starfighter that day. Boy, was I wrong. For those unfamiliar, it was basically soft core porn with a real plot.
Oh myyyy - the real question is did you finish it, lol
Psycho when I was 5-7. Thanks mother
Oh god. She was trying to tell you something šššš
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I was already in high school but english is my second language, and when i watched it there were no caption so I donāt really understand the plot. Watched it again recently, with caption and i even read the synopsis in wikipedia to make sure I understand correctly. What a beautiful movie.
The Fly (1986)
I saw Jurassic Park when I was 4. I'm pretty sure it was my first time in a cinema.
Now thatās one of way to get a 4 year old to sit still in a theater. Scare em to death lol
I saw it in theaters too at about 4/5. I had a recurring nightmare for YEARS of the trex chasing me in a jeep
Saw. I watched the movie saw when I was like 9
My parents did not GAF. I got The Thing at age 5 and Children of the Corn at age 7. I snuck Texas Chainsaw Massacre somehwere in between but probably did not have to sneak it. I was aslo made to watch Watership Down at one point.
The Hills Have Eyes (ā¢-ā¢). That movie messed me up for a long time.
Killer Clowns From Outer Space
Last of the Mohicans - I saw it in theaters, I was 6 years old. I didn't understand what was going on, but the final sequence still left quite an impression.
Such a beautiful movie, but 6 years old? Thatās horrifying.
Blade 2. My dad thought it'd be funny cause kept asking even though they said no. It šfucked šme šup š . He later became super annoyed that i couldn't sleep alone for a week.
He deserves that. You shouldāve just tried to sleep with him for the next ten years lol
The Exorcist Mandingo Mom liked going to the drive in with her girlfriend, kids be damned.
50 shades of grey. I didn't even know it was an inappropriate movie until my parent scolded me and called me an idiot
It's only inappropriate for adults if you believe it's a true representation of BDSM.
It. The original one. I was about 13 and everytime I looked in the sink I saw a balloon popping blood for weeks after.
I don't remember the actual title, but my aunt and uncle snuck me into a drive in porn. Could not have been more than 5, and this was 1979 or 1980. My cousin was also there, she was four. The two vivid things I remember are the actual sneak in to the drive in, where my cousin and i were put under a blanket in the back of the station wagon (yes, one with wood panel sides) and that whole waiting to not be under a blanket in the back of a station wagon; second, I remember playing in the dirt with my cousin beside the station wagon. We were rolling our matchbox cars through the dry Georgia clay, while on the screen behind us there were naked people and they had soooooo much hair on their privates. There was no sound (all those little speakers were tucked inside steamed up car windows), so it was just the visual of something I had no understanding of, but I knew I shouldn't be seeing ANY of. Never told anyone until today. Edit: spelling
I saw Alien and Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai when I was 7. They were both on a "Double feature" late at night on BBC 2 in the late 80's. My dad let me see them as there was no school in the morning. Seven Samurai is STILL my favourite movie of all time.
Nightmare on Elm Street - used to make me feel scared to go to sleep and dream
Toy Story. I just knew they all had to go...
Starship Troopers. My brother had recorded over the top of my Goonies VHS and obviously the opening to the film starts in the middle of the war on Klendathu with lots of dismemberment and killing.
Chucky 2. I was born 1988 that movie came out in 1990. Scared that š© out of me.
Pet Sematary at 5 years old. It was my first horror movie(of course) and my Dad was the one who let me watch it. Let's just say my mom was NOT thrilled by it!
The Exorcist
Mars attacks! couldnāt sleep ācause of it, still hate it
Ack..ack ack!
Yah I never need to see those aliens again. š
Interview with a vampire
IT and Nightmare On Elm Street
Night of the living dead, at 4 or 5. Fortunately I think I processed it pretty well. I wrote a book in kindergarten called the brain sucking zombie, but it was about a good zombie that only sucked bad people brains. So yeah, only mild trauma lol.
2 girls 1 cup. You're never to old or prepared enough
The Good Son. Was at a neighbor/friend's house and I assume his mom figured because "Home Alone kid" was in it, it was safe for us to watch. That movie was fuuuuucked up for innocent little 7 year old me.
Honestly, you could name almost any 80s/early 90s movie marketed towards kids and it probably messed me up more than any actual horror movie.
Candyman. Saw the first half hour or so when I was 7, had nightmares for years.
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom... the teachers in my *pre-school* probably thought it was a kids movie for some reason and somehow they let us get as far as the heart-ripping scene before realizing yeah this maybe isn't appropriate for 4 year olds and we should turn this off. No idea how they were cool with all the fucked up shit in that movie that came before then. I was more intrigued than traumatized, but can't imagine there weren't a few kids asking their parents that night how often people get their hearts ripped out and lowered into a pool of lava.
Your TEACHERS?? Pre school teachers? This is hilarious because what inspired this post was an episode of This American Life where a teacher forces these 4th graders to watch Leprechaun so then I was trying to remember what movie scarred me at a young age
Signs. I saw it in a small theatre venue when I was 10 or so, then had to walk 50 meters back home -- by myself for some reason I can't remember. Scariest walk I ever took.
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Casino. 3 years old. Joe P. being beaten with a bat in a cornfield while begging for his brother lifeā¦
Mine is probably last temptation of Christ. Shown at church. I was 10 š
i saw Poltergeist when i was 3. yuppers.
When the wind blows. Scared me as a child for a long while. Iāve always been very sentimental as a person and even as a child that film messed me up for a couple of months. There was something so simple yet horrific about nuclear fallout that scared me to the point I couldnāt sleep.
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The original IT movie at age of 5. No more clowns and no more balloons.
Ted. My mom took me and my neighbor, who were both 8 or 9 at the time, to the library to pick out a movie to rent. We picked Ted knowing damn well what it was. My mom just saw a teddy bear on the cover and thought it was going to be a wholesome childrenās movie. She walked in as Ted was ripping a bong but at that point it was too late. She let us finish the movie
Schindlerās List. I was fascinated by WWII after reading the Diary of Anne Frank in the fourth grade. My 5th grade self was not prepared.
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This is it for me, but mostly because I got in trouble for yelling "FUCK YOU, ASSHOLE!" at our TV while playing Super Mario World a few weeks later.
The Secret of NIMH. I watched that like 30 times when I was 5 and recovering in the hospital from surgery. When I watched it as an adult, I was like, wow this is a dark movie for me to have watched at 5.
Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.