Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Describe Which Movies Completely Traumatized Them As A Kid

People Describe Which Movies Completely Traumatized Them As A Kid
Walt Disney Pictures/YouTube

One of my favorite Disney flicks growing up happens to be one that isn't all that talked about compared to other films in the Disney catalog. The film I'm referring to is 1985's The Black Cauldron. It's an adaptation of the first two books in The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander, and to be perfectly frank, it's a bit of a mess (the production was troubled). But the film also gave us the terrifying Horned King (voiced by the late, great John Hurt), and there's something about a zombie king searching for a mystical cauldron to raise his army of undead warriors that gets me in the heart every single time.


And that was technically a kid's film. I haven't even gotten to tell you the story of how I stumbled upon The Shining one evening when I was still but a wee tyke...

After Redditor Woo_loo asked the online community, "What movie traumatized you as a kid?" people took a trip down memory lane.

Alien (1979)

Alien, especially the "birthing scene." My parents were convinced that four-year old me would be too young to understand the scariness of the movie.

iseeyou19

Incredible film.

And, in my opinion, the best of the series. Yes, that birthing scene is the stuff of nightmares.

Jaws (1975)

Jaws. I was 8. To this day every time I swim in the sea, I'm a little nervous and I really hate the swimming pools that have wave machines because of the metal bars at the end of the pool and I'm convinced there is a shark behind them.

BoxSetQueen1980

The Witches (1990)

Roald Dahl's The Witches. Somehow my older sister thought I would like it.

That movie traumatized me.

RuubGuilt

Who doesn't remember The Grand High Witch?

Anjelica Huston was incredible.

Anne Hathaway––and the recent remake––cannot compare.

Seed of Chucky (2004)

Seed of Chucky. I was 8 and this movie scared the s*** out of me. I couldn't sleep with the door closed for months, if I rewatch it right now, I would probably laugh the whole time.

Johnny107710

Honestly...

...this is the most ridiculous one of the series, but it has a couple of good moments. The staircase scene, for example.

Hellraiser (1987)

Hellraiser. My dad rented it from the video shop and accidentally left it in the video recorder. The guy getting pulled apart by hooks and chains messed me up. I was 6 or 7.

sosogos

Great film.

But Hellbound: Hellraiser II makes it almost look like child's play.

Empire of the Sun (1987)

Empire of the Sun.

I was just a couple of years younger than Christian Bale was in that movie. Not sure if trauma is the right word but some scenes have stayed with me ever since.

Odd_Complex

The Fog (1980)

The Fog. It's about a coastal town that is being haunted by the vengeful ghosts of lepers the town founders murdered for their money/to keep them from moving nearby. The lepers arrive on a ghost ship. Like...they need a boat to get to you. I saw this movie when I was maybe 4 or 5? Totally convinced boat lepers were gonna get me anytime I saw fog. We lived 6 hours inland.

I was not a bright child.

HarbingerofGloom

Fire in the Sky (1993)

Fire in the Sky. I still won't bring the trash down to the end of my driveway by myself at night.

Sybil (1976)

Sybil. That girl was a raging mess.

HermioneMarch

An understatement.

But a riveting watch nonetheless.

Labyrinth (1986)

Labyrinth. The scene where the monkeys take their heads off and play soccer with them. Was told to watch the movie or would be grounded. Hate that movie. Really freaked me out. I remember it gave me a few nightmares.

TheRealGameDude

I Know My First Name is Steven (1989)

Lots of those made-for-TV movies were scary because everyone thinks that if it's on network TV, the whole family can watch it.

I wouldn't let children watch Adam or I Know My First Name Is Steven, yet I did, to my detriment.

PhiltheColoreds

A fine list.

Parents––be careful!

I sometimes wonder why my mother didn't necessarily mind much of what I watched. If anything, all those messed up horror films I saw as a kid only turned me into an adult who enjoys messed up horror films. I can't complain.

Have some films that scared the hell out of you and aren't mentioned here? Feel free to tell us about them in the comments section below!

Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

 Andrew Isker
Contra Mundum Podcast

Christian Podcaster Roasted After Claiming He Opts For TSA Pat-Down For Truly Bonkers Reason

Christian nationalist Andrew Isker from Tennessee avoids walking through an airport security scanner at all costs because he claims it makes people gay.

So what's the alternative method he prefers for security clearance? A full body pat down by male TSA agents, of course.

Keep ReadingShow less
Nancy Mace
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Nancy Mace Ripped After Raging Over 'Evil' Constituents Asking Her To Host Town Hall

In March, House Speaker Mike Johnson and other GOP leaders held a caucus meeting to instruct Republican members of Congress to cancel town halls and avoid their constituents for the foreseeable future. But South Carolina MAGA Republican Representative Nancy Mace decided to take things a bit further.

Mace posted three videos attacking her own constituents for sending her an invitation and repeatedly asking for a town hall.

Keep ReadingShow less
Back shot of five young, carefree female friends stand in a field of tall sunflowers clasp hands and raise their arms to the sky.
Photo by Hannah Busing on Unsplash

Unbothered People Explain How They Became Immune To A-Holes

Being able to walk away from toxic people is a skill.

Too many of us have wasted too much time in life on people who drag us down.

Keep ReadingShow less
parents holding child's hands
Nienke Burgers on Unsplash

Times People Realized Their Parents Weren't Who They Thought They Were

Some kids grow up with an inflated perception of their parents. They see them as infallible heros.

These kids are usually in for a very rude awakening.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov
10 News First/YouTube

American YouTuber Arrested After Sneaking Onto Remote Island And Leaving Diet Coke For Uncontacted Tribe

24-year-old YouTuber Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov was arrested after making contact with one of the world's last uncontacted tribes, making the perilous and ill-advised journey to North Sentinel Island and leaving a coconut and a can of Diet Coke on the beach as a gift to the Sentinelese.

Polyakov, 24, arrived at the northeastern shore of North Sentinel Island at 10 a.m. on March 29, according to police reports. He used binoculars to survey the land but saw no one. He then climbed ashore, leaving behind a Diet Coke and a coconut, took sand samples, and recorded a video, the authorities said.

Keep ReadingShow less