What horror movie impacted you the most as a child?

The Exorcist.

That messed with me badly for a couple of years as a kid,

I spent many nights in bed terrified that satan was coming to take me

Man, quite sad really now that I look at it

Lord of Illusions

Lord of Illusions is an eerie tale of a man treading the line between darkness and light, and what happens when he crosses paths with another man, who walks the line between illusion and terrifying reality.

Source: HorrorTalk

My father used to play this movie for us, when we were about 5 or 6 and I was terrified of it. Even now, I have it on DVD but I can't bring myself to watch it.

One of these days, though, I'll face my fear and watch it to see that it's not really how I remember it. Or it is, in which case I won't sleep for several weeks

Deffinatly the omen
All 3 of em
As a child they began and nurtured a belief in the possibility of more to the world than what we see and set me off down the path of discovery
The beauty of the omen was it was based very much on the contents of the bible so there was a easily availible source to look deeper ( had read revelations and book of Apocrypha by age 10 )
And still to this day hunt for a replica set of the seven daggers of megido lol

Puppet Master used to get me as a kid, i slept with the blanket over my head for years after watching the drill dude get some guy in his sleep

reply to post by halfoldman


I hope this does not seem too off topic, I never really started watching horror movies til I was in my teens. I do however have a vivid memory as an 8 year old child that scared me so much that I could not get up in the middle of the night and leave my room.

That memory was the video Sweet Dreams by the Eurythmics. The music was scary and the way they looked in the video down right scared the hell out of me. I always thought that if I left my room in the middle of the night I would come face to face with one of them and they would kill me.

Maybe I'm a weird one, but Pennywise didn't bother me (Even though I have a great dislike of clowns - ironic, huh?)

The one that got me most was Cat's Eye. I still, to this day, cannot watch that movie and I am over 25 lol!

I guess the idea of a little soul stealing troll living in the walls got the best of me lol

reply to post by halfoldman


I was about 5 or 6 ... An American Werewolf in London (1981)



Peace

I've got another one:

Langoliers

Most of the passengers on an airplane disappear, and the remainder land the plane in a mysteriously barren airport.

I watched this movie when I was about 14 and I had to turn it off when the noises started to get louder. (I even remember the date, January, 10th). I was absolutely terrified and would sweat and shake at night for weeks afterwards.

I watched it on DVD a few weeks ago and I totally loved it! I can't believe I was so scared before

Jeepers Creepers...I was scared stiff on the couch for like 10 mins after watching that movie @ 2am in the dark, by myself. But then again i'm only 19, and i was like 11 when i watched it lol. ALL i know is i was scared as f***.

I sometimes wonder whether there is a conspiracy about this.

Having watched some of these alleged "mind control" slaves like Arizona Wilder (lots of clips on Youtube), they say that instilling trauma (sexual, violent or psychological) into children makes them more suggestible at a later age.

Of course many generations have known trauma, and most old fashioned fairy-tales are extremely disturbing.

But was it a form of "planting a seed" or instilling trauma for the generation at the end of the Cold War, that didn't have the direct trauma of war?

Did the Omen create a generation of people open to millennial teachings and firm believers in an anti-Christ with 666 on his forehead?

Looking now at a trailer of "Bogeyman", it is almost aimed at children, or childhood fears.

I suppose people back then expected kids to be tougher.

It looks terribly B-grade today, and it mixes the psycho (Myers in Helloween) with supernatural horror (The Amityville Horror).

This rare UK theater trailer hardly seems scary today.
I think it raises more patriarchal gender issues than horror.

I can't really remember any single movie that made any kind of impact on me.


But, I do remember a show that was on every Friday or Saturday night called:

"Creature Feature"

Hosted by M.T. Graves

Horror movies all night, till the wee hours of the morning!

Yeah, I'm showing my age...

reply to post by IrVulture


Yeah...horror shows, forgot about those.

Tales From The Crypt


The Hitchhiker


The Twilight Zone


Tales From The Darkside


Yep...brings back memories.

Peace

Tired of the bad programs on cable, and the endless repeats, I watched a free Youtube movie last night titled "Horror Express" (1972).
I found it quite a treat, especially the snug setting on the train, compared to the freezing Siberian tundra outside.
Usually the free movies on Youtube really suck, but this was great!
It had a very witty dialogue, and even political subtexts.

I was quite surprised that the blogs on the film also mention the red-eyed ape-man as a lingering sense of fright for children of the 1970s and 80s (apparently it was widely broadcast on television).

Another scene I'll always remember is the part where the prisoners are put in rat cages in the "The Deer Hunter".

Every time I watch that scene I try to compare it to my memories.

I wonder if they had movies like that in communist countries from the opposite perspective?
Notably "horror" is not confined to one genre, and occurs in many other films.

reply to post by halfoldman


Ahhh you're looking for the movies that really shocked a generation? Can't speak for any other generation but my own but I remember Faces of Death having a big impact at the time. Everybody was saying those videos were real and with that knowledge we watched those movies. It really gave you a sick feeling watching them...

Peace

reply to post by trollz


I'm with you... Cujo. Not so much because it was so scary but because there is nothing supernatural about it. It could happen at any time. I've actually seen 2 St. Bernard's turn on their owners so I'm sure that doesn't help.

One of the Hellraiser movies. I don't know which one; all I remember is one girl trying to save another from falling into hell (I think that's what was happening). She was hanging onto the girl's arm and all the skin ripped off. I ran away from the tv after that.

reply to post by halfoldman

What horror movie impacted you the most as a child?

A Nightmare on Elm Street. After watching the movie, i was a bit scary when i went to sleep.

Peace

Well, two movies that people found so terrifying at a video party (when I was about 13), that they put magazines over their faces were The Prophesy (1979) and mainly Superstition/The Witch (1982).

Those were the days when tipsy dads would get into black clothes and scare the whole slumber party, by suddenly appearing at the window. I guess the covert garden-bashing brought out their military training.
Perhaps it was good practice for a few years later, when one really didn't want dad to peer through the window in horror.

But then I'd keep my Warlock video for last (one of the series, where the medium gets possessed, and it's suggested that she has her eyes cut out with a crystal), and then the guy's mom intervened and said that this went too far, because it was Satanism!

And she gave me a glare, as if I had filmed it personally!
Never mind that a gay guy just had his tongue bitten off by the Warlock!
But I only realized that in hindsight.

There's also a Warlock scene where he changes somebody into a modern art sculpture with eyes.
Others find this funny, but that was really disturbing!

reply to post by InvisibleAlbatross


The skin that came off was a disguise, the good girl was disguised as the bad woman. I think that was the second hellraiser.

The leprechaun movie when i was a too young to see it, but did anyway

Now i have to see the ones mentioned here that i did not see yet. Starting with Lord of ilusions.
Thanks for that!