[subego]

Kind of an offshoot of the Shining thread. That didn't scar me when I was 12. What did?

Jaws.

I was probably 7 or 8 when I saw it.

By the climax of the film, I was screaming my little lungs out... at least as much as I could, because I had tried to bury myself in the theatre seat. I distinctly remember the thought it might be possible to squeeze my head through the gap between the back and the folding bottom.

My dad has mentioned on numerous occasions he really felt awful for bringing me to the movie. Just to have "closure", we watched it again when I was in my 30's. A good time was had by all.


Should one question my dad's judgement (he certainly did), I should mention this was a guy in his mid-20's at the time. I can't even imagine how much I'd **** up if I had a kid at that age. This is penny-ante IMO.

[mindwaves]

Chuckie. Enough said.

[subego]

Not quite...

How old were you?

[Doc HM]

11 years old. The Omen. The music was a big part of it.

[Shaddim]

The Exorcist, I watched it at my aunt's house when I was 8 and it left a mark. I slept with a nightlight on for quite a while after that.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by Doc HM 

11 years old. The Omen. The music was a big part of it.

Yep.

I may have been younger. To this day, seeing shadowy artifacts on photographs gives me the willies.

[Ω]

Two which spring to mind are Texas Chainsaw Massacre (think I was about 13) and The Day After (not sure how old I was for this one but it was young).

Alien, though a different kind a scared, is another. Love that movie and it has aged brilliantly.

[Phileas]

I know at least two people who are scared of swimming in the ocean because they watched Jaws at too young an age. My wife is one of them.

I grew up on a remote farm without TV or cinemas. We got scarred for life by grandpa's ghost stories instead. And the witch, who lived in the smoke stack and ate naughty children.

[Hawkeye_a]

I must have watched Jaws when I was around 8-9. It scared me, but in a 'good way', I remember asking my aunt to fast forward through all the 'people scenes' to the shark scenes . I didn't spend much time in the water in those days, but to this day If i'm in murky water and i start remembering the music, I paddle towards the shore like there was no tomorrow. Jaws was one of the first DVDs I owned, and i have become very fond of the movie (and the 'people scenes').

Child's Play scared me too, but I grew out of it eventually.

The two movies my parents never talked about of let us watch were The Exorcist and Psycho. I finally watched Exorcist in my freshman year in university.... and that movie is something else entirely (best horror movie IMHO).

[Spheric Harlot]

A friend gave me a DVD of The Exorcist for my 30th birthday when he heard that I'd never seen it.

Wow.

I'm glad I didn't see that one as a kid.

[The Final Dakar]

[Jawbone54]

Jaws scared the crap out of me as a kid, but it also initiated a fascination with sharks — I love the things.

On the other hand, every movie with a supernatural/demonic edge to it kept me up for weeks. My parents didn't allow me to see scary movies, so I'd always watch them at friends' houses. The Omen was a standout.

[osiris]

I have to go with Jaws too. I refused to go into the ocean after seeing this, perhaps into my 20s...

I still will not go into any body of water unless it is crystal clear.

[andi*pandi]

I don't think I saw jaws when it came out, probably later (again, edited for TV). Was thinking to take the kids to see it at the drivein, this thread is making me glad I waited.

Someone had a 4th/5th grade sleepover party, with all the halloweens then available. That was stupid on their parents part.

Bambi was pretty traumatic, I saw it when I was 5. Cried and cried. Yet I then begged for Bambi sheets. ?

[subego]

Originally Posted by osiris 

I have to go with Jaws too. I refused to go into the ocean after seeing this, perhaps into my 20s...

I still will not go into any body of water unless it is crystal clear.

Despite my Jaws fear, it did not deter me from swimming in the ocean at all. Even briefly flirted with becoming a marine biologist.

[osiris]

Originally Posted by subego 

Despite my Jaws fear, it did not deter me from swimming in the ocean at all. Even briefly flirted with becoming a marine biologist.

Not only did I stop going into the ocean, but I stopped eating fish too. Damn, that was 1975.

[sek929]

Originally Posted by The Final Dakar 

Funny story. I had one of those viewfinder toy things (with the round picture wheels) and a series of images from the Thriller video. The wolf transformation always creeped me out as a kid.

Movie was the Shining. Like i said in that thread I had to be 7 or 8 and I was at my grandparents house. My uncle was watching me for a while and apparently considered the Shining to be appropriate to watch. The bathtub scene haunted me for years but such trial by fire has made me rather resistant to being scared by horror movies. I think I saw Seven when I was 12 years old, back when rated R movies were open to anyone not in diapers, and that movie disturbed the living hell out of me. I actually walked out during the scene with that poor fellow who had to copulate a prostitute to death. I was not ready for a movie that dark.

The Ring was probably the most recent movie that I can recall actually being scared in the theater. My date at the time did not enjoy the terror and wanted to leave, but I had to stay because it's very rare for a scary movie to get inside my head like that. While walking back to my dorm room I actually got a little creeped out and picked up my pace.

[The Final Dakar]

Originally Posted by sek929 

Funny story. I had one of those viewfinder toy things (with the round picture wheels) and a series of images from the Thriller video. The wolf transformation always creeped me out as a kid.

I had trouble going to sleep for a few days because every times I closed my eyes I saw this bastard.

[Stogieman]

I remember watching Poltergeist with my mom and aunt in the movie theater. I think I was 7 at the time. The scene that really got me was when the little clown puppet grabbed the boy by the leg and dragged him under the bed.

[subego]

Originally Posted by The Final Dakar 

I had trouble going to sleep for a few days because every times I closed my eyes I saw this bastard.

I'm not falling for the setup... nosiree!!!

[subego]

Originally Posted by Stogieman 

I remember watching Poltergeist with my mom and aunt in the movie theater. I think I was 7 at the time. The scene that really got me was when the little clown puppet grabbed the boy by the leg and dragged him under the bed.

For whatever reason I knew it was out of my league as a kid and didn't even try.

[subego]

Originally Posted by mindwaves 

Chuckie. Enough said.

Fun fact: the third story window the person gets thrown out of was less than a block from where I lived at the time.

[besson3c]

Thriller and Ghostbusters.

[subego]

Originally Posted by osiris 

Not only did I stop going into the ocean, but I stopped eating fish too. Damn, that was 1975.

I'm trying to recall why I wasn't afraid of the ocean. Best I can think of is I spent a summer in Key West with someone who had a boat. The candy colored coral reefs were pretty irresistible. I'm sure that's what got the marine biology thing in my head.

[subego]

Originally Posted by besson3c 

Thriller and Ghostbusters.

Ghostbusters scarred you?

[Shaddim]

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot 

A friend gave me a DVD of The Exorcist for my 30th birthday when he heard that I'd never seen it.

Wow.

I'm glad I didn't see that one as a kid.

Near the end of it I literally peed a little in my pants. Not because I lost control of my bladder, but because I was so scared that I didn't want to go to the bathroom by myself (it was near midnight and the whole house was pretty dark).

[subego]

Our truly evil teacher took us (as 9 to 11-year-olds) on a field trip to see Lord of the Flies. That did a number on me, especially as a fat kid.

[P]

Originally Posted by Doc HM 

11 years old. The Omen. The music was a big part of it.

I wouldn't say scarred, but The Omen is probably the only movie that scared me even a little. Scary movies don't do it for me.

[Stogieman]

Originally Posted by subego 

Ghostbusters scarred you?

Two words: Librarian Ghost

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by subego 

Ghostbusters scarred you?

Yeah, the scary dog on the pillar thing was one of the things that did it for me, because this neighborhood dog used to always chase me when I walked past his house. His name was Skipper and he was a dick. His owner kind of sucked too.

[subego]

Originally Posted by Stogieman 

Two words: Librarian Ghost

Get her? That was your plan?

[shifuimam]

The movie poster for Child's Play 3 gave me nightmares for weeks when I was about eight years old.

[mattyb]

Grizzly.

My mother thought that I had been traumatized for life since I had such trouble sleeping for months afterwards.

Later, Omen. That sheet glass scene. And I used to look in photos for a black line for a few years after.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by mattyb 

Later, Omen. That sheet glass scene. And I used to look in photos for a black line for a few years after.

Yes, exactly this.

The sheet glass.

[Sealobo]

the first time i watched uncensored porn by accident... it was pretty scary. i think i was 8 or 9.

[The Final Dakar]

Originally Posted by Sealobo 

the first time i watched uncensored porn by accident... it was pretty scary. i think i was 8 or 9.

You had watched censored porn before that?

[Sealobo]

Originally Posted by The Final Dakar 

You had watched censored porn before that?

nope. that's why i was unprepared.

[The Final Dakar]

Originally Posted by Sealobo 

nope. that's why i was unprepared.

Actually you're in asia, so I guess censored porn actually is a possibility.

[zro]

▶ Trilogy of terror. The one with the doll. Part 1. - YouTube

I was... gee I dunno, 7 or 8ish? Late 70's at any rate. I think all anyone my age has to hear is, "the one with the doll." Scariest mother****er in the history of ever.

But be sure to continue with part 2, and part 3.

[subego]

That is one I've never seen, but my dad told me the doll story a few times.

Oddly, one of the things which made the story scarier for me was the name "Karen Black".

Poltergeist. Saw it when I was maybe 7-8 years old. Couldn't sleep for a week. Wouldn't watch it again for a few months. Finally saw it again and it wasn't so bad.

Horror movies these days are so cheesy they're more bad comedy than scary.

[RobOnTheCape]

Without question it was The Exorcist. Checked under my bed and in my closet, and then left the light on til morning. Swimming in the ocean, or even a pool for awhile got me jumpy after Jaws, but nothing imprinted in my me like Linda Blair's head doing a 360.

Today with the net, I wonder if there are movies which can have the same impact on todays kids.

[subego]

How old?

[Shaddim]

Horror today is cheesy gore and CGI, very little in the way of psychological thrills.

[subego]

You have audiences which lack the patience they used to.

Not necessarily a bad thing, just different.

[Hawkeye_a]

Originally Posted by zro 

▶ Trilogy of terror. The one with the doll. Part 1. - YouTube

I was... gee I dunno, 7 or 8ish? Late 70's at any rate. I think all anyone my age has to hear is, "the one with the doll." Scariest mother****er in the history of ever.

But be sure to continue with part 2, and part 3.

It reminded me of a TV series i watched in the late 80s called 'Amazing Stories', which had some horror themed episodes. If you think of any others, please post .

[subego]

I remember watching that, but for the life of me can't remember a single amazing story.

[Hawkeye_a]

Originally Posted by subego 

I remember watching that, but for the life of me can't remember a single amazing story.

The one episode which i clearly remember is 'Mirror, Mirror'; really scared me. ( i remember watching the new Twilight Zone(in color) at around the same time so i could be mixing up the shows)

[Shaddim]

I wouldn't say they scarred me, but the Dr Phibes movies left an impression.

[BadKosh]

Creature from the Black Lagoon. I was 5. Scared me so much I had nightmares for several months. Best therapy was finding a copy of Famous Monsters of Filmland, which showed behind the scenes photos. Now its been a hobby for over 45 years to know how most every special effects shot was done. Still can't find out how "Monolith Monsters" monoliths were done though.