Ask Lemmy

I watched Event Horizon when I was 10 not knowing it was an horror movie and I had recurring nightmares for weeks

I've mentioned it elsewhere, but I saw Akira when I was four and my brother was three. Our dad picked it out because "animation is for children".

I can't remember much of it but it left me with a deep distate for body horror and nightmares for literal weeks.

The Brave Little Toaster. I loved that movie cause what little kid doesn't want to watch a bunch of singing appliances? It's actually a really good movie but the themes about existential crisis and the need for purpose are way over a kids head. Also, the clown scene gave me nightmares.

Jaws. Watched it when I was about 8. Now in my 40s and still don't like being in open water or sea where I can't see the bottom... I know what's down there...

Stephen King's IT was broadcast on network TV during primetime. I remember being excited to gather around the TV to watch a movie and oooooh boy was not prepared. I don't think my parents let me finish.

The Mummy. Terrified me. Which is hilarious because now I laugh at it, both because it is largely comedic but also it's so corny.

This really creepy Czech Alice in Wonderland movie. It used stop motion with animal skeletons, fish heads, and tons of other things.

My mom put it on when I was little in an attempt to keep me occupied.
“Would you like to watch Alice in Wonderland, Thelsim?” She’d ask.
“Yea!” I would shout enthusiastically, thinking she meant the Disney movie.
Half an hour later I’m crying and hiding under the blankets.

I never did watch that movie again. Maybe it’s not so bad now, but the screenshots still make feel very queasy.

A sample 🫣

The Shining

I must have seen it at a very early age, maybe 2 or 3, because I had recurring nightmares about the chase scene that I couldn't contextualize until I saw it again in my teens.

An American Werewolf in London.

I stayed up watching it on my brother's black and white TV. My parents had no idea. I nearly shit the bed afterward when my brother jumped on me in the dark and yelled "raaaah."

The X-Files episode "Home"

Alien when I was about 4. That's what happens when you make an uncle who is still in high school babysit.

My parents told me that I could watch any movie in theatres for my 13th birthday. I didn't know anything about it and picked The Devil's Advocate. They took me, my older brother, and my two younger brothers.

On the way home they yelled at me for picking an inappropriate movie.

Terminator 2. Also Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Oh and a glimpse of Silence of the lambs before I got caught by mum that time.

The heart part in Indiana Jones haunted me. as did the idea of a killer robot that you can’t reason with or plead mercy to.

E.T. --specifically the scenes starting with the government showing up to take care of him while he's dying. E.T. being lifeless in that clear body bag will never be removed from my mind.

You're all in here with horror and mature movies, but I'll hit you with Watership Down for the win 😉

I saw a nasty horror movie as a kid of around 7-8. My friend had this weird uncle who was living with his mother house next to ours. He was the only one at street with VHS player. One day, instead of our favorite Tom & Jerry, he put a cassette with the movie into the player. It was some weird horror called "the spirit of the Forest" or something like that, about a cabin in the forest and a spirit possessing its visitors, making them kill each other. I had trouble getting back home in the middle of the day. Fortunately, no nightmares. Few years later, the uncle killed his mother, because voices told him to. He got locked up in the psychiatric ward and my friend moved in with his parents, yay.

I'm old, so keep that in mind.

I saw 2001: A Space Odyssey in the theater when I was 7. I wasn't even with my family, I was with a friend and his parents. It freaked me the freak out. That space baby at the end. The dreams I had.

Look, it was the 80s/90s. We had one TV. My parents were not going to watch kid shit during their down time so we watched whatever they felt like watching. Thus, I have too many to list here.

But for context apparently Alien and Aliens made me squeaky and giggly/happy as a baby. To this day I sometimes have bizarrely detailed dreams with xenomorph subplots.

Watching Hellraiser 2 was pretty bad. I didn't understand what was going on, but forever remembered the scary woman with no skin!

Pan's Labyrinth.

Scary Movie 3. Among many reasons that's a film you shouldn't watch as a child, that was my introduction to the Ring, and I had a TV in my room.

Starship trooper when I was still in kindergarten. The only thing I remember from this movie is the scene where the bug drills a hole in the soldiers head to drink his brain. Don't plan to watch this movie ever again in my life

Faces of Death, Faces of Death 2, Faces of Death 3, Faces of Death 4, Faces of Death 5 and Faces of Death 6

Videodrome. Watched it few years ago and started strongly recalling watching certain scenes. 20 minutes in I was like oh wow I've seen this before, but by the time James woods was doing bdsm with a debbie harry television, I was like "who let me watch this?"

It explains a lot, honestly

Akira definitely counts. I'm sure my parents were in the "all cartoons are for kids" camp that everyone was in in the 90s. Similarly, the Guyver.

When I was roughly 10 years old I watched my next door neighbors' parents' home made hardcore sex tape. She had found it while snooping in her dads closet. So yeah, little old me (boy) and closest friend (girl) sitting on her parents bed watching a very graphic homemade porn.

Definitely shaped my sexual development...

According to my parents, saw Indiana Jones & The Temple of Doom when I was 4. Then I saw Jaws at age 6. But it was Ghostbusters that gave me nightmares for about 7 years afterwards.

I was chaperoning on a school bus full of kindergarteners. They started chatting about the scariest movies they had ever seen. Some of them were talking about Goosebumps and some were talking about stuff in the realm of ET. The one little boy in my group looked up to me and said that stuff for babies that's nothing. I said oh yeah? What are you watch. He said I like Jason I like Freddy I like Michael Myers. I asked him which scenes that he thought were the best and he actually seemed to have watched it all. I said so what did you think of IT by Stephen King. His eyes got wide and he said no no no no no no no. We're not going to talk about that.

I think I was about ten and an older girl down the road showed me and my friends Pet Sematary. There was a scene where this creepy ass girl chokes in bed and that scared me for years. I slept with the light on and was too scared to roll over in case she was in my bed. It's probably so cringey now though if I was to re-watch it.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

I couldn't sleep....

The Ring

The Gate I think I was 7-10 at the time? I don’t know how I stumbled on it flipping channels on the TV, but I did and it scared me.

Today? It’s so horribly bad it’s laughable.

I took my son to see this puppet movie when he was about 8. That sex scene went on for ever (I was covering his eyes).

I watched The Shining at a friend's house when I was like 10. First and last time I ever watched that nightmare fuel.

Leprechaun and a slew of other horror movies, I can’t recall the names of. Still dislike 90% of the horror genre but was able to watch Alien (1979) just recently and it was surprisingly done well.