MovieChat Forums > The Secret of NIMH (1982) Discussion > What movies scared you as a kid?

What movies scared you as a kid?

posted 15 years ago by TalesfromTheCryptfan
35 replies | jump to latest

For me i'm an 80's child, born in June in the early 80s which is the year this movie came out and i had it on video since i was 2 as this one scared me when that Big Rat at the entrence appeared.

Other movies that scared me as a kid:

"Making Contact (a.k.a. Joey)": Who remembers this dark and bizarre German horror fantasy movie? about a 9 year old boy who gains psychic and telekinetic powers and battles a demon possessed ventriloquist dummy and other demons. I saw this movie in a theater when i was 4 in St. Louis back in 1986 when it came out here in the states and it scared the living crap out of me especially that creepy little bastard of a dummy.

"Magic": Remember this creepy 1978 horror thriller with Anthony Hopkins and an evil dummy? this other dummy horror movie scared the piss out of me when i was 4 the same year in 1986 but i rented this on video and it scared me crapless.

"Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night": Remember this creepy 1987 animated movie? i saw this in a theater after christmas in 1987 when i was 5 and it creeped me out big time especially that terrifying scene where an evil puppeteer who is the minion of the title villain tortures and turns pinocchio back into a puppet.

"Oh wow, good Nyborg"

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] ms_moviebuff23 15 years ago

I was also born in the 80's. Jan. 1983. The scariest movies I watched as a kid were..

The Peanut Butter Solution (1985) (when this kid loses his hair in some abandoned building from a terrible fright. Days later he gets a recipe from two dead hobo's to help his hair grow back. It grows back, but doesn't stop growing. So this is why I got scared of this movie! lol

E.T (1982)(ET scared me! Now, I think he's adorable. lol)

Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988. the villain scared me everytime! lol)

The Secret of NIMH (as much as I liked this movie, I was a little creeped out by that farm tractor, and the owl with the glowing eyes.. same with the events that took place when Mrs. Brisby was trying to save her children and her home. I felt so bad for that family lol)

The Never Ending Story films (1984-1994) (I liked the films back then, but the wolf scared me in the cave and the flying giant dog or whatever it was, Falkor, I think was his name, creeped me out with those bubbles on his back, now I can watch those films just fine! lol)

Pet Cemetery 1 and 2 (Saw it when I was 8! The dog gave me nightmares!)

IT (hated that clown that ate children! lol)

Most of those 1980's Jim Henson movies scared me. I am sure there are other movie's that scared me, but can't remember them all!

I'll always catch you when you fall.. -Will Young, Who Am I

[–] trisp 15 years ago

What movies scared me as a kid? Hmmm. I've got a good number. This wasn't really one of them... But here goes:

Pinocchio: 6 words: "They never come back as...BOYS!!!!"

Who Framed Roger Rabbit: Judge Doom as a toon and the shoe death.

NeverEnding Story: Gmork definitely used to scare me. Not so much now.

Fantasia: Night on Bald Mountain

Sleeping Beauty: When Maleficent appeared in the fireplace.

The trailer for Dracula: Gary Oldman's laugh.

All Dogs go to Heaven: Only one bit creeped me out and that's when Carface becomes the Devil.

The Mad Docter: Old Mickey Mouse cartoon. Used to scare me.

Watership Down: It didn't scare me enough to give me nightmares. But it was still pretty disturbing.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow: Not the Disney version. But one that was part of the Rabbit Ears Storybook collection and narrated by Glen Close. An image of the Horseman just sitting there perched on his horse was pretty creepy.

Little Mermaid: When Ursula turns into Vanessa.

"HOPSCOTCH!"

[–] KaoticKlown 15 years ago

Little Nemo (NOT Finding Nemo)
The Wizard of Oz
Home Alone (i had a fear of my house getting broken into)
Jurassic Park
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (live action movie)
Happily Ever After (snow white sequel)
The Secret of Nihm (OMFG the owl and Nicodemus scared the HELL out of me!)
haha, thats all i can think of now

Be who u are and say what u feel because those who mind dont matter and those who matter dont mind

[–] pheapes-1 15 years ago

An American Tail:The Giant Mouse of Minsk
Jurassic Park:When the T-Rex first appears
Ghostbusters 1&2:practically the whole films
Edward Scissorhands:The Devil shaped tree

there may be a boogie man or boogie men in the house:Homer Simpson.

[–] comic_guy87 15 years ago

Pinnochio: When the Coachman says "they never come back... AS BOYS!", when Lampwick turns into a donkey, and the scenes where Monstro leaps out of the water and later when he peruses Pinnochio and Gapetto.
Dumbo: The scene when Dumbo's mom goes mad and the Pink Elephants on Parade scene.
Jaws: Most of the movie, it made me afraid to go swimming
Gremlins: When Gizmo is kidnapped and tied to a dart board and when the mom is attacked in the Christmas Tree.
The Dark Crystal: Those vulture like creatures creeped me out.
The Never Ending Story: The G'mork scene.
A stop-motion Little Red Riding Hood: The wolf was very ugly and scary looking

[–] harmedandderangerous 15 years ago

The Dark Crystal
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Halloween
The Man in the Iron Mask (him being locked in the masked disturbed me terribly)
An American Werewolf In London
A Christmas Carol

and this might be funny, but the Cold Miser and Heat Miser from Rudolph The Red Nose Reinder gave me horrible nightmares

[–] GoMangoMan 15 years ago

I seen the Secret of NIMH when I was like 5 or 6 but it never really scared me. I watched Jurassic Park in the theatre when I was like 11, and it was one of the first movies I ever saw in a theatre. I found it so intense I couldn't stop clutching the armrest with my fingers.

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astrolupine: even with makeup, you can't make an actor's face look like a chair

[–] Naldoman 15 years ago

When I went to see Pinnochio, at the very end of the film, Pinnochio drowns, is shown face-down in the water DEAD. Before he was reborn, the projector overheated, the film literally burned in front of the eyes of a theater full of kids, and we had to leave because the projector room caught FIRE~! Yes, I was in a theater on fire! I didn't see the final scenes of that film until 25 years later on VHS!

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At the very same theater, I watched another Disney film (they love to scare the bejesus out of kids) called "Darby O'Gill and the Little People" (Leprechauns). The little people were known for pranks and shenannigins and such. One character's dad was rumored to have been killed by Leprechans. At one point they lure him into a black horse-driven carriage, and he is led to believe he has died and is going to the afterlife. The carriage is carried into the SKY by the horses, but that's not enough - the Leprechans open the door and fling the poor guy out and let him fall to the ground!! Apparently it was just another joke, as the guy was still alive. I had nightmares for days!!!

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] scarlettbees 14 years ago

Not a movie, but the Thriller video scared me so much as a 5-year-old I would run out of the room when it came on MTV, particularly the final moment when Jackson turns and looks at the camera with those WOLF EYES.

NIMH -- The Great owl, as soon as he stepped on that spider and it went :::SQUISH!!::: Gave me chills. When you're real little and you see cartoons with blood (Nimh, Watership Down), it's just about the coolest thing ever.

Gremlins -- when Stripe was slowly melted by the morning sunlight. Blech! It just goes on and on and on! And he doesn't stop moving and jerking till he's a pile of bones.

[–] kyle_macleod_51 14 years ago

It's kind of funny but Kindergarten Cop scared the hell out of me when I watched it as a kid. First movie that I ever saw a person get shot and killed in.

[–] caithes 14 years ago

I had totally forgotten about that movie until you mentioned it. Talk about scary... that movie was frightening to me. I don't know why he was in that carriage, but I do remember how it ended up, even now, maybe 25 years later. Darby had three wishes, and had used them, so he couldn't wish for anything more. While they are on the carriage:

Leprechaun: I wish I could go with you.
Darby: I wish you could too.

The leprechaun (I think he was a king) laughed and forced him out of the carriage, that was flying through the air, and down to the ground.

----

As for other movies that scared the wits out of me.. NIMH, definitely. I also found The Rescuers scary, and as a young boy I had a huge crush on Penny. A lot of others here that people mentioned are scary. Neverending Story.

[–] mrsallan 12 years ago

Naldoman-I remember that movie! I haven't seen it around in forever. Yeah a fire would be a good reason to stay away especially after the drowning scene...

I was born in 1979 so I definitely have some memories of other movies that were creepy!

Jaws
Making Contact-10 minutes into this one and I was done!
E.T.
The Last Unicorn-the beginning vulture scene/red bull
Neverending Story-the wolf!

I also never saw it, but when Chucky came out they would show commercials for it that would creep me out!

[–] Lnzanne 14 years ago

The Dark Crystal
The Last Unicorn
Watcher in the Woods(pretty scary for a kids movie)
Poltergeist(I am scared of clowns today because of this movie)

[–] hc_afifan 14 years ago

The Black Cauldron (how did no one mention this so far? lol)
The Secret of Nimh (the part where the animals are being given those injections, especially, but also the parts with Dragon and the part with the Brisby house being rescued from the mud)
Gremlins (most of it haha)
Twister (all the tornado scenes...made me scared of high winds for years)
Dumbo (the pink elephants...)

[–] Edgewooddirk 14 years ago

Pet Semetery: The little kid, that literally damned little kid. It took me about nine years to rewatch the film. There's something amiss with demonic children. Adult psychos I could handle, kids, not so much.

Cujo: The horror was a little too real for me. And then my parents told me that rabies is real and does something close to what happened in the film. Thanks mom and dad, you helped.

Old Yeller: See above comment about rabies.

The Wizard of Oz: Come on, who wasn't afraid of the witch in their (much) younger days?

Pinnochio: I believe this film made real effort to scare children, it worked.

Thanks for making me confront my probably irrational fear of these films. I'll try not to huddle in the corner this time.

[–] DevonChaos 14 years ago

Christine, Fright Night, Raiders of the Lost Ark. Gremlins did a bit.

Cartoons never really scared me.

Vice, Virtue. It's best not to be too moral. You cheat yourself out of too much *life*.

[–] TheLittleSongbird 14 years ago

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
The Wizard of Oz
Sleeping Beauty
Fantasia
Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland
The NeverEnding Story
Pinocchio
The Little Mermaid
It
The Great Mouse Detective
Watership Down
FernGully:The Last Rainforest

"Life after death is as improbable as sex after marriage"- Madeline Kahn(CLUE, 1985)

[–] Princess-Leia1 14 years ago

Labyrinth (just the muppets scared me, especially the one hiding under Toby's bedsheets at the beginning)
The Dark Crystal (What was up with Jim Henson!?)
It
A Clockwork Orange (I didn't see the whole movie, just a fraction of one scene and that terrified me to the point of never wanting to watch it)
Beetlejuice (but I love it now!)
Child's Play (but that's to be expected)

I was looking at this whole list and a lot of us post the same movies, which means most of us are around the same age.

Who looks at a screwdriver and thinks "Ooh, this could be a little more sonic"?

[–] ZakkWyldeMyLittlePony 13 years ago

The Brave Little Toaster - The nightmare with fire fighter clown.

Pinocchio - The Coachman when he says "They don't comeback as BOYS!!"

Sleeping Beauty - Maleficent

All Dogs Go to Heaven - The whole movie's dark atmosphere.

"I'm afraid you've worn out your welcome Prince A Boo Boo" - Jafar

[–] CosmosX9 13 years ago

Child's Play
The Brave Little Toaster
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Pinocchio
Matilda
Jumanji
Beetlejuice
Pee Wee's Big Adventure (with the Large Marge scene)

"Some things you see with your eyes, others you see with your heart"-(The Land Before Time)

[–] CasseroleWorshipper 13 years ago

Hey, happy birthday Johnlindsey289! I was also born on June 16, albeit 9 years later than you.
I don't mean to impose, but I am the Ocean.