Films are meant to impact us. Through whatever means they see fit, their aim is to stick with us for a long time, and earn themselves a permanent spot in our minds so we'll keep coming back. We definitely all know some movies that have done that, but some did so in a more negative way by leaving us terrified.
We asked on Facebook for our readers to share the movies that traumatized them, and here are some of their answers.
"The Grudge. Can't stick my head into a dark roof cavity without thinking about it."
Do you stick your head in enough dark roof cavities that this is a problem? If so, maybe you should find some new hobbies.
"The Human Centipede. That movie made me physically ill, which make believe has never made me feel before."
Does anyone else remember the waves the trailer alone for that movie made when it was first released? I never saw the movie, but I did see the preview when I was way too young and it still haunts me.
"Back in 1968 'The Night of the Living Dead' scared me so much that I could not get out of my seat in the movie theater. Literally, I was frozen in fear. My friends had to pull me out. It still scares me."
"Child’s Play. I was nine when that movie came out. Why did my parents not only take me to go see that, but also gifted a My Buddy doll for Christmas that year? Actually, it really does explain a whole lot."
"Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. It was the Oompa Loompas mainly. Think about it... some child makes even a small mistake or has an accident, the Oompa Loompas come in singing their little death march, they drag the kid away and the kid is never mentioned, seen or heard from again. (You see them in the remake, but not the original I saw as a child). And the boat scene. That was a bit disturbing."
"Poltergeist. Couldn’t walk past a tv at night for years."
See, this is a more common occurrence to be spooked by. Most of us have TVs, we never know when someone could pop out of 'em or they could turn on by themselves!
"The Exorcist, I saw part of it at a movie theater and was trapped in the middle of the aisle and couldn't get out so I stuck my fingers in my ears and closed my eyes and laid my head on my [date's] shoulder and cried [until] it was over [...]."
"Psycho! Saw it when it first came out. I was about10 years old and was sooo scared! (Mom says she didn't know what it was about or she wouldn't have let me go ALONE! Alone! She should have gotten a 'parent ticket.')"
Yeah, not sure if having a parent there would have made it any less terrifying for you, but the thought is nice.
"Jaws, I was maybe 7 at the time, when the head popped out in the boat scene I freaked! I still jump at it."
Jaws is not a movie any 7-year-old should be seeing, no wonder it spooked you so bad!
"I was 6 years old and [The NeverEnding Story] came out. The crazy wolf in the cave traumatized me for years."
Thank you! No one else ever agrees with me when I say this movie was kind of scary at some parts. It's good to know I'm not alone.
"The Fly, the original. At the end when the little fly man is in the spider's web and he's screaming 'Help me! Help me!' as the spider is coming toward him. That voice. So creepy!"
"Nightmare on Elm Street. Watched it at my Grandma's when I was little, found out later she lived on elm street."
Better to find that out later than right afterwards, at least? That would have scared you off of staying with your Grandma for years!
"Critters! The daycare I was at when I was 4 years old made us all sit down and watch it bc they didn't want to watch us while they watch the movie. Wouldn't fly today but gotta love the 80s! That movie scared the crap out of me!"
"The Wizard of Oz. Didn't sleep for 12 weeks as a kid! And could never look up at the shadows of trees at dusk in case there was a witch sitting there!"
That movie was the most common non-horror movie among the comments, it really scared a ton of people without meaning to!
"[Leprechaun]. I saw it at the drive-in when I was 3 or 4 years old and it traumatized me till I was in my teens no joke. I remember I was 15 the last time I had a nightmare about it. To this day I cant look at his face without cringing or looking away and I'm 33 now."
"Children of the Corn. I lived next to a corn field."
I have to pin this one a little on you. Surely you knew it was a horror movie and you knew about your corn field proximity beforehand. No wonder it spooked you!
"Jeepers Creepers.. the first one. I was in my early 20s I guess when that one came out. I ended up watching it by myself and it freaked me out so bad I couldn't sleep. I was especially bothered by the end when the boy is just standing there and you can see straight through his head where his eyes used to be."
"The infamous heart scene in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (was 8 when that came out...have not watched it since)."
When I saw that movie as a kid, I loved the heart scene, I thought it was so cool. That probably says a lot about me, huh?
"Tremors, 1990 movie. I started believing that huge worms lived beneath the ground and will readily gobble me up. I was 9 years old back then."
Similarly, when I played my first Legend of Zelda game when I was a kid and reached the desert area that also featured underground worms, I thought the same. There's too much worm media out there.
"[13 Ghosts], original 1960. [..] my big brother took me to the matinee. Had nightmares for about a week. Boy did my brother get a telling off from my mum."
An older sibling taking their younger sibling to a horror movie feels like a rite of passage.
