Everybody has a movie or two from their youth that gave them the creeps. Not only did they creep us out to some degree but that creepiness factor has been permanently seared into our brains. For me that movie is Poltergeist.
I was much too young the first time I watched Poltergeist and it scared the crap out of me. For many years I could not eat fried chicken thanks to that movie. Seriously. It is also very likely that my disdain for clowns stemmed from that creepy doll in Carol Anne and Robbie’s room.
Creepshow is another one. Duh, it has CREEP in the title. Just the mere mention of that movie and visions of Ted Danson buried up to his neck in the sand waiting for the tide to roll in comes rushing to the forefront of my mind.
Of course, Poltergeist and Creepshow were meant to frighten—and might I say they did an excellent job of doing just that in my opinion. But not all movies that have a creep factor aren’t necessarily meant to be scary. And yet…
Pee Wee’s Big Adventure is a great example. Following Pee Wee in his quest to recover his stolen bike seems harmless enough. For the most part it is—except for one particularly creepy scene. Large Marge.
The Never Ending Story is supposed to be a children’s movie but I dare you to not be a little disturbed by the scene with Artax and the Swamps of Sorrow. Poor Artax. Or completely freaked out by that wolf-beast thing, Gmork. The fact that Bastian is reading the book in the attic of the school? Super creepy.
Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal are on my list of movies that I love dearly from my youth—and probably always will—that are at least a little bit creepy. How can a spandex clad, mullet sporting David Bowie STEALING A BABY not be creepy? The fashion choices alone are frightening. And the Skeksis from The Dark Crystal are dripping with scary vibes.
Side note: When I was in college years ago guy tried to hit on a friend of mine at a party we were at by telling her she reminded him of the Gelfling girl, Kira, from The Dark Crystal. Creepy and hilarious.
Even Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory has its share of creepiness woven into the film. The boat scene comes to mind. “Is it raining? Is it snowing? Is a hurricane a blowing?…” Woah there Willy, maybe it’s time to lay off the sugar a bit.
It has been over 25 years since I first watched Poltergeist. I could watch it tomorrow and it would still creep me out. But this time I’m not giving up the fried chicken.
What movies from your childhood gave you the creeps? Share with us in the comments!
Holly teaches design at a small NW Ohio college. She spends her days off hanging out with her foxy musician husband and their gorgeous new baby and ridiculously smart pre-school aged son. Holly has a passion for food, photography, beautiful letter forms, and the possibilities that can be found in a single sheet of well made paper. You can read more from Holly on her blog, Artist Mother Teacher.
You mentioned Large Marge and I can’t concentrate on anything else! Children of the Corn freaked me out.
E.T. gave me the serious creeps and I can’t watch it to this day. The part when E.T. turns white because he’s sick still gives me the willies. *shudders*
P.S. Labryrinth is one of my all time favorite movies!
The Last Unicorn is super creepy.
Oh god I refused to finish watching Labyrinth when I was six and never have. Ugh, the blue hands…
Watership Downs. Terrifying.
Dark Crystal…love that movie but man did it scare the crap out of me when I was a kid!! Poltergeist….can’t watch it ever again, and now to my amusement and slight fear, we currently live right down the street from the house they used for the exterior shots of that movie. My friends live right across from that house and have to look at it everyday!! True story.
Drop Dead Fred was very freaky to me as a kid!
My parents were really strict about me seeing horror movies, and the first one I saw was Child’s Play, which scared the ever loving you-know-what out of me! Seriously, I slept on the floor of my parent’s room for at least a week! And although as a teenager, I grew to love the horror genre, I still cannot watch Child’s Play. Ever. I tried once, in my early 20s and I had to turn it off. And it’s such a BAD MOVIE. It’s embarrassing! It’s like being scared of the movie Leprechaun!
And David Bowie in Labyrinth…well, having grown up in the Midwest with parents who were not into glam rock, I found him confusingly attractive. As did my friends.
I still have issues with walking down open backed stairs into basements because of Child’s Play.
I still shudder at that freaking Poltergist clown.
Labyrinth and The Neverending Story both freaked me out as a kid, but I did learn to appreciate them when I got older.
When my friend and I were eight or nine, we decided to have a Halloween sleepover. We wanted a scary movie, so we asked my friend’s dad to rent “The ‘Burbs,” which we understood to be scary but funny. Well, he misunderstood and rented Hitchcock’s “The Birds.” We were all disappointed, but watched it anyway. My friends fell asleep not too long into it, but I was riveted. The only one to stay up and watch the whole thing, I was TERRIFIED. I didn’t sleep for two weeks, and when I did, I had nightmares about the movie. Now, as an adult, I love Hitchcock’s movies but “The Birds” still freaks me out.
The Dark Crystal scared the bejesus out of me as a kid. When they eat that poor vulture thingee at the beginning. Not sure I even finished it. It still scares the crap out of me!
Another one I wasn’t allowed to watch but did on the sly was Gremlins. Couldn’t sleep for a week, but couldn’t tell my parents why because then they’d know I watched it at the babysitters when they told me not to!
Flowers. In. The. Attic. I absolutely love it, but super creepy!
I am now alternately creeped out from Large Marge flashbacks and on the verge of tears thinking about Artax. So sad.
Well, I remember being a kid in the early 80s and The Ghost and Mr. Chicken really scared me. It was on a lot on Saturday afternoons.
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