The champ for me is the South African film DIRKIE aka LOST IN THE DESERT (1969).
Once seen, never forgotten. 😳😳
POLTERGEIST, I'm sure, though that's an obvious one.
I had a nightmare about the trailer for COMPANY OF WOLVES when it aired on US tv.
LEGEND 0F B0GGY and CREATURE FROM BLACK LAKE, probably (or else I was already inclined towards nightmares about Bigfoot).
Just the synopsis of HILLS HAVE ETES disturbed me/scared me for much of my childhood. The film, watched in adulthood, couldn't live up to my imagination.
Quote from: M.10rda on August 06, 2026, 07:55:52 PMLEGEND 0F B0GGY
In the early 2010s, I maintained an IMDb list of the scariest movies I'd seen in my childhood. One day, I checked it and found hundreds of comments. Apparently, an influencer had stumbled across the list and shared it on his Facebook page, giving a special shoutout to my inclusion of The Legend of Boggy Creek (1972). I always thought I was the only person genuinely creeped out by that film, and he essentially said the same thing.
The Sentinel (1977) – The return-of-the-undead-dad scene. If you've seen it, you know exactly what I mean :buggedout:
Let's Scare Jessica to Death (1971) – My fragile child mind simply could not handle this.
The Exorcist (1973) – Goes without saying.
Au rendez-vous de la mort joyeuse (1973) – Unsettling French horror pre-dating Paranormal Activity, co-starring a very young Gérard Depardieu.
I know lots of people bag on BOGGY but it seems like quintessential nightmare fuel for children of the 70s and 80s. Incomprehensibly rated "G" (thus the scariest G-rated movie of all time), it played on TV for years during daylight hours, exposing countless kids to the "arm through the window" scene. :buggedout: :bouncegiggle: I am sure we are not alone in feeling traumatized at tender ages.
Quote from: M.10rda on August 07, 2026, 12:41:36 AMI know lots of people bag on BOGGY but it seems like quintessential nightmare fuel for children of the 70s and 80s. Incomprehensibly rated "G" (thus the scariest G-rated movie of all time), it played on TV for years during daylight hours, exposing countless kids to the "arm through the window" scene. :buggedout: :bouncegiggle: I am sure we are not alone in feeling traumatized at tender ages.
If anything what we need MORE of these days is movies that traumatize kids at young ages!
I just saw an online petition to urge the MPAA that any film in which a dog dies should automatically be rated R. (No mention of cats in the petition, alas.) Now I hate seeing animals die in movies, but - per your comment, Chainsaw - what's the sense in shielding children from the realities of life? That's why I'm introducing my own petition to the MPAA: All Bigfoot horror movies should automatically be rated G - like in the good old days! :bouncegiggle:
Not me personally, but people mention NeverEnding Story and Return to Oz as two that are scary.
I love both.
Maybe The Hills Have Eyes? The original Wes Craven one. Especially if you have one of those Roku remote deals where you watch the movie but then get lost in Never never land and have to go on youtube to do the research on what the story is based on. Apparently a True story that happened in Scotland a long time ago. It is impossible to just watch The Hills Have Eyes. Once you hear that it "might" have been based on something you start going down that morbid nightmare road. Sawney Bean. EWWW!!
I think the only thing that ever scared me that much, was the outer limits episode "It came off the woodwork"...
Children of the Corn freaked me out. I think it was the brainwashing sort of aspect and the fact that they were kids my age.