Do you like horror movies? What was the first thing that really scared you?
Whether you are one horror lover or registered Halloweenone thing is probably true: When you were a child, you saw a movie that terrified you, evoking an extreme fear that only a child can feel. So to celebrate the spooky season, we asked VFtheir employees return to their memory banks to reveal the first movie that scared each of them silly. Our list is filled with ghosts, zombies, vampires, flying monkeys and a surprising number of them. Kristy Swanson project. Readers, beware: You are scared.
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
As a child, I had a very complicated relationship with The Wizard of Oz. On the one hand, it’s one of my favorite movies: I’m completely obsessed with Dorothy. I braided my hair and insisted on wearing my own ruby red slippers everywhere I went. On the other hand, I have to make sure I feel brave every time I sit down to watch it. I often reached for the VHS on the shelf, but the image of the Wicked Witch of the West summoning her army of flying monkeys haunted me—and honestly, still does. I can still hear Toto’s sweet bark and Dorothy’s scream as the herd of terrifying blue, human-sized mutants swept them into the abyss. Talk about evil! —Daniela Tijerina
shine (1980)
I’m a shy cat, something I learned the hard way while staying at my aunt and uncle’s house when I was little. I happened to wander into the TV room while they were watching shine (on RCA video, for those who remember), and right on time Jack NicholsonThe possessed caretaker buries an ax in Hallorann (Scatman Crothers). Finally, I read the book in which Hallorann actually survives! But I was haunted by that scene and by the twins’ eerie refrain: “Come play with us, Danny.” I also watched goblin when I was a child and like all sensitive people, could no longer tolerate clown dolls or static on the television. —Radhika Jones
I Am Legend (2007)
I was great (and Maybe irresponsible) parents let me watch R-rated movies at such a young age (see: shine at age seven) and trained my stamina. So it wasn’t until middle school that I saw my first all-night movie with lights in the form of…an action movie? It’s hard to say exactly what genre I Am Legend fit below. The film is set in a post-apocalyptic Manhattan besieged by plague victims turned into monsters, with immunity. Will Smith trying to create a cure. The screams of the vampire-like monsters running through Washington Square Park still haunt me, as do the scenes of city officials blowing up bridges and tunnels. It’s too real, too real now post-COVID. —Archer Jaime
It (1990)
As a child, two VHS sets of It Miniature movies held a prominent place in my uncle’s wooden entertainment system, and in my earliest memories, it was a totem. I want It, whatever It used to be. One time, when I was about five years old, my older cousins were babysitting and decided to put it on. The other kids ran out of the room after a few minutes, but I sat motionless, eyes glued to the television, saying nothing for hours, leaving everyone with the impression that I was simply not afraid. Evoking weeks of night terrors and lingering feelings of unease surrounding clowns of all kinds. My mother was very angry. This story has a mysterious meaning in my family — its authenticity was a topic of discussion at both my 30th birthday party and my recent wedding — but I know it’s true for a reason. do: I love all kinds of horror movies and rarely honestly. scared, but 1990 It still really makes sense to me. —Erin Vanderhoof
Buffy the vampire slayer (1992)
When I went to the group sleepover for the first time, someone picked up the VHS of Buffy the vampire slayer as our entertainment in the evening. As an adult, I was told that this movie (starring Kristy Swanson as a cheerleader who discovers she’s a vampire hunter) was a comedy and now watch the trailer. introduction, I guess. But at the time, when I was 9 years old, this movie terrified me and I spent weeks waking up at night fearing a vampire might find its way into my house. I was determined to learn how to use wooden stakes just in case. I’ve never rewatched that movie (or the TV show it appeared on) and frankly, I doubt that will change any time soon. —Rebecca Ford
Night of the living dead (1990)
My mother told me that when she took me to see it black cauldron, I was so scared that I hid under the theater seats throughout the movie – but that memory was lost in the fog of youth. I remember being horrified by Watchman in the forest And The Changer, It’s just that it’s kind of fun, giddy, and scary. No, the movie that really freaked me out in the horrible way I still remember clearly was the 1990 remake of Night of the Living Dead, a grim, dirty and unrelenting descent into hell, the likes of which I had never seen before. At about 9 or 10 years old, I was too young to see the movie, but my older sister (who was also too young to see it) insisted we watch it. And so we did, I curled up on the couch like poor Barbara Todd (Patricia Tallman) finds little refuge from the zombies in an old farmhouse.
I was completely confused. And then, to make matters worse, my parents came home from work and drove us down to the old farmhouse where we lived part of every summer – and where I spent many nights staring out of my small bedroom window. I’m sure I’ll go. to see a certain vampire, or several vampires, stumbling out of the woods. That was the beginning of an embarrassing years-long zombie scare that lasted well into my 20s, exacerbated by the film’s 2004 remake. Dawn of the dead. There I was—a college student who should have paid more attention to boys, parties, and, um, my studies—completely convinced that every thud and creak in the apartment outside My campus was a zombie that finally came to get me, about 12 years later Night of the living dead It first entered the fear receptors in my brain. I eventually got over it, even survived a few seasons Living corpses. But I will never watch Tom Savinimy movie again, lest I find myself cowering in my bedroom in my 40s, listening to the shuffling of rotting feet once again. —Richard Lawson
The Goonies (1985) et The lost boys (1987)
Even though these movies came out two years apart, in my mind, I was scared of both at the same time. I really don’t watch The Goonies all the way to this decade of my life, which says something about how much I fear it, even though my friends find this ridiculous. Why? Underground nature; Fratelli house. And The lost boys? Vampire; divorce. I get scared easily, I guess. I still have never seen it Children’s game or It because just seeing the VHS box at Take Two Video scared the crap out of me. The 80s were a very scary time. —Claire Howorth
Don’t look under the bed (1999)
Before Disney Channel perfected the art of seasonal viewing, it wasn’t as spooky Halloween town And Convulsion, network made one of the scariest movies ever aimed at children. I can’t remember if I actually watched the entire movie about a boogeyman living under a girl’s bed, but I do remember periodically looking under my bed to make sure there were no creatures. sneaked into my room in the middle of the night. My elementary school age self is not alone. “There were a number of meetings where we talked about tone and what [Disney] wanted it – scary but not too scary,” the director Kenneth Johnson speak Weekly entertainment in 2017. “That’s the standard we’re constantly trying to find. Everyone thought we had succeeded until they started receiving abusive mail after it aired.” —Savannah Walsh
101 Dalmatians (1996)
Few villains in film history are as iconic or terrifying as Cruella de Ville — a chic and sinister cross between Miranda Priestly and the Child Catcher. There’s a reason her theme song goes like this: “If she don’t scare you then no evil will happen” – and as a kid, I actually wrote remember those lyrics. But I’m not afraid of Cruella in the 1961 animated film One hundred and one Dalmatians. I was really scared Glenn CloseCruella de Vil’s interpretation in the 1996 live-action film. Close’s powdered face, her black-and-white aesthetic with streaks of red (like blood!), and most importantly, her ungainly giggle That caused a certain fear in me, the likes of which I had never felt. Looking back, I can see it for what it was—an indelible performance by one of our finest screen actors—but at the time, Close truly scared me.
One of my earliest, deepest childhood memories is having the nightmare Cruella was about to have. I and woke my father up in the middle of the night. Then I told him to find our VHS copy 101 Dalmatians, throw it in the trash, take the trash bag and put it in the trash outside the house. I couldn’t sleep another minute knowing that Close’s Cruella was lurking somewhere in our house. Even today, seeing her gives me chills. —Chris Murphy
goblin (1982) et Deadly friend (1986)
Never underestimate the terrifying power of a child’s web of whispers. The two movies that scared me the most when I was in elementary school were the blockbuster haunted house in the suburbs elvenist, remains a classic to this day, and the psychotic killer robot-girl movie Deadly Friend, before M3GAN by one generation. Both scared me before I saw them thanks to the intense descriptions I heard (and sometimes misunderstood) from my classmates.
