10 of the Fright Films That Ruined Your Childhood

"The Gate," directed by Tibor Takács, a Hungarian-Canadian director, scared many kids and set the stage for their love of horror. It stars Stephen Dorff in one of his first roles. In the film, kids inadvertently, and with a bit of help from a local heavy metal fan, open a gate and let a horde of demons into the world while their parents are out of town. Whoops that will probably not go over well with Mom and Dad when they return. But many fans reported that the film petrified them as a child but wasn't as scary when they rewatched it as an adult.

Some may have seen this chiller a little too early as a kid, but this Paul W.S. Anderson movie has a reputation for frightening adults pretty severely, so imagine what a kid would think of it. It stars Laurence Fishburne, Sam Neill, Kathleen Quinlan, and Joely Richardson. One former kid reported that they had never forgotten the airlock scene; another said they needed to sleep with the light on.

"Candyman" is another film that freaked out kids and teenagers alike. The idea of speaking his name into a mirror three times to call him still creeps grown adults out. The film is based on a Clive Barker story, "The Forbidden," directed by Bernard Rose, and stars Tony Todd and Virginia Madsen. The film has lost none of its scary punch over the years.

"The Exorcist" is a film that scared many people when it was first released. Kids have discovered it when they were growing up, and parents have forgotten how potent it is. A familiar story is that the person, as a child, watched it more than once, but on the third watch, suddenly became so terrified by the film that not only could they not forget it, it always stayed in their minds. Some said that it tormented them. Others said they feared being possessed by a demon and probably needed therapy after watching it.

"IT" is a horror concept that is engineered to frighten children, and IT is incredibly successful in its mission. Kids who weren't even scared of clowns, they do exist, before watching "IT" developed phobias. Other children grew fears of sewer grates and even drains. Good job, Stephen King, writer; Tommy Lee Wallace, director; and Tim Curry, Pennywise the Dancing Clown!

"Child's Play" has another perfect premise to frighten the kids, and it sure did. There was a real doll similar to the doll in the film, and a fan reported that his My Buddy doll had to go after watching the movie. However, the person's mother had his older brother save the doll from the trash. The older brother knew he was scared of the doll and took the opportunity to place the My Buddy doll around the house to frighten him. Tom Holland, who also directed "Fright Night," directed the movie, and it starred Catherine Hicks, Chris Sarandon, and Brad Dourif.

It might come as a bit of a surprise, but "The Grudge" seems to have been a formative film for many horror fans. They report being terrified by the film; some were so scared that they still can't watch it as adults. The American remake of "The Grudge" was directed by the Japanese director of the original film "Ju-On: The Grudge" Takashi Shimizu, and it starred Sarah Michelle Gellar. This movie made a lot of kids afraid of the attic.

It goes to show that sometimes the movie doesn't even have to be a great one to scare someone really bad, especially when they are younger. A good example of this is "Kingdom of the Spiders." It frightened some people as children, but they quickly let everyone know that it wasn't a stellar film, in their opinion. It wasn't even the idea of spiders and a phobic response. It was just something about the movie that got them good. In essence, the film was successful on that score. John "Bud" Cardos directed it and starred William Shatner.

"Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things" is an early effort from director Bob Clark, before he went on to make "Black Christmas" and was co-written by Clark and Alan Ormsby, who also stars in the film. They went on to make films like "Deathdream" and "Deranged". This one personally scared me pretty bad as a child and I found out that I wasn't alone. Another fan noted that the film gave them nightmares of zombies for a long time. It's a bit campy, but I think it bears rediscovery, especially considering who made it.

"TerrorVision" is another lesser-known comedy horror movie in this category, but it did horrify at least one child very badly. They noted that the giant alien monster coming out of the television, turning you into a goo which they then lapped up, gave them nightmares. Again, you can't always predict what is going to scare someone. Ted Nicolaou directed it, and it starred Gerrit Graham, who you might recognize from "Phantom of the Paradise" and "Child's Play 2" and Mary Woronov, who you probably know from "Night of the Comet" and "Chopping Mall."