Horror Films That Scar Children

Silent Night, Deadly Night is about a kid who witnesses a man dressed like Santa Claus kill his parents. When he grows up, he dons a Santa Claus suit himself and goes on a murderous rampage of his own.

This film scars kids in a number of ways. First, it's a bad way to find out that department store Santas aren't the real deal. Second, the mean spirited violence and rape scenes will probably traumatize young eyes so bad that they, too, ultimately go on to kill people while dressed as Santa. And three, they might decide they want to watch Silent Night, Deadly Night 2.

It's bad enough to have an abusive alcoholic dad who breaks your arm. It's worse when he's doing everything in his power to chop you up with an ax. You use your psychic abilities to call for help, but your savior gets taken out the moment he arrives. If the adult world can't help you, to whom can you turn?

Any kid out there with mean fathers ought to steer clear of The Shining. The only thing worse than being hunted by someone in your own family is having visions of twins who throw rivers of blood at you, and the kid in this film has both. It also has Jack Nicholson making out with a hideous old hag, which is simply not a safe sight for childhood.

On top of all that: the Furry scene.

Out of all the Friday the 13th films, this one is especially ill-suited for children. You might not think that since the main character, Tommy Jarvis, is a really cool kid who pulls off the remarkable feat of chopping Jason Voorhees into what would probably be a very expensive Japanese delicacy. In that sense, it's kind of a rally cry for little kids everywhere.

But that ignores the idea that Jason first kills Tommy's mother. This is unsettling not just because it's really scary for a kid to lose their only parent, but because Jason seems a lot less fun when he's taking out innocent single mothers. That's probably why her death occurs offscreen. Otherwise the little kid inside all of us would be scarred.

Poltergeist II is nowhere near as good as its predecessor, but it has enough crazy stuff going on to justify its existence. For instance, there's a scene where Craig T. Nelson drinks a possessed tequila worm and throws up a big snot monster five minutes later. But that's nothing. This is a film where a kid gets attacked by his own braces.

If you never had braces, lucky you. If you did, then you know just how terrifying this scene plays for someone whose mouth is packing more chrome than a Harley. Of all the crazy things to come after you, your braces are probably the last you'd expect and the last you'd want.