Top ten movies that scared the crap out of me

I love me some horror movies. Can't get enough of 'em. As a young lad though, I was absolutely terrified of anything even remotely scary. Timid little me spent many a night hiding under the covers, just waiting for the monsters that I knew were stalking around my room to grab me. Here are the movies that left the most striking impressions on my fragile little mind.

10. The Adventures of Buckaroo Bonzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984)



Yeah yeah, the first one on the list isn't even a horror movie. I shall explain. My Grandad was cool as hell. On the very rare occasions that I would be left in his care, we would go see a movie. Every single time that I can remember, the movie we went to see was one of those weird ass 80's flicks that no one remembers. We once went to see The Ice Pirates for god sakes. The Ice Pirates! So this particular time we went and saw the epitome of awesomeness that is Buckaroo Bonzai. I must admit, the alien dudes scared me every time they were onscreen. Told you I was timid. My Grandad kept chuckling after the movie and calling them "Almond heads." Heh.

9. Beetle Juice (1988)



So begins the mention of the many, many movies that my Dad took me to see at a highly inappropriate age. I remember when Beetle Juice came out well, I was in art class in third grade and some of my friends who had already seen the movie were talking about how great it was and how it wasn't scary at all. Apparently I believed them and agreed to see it in the theater with my Dad. The dead people in the waiting room are what really started messing with me, but when Geena Davis ripped her face off while hanging in the closet - I damn near pissed myself. My Dad was sorry that night that he took me to see it, but oddly enough he did not learn his lesson as I will document many more times.

8. House (1986)



This one has the sole distinction of being a movie that I was terrified of without actually having seen it. Every time I saw that cover it creeped me right the hell out. I finally got around to seeing it a few years ago and man, that is one wacky ass movie.

7. Ghost Busters (1984)



This is the earliest one that I can remember my Dad taking me to see in the theater. This one didn't waste any time, when that librarian ghost kirks out in the beginning it put me in a catatonic horrified trance for the rest of the movie. And the rotted cab driver that you see real quick when all of the ghosts escape, I did not appreciate that one either.

6. The Shining (1980)



The Shining actually disturbed me more than it scared me. I saw this one at the tender age when a naked woman is a very difficult thing to come by, but by god a boy will do just about anything to see one. So when the beautiful naked woman shows up in that bath tub, I was in heaven. And then BAM! She turns into the rotting old hag, a kick in the nuts that I'm surprised didn't turn me gay.

5. Pee Wee's Big Adventure (1985)



Like all of the other cool kids, I thought Pee Wee's Playhouse was the shit. So why would I put his epic quest to reclaim his bike on a list of movies that scared me? Two words: Large Marge. Some years later my Dad actually told me that he made it a point to watch me during the scene where her face goes all crazy (he had already seen the movie) just to get a kick out of my reaction. Apparently I almost jumped out of the chair. That old bitch haunted me for a good long time.

4. The Exorcist (1973)



I only saw about 30 seconds of The Exorcist as a kid when my Dad was flipping channels one day. That 30 seconds was enough. My Dad then turned it off because he thought it was "too scary" for me. Thanks pop.

3. Poltergeist (1982)



Now we're getting into the ones that seriously scarred me for life. This is the only one that my Mom actually let me watch. It is the only one with that distinction because she learned never to let me watch a scary movie again. I think we must have gotten it on video, or maybe it was on tv, but I was really young. Like 5 or 6 maybe. I couldn't sleep for a week after seeing it. Every time I looked in the mirror I was scared that I was going to start ripping my face off like the fella above. And the clown! My god.

2. Return of the Living Dead (1985)



Zombie movies are among my absolute favorites of the genre, which is surprising given how much this movie seriously messed me up. Once again a movie choice made by my Dad. That one zombie that was in the green barrel and was all gooey? Yikes. I was up all night completely convinced that there were zombies at the foot of my bed and they were coming to get me at any second. It never helped that my bedroom at my Dad's house was pitch black at night. A nightmare factory, that's what it was.

1. Pet Sematary (1989)



To this day, I don't know how I managed to make it all the way through this movie without suffering a heart attack. I saw it with my Dad and his drinking buddies, so apparently I was trying to be a tough guy. Things started off bad with Mr. Massive Headwound up there, and by the time it got to the sister with the Spinal Meningitis? Fuhget aboutit. This is the only one that still kind of creeps me out today. That kid was awesome though.

So yeah, I was a massive wuss as a child. But somehow, those experiences shaped me into the sicko I am today. For that I have to thank my Dad for his amazingly cavalier parenting. Anyone else have movies to add that left an impression on them?