Mom on Film: The Scariest Movies of Childhood

Editor's Note: Visit our Halloween page for more tricks and treats, the costume and horror classics photo galleries, and our own scariest movies.

As Halloween comes around again, seasonal movies to watch -- or avoid -- have been on my mind. This has led to numerous conversations regarding people's "scariest childhood movies." Some responses came as a surprise while others, not so much. Most of the movies mentioned are ones with which I am familiar, but a few were new to me.

Without a doubt the movie most identified with childhood terror is the 1939 Victor Fleming classic, The Wizard of Oz. Whether it was the flying monkeys (both my 40-year-old husband and my 42-year-old brother still won't watch this movie because of the monkeys), the witch, the fear of getting lost and being unable to find the way home, or even (as in the case of my son's best friend) the trees that throw apples, this is the film named most often as the "scariest."

A close second is Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the film based on an Ian Fleming novel with a screenplay by Roald Dahl and Ken Hughes, who also directed the film. The single most terrifying factor in this film is the Child Catcher. I remember being taken out of our neighborhood theater as a child because this character so frightened me with his black suit and frock coat, Pinocchio-like nose and great big net. Not even the delightful and fun-loving Caractucus Potts, Truly Scrumptious and Grandpa Potts could erase the absolute horror of the Child Catcher.

The third most frequently mentioned scary film(s) are various installments of the Harry Potter series. For my eldest daughter it was Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, specifically Voldemort, both his appearance, of a sort, in the Forbidden Forest and later, with, or as, Professor Quirrell. Both of my daughters became arm-grabbingly, screechingly, tearfully frightened during Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban when beloved Professor Lupin transforms into a werewolf. My younger daughter was also "freaked out" during the battle between Dumbledore and Voldemort at the Ministry of Magic in last summer's Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

Aside from these frequently mentioned films, plenty of others emerged, some of which came as a surprise. In addition to Harry Potter, my eldest daughter admits that Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein scared the pants off of her. My five-year-old son's scary movies include Hocus Pocus and two sections of Disney's Fantasia 2000. The scary sections are "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," which remains as it originally appeared in the 1940 version of Fantasia, and the "Firebird Suite."

My friend Nancy recalls being removed from the theater, as a child, during the 1966 Don Knotts film, The Ghost and Mr. Chicken. Apparently there was an organ with bloody keys that played by itself. For her sister, and one of my husband's cousins, it was Bambi, when Bambi's mother is killed. My friend, Maureen, unhesitatingly named the original One Hundred and One Dalmatians. Cruella de Vil scared her so much she was afraid to get out of the car or go into the house after returning from the theater. She knew exactly what Cruella had in mind for those puppies. My college roommate identified Jaws, which she saw in the theater as an eight-year-old in 1975. And my 10-year-old nephew says his scariest film is The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.

As for me, my scariest childhood films were The Wizard of Oz, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the 1973 picture, Tom Sawyer. I saw this last film on an airplane and remember that when I got home that night I couldn't sleep because I knew Injun Joe was hiding in the closet and was going to "get me" if I closed my eyes.

I find it interesting that of all these frightening films only Hocus Pocus is a Halloween movie, per se. Maybe that is because when we think of Halloween, ghosts, skeletons and spooks of all kinds are a foregone conclusion: perhaps we are ready for them and are, therefore, less frightened when they appear. So, if your family is interested in something really scary this Halloween, lull them into a false sense of security, and then… release the flying monkeys, or the Child Catcher! And if they insist on witches, give Harry Potter a try. But be prepared, they may never get over it.

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Sue "Mom on Film" Harvey is a mother of three who shares her passion for film with bi-weekly, family-friendly movie recommendations.
Read more of Sue's pieces here.

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