13 times family movies emotionally traumatized us

1. Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure

I grew up with Pee-Wee! I always watched the show and loved playing with the toys. I remember watching Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure as a kid and loving it, but then the scene with Large Marge happened. I’m not sure whether it was the buildup in suspense of her story or just the animation itself that freaked me out, but I couldn’t watch that scene for years to come.

–Stephen L.

2. Hook

I’ve always been uneasy around alligators and crocodiles, but at the end of the movie Hook, when Dustin Hoffman gets eaten by the monster croc clock – that gave me a lifelong fear. I had nightmares forever about being devoured by a flesh thirsty crocodile!

–Susan F.

3. Wizard of Oz

Houses flying through the sky, mean monkeys that can fly, witches, (which I have always gotten teased about, as my birthday is on Halloween) all way too much for me as a kid and to this day, I will not watch. I had nightmares as a kid of our house flying and my sister used to tease me when we were kids that if I got out of bed in the middle of the night, our bedroom floor would open up and I would fall through the sky until the monkeys got me.

–Linda C.

4. Superman III

When I was but a wee child, I made the mistake of walking into the living room while my grandparents were watching Superman III on television. Big deal, right? Wrong. It was toward the end of the movie when the psycho super computer latches onto Annie Ross and drags her into the machine. We then get an extreme close up of her screaming face as metal and wires are fused to her skin, robotizing her into a walking cybernetic monster. I ran from the room in terror that night, and the image of her screaming face as she was transformed still creeps the hell out of me.

–Daniel C.

5. Labyrinth

Mom tells me I wasn’t a very big fan of the Goblin King (which I’m continuing to deny), but the scene that was just a big bag full of NOPE was the shaft of “helping hands”. It’s an immediate dark turn when our heroine falls into a hole filled with only dark green hands. The hands grab her to prevent her from falling, which is good but also absolutely horrifying. But easily the worst part is when they come together to form faces to talk to her. As a child my reaction was basically, “HELL NO.” I don’t care if they were “helping” they were completely creepy.

–Ginny G.

6. Watership Down

One time, I spent the night at my aunt’s house as a child, which was a big deal because I was scared to go anywhere without my mom. So I was already anxious and uncomfortable. Then she played Watership Down for me AS I WAS GOING TO SLEEP. The rabbit fight scenes and the Reaper Rabbit traumatized me as a child. I had nightmares for years, and a fear of rabbits… especially dead rabbits.

–Lacee S.

7. Monty Python and the Holy Grail

When I was 6 I watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Hilarious movie with nothing scary from beginning to end, right? WRONG! The part where they face the Rabbit of Caerbannog. NO THANK YOU. I remember having nightmares where I was at a petting zoo and the bunnies turned into killer bunnies and started to rip off everyone’s heads. I can still feel their little teeth! When I would visit my grandma, she had a pair of novelty bunny slippers and I would very quickly kick them far under her bed. Just in case.

–Belen M.

8. Planet of the Apes

The original movie was released when I was 7 years old. My parents thought it would be a great Saturday matinee event for an overly sensitive, high strung child like myself. I was sitting in a Brooklyn theater choking on popcorn utterly convinced that the world had been turned upside down. Everything I saw on screen was real to me. When I walked out of the theater I was petrified, searching left and right looking for apes. Witnessing my panicked state my dad spotted a policeman on horseback, pointed at him and shouted, RUN!

–Greg A.

9. Power Rangers

Not a movie, but when I was young this villain from Power Rangers gave me nightmares for weeks, The’ Terror Toad.’ I would have nightmares about this toad eating my family, and having their faces appear on his belly as he did so. Then eventually he would come for me. Looking back as an adult it seems silly now, but that toad still haunts my subconscious somewhere.

–Nathan L.

10. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial

At the beginning of the movie when E.T. first ends up on Earth he walks through the woods in-between these two giant trees. For some reason every time I saw this scene as a kid I started bawling my eyes out. Something about it really upset me. I still can’t explain why, there is nothing sad in that scene. He’s just walking. Overloaded my childhood brain I guess.

–Patrick J.

11. The Little Mermaid

The wedding scene where Ursula transforms back into the sea witch and crawls with Exorcist like speed towards Ariel and drags her over board? Terrifying! I was certain that in the hallway leading to my bedroom at night Ursula would flop down the darkened corridor slowly gaining on the small running me to snatch me up and turn me into a green piece of sea spinach. Whew… that was intense 😉

–Margaux P.

12. Roger Rabbit

I cried so hard at the end of Roger Rabbit when Judge Doom executes a cartoon shoe by lowering him into ‘the Dip.’ The poor thing whimpers and squeals with this pleading look, as he fizzles away. It’s so painful. He was so sweet and innocent! I seriously can’t handle it.

–Gracie B.

13. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Secret of the Ooze

When I was younger I loved the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I had Turtles everything. But when I saw the film Secret of the Ooze and Vanilla Ice came on with his dance moves and singing I was pretty horrified. As an adult, there is nothing scarier than the ear worm “go ninja go ninja go” replaying in your head 10,000 times.

–Christina L.