# Your first scary movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 30, 2009, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-scary-movie/498123 "2009-05-30T04:56:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![enomaj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/59ef9b/32.png) [@enomaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enomaj)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-scary-movie/498123/1 "2009-05-30T04:56:22Z")
Mine was [The Car](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFWea3Eu97E) It used to come on HBO back in the late 70s. We had just gotten cable which I had never heard of before. IIRC The Car was one of the movies that came on in the first month we had cable. I was about 8 or 9 and I would watch the movie every time it came on. The movie scared the crap out of me every time. I remember prefering The Car over Christine when that came out. Some stand out scenes: The kids trapped in the cemetary. The lady on the phone. (if you’ve seen it you know what I’m talking about) [The finale @ 2:20](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkJJRuLDQLg&feature=related) ---
**Author:** ![Thalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f475e1/32.png) [@Thalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thalion)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-scary-movie/498123/2 "2009-05-30T05:04:40Z")
The first one I remember is _Darby O’Gill and the Little People_. Totally freaked me out. I know that it wasn’t _supposed_ to be a scary movie, but it sure as hell was when I was seven years old. I know from other threads that I’m not the only Doper traumatized by [the Banshee](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCIbTF9FIGI). ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-scary-movie/498123/3 "2009-05-30T05:17:05Z")
[The Haunting.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057129/) Slept with a pillow over my head for so long that it stopped being for fear, but because it was warmer and more comfortable. ---
**Author:** ![Jamicat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c67d28/32.png) [@Jamicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamicat)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-scary-movie/498123/4 "2009-05-30T06:47:26Z")
I saw “IT’S ALIVE” in the theater in '74 when I was like 8… I had to cover my eyes when baby was around…:eek: Tried to watch it again years later…couldn’t stop laughing. Funny how the years can turn Horror to Comedy. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-scary-movie/498123/5 "2009-05-30T06:59:16Z")
The Hills Have Eyes 2, which I saw WAY too young. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-scary-movie/498123/6 "2009-05-30T07:17:28Z")
This was back in 1953, when all the great UFO/monster movies were made. I was 7 years old, and my older brother and his friend took me to see \*It Came from Outer Space. \*I had never seen a scary movie, and it scared the bejesus out of me. Plus, I really had to pee. I wasn’t allowed to go to the restroom myself, and my brother refused to take me. So during one of the really scary scenes I peed in my pants. I had to sit there in my pee for the rest of the movie. Seeing it again, a few decades later, it was maybe 1% scary and 99% boring. And this time I didn’t pee. ---
**Author:** ![Blue\_Mood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@Blue\_Mood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Mood)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-scary-movie/498123/7 "2009-05-30T07:26:43Z")
I saw _Creature from the Black Lagoon_ when I was in 7th grade, but it wasn’t that bad. A couple of years later I saw _The Omen_ and was so scared I had to have my parents pick me up from my friend’s house early. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-scary-movie/498123/8 "2009-05-30T08:52:54Z")
I saw Alien, Jaws, and Amityville Horror as a child. Hmm let’s see… Alien - 1979 - I was 5 Jaws - 1975 - I was 1 or 2! Or did this have a second run in the theaters? Amityville - 1979 - I was 5 My mom took me to Alien thinking it was going to be like E.T. Oops! She hid her eyes the entire movie but I was fine. My Aunt took me to see the other two. After Jaws she took me to the beach 😃 After Amityville she took me to the Amityville house! :eek: I planned on taking her to see Blair Witch and then bringing her to woods in my town that are behind a cemetery and have condemned houses in the forest, but I never got the chance. I ended up taking her to a Drag Restaurant and Naked Boys Singing instead. ---
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-scary-movie/498123/9 "2009-05-30T14:13:50Z")
Before the age of 10: Jaws Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte Soylent Green Soylent Green is PEOPLE! ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-scary-movie/498123/10 "2009-05-30T14:19:36Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > My mom took me to Alien thinking it was going to be like E.T. Oops! She hid her eyes the entire movie but I was fine. Similar thing here; Mom thought it would be like Star Wars, 'cause it had spaceships, and stuff, you know? Movies never have really scaed me; John Carpenter’s _The Thing_ may have come closest. ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-scary-movie/498123/11 "2009-05-30T15:10:20Z")
Mine was “Nightmare on Elm Street”, which I saw at the drive-in, just around the time they were disappearing from the landscape like the teens that Freddy was going after in their dreams. I may have seen Poltergeist on TV at some point before that, though. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-scary-movie/498123/12 "2009-05-30T15:38:29Z")
Mine was _Darby O’Gill_ (one of Disney’s periodic revivals before video) as well. That damn banshee! But even earlier, I remember being scared to damn death by the tv commercial for _It’s Alive!_…a tinkly lullaby as soundtrack, as a white bassinet rotates slowly, coming eventually around to the far side and a bloody claw hanging out as the music changes from tinkly to jangly/echoey. I can STILL see and hear the damn thing in my head! ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-scary-movie/498123/13 "2009-05-30T16:38:17Z")
Poltergeist, which I saw when I was 4 or 5. For years I was afraid of going anywhere near the TV if it had snow on it. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-scary-movie/498123/14 "2009-05-30T17:06:15Z")
The Thing (1982) I don’t know how my dad talked my mom into letting me stay up for that one. Thanks. No nightmares, just fun. But I never saw another Carpenter flick that I liked. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-scary-movie/498123/15 "2009-05-30T17:41:34Z")
On TV, probably one of the Universal movies – _Frankenstein_, _The Mummy_, or _The Wolf Man_. In the theater, _Them_, when I was 9. I went with my brother. It was dark when the movie got out, and probably a mile to our house. My brother runs lots faster than me. Summer, cicadas in the trees that made a noise just like the ants. Haven’t been that scared since. ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-scary-movie/498123/16 "2009-05-30T17:55:24Z")
_[The Crawling Eye](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052320/)_, a.k.a., _The Trollenberg Terror_. It showed up on TV (The Million Dollar Movie, in NY) a few years after its release (1958), so I saw it when I was probably 10 or younger. Put me off the Alps for years… ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-scary-movie/498123/17 "2009-05-30T17:59:24Z")
When I was 4, my parents (apparently unable to find a babysitter) took me to see **Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte**. Big mistake. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-scary-movie/498123/18 "2009-05-30T18:22:53Z")
The Fog. So freaking scary. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-scary-movie/498123/19 "2009-05-30T19:31:41Z")
Although I doubt it was my _first_, it’s the first one I can really pinpoint. From [this thread about movie surprises](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=9701371): > [@Your Biggest Surprise in a Movie \[Open Spoilers\]](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-biggest-surprise-in-a-movie-open-spoilers/445604/90): > > Yeah, little bit. I was, what, maybe twelve? I was staying with some family friends while my parents were away for a few days…I was having a blast, because they actually had HBO! You could watch movies! And sometimes there were boobs! > > Anyway, it was around 10 at night, and _Friday The 13th_ was coming on. Man…an actual grown-up horror flick…not like those ones they show on _The 4:30 Movie_…one with blood and guts and everything! The kids of this family had an “Oh, _this_ movie again?” attitude, and went to bed. But not me, no way, I was staying on that couch until the very end. > > And what a sweet ending…Mrs. Voorhees was dead, and Alice was safe and sound floating in the middle of the lake, and _OHSWEETMOTHEROFFUCKWHATTHEFUCKISTHAT?!?!?!?_ > > As I recall, the family was none-to-pleased with my midnight shrieking. ---
**Author:** ![Jihi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jihi/32/17768_2.png) [@Jihi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jihi)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-scary-movie/498123/20 "2009-05-30T19:50:00Z")
When I was 7 or 8 my friends and I would watch all the big slasher flicks from the 70’s and 80’s. Nightmare on Elm St., Friday the 13th, Halloween, etc… I got desensitized real damn quick and it’s hard for me to even say which one I saw first. It might be part of the reason I don’t really find horror movies scary anymore. One movie though that always scared the hell out of me though wasn’t even a horror movie, it was the The Neverending Story. I loved the movie when I was a kid, and I hated that damn wolf. The scene when Atreyu confronts him in the cave always scared the crap out of me. I don’t think I ever managed to watch the whole scene without closing my eyes. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-scary-movie/498123.md?page=2)