S & D: creepy children movies

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Some of my favorite movies include Labyrinth, Dark Crystal, The Secret of NIMH, The Last Unicorn, The Halloween Tree, Nightmare before Christmas and, James and the Giant Peach.

What are other movies simlar to these?

― A Nairn (moretap), Wednesday, 27 November 2002 22:44 (twenty-two years ago) link

The Neverending Story? That *terrified* me when I first saw it. Gave me nightmares.

― caitlin (caitlin), Wednesday, 27 November 2002 22:49 (twenty-two years ago) link

The Mouse and His Child: perhaps not creepy, but very very dark.

― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Wednesday, 27 November 2002 22:50 (twenty-two years ago) link

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: fascist anti-toy state.

Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory: nasty children get potentially fatal punishments all out of proportion with their crimes.

― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Wednesday, 27 November 2002 22:54 (twenty-two years ago) link

Yeah, I forgot about the Neverending Story. I could add that to my list above of favorites.

― A Nairn (moretap), Wednesday, 27 November 2002 22:54 (twenty-two years ago) link

It's very arguable whether this is a kid's movie per se, but The City of Lost Children is wonderfully creeped out.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 27 November 2002 23:28 (twenty-two years ago) link

No one else EVER UNDERSTOOD why the Chocolate Factory movie scared me! The Oompa-Loompas were TERRIBLE! The Wizard of Oz creeped me out a bit, too.

― Maria (Maria), Wednesday, 27 November 2002 23:31 (twenty-two years ago) link

I loved Labyrinth, the funky fire type creatures with the detachable body parts are brilliant!

― anon (anon), Wednesday, 27 November 2002 23:32 (twenty-two years ago) link

the sequel to wizard of oz , mid 80s.

― anthony easton (anthony), Thursday, 28 November 2002 04:09 (twenty-two years ago) link

the bbc produced Chocky

― chaki (chaki), Thursday, 28 November 2002 04:31 (twenty-two years ago) link

Harry and the Hendersons. I hid under the theatre seat from the time his head popped over the windshield until the credits, only emerging once to see him rip some sort of an animal out a wall. To this day, i have not seen the rest of the movie. (shudder)

― B, Thursday, 28 November 2002 05:01 (twenty-two years ago) link

Yeah Return to Oz, that was quite scary. Wheelers! Heads in glass cases! And wasn't Dorothy in a mental hospital?

― Elisabeth (Elisabeth), Thursday, 28 November 2002 05:48 (twenty-two years ago) link

The Secret of Nimh is pretty weird.

― Archel (Archel), Thursday, 28 November 2002 09:12 (twenty-two years ago) link

on a different tangent also suggested by the title of this thread, the little girls in The Shining are some of the creepiest children I've seen in a movie.

― webcrack (music=crack), Thursday, 28 November 2002 09:19 (twenty-two years ago) link

Disney's Pinnochio has a very dark sequence set on Pleasure Island where kids are allowed to drink, smoke, smash things up and gamble as much as they like. As a result they turn into donkeys doomed to spend the rest of their lives working in salt mines. V. scary.

― robster (robster), Thursday, 28 November 2002 09:38 (twenty-two years ago) link

Ooh, Return To Oz scared me too. Especially the desert that turned everything that touched it to sand.

On the plus side, one of the actors in it also presented Blue Peter, so it can't be all bad.

― caitlin (caitlin), Thursday, 28 November 2002 11:14 (twenty-two years ago) link

Grr. I am totally in agreement with Return to Oz - I thought I was the only person who remember it with a delicious chill down my spine, but it seems not. The scariest thing since Chorlton and the Wheelies. Also mentioned, The Nightmare Before Christmas may well be my favourite film of any genre ever.

― Mark C (Mark C), Thursday, 28 November 2002 12:32 (twenty-two years ago) link

legend! pervy tim rice devil! tom cruise's raddled dentistry!

― bob zemko (bob), Thursday, 28 November 2002 12:52 (twenty-two years ago) link

haha no it was tim curry!!

― bob zemko (bob), Thursday, 28 November 2002 12:57 (twenty-two years ago) link

also i have been led to believe babe- pig in the city is v dark

― bob zemko (bob), Thursday, 28 November 2002 13:02 (twenty-two years ago) link

yes the really awful bit in neverending story is the blue oracles that zap you with lasers if you're no good - you see a decapitated previous contendor, the head still in its helmet and then the visor flips up and you can see the crumbly charred face!!!

i also wasn't keen on the heads in return to oz.

i was going to mention 'city of lost children' too. other than that i remember a creepy children's tv show that was shown in australia, it was called the nargun and the stars - it was set in the bush and the nargun was this big evil rock that was slowly advancing towards a boy + father's hut at night time. one day they hacked it to pieces but the next day all the pieces had found eachother and the nargun had gotten closer still! i can't remember the end.

― minna (minna), Thursday, 28 November 2002 15:02 (twenty-two years ago) link

haha bob i also get tim curry and tim rice mixed up (yum)

― minna (minna), Thursday, 28 November 2002 15:03 (twenty-two years ago) link

No, the really awful bit in neverending story is when the horse dies. I cried and cried. (Ten seconds before spoiler warning goes up on this thread as well)

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Thursday, 28 November 2002 15:28 (twenty-two years ago) link

yeah, but that's sad not scary!

― minna (minna), Thursday, 28 November 2002 15:35 (twenty-two years ago) link

no, it's definitely scarier than it is sad. that was the bit that gave me nightmares.

― caitlin (caitlin), Thursday, 28 November 2002 16:13 (twenty-two years ago) link

Watcher in the Woods, saw it when I was a kid, didn't know what it was, then had nightmares about it for years. I caught it again accidentally a couple of years ago, and was horrified to find out it was disney. The only other one on this list that scared me was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, which I still can't watch. "Lollipops, lollipops"

― Celeste (Celeste), Thursday, 28 November 2002 16:38 (twenty-two years ago) link

the first series of pogles wood!!

― mark s (mark s), Thursday, 28 November 2002 16:39 (twenty-two years ago) link

It absolutely blows my mind that the disturbing WWII Japanese animated film Grave of the Fireflies was actually paired as a double-feature for children with the light-as-a-feather My Neighbor Totoro. Grave is perhaps the most depressing, heart-wrenching movie I have ever seen, about a boy and his younger sister who live on their own after their mother dies after a firebomb attack. Eventually, the little sister dies of malnutrition, and the boy expires also. Even more depressing is that this story is semi-autobiographical (the author blamed himself for his little sister's death due to malnutrition). Hmmm. Let's show the kids a badly burned woman being thrown onto a funeral pyre in one movie, and then in the next movie, let's have kids riding the jolly cat-bus! Yeah!

*shiver*

― Ernest P. (ernestp), Thursday, 28 November 2002 16:45 (twenty-two years ago) link

Not strictly children's telly, but the Tripods and Triffids scared the byheck out of me when I was a kid.

― Madchen (Madchen), Thursday, 28 November 2002 16:46 (twenty-two years ago) link

The first children's movie I remember really freaking me out was "Watership Down"--mostly because of the rabbits ripping each other's ears out; I had never seen animated blood before, and it SCARED ME!

― Mandee, Thursday, 28 November 2002 16:50 (twenty-two years ago) link

oh, Watership Down was another film that gave me nightmares.

― caitlin (caitlin), Thursday, 28 November 2002 16:58 (twenty-two years ago) link

I thought Honey I Shrunk the Kids was terrifying, but then it does play to my worst nightmare of being as small as insects.

― Dave B (daveb), Thursday, 28 November 2002 17:43 (twenty-two years ago) link

three weeks pass...

I seem to recall being quite upset by the chickfight between Jean Marsh and Patricia Hayes at the end of Willow....

― Ben Mott (Ben Mott), Sunday, 22 December 2002 20:39 (twenty-two years ago) link

Babe: Pig In The City is not funny. The Poodle who thinks the Police likes her so she does a circus act for them, when all they want is to take her away from her friends = beyond tears.

― erik, Sunday, 22 December 2002 20:55 (twenty-two years ago) link

even the bona mice chorus can't give much relief here.

― erik, Sunday, 22 December 2002 20:58 (twenty-two years ago) link

three weeks pass...

Paperhouse is a fantastic film.

― Ben Mott (Ben Mott), Saturday, 18 January 2003 14:56 (twenty-two years ago) link

nine months pass...

i finally saw the Invaders From Mars remake! it's utter crap but the malevolent/possessed parents theme is scary nonetheless (Paperhouse = same thing iirc) - do many old stories/fairytales use this terrifying device on kids? i can only think of the wicked stepmother but possibly i blocked out many more obvious examples long ago in order to sleep thru the night.

― jones (actual), Tuesday, 28 October 2003 22:42 (twenty-one years ago) link

This may not be what you're looking for, but the Concrete Garden is a great movie with some creepy kids.

― nickn (nickn), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 00:55 (twenty-one years ago) link

I am Curious (Yellow)

― Skottie, Wednesday, 29 October 2003 01:02 (twenty-one years ago) link

La planète sauvage, brrr

― Herbstmute (Wintermute), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 03:05 (twenty-one years ago) link

The Care Bears Movie and The Phantom Tollbooth

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Wednesday, 29 October 2003 03:17 (twenty-one years ago) link

This apparently isn't the thread where I brought up Paperhouse, but mark, I got my copy of Marianne Dreams, so thank you for pointing me to it! (Granted, I've now lost it, but only because I keep forgetting to check the box of "dammit, these books need to go over there.")

― Tep (ktepi), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 03:21 (twenty-one years ago) link

And the winner is...
http://www.metacritic.com/media/movies/titles/spiritedaway/picture.jpg

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 13:59 (twenty-one years ago) link

(It's odd though how it can be so utterly under-the-skin creepy and yet so dreamy and sublime simultaneously.)

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 14:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

The Dark Crystal was very spooky and creepy to me when I was younger, that is probably why I'm so disquieted by the gelfling Olsen twins.

― Nicolars (Nicole), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 14:03 (twenty-one years ago) link

I think the gelflings were the only creatures in The Dark Crystal that didn't freak me out - Fizzgig included.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 14:09 (twenty-one years ago) link

Everything about that movie gives me the fear.

― Nicolars (Nicole), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 14:13 (twenty-one years ago) link

Pinocchio is a scary-ass movie. Anything with kids turning into animals used to really freak me out. I used have nightmares about it. The whale is pretty scary too.

― NA (Nick A.), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 14:36 (twenty-one years ago) link

The Dark Crystal is truly great hands down...creeped out by it, not me. I probably identified all too readily. ;-)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 17:53 (twenty-one years ago) link

It's a great movie, just very eerie and strange.

― Nicolars (Nicole), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 18:17 (twenty-one years ago) link

Ewoks the Movie

― jel -- (jel), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 18:19 (twenty-one years ago) link

garbage pail kids.

― Dean Gulberry (deangulberry), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 18:21 (twenty-one years ago) link

Wait, have we mentioned Time Bandits?

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 18:33 (twenty-one years ago) link

Fantasia is creppy, I've never liked it.

― jel -- (jel), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 18:35 (twenty-one years ago) link

Second Time Bandits... the ending, for a kid, is very chilling. But then that great song kicks in!

― fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 18:53 (twenty-one years ago) link

Again, let me namecheck Something Wicked This Way Comes

And for a movie *about* creepy children: Village Of The Damned

― Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 20:03 (twenty-one years ago) link

Haven't seen Children of the Corn up here, yet. Actually spooked the hell out of me, silly as the plot was.

Or Pet Sematary and Flowers in the Attic,definitely.

― Nichole Graham (Nichole Graham), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 20:22 (twenty-one years ago) link

are we talking about creep "children's" movies or movies with creepy children?

if the latter, jerry mcguire

― anthony kyle monday (akmonday), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 20:26 (twenty-one years ago) link

the singing ringing tree

andy

― koogs (koogs), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 21:02 (twenty-one years ago) link

two months pass...

Thank you for the great ideas. I'm in with the Something Wicked... fans. Very spooky.

― Patricia Ross, Friday, 2 January 2004 17:03 (twenty-one years ago) link

The 5000 Fingers Of Dr. T - children forced to practice piano by a dictatorial teacher = metaphor for communism / fascism / capitalism (delete as appropriate).

I second The Singing Ringing Tree and raise you Toy Story (for the mutant toys).

Are there any children's filma that aren't creepy?

― udu wudu (udu wudu), Friday, 2 January 2004 17:16 (twenty-one years ago) link

two weeks pass...

The Nargun & The Stars creeped me out when I was young. That huge rock just creepin', creepin'.... Eerie setting to the whole series.

― Kat of Black, Saturday, 17 January 2004 05:59 (twenty-one years ago) link

The two little girls in The Shining were modeled on the famous Diane Arbus photo, obv. Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is totally wacky and scary in theory but didn't really scare me in real life, and I saw it in the theater on initial release! I'm intrigued now by Babe: Pig in the City though. Pinocchio wasn't scary; I knew the turning into animals bit was just play. Adult movies scared me though. I remember seeing Burnt Offerings with Oliver Reed and Karen Black (you may as well stop there!) on TV and was scared by it, even though it's not really scary. Ok, athletic and unhinged Oliver Reed drowning his son in the pool actually is scary, as was Reed falling face first into a car winshield out of a window at the end, as well as the boy being hit by bricks from a falling chimney. They probably wouldn't even show that on TV now.

― Sean (Sean), Saturday, 17 January 2004 06:56 (twenty-one years ago) link

"something wicked this way comes" absolutely terrifies me!

― Emilymv (Emilymv), Saturday, 17 January 2004 16:39 (twenty-one years ago) link

The two little girls in The Shining used to work in the same office as my friend V. She said even though they were all grown up it was still disconcerting to go into the kitchen and findthem both standing there.

― Anna (Anna), Saturday, 17 January 2004 17:08 (twenty-one years ago) link

i love these moives soooooooooooooooooo much i love them

― somerschriver, Saturday, 17 January 2004 19:53 (twenty-one years ago) link

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