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Original poster

Films you saw as a child that you probably shouldn't have (lighthearted)

151 replies

DoTheNextRightThing · 21/08/2021 19:44

My parents were never very restrictive of what I watched as a kid. Their mindset was "if she doesn't like us, she'll tell us," which meant I watched a lot of 15+ movies when I was still a tot. Braveheart, Deep Impact...

Has anyone got any stories about movies they watched as a kid that affected them and they probably shouldn't have watched?

Mine was The Sixth Sense. I was all good until the bit where Hayley Osment sees the hanging people. Then Mum took me to bed because I was so freaked out BlushGrin

OP posts:
AlternativePerspective · 21/08/2021 21:05

My mum worked in a video shop, so we pretty much got to watch whatever we wanted:

Friday the 13th, Halloween, child’s play, American ware wolf in London, Grease, Dirty Dancing, war of the worlds… er, there are almost certainly more.

I wasn’t scarred by any of it although I don’t like horrors now..

Oh yeah, and basic instinct when I was about 12.

Carycy · 21/08/2021 21:05

Freddie’s dead ( or possibly a sequel) at a sleepover age 10. I had never been exposed to such a things. I was completely freaked out.

LloydColeandtheCoconuts · 21/08/2021 21:09

My DS 7 loves the Avatar tv series and watches it over and over again. One afternoon he saw a title on Prime with similar animation so started watching it. I was in and out of the room and I had a quick glance and even paused it to see that it had voice overs from well known actors so I thought it was harmless and family friendly. About 20mins in I saw a scene when a character's head was getting squeezed so hard that his eyes were popping out and his skull exploded! I had a better look and saw that the program was an 18!Shock So I'm the bad parent here! Needless to say I promptly turned it off and we now have PINs attached to our streaming channels! Blush

DukeOfEarlGrey · 21/08/2021 21:11

Oh, my god - all of these horror films and more. I don’t know why I was allowed! I was the youngest of three and my dad in particular was pretty relaxed about it, possibly because my older siblings were apparently much more resilient! Child’s Play in particular affected me - I basically lay in bed quivering and unable to sleep for a solid year after that. Honestly, I still remember it now and think I was actually a bit traumatised!

Voicefancier · 21/08/2021 21:12

Night of the Demon. When the demon appeared, I was too scared to look and buried my head in my dad's chest.
Twenty years later the film was on on a wet Sunday afternoon (should indicate how scary it was! 🙄 ). The demon was the most pathetic thing I've ever seen. I laughed. It shows though, what they hint at and don't show you, is much scarier than what they do.

SunsetView · 21/08/2021 21:15

I think it was just back then a movie was just a movie …
Obviously nowadays I’d NEVER let my kids watch 15 or 18 movies at the age I was allowed to as we all know the trauma it can cause and it’s totally inappropriate.

But my parents and my friends parents all let us watch this stuff back then in late 80’s , it just wasn’t publisicised or known how bad that stuff could be to little minds

My mum and dad were great , responsible loving parents but the VHS movies were a bit of a free for all , we were just allowed to watch whatever

Usuallyhappycamper · 21/08/2021 21:15

Not a horror, but my friend's mum rented four weddings and a funeral for us as a group of mixed age kids to watch. Her husband had seen it on a plane and said it would be fine. Only the tend to sanitise plane versions, so he wasn't aware that the entire first part is people yelling fuck 15 times as they overslept. Her face was a picture!

lachy · 21/08/2021 21:18

The Life of Brian.

Definitely shouldn't have been watching it at 9 years old!

LemonSwan · 21/08/2021 21:21

Mars Attack Grin

irresistibleoverwhelm · 21/08/2021 21:23

I had a very fertile imagination as a child, and would get freaked out even by ghost stories. I banned myself from reading any more aged about 8, and didn’t like to watch scary films at all. My parents were quite strict about age ratings, but even so there were plenty of slightly dodgy things about the mildest family 80s films (sex, swearing etc.) that now look totally inappropriate today (Big, anyone?)

I saw Nightmare on Elm Street at a sleepover aged 15 and that frightened me out of my wits. I remember going to a friend’s house around that age and her parents were sitting down with their eight year old to watch Child’s Play 2 together! I was genuinely horrified and shocked and still am now a bit tbh.

Samcro · 21/08/2021 21:24

The birds
I was so scared, i used to tell myself I would be ok if i went to bed after dark as the birds would be asleep

MissDollyMix · 21/08/2021 21:24

DM used to work away a lot and my father in charge. I watched all manner of inappropriate films whilst he was in charge. Definitely remember watching Stephen King’s IT whilst still at primary school. I also used to watch Men Behaving Badly from about the age of 10… caught it on Netflix the other day and am absolutely shocked that I was allowed to watch it so young! That said, as a rule I’m very liberal with what my own kids watch on tv now.

NoWordForFluffy · 21/08/2021 21:26

Jeez, that's harsh, @SheWhoRemains!

ThePersonFromPorlock · 21/08/2021 21:36

I saw the Poseidon Adventure when I was about 8 or 9 and was absolutely traumatised. Same with The Towering Inferno. Both films just looked so real to me at the time.

Monkeytapper · 21/08/2021 21:37

Scum

Monkeytapper · 21/08/2021 21:38

At a friends house when I slept over at about aged 10, my parents didn’t know

thesockfairydidit · 21/08/2021 21:40

The story teller, box of delights, dark crystal all for kids but so freaky and the terror stays with me!!!!

Beatle juice!! That’s another WTF.

Not a film but eurotrash too!!!

Watched so many that I wish I hadn’t

OverByYer · 21/08/2021 21:47

@ThePersonFromPorlock

I saw the Poseidon Adventure when I was about 8 or 9 and was absolutely traumatised. Same with The Towering Inferno. Both films just looked so real to me at the time.
Gosh yes I was about the same age when I saw them. I used be sick with nervous when we went on our holidays on the ferry
SpamIAm · 21/08/2021 21:48

Volcano. Most disturbing thing I've ever seen.

VienneseWhirligig · 21/08/2021 21:48

Regularly watched films like Dirty Dancing, Porkys, American Graffiti as a preteen. Nothing was off limits - books or films - so I watched all the usual suspects like Friday 13th, Childs Play etc. I do feel bad for my little sister though, I was babysitting her once when she was about 3 and I was 14, watching a really gory horror movie after I put her to bed. She came downstairs to ask me to take her to the toilet just as a man was peeling his skin off his face, it gave her nightmares Sad

EatSprayGlove · 21/08/2021 21:54

@SnoopyLights

American Werewolf in London.

My Nana let me watch it with her. I was 7 at the time. She gave me a cushion to hide behind during the scary / gory bits.

She also let me watch those Hammer House of Horror episodes, I think there was one about some kind of devil worshippers and a dog.

I spent a year asking my parents to get me christened. They thought I'd found religion but really I was just trying not to be eaten or sacrificed.

Someone upthread mentioned House of 1000 Corpses. I can't watch that kind of horror, I don't get scared but it makes me feel ill. It's more gory than scary and I blame AWIL for my aversion to that kind of film.

Ha I came here to say American werewolf in London. Saw it about 7/8 and terrified me for literally a decade....I can still see a particular scene when I close my eyes. Love it as an adult. In my parents defence I adored the MJ Thriller video and it was made by the same people so they thought I would like it facepalm
SunburstsOrMarbleHalls · 21/08/2021 21:55

Salems Lot when I was about 7 or 8.
One particular scene was of a boy who was in bed with the curtains open and his recently deceased friend returned from the dead as a vampire and was tapping at the window saying "let me in, let me in"

It is ridiculously tame by todays standards but it has gave me a life long fear of horror films and bedroom curtains being open even a tiny bit.

OverByYer · 21/08/2021 21:58

@SunburstsOrMarbleHalls

Salems Lot when I was about 7 or 8. One particular scene was of a boy who was in bed with the curtains open and his recently deceased friend returned from the dead as a vampire and was tapping at the window saying "let me in, let me in"

It is ridiculously tame by todays standards but it has gave me a life long fear of horror films and bedroom curtains being open even a tiny bit.

I’ve never managed to watch beyond that scene even now as totally freaked me out too when I was about 13
smmanf12 · 21/08/2021 22:00

Not a film but my mum let me buy a copy of Junk by Melvin Burgess when I was in Year 7. With a book token I’d won as a prize for my clarinet playing Grin She wasn’t particularly strict but I don’t know if she actually ever checked it out.

It was about runaways, heroin addicts, sex workers and was very dark in some parts, I remember one of the characters having a baby when she was on heroin and the dad rubbing it on his gums when he was upset. There was overdoses and all sorts.

Elouera · 21/08/2021 22:03

'The Thing', when I was about 5! A horror where the people at an Antarctic station are infected by parasitic extra terrestrials.

I used to stay at my nans, and she'd always fall asleep with the remote, so I'd end up watching whatever was on. It was awful and I can still recall the fear now!