#10
The Rhino from James and the Giant Peach (1996)
When you get down to it, a lot of Roald Dahl stories are very mean-spirited and dark for kids. But they usually have a happy ending (with the exception of Witches). Sure a lot of the movie is fun and charming, but man was that Rhino just the ultimate buzzkill for me as a kid. He ruined James' childhood by killing his parents out of random! Weird and questionable, but still pretty brutal. And, he almost kills James' newly found friends for life, the first friends he ever had. You bet that a dark forceful being that comes out of the shadows just to take away everything you hold dear can be scary to you as a child. The Rhino is one storm you hope does not stomp in your neighborhood anytime soon. Clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7c9eK6uFmsk
#9
Large Marge from Pee-Wee's Big Adventure (1985)
Despite this film being my all time favorite comedy, I got to admit there are good number of scary imagery in the movie. Well what do you expect when your director is Tim Burton. And none we as memorable or as talked about to this day was Large Marge, the ghostly truck driver. Despite your age, I think this scene creeps just about anybody out the first time viewing this. And I LOVE watching people's reaction to it! But we all know the pinpoint moment that freaked us out the most. It is when Marge is telling her grim story to Pee-Wee Herman as she's driving and then out of nowhere changes her face into this demonic being you see in front of you, bugs her eyes out, and starts a maniacal laugh. If that's not creepy as hell, I don't know what is! But the reason people talk about that scene till this day because as adults we find it weird and random therefore it is funny to us now. But we all know as kids, this made us race out the door calling for our mamas. You can definitely bet that seeing Large Marge as a kid, made make the worst accident I have ever seen! Clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-Pdlxd_rro
#8
The Sacrifice Scene from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
This film and Gremlins were responsible for the creation of the PG-13 rating. And this scene from Temple of Doom certainly proves that. It is when Indy, Willie, and Short Round are navigating a secret tunnel in the Pankot Temple when they come across a Thugee Ritual. And what does this ritual consist of you ask? A creepy guy in a skull hat comes out, rips out some poor soul's heart out while he's still alive, and then commences to burn him alive in a fiery pit of doom as his heart burns alongside with him! Sounds like the usual way whoever produces Keeping up with the Kardashians, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, Toddlers in Tiaras, and Jersey Shore fires their crew members. This imagery was engraved to me as a kid and it terrified me! To be honest and without a doubt, I think this scene would terrify most kids if they saw it. Kids could watch a lot of PG-13 films today because they aren't as hardcore as this! This is one of the most memorable scenes in all of the Indiana Jones films, and for a reason. It scared a lot of youngsters when watching, it helped the MPAA create a new rating, and it made us all scared of creepy guys wearing skull hats. Don't trust them, the more you know. Clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk2E1CoGe98
#7
The Joker from Batman: The Animated Series (1992-1995)
I'm kind of cheating on this one seeing how technically this is not from a movie, it's from an animated television show. But hey, there's Mask of the Phantasm! Even though this Joker is and always will be my favorite version alongside Jack Nicholson, this guy still gave me the major creeps as a kid. With his devilish grin, his face that just screams "evil and nasty", and quite a maniacal laugh. But the worse, which I remember, is whenever he uses his laughing gas to kill his victims. And when the gas is used they just don't laugh uncontrollably. No, no, no, what I remember their eyes would bug out, saliva would be dripping down their mouths, and they would give this high-pitched uncontrollable maniacal laugh that would make The Banshee hide under the covers. Maybe I'm exaggerating, maybe I'm not, but from what I definitely recall there was a time I couldn't even watch episodes with the Joker in it, he creeped me out so much. Though I love him now, and Mark Hamill is still the king, there is no doubt that this Clown Prince of Crime gave me more frights than laughs. Clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lb8fWUUXeKM
#6
The Horned King from The Black Cauldron (1985)
Expect from here on out that the rest of the entries will be from Disney movies. It makes sense, they make up of majority of what we watched during our childhood. Not only did they make us smile, laugh, sing, and cry, they were also sometimes good at scaring the crap out of you! And The Horned King from The Black Cauldron is definitely no exception to that. The Black Cauldron itself is a pretty obscure and less appreciated Disney film, as it was a major flop in the box office and a huge critical disappointment, except to long time Disney lover Roger Ebert. To me, though not great and definitely flawed, I still find it somewhat entertaining and creative. And I think The Horned King is one of the reasons for that. I think the reason more people are discovering this film is because of this guy. He continues to be one of Disney's most underrated bad guys in their notorious gallery of villains, and why? HE'S A FRIGGIN SKULL WITH HORNS, DRESSED IN A BLOOD RED ROBE, WITH GLOWING RED EYES. How much evil, and dare I say, badass can you get? I still love this guy, and even though he scared me whenever he appeared on screen as a kid, I loved him even then. I thought it was so cool that I was watching a children's film, a Disney one at that, with a villain like this. With a scary and awesome design, and plus a performance from the great John Hurt, I hope this king of evil gives many more generations of kids chills down their bones. Clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIT3HM0f0-s
#5
The Clown Dream from The Brave Little Toaster (1987)
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To begin with this film already has a weird premise. A bunch of household appliances journey outside of thier cabin home and look for thier boy or "Master". But at least the rest of the film is fun, creative, and colorful, right? Well at least all the parts excluding that messed up evil clown dream! The scene has our hero, The Toaster, having a dream about reuniting with his Master, when he is being used to make toast. But all that wholsomeness soon ends when a giant pufff of smoke in the shape of a large arm grabs the boy and carries him off. The room catches on fire and out from the flames, FOR SOME REASON, a creepy clown dressed as a firefighter carrying a fork and garden hose rises up and tells our hero "Run". And the dream goes on as the clown tries to kill the toaster by hosing it down and by raining forks, ending with the Toaster hanging for his life on top of a full bathtub and the clown maniacally laughing. This scene is so random and so weird, but it is terryfying at the same time. Why a clown? Why dressed as a firefighter? Because the writers and directors of this childhood classic knew it would scare the crap out of us and you know what, it worked. Clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEdZh8a4ZvE#4
Aurora's Curse from Sleeping Beauty (1959)
Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty will always be one of my favorite Disney villains. She's dark, mysterious, conniving, powerful, and the character herself makes the entire movie good. But there is a scene involving her that made my heart constantly jump when I was a kid. You see at Princess Aurora's christening, our villain curses the young princess that on her 16th birthday she will prick her finger on a spinning wheel and die. Thus 16 years later, Maleficent fulfills that curse when Aurora finally does return home to be married. And let me tell you this one of those scenes in the history of film that perectly captures suspense and eerieness. The whole scene in which Maleficent hypnotizes Aurora to touch the spinning wheel is built up with eerie atmosphere and bone chilling music. But there is one moment in particular that still gets me till this day. It is when Maleficent enters Aurora's chambers through the fireplace. As the eerie music plays a ball of green smoke enters, then SUDDENLY, the trumpets of the score belt and the camera zooms rapidly to the fireplace as an outline of the villain is shown as her glaring and souless yellow eyes stare in the hearts of our young audience. This scene definietly gave me goosebumps and those five seconds of creep factor is the very reason why this particular scene makes the the number four spot. Clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuWGgqDKugI
#3
The Queen's Transformation from Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (1937)
If this film is going to be the first ever feature length animated family film, and be one of the first films to show to your kids, then by God, we need a scary moment to help introduce the countless creepy moments in film your kids are going to encounter in the future. And what an introductory this scene was. This is the scene where the Evil Queen, who already seemed intimidating enough to me as a kid, decides to take matter into her own hands when the huntsman she hired to kill Snow White fails his duties. She cooks up a potion that ages her so she could be in disguise when killing Snow White. I think when she is conjuring up the potion seemed pretty creepy by using hag cackles and screams of fright (where the hell did she get those anyway). But the scariest moment is when she is transforming into her hideous and infamous old hag form. She breathes heavily, quite intensly too for a Disney's first family film, her long black hair extends out of her headwear and turns ashy gray, her hands begin to age and wither as lighting reveals the skeletal hands that are in her skin until finally she transforms into the terrifying witch. This scene was so scary, I found myself hiding in the bed sheets. And look at that picture of the queen transforming. Looks like she's dying!. It's pretty gruesome! Now all of you maybe wondering why I did not put any of the other scenes like the huntsman's attempt to kill Snow White, the Queen killing Snow White, The Magic Mirror, and of course the notorious creepy forest. All of those scenes are creepy and eerie in thier own right yes, but the Queen's Transformation in particular made me realize that I have fears after all. Clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbwenToMwcE
#2
Pleasure Island from Pinocchio (1940)
Hey boys, stay in school, do your chores, don't drink, don't smoke, don't be rough, and always be moral. Because if you're not....YOU'LL TURN INTO DONKEYS AND NEVER SEE YOUR FAMILY AGAIN, HAHAHAHAHA!!! Well at least that's what Disney's Pinocchio taught me. If you're a bad boy, it's donkey time for you. This all happens when our character Pinocchio gets tricked into going to an island callled Pleasure Island, a place where boys can do whatever they want without no rules and no grown ups. You name it drink, smoke, gluttony, rough housing, gambling, Pleasure Island's got it all. Except prostittutes, but hey the film is dark enough already. But all that fun comes to an end when the boys find themselves transformed into donkeys, because of thier bad behavior. And what does the evil Coachman, the sadist running this island, do with them? Let his evil, dark, mysterious, scary-looking, gorilla shaped henchman round them up into crates and cages. Put the ones that don't talk to work at diamond and coal mines and let the ones that do go into torturing show business. Sounds fun right? But the horror does not stop there as one of the creepiest scenes has Pinocchio's new friend Lampwick turn into a donkey as he hysterically cries for his mother. This scene is so creepy and so traumatizing that I think this one of the top Disney moments that made people blow bricks in thier pants as children. Immoral acts by boys in result turning them into donkeys, all brought by Happiest Place on Earth (insert Disney logo here). Clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgmfV5VLHvs
P.S. The boys don't ahve a happy ending like dear Pinocchio. Nope they're sold and they stay donkeys, Pinocchio doesn't bother to save them. Makes you really want a stiff drink. Oh and they say "jackass". Funny.
And the #1 Scariest Childhood Moment is...
Night on Bald Mountain from Fantasia (1940)
Ok, what Disney? What have I done to offend you, to punish me like this? All I've done was praise you my whole life and what do I get in return? Scary cloud rhinos, horned kings, creepy clowns, a queen transforming into an ugly old woman, donkey transformations, HANNAH MONTANA AND HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL, and now the Lord of Darkness himself Satan! What have I done! This scene is pretty cool though. And keeping with topic, here's the scene that horrified me the most as a child. It's the Night on Bald Mountain segment from Fantasia. The scene plays Modest Mussorgksy's chilling piece as the Devil himself rises from a tall dark mountain to summon ghosts, goblins, evil spirits, demons, and his army of darkness to dance for him. The music is chilling, suspenseful, and heart racing yes, but its those visuals that get to me. The ghosts, the demons, the ugly transformations from beauty to corruption, the harpies, the evil spirits, but most of all the Devil himself. With those glaring yellow eyes, the intimidating design, his size, and his evil smile scream "evil and darkness". I believe no matter what religion or belief, people's greatest fear is being somewhere where there is no morality, no goodness, no kindness, no light, and no salvation whatsoever, and that place is Hell. And for the most part the animators at Disney got really creative in showing us what a terrible place would look like. It isn't till the sunrise, church bells, and the song of Ave Maria when the devil and his minions retreat. It is a perfect scene that balances the evils the world has and the limitless goodness the world has and can achieve and it is one of Disney's most beautiful and powerful moments. But the first half of the segment is definitely Disney's scariest moment and the scariest moment ever of childhood.I hope all of you enjoyed the list and have a safe Happy Halloween. Stay away from rhinos, ghostly truck drivers, sacrifice rituals, psychotic supervillains, horned skeletons, evil clowns, witches curses, evil queens, islands that turn you into donkeys, and most of all the lord of darkness himself Satan. Until next time!
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