Phantasm was pretty scary. But I never see scary movies anymore, so I'll bet the stuff coming out today is worse.

Why did your parents let you see ET at such a young age? Tut tut.

[D'oh. . . ]

Hard to answer b/c stuff seen as a kid that wouldn't scare me at all now, really freaked me out when seen at a too-young age.

As an elementary schooler I was flipping channels in my grandparents' basement (they had cable - a real novelty) and came across some dubbed-over asian movie where an old guy is being questioned by the hero and while pondering the question of "what did he [the bad monster guy] look like?" old guy slowly does a 360 on the spot saying "he looked just about like . . . ME!" and finishes the turn to reveal a hideous monster face. That scene stayed with me for years and was the cause of many sleepless, scared minute/hours in bed in the dark.

Saw the movie "fright night" as a 14 year old and even though it's totally cheesy in hindsight, at the time it freaked me out. When vampire dude came out of the closet as the kid's back was turned - ugh. I checked my bedroom closet every night for months before turning out the light.

But probably "The Exorcist" which I saw as a 10th grader (or so), would be at the top of my list although it might not scare me at all if I saw it now.

When I was a kid, my brother put in a VHS of Poltergeist. I got so scared during the scene with the tree attacking the house that I had to leave and go to a friend's house. Also, I've never sat through an entire showing of The Exorcist and probably never will.

I wasn't as scared at TSOTL as I was in suspense. I don't know - what's the difference? When Clarice is in the dark house at the end of the movie, that was pretty tight.

I remember seeing Scream in the theater and getting pretty worked up. But I don't know if I've ever had nightmares from a movie.

BTW, I do remember freaking out the first time Eliot sees ET in the reeds and ET is screaming. Eliot drops the flashlight and runs. I nearly peed myself.

The Changeling - with George C. Scott
When the wheelchair chased him out of the attic - 3 college boys were yelling [wouldn't admit to screaming]

Boogeyman

The one that gave me nightmares as a kid...The Screaming Skull - horrible movie - but as a kid it scared the stuffing out of me.

Great ... will probably have flashbacks tonight

War of the Worlds (Tom Cruise one)

Time Bandits (Saw it when I was a kid. The ending creeped me out.)

Scene in Angel Eyes where you find out why the car accident happened scares me still.

Aliens

Jurassic Park

Disclaimer: I don't see horror movies. I don't think I've ever watched a slasher flick. I just don't get the appeal.

All of the above are "scary" because that's how I felt when I first watched them.

I have not watched horror movies in a long time as they really don't interest me, but as a kid, one of the few I saw that scared me was Children of the Corn. I think it was the creepy music more than anything. The flying monkeys in the Wizard of Oz were also scary.

However, what gave me nightmares for years as a young child (probably 8-9 years old) was a fictional movie about Soviet communists shown at our church. In it, the Soviet invade the US and go after Christians, and in one horrible scene a Soviet soldier kills a child in a gruesome manner (which I won't describe here).

It was totally age inappropriate and I remember a number of parents being very upset with the pastor for not warning them ahead of time.

The original The Shining scares me to death.

There are some episodes of Lost that have terrified me (the cabin episodes are particularly freaky for me), so I am not a good person to gauge horror.

Yeah, his parents should never have let him watch that.

(especially when his big brother walked out of the room and said "Jacob's going to get you")

Lessons of life . . .

Both "Ring" movies scared me pretty good. "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" was pretty scary and, believe it or not, the remake of "Amityville Horror" scared me really bad. We like scary movies.

My parents were adamant that I never watch horror films, and made a big deal about it to my friends. Consequently, I watched as many horror films at parties and sleepovers as I possibly could. Several movies stick out in my mind - Children of the Corn (especially when I visited my cousins who lived in the middle of a corn field!), Pet Cemetery (mostly because I already had a fear of cats), and the Nightmare on Elm Street movies (because Freddy could get you in your dreams - ick!)

Ohh I forgot one. I think the movie that could scare me the most is a documentary, "Obama: The History of Our 44th President."

Interestingly, the Tom Cruise version of WOTW doesn't have the same ending as the original. Salem's Lot has the scariest vampire I've ever seen!

I don't watch scary movies either, and it's hard to think of what I've seen that has scared me. I think it's hilarious some of you were scared at ET. I enjoyed that movie, however old I was at the time. I had a little ET leather doll for a long time. Phone home--such a profundity.

I remember being scared of what I knew of those evil villains from the movies I did not see. The idea of Freddy--seen in the previews--scared me, and Chucky and chainsaw murderers and Killer Klowns--I hated that stuff. I don't think the Jasons and Michaels scared me so much. I saw Poltergeist and don't remember being scared. I saw 20 minutes or so of Children of the Corn--that was scary. I think I was scared by This House Possessed, an old TV movie I think.

The one thing I remember really scaring me was some octopus movie I saw the opening of on TV when I was young. Combine that with Jaws 2, which I think I watched, and I still have a fear of the ocean.