Where do I begin?
1) I remember watching Phantom of the Paradise on TV when I was about five or six years old. It left me slightly confused and creeped out. I actually love that movie now. It's funny and cheezy at the same time.
2) Carrie. Saw that when I was about seven years old. The music, the blood, the hand popping out of the grave at the end. My twin used to threaten that the "hand" was going to get me. Yep. She did that for at least five or six years.
3) Amityville Horror. I was afraid to look at crucifixes and rocking chairs for a looong time.
4) I remember the nanny committing suicide by hanging when I watched The Omen on TV. Again, I was only a child. (My older sisters watched these movies in front of us.)
5) The Exorcist. I think I was about eight years old. Part I & II. Just bits and pieces of the movie I remember watching. I was afraid to go up the stairs and look at the white door that led to the bathroom because the door reminded me of the girl's bedroom.
There's probably more but those movies above stick out of my mind the most.
Thanks Anna! Superlative list!
I can still remember the first time I saw CARRIE and that ending nearly killed me. It blew up my brain.
And THE OMEN was one of my earliest horror views. I saw it at a friends house on some magical new thing called cable. That's still one of my favorite horror scenes.
Great picks all.
The Phantom's voice always creeped me out. However, when I watch it now I also find it a bit funny. The "Devil" is Paul Williams! The Phantom silences a man singing in the shower with a toilet plunger! Still, this film did star Jessica Harper and a certain Italian director was impressed with her performance. Impressed enough to cast her in a horror film he was going to direct: "Suspiria".
The hand scene at the end of "Carrie" was an all time classic scare! The hanging scene from "The Omen" really didn't jar me. It's probably because I saw the movie in its entirety as a young adult…..and that the actress was Holly, son of Jack, Palance. On the other hand, the priest's death was more memorable to me:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCgNWiBzvYo
It also "helped" that the priest was played by Doctor Who #2 Patrick Troughton!