Top 20 Kids Movie Concepts That Are TERRIFYING

“Ernest Scared Stupid” (1991)

Focusing on the abduction of minors is maybe not the best strategy for a kids movie. The central villain here is a devilish troll called Trantor, who steals children and turns them into wooden dolls. He grabs one while he’s riding a skateboard and another when he falls into a pit. Just when you think it’s safer to be indoors, Trantor snatches young Elizabeth from her bed. There’s even some voice phishing going on as he pretends to be Elizabeth to trap another victim. What’s worse, the adults in this film seem to have no qualms about their kids disappearing one by one while they make Halloween plans! If all that wasn’t traumatic enough, Trantor’s face surely would’ve been.

“Hocus Pocus” (1993)

Despite its cult classic status among adults, this film may not be a fun watch for kids, unless they’re horror aficionados already. We may look back on the Sanderson sisters as fab icons but for their young audience, they’re sinister beyond belief. After all, they drain children of their life force to look wrinkle-free when they could just get botox! They’ve been burned once but return again when our main character Max lights a Black Flame Candle on the day before Halloween. Thus, the chase begins, putting Max and his sister Dani in the most precarious situations as the witches try to steal their souls. Winifred even creates a zombie out of an ex-boyfriend and sets him after them. Now, that’s a double whammy!

“Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory” (1971)

Let’s be real. The kids in this film had their faults, but were they really that bad? Augustus Gloop being overindulgent about chocolate hardly warrants him being sucked into a pipe and thrown into a possibly fatal mixer. Veruca Salt being a spoiled brat had less to do with her and more with how her dad raised her. Yet she’s labeled a ‘bad egg’ and discarded with the trash. Violet Beauregarde is plain rude but turning her into a blueberry is still over the top. Similarly, Mike Teevee is just a square-eyed kid, who shrinks and has to be physically – painfully – stretched back to normal. And let’s not forget the tunnel of terror! The moral lessons are clear but perhaps too much for kids.

“Monster House” (2006)

For a children’s movie, this one sure got dark. The premise of a house possessed by a resentful spirit is not even the scariest part. It is when the spirit brings the house to life and it starts chasing and eating children that it gets frightening. However, the most tragic part is the backstory of Constance, who haunts the house. She was made into a circus oddity and paraded around for being plus-sized. When she finally found love with Horace Nebbercracker and started building a home with him, kids taunted her for her weight. No wonder she’s mad! Bottomline is, if you’re trying to convince your kids not to go trick or treating at strangers’ houses, this film will do the job for you.

“Spirited Away” (2001)

Hayao Miyazaki’s Oscar-winning classic is timeless in the truest sense of the word. However, that doesn’t change the fact that it is truly terrifying for kids who are around the age of the heroine, Chihiro. First, the little girl’s parents are turned into pigs, then she’s sold to an evil witch and forced to do physical labor for the rest of her life. It is only thanks to Chihiro’s grit and Haku’s help that she makes it out. The concept of being trapped in a ghostly world with a slave contract and pigs for parents would send chills down any adult’s spine. Imagine how it affected kiddos who just wanted a good time.

“Watership Down” (1978)

Kids who watched this movie when it came out have trust issues now. We’re obviously kidding but it wouldn’t be surprising. “Watership Down,” which is about a colony of rabbits trying to evade death, was initially given an all ages rating in Britain but years later was changed to PG. Unfortunately, the damage was done. Don’t let the cute rabbits, the emotional soundtrack or even its OG creator, Richard Adams, fool you. He may tell you it’s ‘just a story about rabbits’ but to children, they’re witnessing these adorable bunnies being slaughtered mercilessly. Hardly will they understand the undertones of environmentalism and what grown-ups see as a metaphor for Christianity or a picture of communism. It’ll just leave them howling in tears.

“The Black Cauldron” (1985)

This was the first animated Disney film to receive a PG rating – enough said. The eponymous black cauldron in this film has the power to raise the dead from their graves. The Horned King, obviously evil, intends to use the Cauldron-Born to take over the world. The only way to stop that from happening is a self-harming mission, where our hero, Taran, must jump into the cauldron and sacrifice himself. Thanks to the power of friendship, his pal Gurgi, a forest creature, decides to take himself out instead. As wholesome as that’s supposed to be, the imagery is chilling and provides major nightmare fuel. The lack of comic relief just makes it creepier.

“Labyrinth” (1986)

This “Alice in Wonderland”-esque film stars the legendary David Bowie as a child-stealing Goblin King. He’s extraordinary but his character Jareth is not someone any child would want to encounter. After our protagonist, Sarah, hopes for her more favored younger half-brother to be taken by the goblins, Jareth makes her wish come true. As a consequence of her thoughtless action, she must find her way out of an endless maze to save him. So now she’s lost among surreal, eerie creatures, feeling guilty, and in danger, with a weird man creepily obsessed with her. This marks the second time director Jim Henson collaborated with illustrator Brian Froud, first giving kids the heebie jeebies with 1982’s “The Dark Crystal.” Clearly, they have a pattern.

“Return to Oz” (1985)

What was once a beautiful fantasy is transformed into a fever dream in this unofficial follow-up to “The Wizard of Oz.” From Dorothy being forced to undergo life-threatening treatments at an asylum to the macabre version of Oz, this film was far from ideal for kids. The dreadful Wheelers bizarrely have wheels for limbs and the Wicked Witch of the West’s got nothing on the Nome King. Add to that Princess Mombi being a literal head-hunter sporting customizable heads and Princess Ozma being stuck in a mirror and you have the recipe for a fearfest. It’s a shocker how kids were even allowed to watch this.

"Small Soldiers" (1998)


This definitely isn’t “Toy Story.” After an advanced military microchip brings the vicious Commando Elite action figures and peace loving educational toys called the Gorgonites to life, a teenager named Alan must protect the Gorgonites from being destroyed by the army men hell bent on destruction. Kids may initially like the idea of their toys coming to life, but will think twice when they see the action figures attacking people with sharp tools and trying to murder the other toys. We don’t blame kids for being scared by this concept since we’d lock our toys away forever if we saw a hoard of knock-off barbie dolls coming our way with improvised weapons.

“Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” (1968)

This film lures its young viewers in with the delightful promise of a magical car. Halfway in, a serial kidnapper in the strange land of Vulgaria is working with the government to get rid of all children. The jarring tonal shift will leave anyone wondering, ‘How did we get here?’ The Child Catcher taps into a very primal fear of being separated from loved ones and also of grimy old guys. With his pointy nose and crazed eyes, it was guaranteed kids would see him twice – once on screen and again in their nightmares. If the goal was to teach children about stranger danger, this movie definitely succeeded.

“The Rugrats Movie” (1998)

Although a movie about babies going on an adventure might not sound like it’s terrifying, “The Rugrats Movie” is surprisingly scary. The film follows Tommy, who wants to take his new—and disagreeable—baby brother back to the hospital only for them to get lost in the woods with the rest of their friends. The kids have to fend off attacks from a group of circus monkeys and a hungry wolf, while dealing with losing their pet dog and figuring out how to get back home. By the time the babies are finally reunited with their parents, we… I mean, KIDS everywhere breathe a sigh of relief that they’re safe at last.

“The Secret of NIMH” (1982)

Try not to get sick or else your mom will have to face unimaginable dangers. That’s one of the possible ideas kids may take home from watching “The Secret of NIMH.” The brave mouse Mrs. Brisby tries to get her sick son to safety while navigating a world where even the most ordinary things—like cats and farm equipment—are terrifying and potentially deadly. There’s also a brutal animal testing scene that will have kids wary about ever going to the doctor’s again, especially if they’re anxious about needles. The movie’s a great tale about a parent's courage, but it may leave young minds fearing for their own guardians’ safety.

“All Dogs Go to Heaven” (1989)

The central concept for this movie is simple but horrifying for kids: your pets will die. After the main character—a dog named Charlie—cons his way out of heaven, he returns to Earth only to encounter even more horrifying ideas that would be terrifying for kids, like being kidnapped by evil dogs. If that doesn't scare kids, then Charlie’s vision of hell is sure to make them scared of all the bad things they've done while instilling in them the idea that their pets can go to hell too. Are we sure this one’s a kids movie?

“The NeverEnding Story” (1984)

Being tormented by others is scary, but having to save the world is even scarier. In “The Neverending Story,” a boy named Bastian is hiding from his tormentors when he finds a magical storybook. As the story goes on, Bastian realizes he has to help a young warrior named Atreyu complete his quest to save the real world of Fantasia. At first kids may think it sounds like a fun quest, until they realize it means being hunted by dark forces, leaving a friend to drown in their own sadness, and watching a world crumble before their eyes as they struggle to save it. Maybe children should just read some Dr. Seuss instead.

“The Watcher in the Woods” (1980)


“The Watcher in the Woods” introduces kids to the idea of being possessed by something otherworldly. Two sisters, along with their parents, move into a new house near a forest with a supernatural presence that affects the girls in different ways. The older sister, Jan, is haunted by visions of a girl in a blindfold. Meanwhile the younger sister, Ellie, gets possessed, causing her to do and say things she can't remember. The hauntings also come equipped with a cast of creepy adults and several life-or-death situations. If kids weren’t worried about being haunted before this film began, they definitely will be by the time it ends.

“Jumanji” (1995)

A young Alan Parrish is sucked into a board game, only to be freed as an adult 20 years later by two kids continuing his game of Jumanji. In order to return life back to normal, he needs to try and finish the game he started as a child. There’s no denying that the idea of the game is scary, since each roll promises terrors like lions, plant monsters that won’t hesitate to swallow you whole, or giant spiders. Or the game could suck you into it for decades—or until someone rolls a five or eight—while everyone you love disappears or dies. Either way, the thought of a game like this existing is frightening… or maybe we’re still hung up on those giant spiders.

“The Witches” (1990)

Witches are real, they hate the smell of children, and they want to get rid of kids by turning them into mice. This is the world of “The Witches” and its concept holds many nightmarish ideas for kids. First, there’s the idea that your parents can die and leave you vulnerable. Then there’s the concept that evil witches can literally hide behind pleasant faces. It also shows kids being punished in painful and humiliating ways just for being young. Whether it’s the terrifying witches or the film’s apt metaphors for hatred and oppression, this movie is full of horrifying concepts to keep kids up at night.

“Pinocchio” (1940)

In what world is disfigurement an appropriate punishment for lying? Apparently in Walt Disney’s. Little Pinocchio, who goes from toy to boy, is set up time and time again for failure. He is conned by Honest John, trapped by Stromboli, and sent to the exceedingly sketchy Pleasure Island, where he’s almost turned into a donkey after indulging in straight-up hedonism. Then his father figure Geppetto is eaten by a whale, and Pinocchio himself is killed while trying to save him. Mind you, this is a tiny little boy who’s going through these harrowing situations. Sure, he’s brought back to life but at what cost? This movie is enough to make any child distrustful of the world.

“Coraline” (2009)

In this movie, Coraline moves with her parents to an apartment complex where three children have gone missing without a trace. She soon discovers a door to another world and doppelgangers who look like her parents, only they have buttons for eyes. But the fun is over quickly, as she discovers her Other parents want to replace her eyes with buttons too, and keep her trapped in this parallel dimension forever. If kids aren’t creeped out at the idea of being kidnapped by someone who looks like their mom or being trapped for eternity, then the fact that their kidnapper can turn into a giant spider should do the trick.


Do any of these children’s movies haunt you to this day? Let us know in the comments!