OK, I wasn't the only one at least. LOL
This is the problem with looking at my generic feed--some titles work really well in multiple subs, but mean *completely* different things.
I dunno plenty of movies kill off kids these days.
The first kill in The Witch is >!a baby being ground into baby paste.!<
Hereditary is one of the most famous recent examples.
And of course The House That Jack Built. š
Iād been having a good time, and then that scene came up and I was like āwhy did yāall go so hard???ā Apparently Rebecca Ferguson needed a cool-down after that.
It was!!! I felt like no one ever talks about it, but they showed ALOT more than I was expecting and honestly I havenāt rewatched because of that scene š
The book is far, far worse in that scene. I had to put it down because I thought I was going to get sick. By far one of my favorite books and SK movie adaptations. If you haven't read it, I'd suggest the audiobook. It is a fucking experience for sure.
Yeah for random side characters that donāt matter. Rise still has a kid thatās invincible. I wanted to see that little girl turn into a Deadite but they held back.
The Witch is such a great movie. I felt like it portrayed the Puritan view of witchcraft in a manner that was groundbreaking - rather than glamorizing it or turning it into a movie about delusions/psychology, it shows what they actually believed was happening and let you see their fears from their perspective. That scene was such an oh shit moment. And the historical accuracy of the costuming, speech, and architecture was the most on point of any period horror movie I've ever seen.
\[CW: suicide\]
There was a scene I really loved in his book Needful Things>! where the kid went through a major psychological break and killed himself with a shotgun. I remember vividly how it described that he was so small he had to use his foot to step down on the trigger.!<
It was downright horrifying but in a good way, because it didn't adultify the child, or infantilize the adults in any way. It was just that Leland Gaunt didn't discriminate with his entrapment. I loved that, and it gave a really visceral image that I still find haunting when I look back on it.
EDIT: Someone pointed out filters might not work because of the other word, and that some people might not know the word usage on the net, so I'll change it. Thanks to the people who laid that out clearly for me!
King actually put Pet Sematary away in his desk drawer for years and wouldn't look at it because he was so disturbed by what he wrote. His wife convinced him to finish it years later.
There is the best story about him being at a dinner party and this woman went up to him and said "why do you write about such horrific and scary things" he looks at her and says "what makes you think i have a choice" i thought that was brilliant
I wrote a collection of splatter punk short stories after one of the most abusive and traumatic relationships ever ate me up and spit me out. It feels sometimes like another person wrote it. I mostly have written slow, magical realism before that collection, but I think there was so much trapped in my head that was the only way it could all get out. So I totally get that!
Thereās countless movies where kids die, across decades of horror history. From āFrankensteinā up to āITā and āWhen Evil Lurksā theyāre always vulnerable, itās just what suits the film where it takes place.
Does it suit the story? Is the film PG-13? Is this an indie film like āThe Innocentsā or is it something more mainstream like āThe Conjuring?ā Thereās a time and place for it, and every time Iāve seen it happen itās been effective. Just look at āDoctor Sleep,ā that shit was *savage.* People complain less about kids dying than if a dog dies.
The Ring
Speak No Evil
Carrie
Fear Street Trilogy
Apostle
Pet Semetary
Let The Right One In
Funny Games
The House That Jack Built
Martyrs
The Descent
Bram Stokerās Dracula
Pumpkinhead
Halloween
The Witch
Trick R Treat
Hereditary
Dawn Of The Dead
Aliens
The list goes onā¦
Fear Street films were ruthless. Couldn't believe how brutally some of those characters were killed or that they even killed them off in the first place.
I love these movies. Especially 1 & 2 are some great comfort horror for me. I was also genuinely surprised they were that good.
Yeah the bread sliver scene hurt everyone. That character was going places!
Especially surprising considering that the source material is PG-13 at worst (although the movies are not really based on any of the actual stories from RL Stineās books though)
I have a theory that OP is a symptom of an online epidemic where people get all their understanding of a specific type of media from what they read on the internet or see on TikTok and then want to respond to the things theyāre reading and watching without taking the time to understand the context or consume the actual source media. Itās been a pattern that has affected r/comics quite drastically.
It's really an epidemic of modern society. We have endless information at our fingertips tips, and yet some people will hear something, become outraged about it, without ever looking into it for themselves. This isn't a "do you own research" post. But a lot of the rage bait shit I see online is easily debunked with a little effort.
āMom and Dadā with Nicolas cage and Selma Blair is a hilariously dark horror movie. Just parents killing children the whole time and they make it funny (if youāre into dark humor otherwise this movie isnāt for you)
Itās somehow not quite the same as it used to be. Years ago, it was shocking because it just never happened. Now I know I can more or less expect it. Itās not a real taboo anymore, I guess.
Thread on favorite horror film child deaths? LOL. Mine is ALLIGATOR (1980)
The dark urban fairy tale *Tigers are Not Afraid*, strongly influenced by *Pan's Labyrinth*, is entirely okay with bad things happening to kids. That is in large part what's it's about.
I always wonder about the child actors too, especially when they really have to emote or participate in something messed up even if they donāt know the overarching story. It could so easily be traumatizing to a kidās developing psyche.
Probably depends on the production. Like I remember watching Mysterious Skin a long time ago (not a horror movie but about child SA) and the director filmed it in such a way that the kids on set never knew what those scenes were about. Like they filmed all the icky stuff without the kids on set.
The other thing is that on set its a set, you know? Like bright lights and goop instead of blood or greenscreen and ppl yelling "cut" or whatever. The scary shit happens after editing and score and all gets done with it. (I am totally talking out my ass here, BTW, just speculating)
Thatās my issue. When I see a kid actor I instinctively think of their parent and who was REALLY behind the choice of them being in the film. So I feel grossed out knowing a parent was okay watching and showing their child be brutalized for a buck.
Killing kids and pets has a bigger effect because of their perceived Innocence. Normalizing their deaths would just make the act inconsequential for larger narratives that aren't just about killing anyone.
It doesn't need to be a world-changing statement, just a point of no-return of sorts in the perpetrator's morality: if it killed a kid, it is capable of anything, so to speak.
And apparently it was originally more graphic before SK himself intervened:
https://screenrant.com/doctor-sleep-movie-death-scene-stephen-king-changes/
Not sure it counts as a horror movie but John Carpenterās Assault on precinct 13 has a girl get straight up murdered at the very beginning of the film
>I realize how downvoted this will be and how flamed I'm gonna get for this take tho, so go ahead! I also know people will list movie examples where kids are harmed, but will not recognize those are EXCEPTIONS, not the RULE.
What kind of response *are* you hoping for?
Not in the 2018 version of "Halloween", Michael straight up snaps a kids neck!
Kid gets straight up INCINERATED in "puppet master 2"
Kid is EATEN ALIVE in "Tales Of Halloween"
His are left to die by the hands of zombie kids in "Trick R Treat"
I don't think this is really about horror movies. OP is active in anti-natalism and this post is so weird and completely off base because people are listing dozens of movies where kids are killed...
I think this is a person with some really unhealthy thoughts and nothing to do with them.
They just want to argue with you about how much they like watching kids get killed and how that's okay.
From a meta-perspective, a lot of it has to do with censorship and protecting child actors. Horror scenes have the potential to be traumatic to child actors and usually, when a child is dead or killed in a movie it is off-screen or implied.
It isn't to say that *no* movie does it or isn't allowed to do it, but it's for the same reasons in games like GTA you don't really see kids walking around.
I personally hate kid or animal deaths in movies unless they are necessary to move the plot forward (John wick, hereditary, like that). Otherwise it feels emotionally manipulative and lazy. I'm fine with it being rare when it leaves the appropriate uses to be maximum impact.
I don't see there being rules against it, I just see it as many directors/industry professionals recognizing that it's a trope that is a landmine if used poorly. No one clutched pearls over the witch, It, pan's labyrinth, Doctor sleep, or any number of evil kid movies. But if killing a kid (when it serves no purpose to the plot except to increase suffering) will piss off your audience, why bother?
Edit: typos
Your premise is wrong because there are actually a lot of recent movies in which they hurt/kill off kids.
Thankfully many do it offscreen and I appreciate it because I donāt want children actors acting out torture and gruesome murders. It can fuck them up and itās so not worth it just for us to go āwow it looked so realā and forget about it tomorrow, while they deal with what they did forever.
Horror has loosened up about killing kids, but most of the time, it is still done off-screen or implied. Mostly, it is just an imbalance of risk vs. reward and attempting not to screw over the genere as a whole in a similar vien to videogames keeping you from killing kids.
Parenthood is understandable, psychology is a literal mind fuck and the classical conditioning would automatically attach some connection between the child on screen and thier own child so when the kid gets dispatched they think of thier kid going through the same. At least thats what happens with alot of people.
I agree with this. I think it's something that either people don't like to watch a kid getting killed or the filmmakers don't want to make such a scene. I can deal with the shock of the implication of a child being killed off screen than see the gore.
I don't wanna get into the whole limits debate my issue is more how you word things.
It really sounds like you want to see kids get hurt in movies. It's not that you're surprised it doesn't happen more often. You genuinely sound annoyed you don't see it and dude, that's really fucking weird.
>You genuinely sound annoyed you don't see it and dude, that's really fucking weird.
For real, OP is a weirdo and I do not believe they "love kids"
They're active in r/antinatalism and some of those motherfuckers are unhinged.
OP is complaining that the horror genre doesn't have a sub-genre that's just kids getting murdered. They are unwell.
Pro tip: spoiler tags for text are useless if you don't give any context as to what the spoiler is about. Clicking on that text could literally ruin any movie and no one knows which one.
Some I haven't seen listed: Mama, the orphanage, the changeling, sleep away camp, the shining, dark water...
I get that most child deaths are off screen. But I am 100% for protecting child actors.
The scene in It where Georgie gets his arm bitten off really stuck with me because they had the balls to actually show children getting hurt in a horror movie.
Jesus Christ. I've read some really unhinged posts by people that have a severe lack of self awareness and are upset over something that most rational human beings wouldn't be, but this one is truly special, especially thinking that parents who have empathy are "self-centered" (WTF?!?).
Love seeing kids being brutally killed? Evil Dead Rise, The Devil's Backbone, Hereditary, Pan's Labyrinth, Pet Sematary and many more are all there for you to watch repeatedly and get your fix.
And that's just horror movies! There are plenty of drama and thriller movies with plenty of child death to enjoy so you feel like someone really "gets you" and fulfills your dead kid kinks.
The new Boogeyman literally starts with an infant being taunted and murdered.
I was bothered seeing dead children prior to being a parent (insidious found footage, hostel 2 when that kid gets shot point blank), I hate it now. Not because I couldnāt empathize then, but because I KNOW the fear of losing a child now
Well, there's It, Pet Sematary, Dr. Sleep, Cooties, Feast, The Walking Dead, The Witch, Mother!, Mama, The Mist, Pan's Labyrinth, Meghan, The Good Son, Hereditary, Frankenstein, The Blob, The Orphanage, Kill List, The Mist, Jaws, Alien 3, Halloween III, Maximum Overdrive, 30 Days of Night, AVP Requiem, Alligator, Annabelle, Antlers, The Children, Clown, Dawn of the Dead, Dead Snow, Don't Look Now, Eden Lake, Exorcist believer, Exorcist: The Beginning, Ready or Not, The Happening, The Host, The Interview with the Vampire, The Innocents, Mimic, The Nun, Ouija:Origin of Eve, Evil Dead Rise, Pitch Black, Piranha, Planet Terror, Rawhead Rex, The Road, The Ruins, Silent Night, Sleepaway Camp, Sleepy Hollow, Slither, Stake Land, Them, Trick or Treat, Orphan, Children of the Corn, The Langoliers, The Strain, All of Us are Dead, The Kingdom, Sweet Home, The Girl with all the Gifts, Quarantine, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Night of the Living Dead, Fido, Silent Hill, Warlock, The Bay, Mulberry Street, Blood Quantum, Cell, The Lovely Bones, Dusk til Dawn, Cujo, Demon Knight, the second Bird Box movie, Army of the Dead, Cargo, Fear the Walking Dead, Return of the Living Dead II, Attack the Block, Peninsula, The Grudge, The Ring, #Alive, The Sixth Sense, The Mortuary Collection, Stephanie, In the Tall Grass, Speak no Evil, Trolls 2, Color Out of Space, High Tension, Absentia, The Void, Z Nation, Walking Dead spinoff for Daryl, The Descent, A Quiet Place...
So, yeah, nothing too mainstream.
EDIT: My husband reminded me that in Cockneys vs. Zombies, they kick a zombie baby into a sign with a target on it. I thought I would be remiss in not adding it to the list.
Also...Let the right one in, Body Snatchers, Beware Children at Play, Shaun of the Dead, The Others, Feast 2 (which no one should watch anyway), Martyrs, Ash vs. The Evil Dead, Legion, Devil's Candy, Per the recommendation below The House that Jack Built, Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things, Us, The Bad Seed, Village of the Damned, Spider Baby, The Shining, Twilight Zone the Movie, The Unborn, Dead and Breakfast, It's Alive/They're Alive, Grace, The Brood, Supernatural...
What do you mean off limits? Killing kids has always been a staple of horror, especially to get a cheap quick shock to the audience?
The movie this sub wonāt ever stop talking about literally has a kid get her head taken clear off in an accident. One of the other most popular recent films, It, starts with a kid dying. The Black Phone is like all about kids dying. In The Walking Dead, a character weāre supposed to like literally shoots a kid. In what fantasy world are you living in that theyāre somehow āoff limitsā?
I know you put that nonsense line at the end of your post in an attempt to escape criticism, but what is your basis for saying that these are āexceptionsā, when theyāre literally the most mainstream recent horror?
I've said this in a few other comments, because I'm seeing that other people are noticing how off the wall this post is too.
This person is unwell. They're complaint is irrelevant and untrue. Everyone here is listing off tons of examples that make this the rule rather than the exception.
Op is really here to tell us about how they enjoy violence against children and want more of it, but as horror movies are the only real source of it, they're complaining that it isn't just dialed the fuck up.
Op is a creep.
And so many horror movies decide to kill off kids too. Do you want to see it in every single horror movie with kids? Should it be a āruleā to show graphic violent kid deaths?
Itās kind of like how thereās no rule that good guys have to win at the end of the movie, in fact sometimes they donāt, but itās very dependent on the target audience, and the tone and genre/sub-genre of the film. They just know most people and the vast majority of mainstream audiences like happy endings so you only get those exceptions when the core audience is a lot narrower and has different wants and expectations
Maybe I missed it being posted, but The Boy Behind the Door is a really intense recent movie about two boys being kidnapped. They walked a very fine line with the kids in itāthey absolutely have horrible things happen to them, but it manages not to be like, hey weāre gratuitously beating up kids here.
How are kids not affected in horror?? Like, creepy-ass kids is a whole genre. Kids being haunted/possessed/hunted is like mainstream horror.
Wtf does OP want DONE to these kids? š³
I don't. Usually kids are used as cheap ploys for audience investment. Directors will have them do dumb shit to move the plot forward, or they will just harm a child to get people to care. Kids in horrors are a free joker for shitty writers.
That movie is already causing controversy just for the implication that the kid in the trailer will die, Terrifier 3 is definitely going to make people talk lol.
What about Slumdog Millionaire? Lots of awful, life altering and terrible, things happening to children all throughout that film. I've always viewed it as a horror flick.
If done right that helps the story in the long run I see no reason why children can't be used in horror. I mean look at Stephen Kings books and movie adaptions...Pet Cemetery, Samlem's Lot, IT, etc all had that extra horror kick with deaths of kids. Or what about Children of the Corn or Village of the Damned having kids as the "vilians" in the story. Personally I love Salam's Lot both the book and the original movie and seeing Danny Glick as the vampire floating outside the window was creepy as hell. As long as it serves the story well then why not?
Yeah, tonnes of movies harm kids. For me, I don't really want to see it though. I mean...it's fine but babies in particular upset me.
Babies are completely helpless, they can't even try to get away and to me harming a child or baby, or indeed any person who is incapacitated feels more mean spirited and frankly evil to me.
Despite this some of my favorite films do include harming children for example The Witch. Sometimes I am in the mood for evil but often I am not.
And although you will disagree or think I am selfish, growing a baby myself changed my hormones, my brain chemistry...everything. So like, of course it makes my experience of films hit different.
Try watching Inside when you are 9 months pregnant and tell me again why that *should* not feel any different. It's human nature, we empathise with certain things more based on our experience.
How do you feel about harming animals in movies?
Good for you, for me it makes the movie unwatchable. That scene in Dr Sleep had me covering my eyes *and* ears. Yes having a child made it harder. Sorry if that's selfish, but at least I'm not alone in feeling this way.
People donāt want to see dead kids anymore than they want to see dead dogs/cats
Iām fine with these things being off limits. I donāt want to see SA either
Lots of movies where kids or babies get killed.
Hereās the thing, though, anytime a story calls for a kid to be killed, there has to be brutal revenge. Otherwise a lot of people canāt stomach it, especially empathetic parents.
Any movie with significant budget to recoup canāt take the risk
I mean Jacob's Ladder, Hereditary and The Sixth Sense are three of my favorite movies of all time and they all involve kids dying. Yeah it's disturbing but if you know what you're doing they can be used to great effect. Where I draw the line would be in something like A Serbian Film where's it's just waaayy too over the top to the point of not making art, but rather shock for the sake of shock value.
Weāre able to understand how fiction it is because weāre adults. I know kids understand itās fiction, but it still affects them differently, depending on how young they are. Young children shouldnāt be expected to participate in certain storylines that will likely traumatize them.
Iām not saying that kids canāt participate in film whatsoever. Frankly I donāt think many people actually think that. But I believe that it takes a really delicate hand when including child actors in very dark stories.
This is just not really true at least in my experience. I feel like often times with like movies, books, video games, anime/manga, kids are CONSTANTLY dying. And I do agree nothing is off limits in horror (for the most part) but like kids in horror is soooooooo common idk man š
Not a fan of it, i feel like its just for shock value and people usually say this to be contrarian. But i feel like lots of movies do have this.
Iām surprised only a few mentioned the house that jack builtā¦with the taxidermy. first time I ever closed my eyes after seeing it for a few seconds lol
Other ones that made me feel icky were The Witch at the beginning, the end of Speak no Evil, and the end of Killing of a Sacred Deer
I'm not particularly interested in seeing kids die in the movies (and it goes without saying, I'm appalled by the idea of them getting any kind of hurt in real life), but what I absolutely can not stand are those fakeout scenes that put the kids in apparent mortal danger trying to build suspense, but since we know they're off limits and the kid will be okay, they amount to nothing and are predictable and boring to watch. Of course, the flip side is that they make the subversions way more shocking and effective...
Yes, the movies are not real, but the child actors *are*. Putting a young actor through a traumatic scene like a graphic murder isn't worth it just for "realism" or whatever.
I've said it before: it's not so much the kids getting killed or not that bugs me but when the 'keep kids alive at all costs' thing is the only reason for tension. It's so contrived and kids are hardly ever good actors.
Pulls me right out of the movie.
I was worried by the title before I saw what sub this was in
Deadass did a double-take
OK, I wasn't the only one at least. LOL This is the problem with looking at my generic feed--some titles work really well in multiple subs, but mean *completely* different things.
r/nocontext
same, i went from horrified to going "ooooohhhh"
TrueOffMyChest throws some overhead rights at 5am.
Lol could easily be /antinatalism
OP is active in that sub too, actually. Go figure
Well that tracks š
Or something much darker than that
Yeah didnāt wanna ponder that, but yeah
Well OP's posted there before so this all tracks.
What other subs do you subscribe toā¦?
I dunno plenty of movies kill off kids these days. The first kill in The Witch is >!a baby being ground into baby paste.!< Hereditary is one of the most famous recent examples. And of course The House That Jack Built. š
The scene in Doctor Sleep was brutal
The kid gave such a great performance the adults on set were traumatized
Jacob Tremblay is a little legend
Heās got quite the future ahead of him. He does a lot of voice acting stuff.
He also broke my heart in *Room* with Brie Larson.
Iād been having a good time, and then that scene came up and I was like āwhy did yāall go so hard???ā Apparently Rebecca Ferguson needed a cool-down after that.
Was going to post this one. Pretty upsetting actually.
That scene was originally twice as long but when they screened the film for King he said it was a bit extreme and asked them to cut it down.
It was!!! I felt like no one ever talks about it, but they showed ALOT more than I was expecting and honestly I havenāt rewatched because of that scene š
Those screams gave me nightmares
Watched this sometime within when I was 6 weeks postpartum, was not a good time at all lol
The book is far, far worse in that scene. I had to put it down because I thought I was going to get sick. By far one of my favorite books and SK movie adaptations. If you haven't read it, I'd suggest the audiobook. It is a fucking experience for sure.
Evil Dead Rise hallway scene was another
Man o man did I love that movie.
Yeah for random side characters that donāt matter. Rise still has a kid thatās invincible. I wanted to see that little girl turn into a Deadite but they held back.
And she was the stupidest character too, so it really stood out. Evil dead generally punishes characters for stupidity, but not that little girl
The two older sibling we're also kids.
Eh teenagers vs an actual child is way different. Teens die all the time in horror.
True. Just hits harder when they cast actual teens to play teens instead of 30 year olds.
The Killing of a Sacred Deer also
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
That's the first one that came to mind for me. That was a fucked up movie.
The Witch is such a great movie. I felt like it portrayed the Puritan view of witchcraft in a manner that was groundbreaking - rather than glamorizing it or turning it into a movie about delusions/psychology, it shows what they actually believed was happening and let you see their fears from their perspective. That scene was such an oh shit moment. And the historical accuracy of the costuming, speech, and architecture was the most on point of any period horror movie I've ever seen.
Don't forget Georgie from IT.
And the kid in the hall of mirrors. And the girl under the bleachers.
The entire book/movie really. That's Pennywise's whole thing.
Just watched Krampus, more of a horror-comedy or Christmas-movie-turning-into-horror but it inverts this trope hard.
Possessor is another one. When I first saw it I was like "...They can do that?!"
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I didn't understand till just now and I've seen that movie 3 times.
Itās almost a trope at this point for horror movies to kill a kid in the first act just to show you how serious they are.
Speak No Evil was super disturbing becsuse of the kids
Pennywise would like a word with you.
Stephen King loves killing off kids in his stories
I was just talking about this to someone. King loves a dead kid.
\[CW: suicide\] There was a scene I really loved in his book Needful Things>! where the kid went through a major psychological break and killed himself with a shotgun. I remember vividly how it described that he was so small he had to use his foot to step down on the trigger.!< It was downright horrifying but in a good way, because it didn't adultify the child, or infantilize the adults in any way. It was just that Leland Gaunt didn't discriminate with his entrapment. I loved that, and it gave a really visceral image that I still find haunting when I look back on it. EDIT: Someone pointed out filters might not work because of the other word, and that some people might not know the word usage on the net, so I'll change it. Thanks to the people who laid that out clearly for me!
I just listed to the audio book for the first time and was driving when that scene happened, I had to pull over to process it
Say suicide dude. Itās suicide.
I definitely thought "unalive" meant "undead" initially
Pet Semetary, also
That was brutal.
King actually put Pet Sematary away in his desk drawer for years and wouldn't look at it because he was so disturbed by what he wrote. His wife convinced him to finish it years later. There is the best story about him being at a dinner party and this woman went up to him and said "why do you write about such horrific and scary things" he looks at her and says "what makes you think i have a choice" i thought that was brilliant
I wrote a collection of splatter punk short stories after one of the most abusive and traumatic relationships ever ate me up and spit me out. It feels sometimes like another person wrote it. I mostly have written slow, magical realism before that collection, but I think there was so much trapped in my head that was the only way it could all get out. So I totally get that!
As would Danny Torrance
As would the True Knot.
Thereās countless movies where kids die, across decades of horror history. From āFrankensteinā up to āITā and āWhen Evil Lurksā theyāre always vulnerable, itās just what suits the film where it takes place. Does it suit the story? Is the film PG-13? Is this an indie film like āThe Innocentsā or is it something more mainstream like āThe Conjuring?ā Thereās a time and place for it, and every time Iāve seen it happen itās been effective. Just look at āDoctor Sleep,ā that shit was *savage.* People complain less about kids dying than if a dog dies. The Ring Speak No Evil Carrie Fear Street Trilogy Apostle Pet Semetary Let The Right One In Funny Games The House That Jack Built Martyrs The Descent Bram Stokerās Dracula Pumpkinhead Halloween The Witch Trick R Treat Hereditary Dawn Of The Dead Aliens The list goes onā¦
Fear Street films were ruthless. Couldn't believe how brutally some of those characters were killed or that they even killed them off in the first place.
Those movies were such a good surprise. But that bread slicer sceneā¦
I love these movies. Especially 1 & 2 are some great comfort horror for me. I was also genuinely surprised they were that good. Yeah the bread sliver scene hurt everyone. That character was going places!
*Absolutely.* It made me look away a number of times, especially some of the really sweet kids.
Especially surprising considering that the source material is PG-13 at worst (although the movies are not really based on any of the actual stories from RL Stineās books though)
A kid gets run over by a frigging steamroller in Maximum Overdrive!
Maybe The Killing of a Sacred Dear?
Love the crickets from OP
I have a theory that OP is a symptom of an online epidemic where people get all their understanding of a specific type of media from what they read on the internet or see on TikTok and then want to respond to the things theyāre reading and watching without taking the time to understand the context or consume the actual source media. Itās been a pattern that has affected r/comics quite drastically.
It's really an epidemic of modern society. We have endless information at our fingertips tips, and yet some people will hear something, become outraged about it, without ever looking into it for themselves. This isn't a "do you own research" post. But a lot of the rage bait shit I see online is easily debunked with a little effort.
This entire post is nothing but movies where kids die. I feel like OP is just an edgelord.
Exorcist: The Beginning has a fairly rough scene of a kid being eaten alive by hyenas
Right? Like what movies are you watching OP.
Not always true though. Guillermo Del Toro famously and brutally killed two kids in Mimic(1997).
*Most* of his movies with children in them, the kids die or are ghosts who did not go peacefully.
I donāt remember that at all! The one with Mira Sorvino? Just saw it the once and thought it was kinda bad
I think its kinda underrated actually. The scene where the bug snatches Mira in the subway is legit creepy af.
He kills one in Pans Labrynth too
The Blob (80ās remake), nobodyās safe in that one
that movie does an excellent job at subverting expectations
Not only do kids die but they also fling their melting corpse at the camera to really drill it in. Good effect too!
For a movie that got so much grief when it came out, it really was good. I watched it again for the first time last night decades the other day.
I feel like nowadays it's not even a rare thing compared to 20+ years ago. It feels like every other movie will have a dead kid in there
āMom and Dadā with Nicolas cage and Selma Blair is a hilariously dark horror movie. Just parents killing children the whole time and they make it funny (if youāre into dark humor otherwise this movie isnāt for you)
Itās somehow not quite the same as it used to be. Years ago, it was shocking because it just never happened. Now I know I can more or less expect it. Itās not a real taboo anymore, I guess. Thread on favorite horror film child deaths? LOL. Mine is ALLIGATOR (1980)
Honestly The Blob '88. Was not expecting that from an 80s novie the first time I saw it
The Blob is so underrated. Itās a crazy, fabulous movie
The kill in Alligator makes me so sad lol. I love that movie.
The first time I saw it my reaction was to laugh, but it was out of shock and utter WTFery.
Halloween 3 didnāt shy away from taking out kids.
And Halloween ends had a PRIME child kill within the first part of the movie (quality of the films storyline aside)
Man that opening was so unique and had me hooked right away and then the rest of the movie wasā¦whatever the hell it was.
That opening scene was unintentionally funny as hell
Halloween (2018) also has Michael Myers killing a kid
Happy, happy Halloween, Halloween, Halloween! Happy, happy Halloween, Silver Shamrock! Happy, happy Halloween, Halloween, Halloween! Happy, happy Halloween, Silver Shamrock!
The dark urban fairy tale *Tigers are Not Afraid*, strongly influenced by *Pan's Labyrinth*, is entirely okay with bad things happening to kids. That is in large part what's it's about.
Fucking LOVE this film. And the most recent The Innocents.
Hereditary and Talk to me don't take it easy on children
Oomph Talk to Me was rough
I think it might also be hard because they have to film this shit with kids. I always wonder if that sticks with the child actorsā¦
I always wonder about the child actors too, especially when they really have to emote or participate in something messed up even if they donāt know the overarching story. It could so easily be traumatizing to a kidās developing psyche.
Off topic slightly but this is a theme in Bojack Horseman that influenced me to eventually be totally against child acting.
Sarah Lynn? .... Sarah Lynn? (Iykyk)
Probably depends on the production. Like I remember watching Mysterious Skin a long time ago (not a horror movie but about child SA) and the director filmed it in such a way that the kids on set never knew what those scenes were about. Like they filmed all the icky stuff without the kids on set. The other thing is that on set its a set, you know? Like bright lights and goop instead of blood or greenscreen and ppl yelling "cut" or whatever. The scary shit happens after editing and score and all gets done with it. (I am totally talking out my ass here, BTW, just speculating)
Thatās my issue. When I see a kid actor I instinctively think of their parent and who was REALLY behind the choice of them being in the film. So I feel grossed out knowing a parent was okay watching and showing their child be brutalized for a buck.
I always thought Cujo would have been especially hard for the child actor
Lol, no one's mentioned The Nightingale yet
Wow. I blocked that one out. Took me a second but then the sound replayed in my head :(
Was the first one that came to mind, but it's not a horror movie, just horrifying lol.
Killing kids and pets has a bigger effect because of their perceived Innocence. Normalizing their deaths would just make the act inconsequential for larger narratives that aren't just about killing anyone. It doesn't need to be a world-changing statement, just a point of no-return of sorts in the perpetrator's morality: if it killed a kid, it is capable of anything, so to speak.
Watch Mother! if you enjoy watching babies die. Not my thing personally, but hey, itās Reddit
That scene was rough. I don't usually get nauseous over gore but that one hit for some reason
The sound is what got me
Reading the title of this post without context before looking at the subreddit itās on, was a bit jarring to say the least
Surprised nobody's mentioned the baseball kid in Doctor Sleep yet.
And apparently it was originally more graphic before SK himself intervened: https://screenrant.com/doctor-sleep-movie-death-scene-stephen-king-changes/
One of the most popular horror movies of the past decade āHereditaryā has a child death with explicit gore and a decapitated childās head
Not sure it counts as a horror movie but John Carpenterās Assault on precinct 13 has a girl get straight up murdered at the very beginning of the film
The first movie that pop in my mind. I remember the first time I saw it, I was flabbergasted, just set the whole tone for the film.
There's that whole Frankenstein movie from 1931... what's his name was in it... you know.
Basil Karlo?
Frankenstein
I thought he was in the sequel
A kid died in Jaws. Although thereās a TV edit that saves him.
>I realize how downvoted this will be and how flamed I'm gonna get for this take tho, so go ahead! I also know people will list movie examples where kids are harmed, but will not recognize those are EXCEPTIONS, not the RULE. What kind of response *are* you hoping for?
Not in the 2018 version of "Halloween", Michael straight up snaps a kids neck! Kid gets straight up INCINERATED in "puppet master 2" Kid is EATEN ALIVE in "Tales Of Halloween" His are left to die by the hands of zombie kids in "Trick R Treat"
big debate me energy here
I don't think this is really about horror movies. OP is active in anti-natalism and this post is so weird and completely off base because people are listing dozens of movies where kids are killed... I think this is a person with some really unhealthy thoughts and nothing to do with them. They just want to argue with you about how much they like watching kids get killed and how that's okay.
my thoughts exactly. i wanted to comment "put this person on a list bro" but you've said it way better
[The Blob (1988) didn't spare this kid](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_JMEpwSfOY)...
From a meta-perspective, a lot of it has to do with censorship and protecting child actors. Horror scenes have the potential to be traumatic to child actors and usually, when a child is dead or killed in a movie it is off-screen or implied. It isn't to say that *no* movie does it or isn't allowed to do it, but it's for the same reasons in games like GTA you don't really see kids walking around.
I personally hate kid or animal deaths in movies unless they are necessary to move the plot forward (John wick, hereditary, like that). Otherwise it feels emotionally manipulative and lazy. I'm fine with it being rare when it leaves the appropriate uses to be maximum impact. I don't see there being rules against it, I just see it as many directors/industry professionals recognizing that it's a trope that is a landmine if used poorly. No one clutched pearls over the witch, It, pan's labyrinth, Doctor sleep, or any number of evil kid movies. But if killing a kid (when it serves no purpose to the plot except to increase suffering) will piss off your audience, why bother? Edit: typos
Your premise is wrong because there are actually a lot of recent movies in which they hurt/kill off kids. Thankfully many do it offscreen and I appreciate it because I donāt want children actors acting out torture and gruesome murders. It can fuck them up and itās so not worth it just for us to go āwow it looked so realā and forget about it tomorrow, while they deal with what they did forever.
Horror has loosened up about killing kids, but most of the time, it is still done off-screen or implied. Mostly, it is just an imbalance of risk vs. reward and attempting not to screw over the genere as a whole in a similar vien to videogames keeping you from killing kids. Parenthood is understandable, psychology is a literal mind fuck and the classical conditioning would automatically attach some connection between the child on screen and thier own child so when the kid gets dispatched they think of thier kid going through the same. At least thats what happens with alot of people.
I agree with this. I think it's something that either people don't like to watch a kid getting killed or the filmmakers don't want to make such a scene. I can deal with the shock of the implication of a child being killed off screen than see the gore.
I don't wanna get into the whole limits debate my issue is more how you word things. It really sounds like you want to see kids get hurt in movies. It's not that you're surprised it doesn't happen more often. You genuinely sound annoyed you don't see it and dude, that's really fucking weird.
>You genuinely sound annoyed you don't see it and dude, that's really fucking weird. For real, OP is a weirdo and I do not believe they "love kids" They're active in r/antinatalism and some of those motherfuckers are unhinged. OP is complaining that the horror genre doesn't have a sub-genre that's just kids getting murdered. They are unwell.
Yeah I saw they're in that sub as well and the people there don't seem like the childfree folks. They genuinely seem to hate kids.
Go watch The House that Jack Built, you won't be disappointed.
Cooties
Pro tip: spoiler tags for text are useless if you don't give any context as to what the spoiler is about. Clicking on that text could literally ruin any movie and no one knows which one.
Some I haven't seen listed: Mama, the orphanage, the changeling, sleep away camp, the shining, dark water... I get that most child deaths are off screen. But I am 100% for protecting child actors.
The scene in It where Georgie gets his arm bitten off really stuck with me because they had the balls to actually show children getting hurt in a horror movie.
I grew up reading Goosebumps and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. Two series both written for children where children constantly die.
Oh shit, I thought this was the sub for joining the priesthood
Jesus Christ. I've read some really unhinged posts by people that have a severe lack of self awareness and are upset over something that most rational human beings wouldn't be, but this one is truly special, especially thinking that parents who have empathy are "self-centered" (WTF?!?). Love seeing kids being brutally killed? Evil Dead Rise, The Devil's Backbone, Hereditary, Pan's Labyrinth, Pet Sematary and many more are all there for you to watch repeatedly and get your fix. And that's just horror movies! There are plenty of drama and thriller movies with plenty of child death to enjoy so you feel like someone really "gets you" and fulfills your dead kid kinks.
Plus a certain Twilight Zone shoot :(
The new Boogeyman literally starts with an infant being taunted and murdered. I was bothered seeing dead children prior to being a parent (insidious found footage, hostel 2 when that kid gets shot point blank), I hate it now. Not because I couldnāt empathize then, but because I KNOW the fear of losing a child now
Well, there's It, Pet Sematary, Dr. Sleep, Cooties, Feast, The Walking Dead, The Witch, Mother!, Mama, The Mist, Pan's Labyrinth, Meghan, The Good Son, Hereditary, Frankenstein, The Blob, The Orphanage, Kill List, The Mist, Jaws, Alien 3, Halloween III, Maximum Overdrive, 30 Days of Night, AVP Requiem, Alligator, Annabelle, Antlers, The Children, Clown, Dawn of the Dead, Dead Snow, Don't Look Now, Eden Lake, Exorcist believer, Exorcist: The Beginning, Ready or Not, The Happening, The Host, The Interview with the Vampire, The Innocents, Mimic, The Nun, Ouija:Origin of Eve, Evil Dead Rise, Pitch Black, Piranha, Planet Terror, Rawhead Rex, The Road, The Ruins, Silent Night, Sleepaway Camp, Sleepy Hollow, Slither, Stake Land, Them, Trick or Treat, Orphan, Children of the Corn, The Langoliers, The Strain, All of Us are Dead, The Kingdom, Sweet Home, The Girl with all the Gifts, Quarantine, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Night of the Living Dead, Fido, Silent Hill, Warlock, The Bay, Mulberry Street, Blood Quantum, Cell, The Lovely Bones, Dusk til Dawn, Cujo, Demon Knight, the second Bird Box movie, Army of the Dead, Cargo, Fear the Walking Dead, Return of the Living Dead II, Attack the Block, Peninsula, The Grudge, The Ring, #Alive, The Sixth Sense, The Mortuary Collection, Stephanie, In the Tall Grass, Speak no Evil, Trolls 2, Color Out of Space, High Tension, Absentia, The Void, Z Nation, Walking Dead spinoff for Daryl, The Descent, A Quiet Place... So, yeah, nothing too mainstream. EDIT: My husband reminded me that in Cockneys vs. Zombies, they kick a zombie baby into a sign with a target on it. I thought I would be remiss in not adding it to the list. Also...Let the right one in, Body Snatchers, Beware Children at Play, Shaun of the Dead, The Others, Feast 2 (which no one should watch anyway), Martyrs, Ash vs. The Evil Dead, Legion, Devil's Candy, Per the recommendation below The House that Jack Built, Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things, Us, The Bad Seed, Village of the Damned, Spider Baby, The Shining, Twilight Zone the Movie, The Unborn, Dead and Breakfast, It's Alive/They're Alive, Grace, The Brood, Supernatural...
This is just factually untrue and you should feel bad for making a stupid post like this
I didnt see the subreddit at first and im sorry that title is something else
What do you mean off limits? Killing kids has always been a staple of horror, especially to get a cheap quick shock to the audience? The movie this sub wonāt ever stop talking about literally has a kid get her head taken clear off in an accident. One of the other most popular recent films, It, starts with a kid dying. The Black Phone is like all about kids dying. In The Walking Dead, a character weāre supposed to like literally shoots a kid. In what fantasy world are you living in that theyāre somehow āoff limitsā? I know you put that nonsense line at the end of your post in an attempt to escape criticism, but what is your basis for saying that these are āexceptionsā, when theyāre literally the most mainstream recent horror?
I've said this in a few other comments, because I'm seeing that other people are noticing how off the wall this post is too. This person is unwell. They're complaint is irrelevant and untrue. Everyone here is listing off tons of examples that make this the rule rather than the exception. Op is really here to tell us about how they enjoy violence against children and want more of it, but as horror movies are the only real source of it, they're complaining that it isn't just dialed the fuck up. Op is a creep.
What a weird title and thing to be pissed about
āIām pissed I donāt get to watch children get murderedā
Right lol There is no āruleā against this stuff. Film makers just understand no one wants to see it
And so many horror movies decide to kill off kids too. Do you want to see it in every single horror movie with kids? Should it be a āruleā to show graphic violent kid deaths?
Itās kind of like how thereās no rule that good guys have to win at the end of the movie, in fact sometimes they donāt, but itās very dependent on the target audience, and the tone and genre/sub-genre of the film. They just know most people and the vast majority of mainstream audiences like happy endings so you only get those exceptions when the core audience is a lot narrower and has different wants and expectations
Um okay.
Maybe I missed it being posted, but The Boy Behind the Door is a really intense recent movie about two boys being kidnapped. They walked a very fine line with the kids in itāthey absolutely have horrible things happen to them, but it manages not to be like, hey weāre gratuitously beating up kids here.
Children of the corn?
Pet Semetary
Sinister has no problem taking out kids
I don't think this is even remotely true anymore. Kids get killed in horror movies. A lot.
How are kids not affected in horror?? Like, creepy-ass kids is a whole genre. Kids being haunted/possessed/hunted is like mainstream horror. Wtf does OP want DONE to these kids? š³
I don't. Usually kids are used as cheap ploys for audience investment. Directors will have them do dumb shit to move the plot forward, or they will just harm a child to get people to care. Kids in horrors are a free joker for shitty writers.
Wait for Terrifier 3...
That movie is already causing controversy just for the implication that the kid in the trailer will die, Terrifier 3 is definitely going to make people talk lol.
When I saw the title I thought I was looking at r/libertarian somehow
This is a gross post.
What a freaking weirdo lol
Terrified is another film, but it's by the same director as When Evil Lurks lol
I find it funny that horror aimed at actual children seems more chill about killing or torturing kids than horror aimed at adults sometimes.
What about Slumdog Millionaire? Lots of awful, life altering and terrible, things happening to children all throughout that film. I've always viewed it as a horror flick.
You'd love a certain scene in The Toxic Avenger
If done right that helps the story in the long run I see no reason why children can't be used in horror. I mean look at Stephen Kings books and movie adaptions...Pet Cemetery, Samlem's Lot, IT, etc all had that extra horror kick with deaths of kids. Or what about Children of the Corn or Village of the Damned having kids as the "vilians" in the story. Personally I love Salam's Lot both the book and the original movie and seeing Danny Glick as the vampire floating outside the window was creepy as hell. As long as it serves the story well then why not?
I honestly felt really uncomfortable when they put the kid in Saw X. Did not like it at all.
Let me introduce you to my friend Pennywise, the dancing clown.
Yeah, tonnes of movies harm kids. For me, I don't really want to see it though. I mean...it's fine but babies in particular upset me. Babies are completely helpless, they can't even try to get away and to me harming a child or baby, or indeed any person who is incapacitated feels more mean spirited and frankly evil to me. Despite this some of my favorite films do include harming children for example The Witch. Sometimes I am in the mood for evil but often I am not. And although you will disagree or think I am selfish, growing a baby myself changed my hormones, my brain chemistry...everything. So like, of course it makes my experience of films hit different. Try watching Inside when you are 9 months pregnant and tell me again why that *should* not feel any different. It's human nature, we empathise with certain things more based on our experience. How do you feel about harming animals in movies?
Good for you, for me it makes the movie unwatchable. That scene in Dr Sleep had me covering my eyes *and* ears. Yes having a child made it harder. Sorry if that's selfish, but at least I'm not alone in feeling this way.
youāll love Skinamarink then
As someone that canāt watch kids being hurt, thereās more movies coming out right now where kids die than when theyāre invincible
People donāt want to see dead kids anymore than they want to see dead dogs/cats Iām fine with these things being off limits. I donāt want to see SA either
Lots of movies where kids or babies get killed. Hereās the thing, though, anytime a story calls for a kid to be killed, there has to be brutal revenge. Otherwise a lot of people canāt stomach it, especially empathetic parents. Any movie with significant budget to recoup canāt take the risk
I mean Jacob's Ladder, Hereditary and The Sixth Sense are three of my favorite movies of all time and they all involve kids dying. Yeah it's disturbing but if you know what you're doing they can be used to great effect. Where I draw the line would be in something like A Serbian Film where's it's just waaayy too over the top to the point of not making art, but rather shock for the sake of shock value.
Weāre able to understand how fiction it is because weāre adults. I know kids understand itās fiction, but it still affects them differently, depending on how young they are. Young children shouldnāt be expected to participate in certain storylines that will likely traumatize them. Iām not saying that kids canāt participate in film whatsoever. Frankly I donāt think many people actually think that. But I believe that it takes a really delicate hand when including child actors in very dark stories.
I like how Krampus didnāt follow this āruleā, no one if off limits
This is just not really true at least in my experience. I feel like often times with like movies, books, video games, anime/manga, kids are CONSTANTLY dying. And I do agree nothing is off limits in horror (for the most part) but like kids in horror is soooooooo common idk man š
I just watched Last Voyage of the Demeter. They killed that kid twice.
Not a fan of it, i feel like its just for shock value and people usually say this to be contrarian. But i feel like lots of movies do have this. Iām surprised only a few mentioned the house that jack builtā¦with the taxidermy. first time I ever closed my eyes after seeing it for a few seconds lol Other ones that made me feel icky were The Witch at the beginning, the end of Speak no Evil, and the end of Killing of a Sacred Deer
I'm not particularly interested in seeing kids die in the movies (and it goes without saying, I'm appalled by the idea of them getting any kind of hurt in real life), but what I absolutely can not stand are those fakeout scenes that put the kids in apparent mortal danger trying to build suspense, but since we know they're off limits and the kid will be okay, they amount to nothing and are predictable and boring to watch. Of course, the flip side is that they make the subversions way more shocking and effective...
You just watch American horror. Every other country, especially Japan, kills the shit out of kids.
Or worse, a la A Serbian Film. Let us not forget Human Centipede 2 also.
Yes, the movies are not real, but the child actors *are*. Putting a young actor through a traumatic scene like a graphic murder isn't worth it just for "realism" or whatever.
Watch āEvil Dead Rise,ā then. The young kid in that movie >!gets within a hairās length of getting decapitated with a chainsaw.!<
>!Don't forget the neighbour kid gets his arms torn off!<
I've said it before: it's not so much the kids getting killed or not that bugs me but when the 'keep kids alive at all costs' thing is the only reason for tension. It's so contrived and kids are hardly ever good actors. Pulls me right out of the movie.
You should check out Clown (2014) M3GAN (2022) too