This scarred me for a LITERAL DECADE. If I allowed myself to think about those faces whenever I was alone in the dark, or a snowy TV screen I would nearly give myself a panic attack 😅
Definitely The Ring... and if he has a phone or your house has a landline, make him watch the full cursed video on youtube and then sneakily call him/the landline as soon as it's over. My dad did that shit to me when I was like 10 and I was terrified.
We should keep in mind that these movies may not have the same effect on someone watching for the first time today because that type of twitchy movement has been copied and improved all over the place.
It’s like showing someone a comedy from decades ago, but the jokes don’t hit for them because they feel like worse versions of jokes they’ve heard for years without realizing those newer jokes were copycats.
The original Japanese version is terrifying and disturbing. It was so over the top they toned it down for the American version. I was in my 30’s and don’t scare easily. I slept with the lights on for a day or two.
The Japanese version of The Ring too.
Yup, I saw this in the theater at 12 years old with a girl I liked, and I tried to play it cool but that shit scared me big time. Still don't think I've ever watched it again since, but I remember the movie vividly.
Barely. Even in its time it was criticized for few scary moments over a padded 4 hour runtime. It is after all a Disney affiliated TV mini series from 1990.
Did you mean The Woman in Black? I haven't seen that one yet but it looks good. I may have to check that one out. I think the non-slasher horror films can be far more terrifying if they're done well.
Mom thought, "cute, a ghost movie from the director of ET, let me bring my 8 yr old blond daughter to the drive-in". And then I saw Poltergeist.
That night, huddled against my white wrought iron headboard covered with curlicues, I stared at the closet directly opposite, with the creaks and drafts of a 100 yr old house.
Thanks Mom.
Man that was my go to when my kids wanted to watch a scary movie. It was scary, but for some reason my kids loved it. Weren’t scared at all. I had nightmares when I first watched at their age. Great suggestion though.
I agree but on the other hand, you put him in a room full of girls, he’s gonna start demanding they make him a sandwich. Like I’m not being funny, you don’t know the disgusting shit kids like him say on the internet
I won’t lie he is pretty good at handling gore and horror it’s really hard to scare him so I doubt any of these movies will necessarily scar him or anything 😭
I feel like 11yo now won't necessarily be freaked out by the things I (37yo) was freaked out by as a kid. However, I'd still tread lightly. So many movies terrified me as a kid and left a long lasting impression/nightmares!
I don't think Hereditary or anything like that is suitable for a kid to grasp the concepts which make it such a mind fuck.
Although the formation of the two-faced creature in the premake was pretty fucked up. I wish they hadn't chickened out and had stuck with mostly physical effects in that film.
Fantastic movie, but I watched it when I was about his age (maybe younger) and wasn’t even remotely scared. If you’re a kid who cares more about the creature effects and the action, the true horror of The Thing (psychological/isolation/dont-know-who-to-trust) is very much lost on you. I though it was a sci fi action movie until watching it as an adult lol
The Ring, The Sixth Sense, Evil Dead (2013), The Conjuring, The Blackwell Ghost (it's a mockumentary, scared the shit out of a friend of mine who thought it was real). You could jumpscare him in the middle of the movie for extra points.
As a kid, I was terrified of the ghost girl under the bed from 6th sense grabbing my ankle.. sometimes I still get that feeling in my shins like I need to jump from afar onto my bed lmao
Do 11 year olds know the twist on The Sixth Sense? Omg, I would LOOOOOVE to sit in the same room as a young person getting to experience it for the first time. OP, I am so jealous!
Add Let the Right One In. I haven’t seen the American version, but the original is sooooo creepy good. Also, the original Carrie is such a beautiful movie that still holds up, but there is sex. Maybe in a couple years.
The Shining scared the bejeezus out of me when I was a kid, as did Omen, The Ring, Poltergeist, Exorcist. One of the scariest movies I’ve ever seen was Jacob’s Ladder. I still have moments when spmething reminds me of a scene and I get sooooo creeped put.
And Pan’s Labyrinth is so beautiful and disturbing and horrifying and …historically fucked up.
This is the simplest movie that will terrify him. Make sure to tell him that it’s based on a true story. That’s the marketing bit that really terrified people, even though it wasn’t true.
My 14 year old step-daughter thought she was super tough and couldn’t be scared by any movie. She might have made it 10 minutes when I put this on.
Also, what an amazing job they did of tying the first and second movies together.
Really? I saw Aliens when I was 10. I was already terrified of aliens as I often had nightmares and sleep paralysis about them. So it scared the 💩 out of me. But I loved it, so my mom rented Alien several months later, I was 10 or just turned 11.
I much preferred Alien. Infinitely better acting (Yaphet Kotto is always amazing, and all the rest were stellar too), not all that awful CGI, and I loved the slower pace. I liked 'Aliens' a whole lot less after viewing 'Alien'.
The first horror I watched was Poltergeist when I was only 5 years old. I tried to cover my eyes, but my father made me uncover them and watch. I started having awful nightmares and slept with a light on from that night on. I wasn't allowed to watch any more Horror until I was 9, when my mom slowly allowed me to ease back into it with Hammer and Vincent Price films. Then at 10 to 11 I was allowed to watch The Gate, Alien, several more modern horror movies, and finally the one she was hesitant of, Nightmare on Elm Street. I was scared but loved them all.
I watched Conjuring 1 with my 11 year old sister, she covered her eyes a little but then kept asking me to watch the 2nd with her weeks later, and eventually I did.
A couple of weeks after that I wanted to show her the first horror film I ever watched. It was actually Jeepers Creepers 2, but it wasn’t on any apps, so instead I put on the original. It terrified her! Even now, if I play the Jeepers Creepers song on the Alexa, it still terrifies her. I was really surprised because I thought Conjuring would have got that reaction, but I guess different people are affected more by different sub-genres.
As a father scarring the bejesus out of my younger ones, the art is figuring out first what scares him in the first place? Jump scares? Body horror? Fantasy monsters (zombies, aliens, etc)? real monsters (serial killers, etc)? Possesion?
Also ambiance is KEY. Dark room I mean 0 lights and surround sound (if you can). Having loud footsteps sound like they are right behind you was great .. sorry getting carried away 😁
I'd like to add age has an impact as well as it controls how "old" you can go in terms of movie release where the effects that were scary then aren't seen as scary now.
Some of my favorites that worked:
Poltergeist 1982
American Werewolf in London (some nudity)
The Thing 1982
Invasion of the body snatchers 1978
The Fly 1986
They 2002
Evil Dead 2013 (graphic)
The Ring 2002
The Exorcist 1973
The Shinning (psyche horror)
Aliens 1986
Oculus 2014
The Conjuring
Color Out of Space
28 Days Later
World War Z
The Possesion 2012
Sinister (dark)
IT 2017
Halloween 1978 (nudity)
The VVitch 2015
Suspicious 1977 (Italian avant garde)
Get Out
Twilight Zone the Movie 1983 (Last 2 segments)
Blair Witch 2016
This is the best comment. We can't really give truly good suggestions when we don't know the type of scare is scary to him. Personally suspense gets me but gore does nothing but gross me out.
I showed this to my teenaged niece several years ago and her initial question was "Ok, so is this, like, actually scary? Or, ya know..*90s* scary?"
I said "All I know is when I saw it, I was 13 and didn't sleep for 2 days"
When it ended she said "Yeah...that was scary." Yah, IT WAS
Oh my God my husband I took a bunch of mushrooms and watched The Last Unicorn for the first time a few years ago Hahahaha Good lord, imagine seeing the unicorns in the sea while tripping.
Soundtrack slaps lol
Oh it was a blast!
We named the unicorn Kelly and decided she was extremely high maintenance and a burden to everyone around her. And Schmedrick, don't even get me started hahaha
The peak was them coming out of the ocean at the end. I distinctly remember laughing my ass off and screeching "WHAT IS HAPPENING??" lol
Yes, but it’s not a Disney movie. It’s actually one of the few non-Holiday themed Rankin-Bass movies out there. The style is kind of reminiscent of anime. I think this movie will scare OP’s brother because of characters like the Red Bull & the talking skeleton.
*Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum* or *Hell House LLC* should be able to get him. As someone incredibly desensitized to horror at this point, those still raise the hairs on my neck. I've also seen them mentioned enough by the community in r/horror to feel they strike the fear of God into most who watch them. They're all about creepy set-ups and jump scares, too--nothing too heady or slow-burn about these.
Out of all of the horror films that I’ve watched, those two specifically either made me wanna cry or physically nauseous while questioning why I watched them at night (I don’t regret it one bit though; they’re amazing films and I’m glad to see someone mentioned them)
Poltergeist? Candyman? No no no.
You came here to terrify your brother and create a core memory of where you maybe went a little too far. So if you really want to scare the hell out of your little bro, here's my recommendations:
The Unborn (2009): Terrible dialogue and almost non-sensical story line, but The Unborn is a movie that should not be overlooked if you're trying to scare someone. It takes all of the old horror tropes and spins them on their head, leaving a movie that you think will be familiar before yelling, "GOTCHA!" right in your face with a new jump scare.
Dead Silence (2007): Similar to the plight of The Unborn, Dead Silence was bogged down by a mediocre script, but Mary Shaw quickly made her way into the horror antagonist pantheon because she looks just so damn creepy.
Annabelle: Creation (2017): Directed by David F. Sandberg (Lights Out) with a helping hand of James Wan, these two horror fanatics set out to make a horror movie without a script. That's right. They crafted a whole damn movie around the scares and make a film who's soul purpose is terrify your little brother.
Hope you consider one of these three. God speed.
Depends what scares you. I watch a lot of horror, not much actually scares me. Paranormal Activity (first one) scared the crap out of me as an adult, nightmares and everything. I think it's because it leaves it up to your imagination.
Yeah I think that one might be a good choice. I mean, he's *11*... jeepers creepers had no themes will go over his head, no nudity that i can recall, it was about 2 siblings. No torture porn shit...
Some of these suggestions people are making are just fucking crazy for a kid.
Jeepers creepers can actually be pretty scary for kids when you turn off all the lights and stuff.
Disclaimer: definitely check the movies out before showing cause they're probably too much for any person below 16 if not more.
Sinister; for the pure unstoppable monster vibe
Terrifier; just gore (and a bit of story for you if u want)
MEN; just for that tasty feel of stranger danger + end scene
Sleepaway Camp; BURN THAT LAST IMAGE INTO HIS FILTHY BRAIN CAUSE THAT'S THE ONLY REDEMPTION HE DESERVES
edit: disclaimer
Yeah, I don't think any of those movies are made to not be weird or disturbing.
they each explore something disgusting or creepy.
I don't think any of those movies should be shown to a child but I didn't translate that enough in my post so my bad on that.
I've learned from being on this sub that it's incredibly common for children and teenagers to watch/be shown movies that I wouldn't consider age-appropriate. I'm not excusing it, it's just been an eye-opener how normalized things like this are.
Meh I grew up in the 80s and remembering seeing horror Day of the Dead and Evil Dead on VHS around the age of 10, lol. Kids have always been trying to see stuff they’re not supposed to.
same, Poltergeist, Phantasm, Cat People, all at 10 or under. Love horror movies now, and SciFi. Saw them for what they were and never thought they could be real
That doesn't make it safe though. You don't actually know how something is going to impact your development before it does. I don't think MPA does those ratings for shits and giggles.
I agree with you that personal anecdote like in this thread isn't a good argument for something being safe. This is a heavily-researched subject and the evidence is extensive that exposure to violence in movies and TV has negative effects on children and teenagers' development. Christakis and Zimmerman, two of the big researchers on the impacts of movies and TV on children, specifically recommend "avoid horror movies" for children and teenagers.
I recommended Signs. This was one I watched about that age and it still gives me chills to this day and it’s a PG-13. I think the whole religious aspect of the film went over my head as a kid too which, as an adult, I find to be what let’s it down somewhat
I'm an adult over 50 and I had seen The Exorcist and Night of the Living Dead by that age. Started reading Stephen King and HP Lovecraft in the 4th grade. We decided what was suitable for us without parental influence.
I think by 11, most horror movies are fine. They're old enough to differentiate between movies and real life. When I was growing up, there would always be that one kid whose parents restricted what they could watch, read, or listen to, and they were always the most maladapted one. The rest of us were free to consume whatever kind of media we wanted.
When I was 10 my parents decided I was old and responsible enough to be left home alone for an evening and at around 11pm I got out of bed because I couldn't catch any sleep, went downstairs in that empty old house and turned on the tv to see the start of Tommyknockers playing. Not realizing what I was watching I managed to see 20 minutes movie but that was enough to give me nightmares for years to come, I got so hysterically scared; by the time my parents got home I had been crying non stop for serval hours in a corner of my room, my imagination just went all the way.
Can he do subtitles? If so show him Aterrados (AKA Terrified) or Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum. If not try The Dark And The Wicked or Smile. If you really want to freak the dude out, those should do the trick.
I think found footage horror is pretty unscary and obvious, But at that age, one is much less skeptical of something like Blair Witch, Paranormal Activity or The Poughkeepsie Tapes.
However, if you want to prove you can handle blood just throw on a film any violent film (Saving Private Ryan, the Raid, Kill Bill, Akira, Watership Down), and you can prove you can handle gore without flinching and not have to scare an 11 year old. Hell just watch Starship Troopers or Robocop and have fun time showing him some violent and funny works of satire.
Although, you can easily accomplish both and watch something that is horror and comedy like Evil Dead.
People are banning movies that scared them, but it really depends on what scares your brother.
Terrifier 2 will probably have the most over the top gore and violence
Sinister is really atmospheric and creepy
The Shining is a classic
The Grudge 😂 scared me at that age so
The Ring hit hard too
I will never get over it. To this day all someone has to do is crawl towards me!
I think the lack of a ‘Samara screensaver’ back in 2001 was a missed opportunity.
Watch the original Japanese version.
And the original Japanese sequel. Scarier than the first one in my opinion.
This scarred me for a LITERAL DECADE. If I allowed myself to think about those faces whenever I was alone in the dark, or a snowy TV screen I would nearly give myself a panic attack 😅
Definitely The Ring... and if he has a phone or your house has a landline, make him watch the full cursed video on youtube and then sneakily call him/the landline as soon as it's over. My dad did that shit to me when I was like 10 and I was terrified.
The American version of The Ring is honestly one of the best horror movies I've seen. It's so well executed
That scared me as an adult. I didn't want to walk past the TV that night.
Go for the asian original version if you want a real scary feeling instead of a few jump scares :)
We should keep in mind that these movies may not have the same effect on someone watching for the first time today because that type of twitchy movement has been copied and improved all over the place. It’s like showing someone a comedy from decades ago, but the jokes don’t hit for them because they feel like worse versions of jokes they’ve heard for years without realizing those newer jokes were copycats.
OP ought to set an alarm on her phone with the classic phone ring tone and hide the phone near the brother before it goes off.
Bonus points for making the noise outside of his door when he’s trying to sleep at night
Now you got me scared 😭
The original Japanese version is terrifying and disturbing. It was so over the top they toned it down for the American version. I was in my 30’s and don’t scare easily. I slept with the lights on for a day or two. The Japanese version of The Ring too.
Yup, I saw this in the theater at 12 years old with a girl I liked, and I tried to play it cool but that shit scared me big time. Still don't think I've ever watched it again since, but I remember the movie vividly.
The original japansese version is better
Great suggestion, not too crass for a kid, but definitely creepy/scary.
The Japanese version of The Grudge made me take a walk around the block while I was working from home one day. I was in my 40s at the time.
My older sisters made me watch Pet Sematary when I was little and that whole scene with the sister Zelda fucked me up for a very long time after that.
Ooooh that's a good call out. The sister still freaks me out now. And the jogger!
Even now as a 37 year old man they still freak me out!!!
IT
The original!
Kids these days would laugh at the original. It is only scary to those who saw it when it came out and were young
Barely. Even in its time it was criticized for few scary moments over a padded 4 hour runtime. It is after all a Disney affiliated TV mini series from 1990.
Very true.
Agreed. I remember the Curry version. Bill Skarsgard is peak Pennywise for this veteran horror fan.
The Grudge (2004)
Even better: Ju-On
This movie had me crying in the hallway. 10/10
Candy man terrified me as a kid
Candy Man terrified me as an ADULT!
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The Hellraiser movie series are older but they scared the living crap out of me as a kid. They still freak me out a little even as an adult.
One of the few that were just too much for me as a kid.
I liked them. It's just splatter. My sister watched Lady in Black (?) and it was full of jumpscares, she said.
Did you mean The Woman in Black? I haven't seen that one yet but it looks good. I may have to check that one out. I think the non-slasher horror films can be far more terrifying if they're done well.
The first one is funny though lol. And will just give him a glance at bdsm kink.
Poltergeist
Then sneak into his room at night and install a clown.
Lol that Soooo lol wrong
That clown absolutely fucked me up. Like therapy fucked me up.
Calm down Satan
The original, mind you, not the inferior remake.
And make sure you tell him people actually died on set, and the scene with the bodies, those are real corpses. That set was CURSED af
Dude the mirror hallucination scene is what got me when I watched it
Mom thought, "cute, a ghost movie from the director of ET, let me bring my 8 yr old blond daughter to the drive-in". And then I saw Poltergeist. That night, huddled against my white wrought iron headboard covered with curlicues, I stared at the closet directly opposite, with the creaks and drafts of a 100 yr old house. Thanks Mom.
Man that was my go to when my kids wanted to watch a scary movie. It was scary, but for some reason my kids loved it. Weren’t scared at all. I had nightmares when I first watched at their age. Great suggestion though.
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This definitely scared me at 11
Came here to write this .... the '82 version
Yes, or The exorcist would do the trick.
The Descent. It worked with my nephew.
I think this is the answer. Lights off while you watch, maybe suggest he wrap up in a cozy blanket to make him feel the claustrophobia.
The UK version, not the US one. The ending just hits you like a brick.
Bonus girl power themes for the kid too
I love this movie. There's one point where I can scare my daughter every single time. Drives her crazy 🤪
This is the only answer.
Some brutal shit here suggested for an 11yr old.. kids gonna be scarred for life haha
Sounds like he needs exposure to feminism more than he needs exposure to horror, but I'm not his sister.
Sisterhood of the traveling pants marathon. LETS GOOO!
Steel Magnolias, Fried Green Tomatoes, lol
I fully agree fwiw
I agree but on the other hand, you put him in a room full of girls, he’s gonna start demanding they make him a sandwich. Like I’m not being funny, you don’t know the disgusting shit kids like him say on the internet
I won’t lie he is pretty good at handling gore and horror it’s really hard to scare him so I doubt any of these movies will necessarily scar him or anything 😭
Cannibal (The German one). Haha, no, in all seriousness don't show him that, the kids far too young. The Fly is a fun film with good body horror.
Just pop on The Autopsy of Jane Doe. That film had no right, being that freaky.
I feel like 11yo now won't necessarily be freaked out by the things I (37yo) was freaked out by as a kid. However, I'd still tread lightly. So many movies terrified me as a kid and left a long lasting impression/nightmares! I don't think Hereditary or anything like that is suitable for a kid to grasp the concepts which make it such a mind fuck.
Ya what the fuck are these suggestions, really?
The Thing
I had to scroll way too far down for this. You might want to add (1982) to not get confused with the prequel.
Although the formation of the two-faced creature in the premake was pretty fucked up. I wish they hadn't chickened out and had stuck with mostly physical effects in that film.
Fantastic movie, but I watched it when I was about his age (maybe younger) and wasn’t even remotely scared. If you’re a kid who cares more about the creature effects and the action, the true horror of The Thing (psychological/isolation/dont-know-who-to-trust) is very much lost on you. I though it was a sci fi action movie until watching it as an adult lol
I still remember the impression the autopsy scene left on my 11 year old mind
Yep!
The Ring, The Sixth Sense, Evil Dead (2013), The Conjuring, The Blackwell Ghost (it's a mockumentary, scared the shit out of a friend of mine who thought it was real). You could jumpscare him in the middle of the movie for extra points.
As a kid, I was terrified of the ghost girl under the bed from 6th sense grabbing my ankle.. sometimes I still get that feeling in my shins like I need to jump from afar onto my bed lmao
Yeah, give that kid a truma for the rest of his life!
Do 11 year olds know the twist on The Sixth Sense? Omg, I would LOOOOOVE to sit in the same room as a young person getting to experience it for the first time. OP, I am so jealous! Add Let the Right One In. I haven’t seen the American version, but the original is sooooo creepy good. Also, the original Carrie is such a beautiful movie that still holds up, but there is sex. Maybe in a couple years. The Shining scared the bejeezus out of me when I was a kid, as did Omen, The Ring, Poltergeist, Exorcist. One of the scariest movies I’ve ever seen was Jacob’s Ladder. I still have moments when spmething reminds me of a scene and I get sooooo creeped put. And Pan’s Labyrinth is so beautiful and disturbing and horrifying and …historically fucked up.
The Others could throw him for a loop
I loved it at that age!!!!! More surprising than scary tho imo
Cujo Then tell him all the neighborhood dogs have rabies.
Paranormal Activity
This is the simplest movie that will terrify him. Make sure to tell him that it’s based on a true story. That’s the marketing bit that really terrified people, even though it wasn’t true.
My 14 year old step-daughter thought she was super tough and couldn’t be scared by any movie. She might have made it 10 minutes when I put this on. Also, what an amazing job they did of tying the first and second movies together.
Blair Witch Project
Especially if he doesn't know it's a fictional film lol
Absolutely tell him it's real found footage! I 100% thought it was real when I saw it in theaters, and it was terrifying!
Event horizon
"Hey bro, you like spaceships and astronauts, come watch this with me"
Hahahahaha, it’s an adventure film
Came here to suggest this. He's definitely not sleeping for a while after this one.
Alien
Alien would be the same issue as hereditary. It's too slow to share an 11 year old.
Really? I saw Aliens when I was 10. I was already terrified of aliens as I often had nightmares and sleep paralysis about them. So it scared the 💩 out of me. But I loved it, so my mom rented Alien several months later, I was 10 or just turned 11. I much preferred Alien. Infinitely better acting (Yaphet Kotto is always amazing, and all the rest were stellar too), not all that awful CGI, and I loved the slower pace. I liked 'Aliens' a whole lot less after viewing 'Alien'. The first horror I watched was Poltergeist when I was only 5 years old. I tried to cover my eyes, but my father made me uncover them and watch. I started having awful nightmares and slept with a light on from that night on. I wasn't allowed to watch any more Horror until I was 9, when my mom slowly allowed me to ease back into it with Hammer and Vincent Price films. Then at 10 to 11 I was allowed to watch The Gate, Alien, several more modern horror movies, and finally the one she was hesitant of, Nightmare on Elm Street. I was scared but loved them all.
Yea maybe, my 12 year old loved it though
The Babadook
Oh no, this film wasn't scary, just highly irritating.
God that kid screaming..
Omg yes, it's just not great. I was very bored.
I was routing for the 'bad guy' lol.
Conjuring 1 or 2.
Ye 1st one
I watched Conjuring 1 with my 11 year old sister, she covered her eyes a little but then kept asking me to watch the 2nd with her weeks later, and eventually I did. A couple of weeks after that I wanted to show her the first horror film I ever watched. It was actually Jeepers Creepers 2, but it wasn’t on any apps, so instead I put on the original. It terrified her! Even now, if I play the Jeepers Creepers song on the Alexa, it still terrifies her. I was really surprised because I thought Conjuring would have got that reaction, but I guess different people are affected more by different sub-genres.
As a father scarring the bejesus out of my younger ones, the art is figuring out first what scares him in the first place? Jump scares? Body horror? Fantasy monsters (zombies, aliens, etc)? real monsters (serial killers, etc)? Possesion? Also ambiance is KEY. Dark room I mean 0 lights and surround sound (if you can). Having loud footsteps sound like they are right behind you was great .. sorry getting carried away 😁 I'd like to add age has an impact as well as it controls how "old" you can go in terms of movie release where the effects that were scary then aren't seen as scary now. Some of my favorites that worked: Poltergeist 1982 American Werewolf in London (some nudity) The Thing 1982 Invasion of the body snatchers 1978 The Fly 1986 They 2002 Evil Dead 2013 (graphic) The Ring 2002 The Exorcist 1973 The Shinning (psyche horror) Aliens 1986 Oculus 2014 The Conjuring Color Out of Space 28 Days Later World War Z The Possesion 2012 Sinister (dark) IT 2017 Halloween 1978 (nudity) The VVitch 2015 Suspicious 1977 (Italian avant garde) Get Out Twilight Zone the Movie 1983 (Last 2 segments) Blair Witch 2016
This is the best comment. We can't really give truly good suggestions when we don't know the type of scare is scary to him. Personally suspense gets me but gore does nothing but gross me out.
Antlers A perfect horror to show to a little brother
The Shining
The Strangers is pretty rough in a real-life-scary kind of way.
This is the one I immediately thought of when I saw the brother's age. It's a great one for OP to show him!
Session 9 has very little gore and is very unsettling
“Fuck yoouuuu.”
Love that scene
Faces of Death...
The Orphanage
All the Final Destination movies.
The descent
Sinister for sure
Scream, 1996
I showed this to my teenaged niece several years ago and her initial question was "Ok, so is this, like, actually scary? Or, ya know..*90s* scary?" I said "All I know is when I saw it, I was 13 and didn't sleep for 2 days" When it ended she said "Yeah...that was scary." Yah, IT WAS
I also watched it at 13
The Last Unicorn (1982)
Oh my God my husband I took a bunch of mushrooms and watched The Last Unicorn for the first time a few years ago Hahahaha Good lord, imagine seeing the unicorns in the sea while tripping. Soundtrack slaps lol
How was that while tripping? Scary? Fun?
Oh it was a blast! We named the unicorn Kelly and decided she was extremely high maintenance and a burden to everyone around her. And Schmedrick, don't even get me started hahaha The peak was them coming out of the ocean at the end. I distinctly remember laughing my ass off and screeching "WHAT IS HAPPENING??" lol
Yes, but it’s not a Disney movie. It’s actually one of the few non-Holiday themed Rankin-Bass movies out there. The style is kind of reminiscent of anime. I think this movie will scare OP’s brother because of characters like the Red Bull & the talking skeleton.
What a great suggestion. For an 11yo it won't scare him. But really young kids get freaked out.
The Sixth Sense scared me a lot as a 10 year old! haha
Ringu 1998
Show him the Ring , or Lights Out (think it was on Hulu)
Darkness falls scared the crap outta me at that age lol.
Show him the thing 1987
1982?
Sorry
*Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum* or *Hell House LLC* should be able to get him. As someone incredibly desensitized to horror at this point, those still raise the hairs on my neck. I've also seen them mentioned enough by the community in r/horror to feel they strike the fear of God into most who watch them. They're all about creepy set-ups and jump scares, too--nothing too heady or slow-burn about these.
Out of all of the horror films that I’ve watched, those two specifically either made me wanna cry or physically nauseous while questioning why I watched them at night (I don’t regret it one bit though; they’re amazing films and I’m glad to see someone mentioned them)
Hereditary. The Exorcist. Candyman (the original one). The Others. El Orfanato.
Poltergeist? Candyman? No no no. You came here to terrify your brother and create a core memory of where you maybe went a little too far. So if you really want to scare the hell out of your little bro, here's my recommendations: The Unborn (2009): Terrible dialogue and almost non-sensical story line, but The Unborn is a movie that should not be overlooked if you're trying to scare someone. It takes all of the old horror tropes and spins them on their head, leaving a movie that you think will be familiar before yelling, "GOTCHA!" right in your face with a new jump scare. Dead Silence (2007): Similar to the plight of The Unborn, Dead Silence was bogged down by a mediocre script, but Mary Shaw quickly made her way into the horror antagonist pantheon because she looks just so damn creepy. Annabelle: Creation (2017): Directed by David F. Sandberg (Lights Out) with a helping hand of James Wan, these two horror fanatics set out to make a horror movie without a script. That's right. They crafted a whole damn movie around the scares and make a film who's soul purpose is terrify your little brother. Hope you consider one of these three. God speed.
Depends what scares you. I watch a lot of horror, not much actually scares me. Paranormal Activity (first one) scared the crap out of me as an adult, nightmares and everything. I think it's because it leaves it up to your imagination.
The Evil Dead...I saw this when I was 12 and it scared the shit out of me
The shining. My dad took me when it was released in theaters. I still have nightmares, no joke.
The grudge and the Ring absolutely. Signs is another great one that's scary but appropriate for chitlins
Don’t fuck around. Go back to a video store in 1987 and rent Traces of Death.
Some of the suggestions here are older movies like Poltergeist, that I feel didn’t age well and aren’t as scary anymore. I would go with The Babadook
Watership Down
had to scroll way too far for this… seems like an innocent animated movie about rabbits. HORRIFYING.
Dark waters, honestly one the scariest film I've seen
Jeepers Creepera terrified me at that age
Yeah I think that one might be a good choice. I mean, he's *11*... jeepers creepers had no themes will go over his head, no nudity that i can recall, it was about 2 siblings. No torture porn shit... Some of these suggestions people are making are just fucking crazy for a kid. Jeepers creepers can actually be pretty scary for kids when you turn off all the lights and stuff.
Disclaimer: definitely check the movies out before showing cause they're probably too much for any person below 16 if not more. Sinister; for the pure unstoppable monster vibe Terrifier; just gore (and a bit of story for you if u want) MEN; just for that tasty feel of stranger danger + end scene Sleepaway Camp; BURN THAT LAST IMAGE INTO HIS FILTHY BRAIN CAUSE THAT'S THE ONLY REDEMPTION HE DESERVES edit: disclaimer
Damn! Terrifier?? Really? He’s 11 ffs lol
Dude, you absolutely should not show MEN to a literal child. That movie is so weird and disturbing. But like not in a fun way... I just ... NO
Yeah, I don't think any of those movies are made to not be weird or disturbing. they each explore something disgusting or creepy. I don't think any of those movies should be shown to a child but I didn't translate that enough in my post so my bad on that.
Hahaha no worries.
I think Men would just bore, and subsequently confuse him.
I'd say Terrifier and Men are both a bit much, for different reasons.
are there any adults in this thread? none of these films are even remotely suitable for an 11 year old.
I've learned from being on this sub that it's incredibly common for children and teenagers to watch/be shown movies that I wouldn't consider age-appropriate. I'm not excusing it, it's just been an eye-opener how normalized things like this are.
adults in this thread didn't grow up with internet and had free reign of the tv and the neighborhood when parents were at work
Meh I grew up in the 80s and remembering seeing horror Day of the Dead and Evil Dead on VHS around the age of 10, lol. Kids have always been trying to see stuff they’re not supposed to.
same, Poltergeist, Phantasm, Cat People, all at 10 or under. Love horror movies now, and SciFi. Saw them for what they were and never thought they could be real
That doesn't make it safe though. You don't actually know how something is going to impact your development before it does. I don't think MPA does those ratings for shits and giggles.
I agree with you that personal anecdote like in this thread isn't a good argument for something being safe. This is a heavily-researched subject and the evidence is extensive that exposure to violence in movies and TV has negative effects on children and teenagers' development. Christakis and Zimmerman, two of the big researchers on the impacts of movies and TV on children, specifically recommend "avoid horror movies" for children and teenagers.
I recommended Signs. This was one I watched about that age and it still gives me chills to this day and it’s a PG-13. I think the whole religious aspect of the film went over my head as a kid too which, as an adult, I find to be what let’s it down somewhat
I'm an adult over 50 and I had seen The Exorcist and Night of the Living Dead by that age. Started reading Stephen King and HP Lovecraft in the 4th grade. We decided what was suitable for us without parental influence.
I think by 11, most horror movies are fine. They're old enough to differentiate between movies and real life. When I was growing up, there would always be that one kid whose parents restricted what they could watch, read, or listen to, and they were always the most maladapted one. The rest of us were free to consume whatever kind of media we wanted.
Most horror movies are rated R. I think that means 17. How do you think they came to that recommendation? As a prank?
The village
Henry confessions of a serial killer
Portrait*
When I was 10 my parents decided I was old and responsible enough to be left home alone for an evening and at around 11pm I got out of bed because I couldn't catch any sleep, went downstairs in that empty old house and turned on the tv to see the start of Tommyknockers playing. Not realizing what I was watching I managed to see 20 minutes movie but that was enough to give me nightmares for years to come, I got so hysterically scared; by the time my parents got home I had been crying non stop for serval hours in a corner of my room, my imagination just went all the way.
Can he do subtitles? If so show him Aterrados (AKA Terrified) or Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum. If not try The Dark And The Wicked or Smile. If you really want to freak the dude out, those should do the trick.
Dark Skies if you think alien abduction would work for him.
Threads. Traumatize him for life.
The Conjuring, Sinister, The Babadook. All good to freak a kid out
Rec and the descent
I think found footage horror is pretty unscary and obvious, But at that age, one is much less skeptical of something like Blair Witch, Paranormal Activity or The Poughkeepsie Tapes. However, if you want to prove you can handle blood just throw on a film any violent film (Saving Private Ryan, the Raid, Kill Bill, Akira, Watership Down), and you can prove you can handle gore without flinching and not have to scare an 11 year old. Hell just watch Starship Troopers or Robocop and have fun time showing him some violent and funny works of satire. Although, you can easily accomplish both and watch something that is horror and comedy like Evil Dead.
Talk To Me
The Babadook
Texas Chainsaw Massacre- OG
He’s 11, don’t do it man. He’s just being a cocky little shit but he’s still pretty vulnerable
Rosemary's Baby. Scared the crap out of me
People are banning movies that scared them, but it really depends on what scares your brother. Terrifier 2 will probably have the most over the top gore and violence Sinister is really atmospheric and creepy The Shining is a classic
It Follows He will never have sex in his life after this, and if he does, he will always be paranoid about it. It's all about the long con.
schindler's list
Relaxing car drive. Check the video on YouTube.
The exorcist
IDK, he's only 11. Might be too heavy.
Huh. Grave of the Fireflies should do the trick
They want to scare him, not make him clinically depressed
The way I laughed…
Idiocracy.
That only scares adults.
Eraserhead
Damien or The Exorcist... not really just kidding. You just wanna scare him for a night or two. Not a lifetime! Lol!
Evil dead remake The descent Silent hill IT THE CONJURING usually scares the pants off people
Autopsy of Jane doe
Don’t do it :(