THE OMEN (1976)

Damien Thorn (Harvey Stephens) is a little devil. No, seriously, this kid is the Antichrist. But with his cherub face and raven colored mop-top it's hard to get mad at the little guy. However, It is very easy to get creeped out by him. Damien's dad (played to perfection by Gregory Peck) tries to deny what he knows to be true about junior but it's hard to overlook a few things. A nanny hanging herself at the kid's birthday bash, Damien taking a header into mom, leading to her untimely death, and those pesky trio of 6's on his head. The movie ends with a showdown for the ages with Peck's character in the unenviable position of having to kill his own child in order to save the world.

THE BROOD (1979)

You think your health care plan is bad? At least your HMO doesn't employ the crazy Dr. Hal Raglan (Oliver Reed). Nola (Samantha Eggar) works out her pain and rage with an unconventional therapy developed by Dr. Raglan and before you know it her anger comes out in the form of violent and evil little people. We are treated to a nasty little scene in a kindergarten class that had ME watching in between my fingers and I have seen everything.

We are also treated to the beauty of childbirth. Ah, watching Nola rip into the baby sac with her teeth and lick the afterbirth off her devil spawn is heartwarming stuff folks! Soon, we find out that the only way to save the day is to kill Nola so her anger won't cause THE BROOD is kill anymore people.

Sorry, but nothing, not even a trip to Chuck E. Cheese will turn these pint-sized mutants around.

THE EXORCIST (1973)

I actually saw this when I was 8 years old (Thanks mom and dad!) and it freaked me out so badly that I think my mind blocked out how much it had disturbed me. When I saw it again later in my teens my mind flicked the switch and it all came back. I wasn't the only one, my aunt told me that when she had seen it in the theater a woman got so upset that she rose from her seat in an attempt to leave but ended up fainting and falling in the aisle of the theater.

Well, that wasn't my reaction BUT I understand it. There really is no character, let alone child character, in a film more horrifying to watch than Regan MacNeil. There is nothing that will chill your blood faster than hearing the words "Do you know what she did, your cunting daughter?" coming out of the mouth of a demon-possessed child. Don't even get me started on the crucifix scene.

THE BAD SEED (1956)

Kids in movies turn to the dark side for a number of reasons but some are just born that way. This classic is not technically a horror film by today's standards but it is chilling. Monsters are supposed to be big, scary and crush tall buildings. They aren't supposed to be pigtail-wearing first graders.

The character of Rhoda Penmark (Played brilliantly by Patty McCormack) is a contradiction, she likes to play dolls, have tea parties and have stories read to her but she can turn on a dime and make anyone who crosses her end up meeting with a tragic "accident".

This movie was long on mood and short on actually seeing her do anything but that is what makes it effective. You could show her drowning a child or you can leave the viewer with the IDEA of it. What the viewer will conjure up in their mind is ten times more chilling than anything that could have been made visible.

The movie ends with a bizarre curtain call of sorts, maybe a way to take the edge off of the ending, with the actors coming out and taking bows. One weird moment is when the actress who plays the mother playfully takes Patty McCormack across her knee and starts spanking her! This comes off even more disturbing then the ending.

VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED (1995)

The rural community of Midwich is visited by some alien lifeform that moves across the sky and leaves the women there knocked up. No, it isn't Bobby Brown.

It is made known to the women that the government will basically pay the women to carry their unexplained, freakish pregnancies to term. Hello there, welcome to red flags theme park!

The creepy kids (Headed by the dynamite Lindsey Haun) arrive, all at the same time and gradually the parents learn their white-haired little wonders have the ability to control people and read minds. The original VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED came out in 1960 but I have to say John Carpenter's remake is leaps and bounds better than the original, in my opinion anyway. I mean it has Luke Skywalker playing a reverend so how bad can it be, right?

CHILDREN OF THE CORN (1984)

If Kids killing adults and cults are right up your alley, then I have a movie for you. Two lovers run across a town that for the past few years has been adult free. Didn't any of these kids have any out of town relatives? No one came to check on them? If I miss a second phone call from my mother she files a missing persons report and I'm staring at myself on the back of a milk carton. These kids live 3 years without interruption. OK, I'll go with it.

THE creepy character in this movie is Isaac Chroner, played by John Franklin, who was actually in his teens when this movie was made but looked much younger. I am always creeped out by his performance, the way he looks, his voice, everything. The hairstyle leaves a lot to be desired (They couldn't have kept one adult around who could style hair?) but what can you do?

Some people go apeshit for this movie, in fact it is being remade, no doubt with the cast from GOSSIP GIRL, but I have always thought this movie was a bit overrated. In 1992 CHILDREN OF THE CORN 2: THE FINAL SACRIFICE came out but the title should have been CHILDREN OF THE CORN 2: WE'RE ONLY JUST BEGINNING OUR PLAN TO TAKE MONEY FROM YOU because there were 6 more sequels to follow.

PET SEMATARY (1989)

I made the mistake of seeing this with my highly emotional mother. There's nothing quite like sitting in a theater and having your movie companion cry out, "OH NO! I bet they go bury him in the Pet Sematary!". "Him" of course being little Gage Creed (Miko Hughes) who bites it on a country road after an overly tired trucker runs him over. You KNOW his heartbroken parents are going to bury him in an effort to bring him back but you also know it isn't going to go well.

Whenever I see little Gage slice Herman Munster's hamstrings I want to leap out of my seat to walk it off and feel around to make sure MY hamstrings weren't just sliced. The rest of the movie is spent with my feet curled up under me, of course. I think all of this is enhanced by the fact that Hughes was just a really creepy looking kid anyway. Kind of like an adult in a child's bodysuit. Years later I happened to catch him in a FULL HOUSE rerun, he looked like he was going to kill people in THAT.

Sometimes dead is better. True dat!

Next time your little monster begs for that extra scoop of ice cream or throws a tantrum over that new video game don't get annoyed, thank your lucky stars they aren't as evil as the little rugrats listed above. Well, I don't THINK they are anyway. Maybe check the backs of their heads just to be sure, huh?