To celebrate the release of Paranormal Activity 4, in cinemas today, Paramount have sent us over a list of their Top 10 Scariest Kids in Movies.
It’s a great list, but it does seem to be missing Mikey from the 1992 film of the same name. This film is infamously tied to the Jamie Bulger killing and is still banned in the UK. I had the misfortune of seeing it as a young teen and it still haunts me to this day. Anyway here’s the list!
Whether they’re little girls crawling out of the TV, or boys standing in the middle of a hotel lobby – there’s nothing that quite gets our pulse racing like a creepy looking child!
Here are the top ten – which one scares you the most?
1. Samara Morgan from The Ring (2002)
Samara (played by Daveigh Chase) is an 8 year old girl from early 2000 horror, The Ring that terrified the nation around its release. She was pushed down a well by her adoptive mother, and died seven days later. As a ghost, she created a video tape and emerges from the television seven days after the tape has been watched in order to kill the viewer. Samara is a quiet child who spends hours studying objects of interest and not really talking, adding to the creepy tension of the film. The Ring is a must see if you haven’t already had the pleasure, and will put you off answering the phone for a good few days!
2. Regan MacNeil from The Exorcist (1973)
Regan (played by Linda Blair) is a young girl who becomes possessed by a demonic being in absolute classic horror film, The Exorcist. At first the people around her think her actions are down to bodily changes, psychological problems, or an undiagnosed illness, but after unexplainable things start happening, such as strange noises and shaking beds, the next step taken is exorcism. Now this little girl refers to herself as the Devil, but there’s no denying she’s one pain in the neck and one of the top of our list of scary children!
3. Sean from Birth (2004)
More psychologically creepy than evil, Sean (played by Cameron Bright) convinces his alleged widow, Anna (played by Nicole Kidman) that he is the reincarnation of her deceased husband. So obviously Sean is already quite obviously a creepy kid, whether or not his claim is true! Now not to give away any spoilers but it’s fair to say that this creepy kid has some serious psychological issues and is scary in a very unsettling way!
4. Toshio from Ju-On: The Grudge (2002)
Toshio (played by Yuya Ozeki in the original), a little boy found in a wardrobe in this Japanese horror classic, is another standard example of a creepy kid that has been messed up due to a tormented childhood (and some possible demon blood). He is characterized by his pitch-black eyes, pale skin, and the haunting meowing sounds he makes, making for a very creepy result. Toshio has been in many different Japanese horror films, and was also portrayed in the US version of The Grudge, each time taking on slightly different characteristics. However he is always killed at around the age of 6 or 7, and comes back to kill others after his death.
5. Twin girls from The Shining (1980)
Although they don’t play a central part in The Shining, the twin girls (played by real life twins Lisa & Louise Burns) seen by Danny are pretty darn creepy. Although Danny himself isn’t not scary (especially with his habit of talking to his finger); the twins have beaten him out for a place in this list due to their creepy talking in unison and their frequent appearances as murdered corpses.
6. All the children from Village of the Damned (1960)
So not officially children, but actually aliens posing as children, all the kids in The Village of the Damned appear in this list, as they are all as creepy as each other. Village of the Damned is another absolute classic horror which set the standards for creepy children. The women of a small village in Midwich all become pregnant at the same time and give birth to blond-haired kiddies who have penetrating eyes, forcing people to do things they don’t want to. The movie is incredibly eerie and relies on Science Fiction for its creepy kids. Nonetheless, there’s no doubt that these little blond haired monsters had to grace our top ten.
7. Eli from Let The Right One In (2008)
You may be more familiar with the UK re-make of this Swedish film, released in 2010 and entitled Let Me In, but this version just snips in ahead in terms of creepy children. Eli (played by Lina Leandersson) may seem like a perfectly normal little girl until it is discovered that she has to drink other people’s blood in order to stay alive. Although the film itself stays completely amoral in its judgment of all the characters, and you can’t help but like little Eli, there’s no denying she’s one scary little so and so, especially for those unsuspecting victims taking an early morning walk in the snow. If you haven’t seen this version, it is definitely worth a watch!
8. Damien from The Omen (1976)
Damien (played by Harvey Stephens) from The Omen is Evil Incarnate, and definitely deserves a place on our top ten scary children list! From a young age, spooky stuff starts happening such as his nanny publicly hanging herself on his fifth birthday and terrible deaths all around him. Damien’s back story is not really known as when his adoptive parents try to find out where he’s from, they find the orphanage he lived in burnt down, and his mother’s coffin containing the skeleton of a jackal. I think it has to be said Damien has got to be the most evil on our list, but the most scary? We’ll let you decide.
9. Cole from The Sixth Sense (1996)
“I see dead people…” Sound familiar? It should do; it’s from one of the most celebrated films of the mid-nineties, The Sixth Sense. A real psychological thriller, Bruce Willis plays a child psychologist whose young patient, Cole (played by Haley Joel Osment), is able to communicate with the dead. To be fair, I think his most haunting aspect is the way Cole insists on whispering most of the things he says; not to mention the haunted look he constantly wears! Wonderfully acted and truly compelling, Cole is one of our more likeable scary kids.
10. Hunter from Paranormal Activity (2007 – 2012)
Hunter (played by Jackson Xenia Prieto and William Juan Prieto as a baby) was cursed from birth, following a deal his great-grandmother made with the devil, giving up the first boy born to their family. He re-appears in Paranormal Activity 4 and although we can’t know for sure what exactly his role will be in the new film, we’re sure he’ll be scaring us senseless with his creepy kid ways. Make sure to see it in cinemas for the full scary affect!
So who is your favourite creepy child?