13 Creepy and Killer Kids

Halloween is coming and we thought with all those kids that are out trick or treating, dressing up to be grown ups, that we would give these halfstacks their due, children can be creepy as well. The staff has got together and compiled thirteen films where children are to be feared.

---

The Children

From The Children

Tom Shankland’s film shares themes in common with a couple other “youth gone mad” films of the past, but these kids are terrifying in their own way.  A virus of some sort is turning the children into blodthirsty, malevolent creatures.  They still look sweet, but they’re ready to kill, kill, kill.  The scary imps in Cronenberg’s The Brood are spooky, but nothing freaks me out more than a normal looking child becoming violent.  Kids toys become tools of murder here, and a parent’s worst nightmare is born.  This well directed gem is a good tool to promote abstinence…or at least a double glove. – Mike Hassler

Esther

From Orphan

So technically, sure, Esther isn’t REALLY a child.  But as she’s posing as one and Isabelle Fuhrman is so, so goddamn good at it, I’m gonna let this one slide on in.  Esther seems like the perfect child for adoptive parents Kate and John (Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard, respectively) to pick up after a miscarriage has left a hole in their lives.  Esther’s sweet, intelligent, thoughtful, and loyal…oh, so loyal.  Loyal to the point of injuring and killing anyone that poses a threat to her new parents — and her secret.  An evil child is one thing, but one who’s cunning and calculating beyond their years is a frightening thing.  Oh, and then that make-up comes off.  Yikes. – Mike Hassler

The Killer Kid Trio

from Bloody Birthday

Three children are born on a rare eclipse and because of the wrong planets aligning, these little bastards are some of the most devlish, murderous little shits born. While Bloody Birthday was released in 1981, the story feels like a true product of the late 70’s between the astrological drive behind why these kids are bad and the fact that one of the kid’s weapons is a gun that would make you question child actor safety. If you have never seen this flick, it is available on Blu-Ray via Severin Films and the birthday celebration scene with the cake that has a possibility of being poisoned is pretty intense. – Andy Triefenbach

Holland Perry

From The Other

Twin brothers Niles and Holland Perry are thick as thieves in the summer of 1935. Holland is quite mischievous and always pushing pranks to their limit. Niles is a good kid but always seemingly caught in the act. Their mother has become a recluse since the death of their father. Grandmother Ada has been teaching Niles a form of out of body projection. Holland’s pranks take a turn for the dead and soon a newborn baby is missing. I hate to divulge too much of this movie . I had never heard of it before my first viewing. And to reveal the revelations is a disservice to this under the radar film. The Other belongs in the same category as classics like The Innocents. – Jeremy Jones

Eli

From Let the Right one in

Of the many things that make the 2008 film Let the Right One In great is the character of forever 12-year-old vampire Eli (played by Lina Leandersson). Eli is as terrifying as any adult version of a vampire, and the scenes that feature her feeding on her prey are all the more disturbing to watch given her age. Let’s face it, there are few things less horrifying to watch than a child as an aggressor. And Leandersson performance as Eli is a blood-splattered showstopper. – Cherry Bombed

Young Michael Myers

From Halloween (2007)

In Rob Zombie’s reboot of Halloween in 2007, we are introduced to actor Daeg Faerch. Faerch plays a ten-year-old version of Michael Myers in the film and visually he is stunning –  innocent and somewhat feminine in appearance. However, we quickly learn that there really is evil lurking behind his blue eyes as the child embarks on a calculated murder spree that lands him in a psych ward for the next 15 years. To this day I still can’t look at photos of Faerch as Myers without my hair standing on end. – Cherry Bombed

Rhoda

from The Bad Seed

Most horror fans are probably familiar with the 1956 film The Bad Seed but if you are not one of them, nothing can truly prepare you for the eight-year old pig-tailed terror that is Rhoda Penmark (played by Patty McCormack who was only 11 at the time). McCormack’s portrayal of Rhoda is nothing short of chilling and, as I don’t want to spoil the film by giving too much away, I will say this. After seeing this remarkable film you’ll never look at a cute kid in pigtails braids and smile again. – Cherry Bombed

Danny Torrence

From The Shining

Ah, Danny Torrence. The child who immortalized the word REDRUM. Actor Dan Lloyd was only five-years old when he played one of the most memorable characters in horror film history in The Shining. For most of us horror fans, the movie and every unsettling performance in it have been committed to memory. However, as disturbing as the film is it’s what happens to young Danny that is most troubling. From his conversations with his imaginary pal Tony, to the visions of murder and death he has after taking up residence at the Overlook Hotel, Danny is almost as frightening as his all-w0rk-and-no-play father, Jack. Danny Torrence is truly as twisted and creepy as kids come. – Cherry Bombed

The Baby

from It’s Alive

For the record, babies are not supposed to be scary. But thanks to the wonderful world of cinema, they are. There have been many creepy babies featured in horror films over the years (remember baby Freddy Krueger in Nightmare 5? Yikes!), but for my money the scariest by far is “The Baby” from the 1974 classic, It’s Alive. This baby was born to kill and nothing will stand in it’s way when it comes to it’s goal of murdering everyone in it’s path. It’s been a while since I’ve seen Alive but once you’ve seen an infant kill an adult, you never quite get over it. – Cherry Bombed

The Glick Brothers

from Salem’s Lot

Where do I start with the brothers Glick? Oh, they get eaten and turned into vampires. Not at the same time, but separately. First, Ralphie in the woods and then, later, he comes to Danny’s bedroom window. He’s pale and ugly and floating like a meat puppet in mid-air. He’s scratching like a cat, one hand all curled up into a claw, with this freaked-out, clownish smile on his face. Danny lets him in, we cue crescendo and out. But it gets better, because later Danny shows up at Mark’s house, pulling the same floating, meat puppet cat routine at the window. Thankfully, Mark repels the vampire with a tiny toy cross from his fake monster set. Freaky shit, if only because I saw it when I was around 12 years old and it was the first time I remember seeing kids around my own age die and come back. Sukman’s music pulls all that fog, whispering, and scratching together into two unforgettable creepy kid scenes. – C. Bryan Brown

Gage Creed

From Pet Sematary

Let’s face it, Miko Hughes was a cute kid, especially as Gage Creed in Pet Sematary. That blonde hair, those chubby cheeks, even the little foot left in the shoe after he gets clobbered by an 18-wheeler barreling down the highway. But after daddy-dearest puts him in the old Micmac burial grounds, cutie-pie Gage gets real ugly, real fast. He slices open nice old Jud Crandall’s face and then chews out his throat, then he kills his mother. After, he tells his dad “Now I want to play wif you…” and has the audacity to cry foul “No fair… no fair no fair no fair” when Louis sticks a needle in his neck. But the really creepy part is the growling as he dies the second time, like some pissed off woodland creature. – C. Bryan Brown

Mara

from Village of the Damned

Every single film to use the “child menace” trope owes a large debt to the original Villlage of the Damned, released in 1960 but based on a novel released in 1957. Even today, the film has some controversial elements; specifically, the evil children are the result of virgin birth, which has religious significance and subsequently caused a bit of dissent among viewers. It doesn’t help that the kids themselves are frighteningly powerful; their mind-control powers make them nearly unstoppable but it’s really their utterly lack of human empathy, as well as their  freaky eyes, that make them scary. They’re so iconic in their freakiness that John Carpenter chose to do a remake of The Village of the Damned, though the less said about that remake, the better. – Chris Melkus

The Children

from The Brood

Saying too much about the children from The Brood would be spoiling the film but, let me put it this way; you know that one baby you saw that one time that was REALLY ugly? You know how that baby grew up to be not quite so ugly? Imagine if it had gone the other way and they’d only gotten UGLIER as they matured. And the worst part is that they’re just as ugly on the inside as they are on the outside! But make no mistake, these pint-sized thugs have one thing on their minds and that’s murder and because of their single-mindedness, they’re damn good at it, too. But just you wait until you meet Mom! The final scene of the film is easily one of the most iconic scenes in horror film history and brilliantly subverts the “killer child” trope in ways you could never expect. – Chris Melkus

Samara

from The Ring

Although her means of transport is now obsolete, Samara Morgan struck fear into the hearts of young millennials everywhere in 2002’s The Ring. Based on the 1998 Japanese film Ringu, (which is infinitely creepier in my opinion) Samara is a super pale ghost girl, who lives in a cursed videotape. She can be summoned after watching said tape in just seven days. You would think seven days would be more than enough time to escape this tiny terror, but no matter where you go, Samara will follow. The young beastie is out for revenge for her murder and has a habit of crawling out of televisions to kill people. What makes this film memorable is definitely Samara and her scowling, raven haired covered face. One thing is for sure, I won’t be hooking up my VHS player anytime soon. – Sarah Skidmore