Movies with children's Deaths

[Elijah23256]

*SPOILER ALERT*
So I recently rewatched one of my favorite horror movies Pet Semetary. and in the film gage is brutally killed by a semi truck and it got me thinking about the fact that Kids are hardly ever killed in movies. In the Book Cujo the poor kid dies but in the movie they cut it out. In my opinion they shouldn't not kill the kids in the movie because thats not how life really is. Also it would make the movie more realistic. which is what we strive for anyway right? I would love to hear your opinions on this subject.::devil::

[Roiffalo]

It really depends on how you feel about the characters and story. Or at least for me it does. I can name a number of films that involved kids acting like arrogant little fuckers that I wish would've met a grizzly end but didn't.

Story wise it's a powerful tool for setting a dramatic scene. A pin could drop and set people off from the tension of a child's death. Or in the case of Freddy from NOES, the difference between the rumors of Freddy just raping the children to full on killing him changes the character DRAMATICALLY. Rape would've been unforgivable enough on its own, but actually killing them makes the character soulless and the most dangerous kind of person most people can ever imagine. For who would end the life of something that embodies innocence like a child?

In short I don't entirely mind child death. As long as it enriches the story. It is a risky and bold move though.

[neilold]

you wanna see baby menaness, watch feast 2!

[neilold]

Think most writers avoi it be a se they think it's going 'too far', dont think I've ever seen a baby being killed in close up, certainly not in any real detail. I also imagine the censorship board would look at it very gravely.

[Elijah23256]

It really depends on how you feel about the characters and story. Or at least for me it does. I can name a number of films that involved kids acting like arrogant little fuckers that I wish would've met a grizzly end but didn't.

Story wise it's a powerful tool for setting a dramatic scene. A pin could drop and set people off from the tension of a child's death. Or in the case of Freddy from NOES, the difference between the rumors of Freddy just raping the children to full on killing him changes the character DRAMATICALLY. Rape would've been unforgivable enough on its own, but actually killing them makes the character soulless and the most dangerous kind of person most people can ever imagine. For who would end the life of something that embodies innocence like a child?

In short I don't entirely mind child death. As long as it enriches the story. It is a risky and bold move though.

I agree but what I have noticed in movies that they will mention a child's death but they will never show it and i feel like the film would have a much greater impact if we saw the kids death. and the scene would be memorable as well. Look at a Serbian Film although the movie is disgusting and sick, everyone remember the baby rape scene because it evolves a child

[Elijah23256]

you wanna see baby menaness, watch feast 2!

I have seen feast and i have to say I enjoyed it alot but I haven't seen feast 2.

[TheBossInTheWall]

Check out Wer. Its not exactly what you're looking for, but close.

[TheBossInTheWall]

I have seen feast and i have to say I enjoyed it alot but I haven't seen feast 2.

I asked about that in this forum. I was told Feast 2 and 3 get progressively worse, but are still enjoyable.

[Roiffalo]

I agree but what I have noticed in movies that they will mention a child's death but they will never show it and i feel like the film would have a much greater impact if we saw the kids death. and the scene would be memorable as well. Look at a Serbian Film although the movie is disgusting and sick, everyone remember the baby rape scene because it evolves a child

True. The closest we ever seem to get to a child death is slasher films where teenage kids played by actors in their thirties are slaughtered. It's hardly satisfying. Especially when most are sick, annoying little freaks just asking for it.

[Elijah23256]

True. The closest we ever seem to get to a child death is slasher films where teenage kids played by actors in their thirties are slaughtered. It's hardly satisfying. Especially when most are sick, annoying little freaks just asking for it.

I agree now there are some kids such as gage from pet semetary which i wish wasn't killed

[neilold]

There's an Asian film 'dumplings' in which the dumplings are dead foetuses, its about as tasteful as you'd imagine a film like that would be

[neilold]

I love feast and feast 2, good fun. I also think some movies deliberately try to push the 'too far' envelope in order to get a name for themselves, rather than any real meaning.

[neilold]

i also think there was a series, or film (masters of horror?) that was directed by takashi miike (possibly) about a woman who performed abortions and then chucked the dead foetuses into the river.Though i'm possibly wrong on the director an series name, i also think it was baneed from being shown, though again my memory is unsteady to say the least

[Repo'd]

i also think there was a series, or film (masters of horror?) that was directed by takashi miike (possibly) about a woman who performed abortions and then chucked the dead foetuses into the river.Though i'm possibly wrong on the director an series name, i also think it was baneed from being shown, though again my memory is unsteady to say the least

Yep, that was Miike's Masters of Horror episode, Imprint.

[neilold]

Thought it might be. To me it had that typical Asian surrealism to it that slows down some of their horrors, I also find it boring to. Still not sure about the banning bit mind?

[Repo'd]

I seem to remember that it didn't air on HBO. I'm not the expert on such things but my recollection is that it was made available when the first season of Masters of Horror was released on DVD but didn't hit HBO with the rest of the films.

[ImmortalSlasher]

The ones that I remember are Halloween 3. A good one that's sure to scare kids. And Trick r Treat. Which wasn't as good as I was expecting. And the kids that get it are asking for it.

[Baron Von Marlon]

I recently thought about starting a topic on this subject. What are the odds?

Honestly, I'd like to see more kids dying in horror movies.
Especially when the movie in question is about a child murderer or child killing creature.
After all, they're horror movies so why not include it once in a while.
I find it a little strange that's it's still some kind of taboo.
If you already got an 16+ or 18+ rating, what does it matter?

Anyway, here's a fun scene from New Kids Nitro in which a bunch of kids get killed.

tcxGxuiMw9Y

[neilold]

There's a thread on bloody disgusting.com that's called something like 'ten horror movies that had the balls to kill a kid' it nay be of interest or at least a starting point for some of you

[metternich1815]

I agree but what I have noticed in movies that they will mention a child's death but they will never show it and i feel like the film would have a much greater impact if we saw the kids death. and the scene would be memorable as well. Look at a Serbian Film although the movie is disgusting and sick, everyone remember the baby rape scene because it evolves a child

I agree now there are some kids such as gage from pet semetary which i wish wasn't killed

But to A Serbian Film, I just wonder if they did it just to be controversial or if there was something they were trying to say. Too often, there are directors that just want to be controversial for its own sake.

I think killing a child is a powerful dramatic tool, as someone else already said. If used properly, it can be quite powerful. It goes to show that anything goes and can happen. And, this is life. Anyone can die at any time. Children are by no means spared.

I have to disagree on Gage. I loved him to death, but that was absolutely brilliant. It's one of the best child deaths in all of cinema. Rarely has the death of a child had more impact than in that death. It is precisely because we love him so much that makes that scene so brilliant in its given context. It is the embodiment of one of our greatest fears. A fear especially profound for parents.

[Elijah23256]

But to A Serbian Film, I just wonder if they did it just to be controversial or if there was something they were trying to say. Too often, there are directors that just want to be controversial for its own sake.

I think killing a child is a powerful dramatic tool, as someone else already said. If used properly, it can be quite powerful. It goes to show that anything goes and can happen. And, this is life. Anyone can die at any time. Children are by no means spared.

I have to disagree on Gage. I loved him to death, but that was absolutely brilliant. It's one of the best child deaths in all of cinema. Rarely has the death of a child had more impact than in that death. It is precisely because we love him so much that makes that scene so brilliant in its given context. It is the embodiment of one of our greatest fears. A fear especially profound for parents.

well what i meant is i wish he wasn't killed because he was such a good character and i agree because his death was brilliant and impacting

[neilold]

impacting but still reasonably tame, the after effect of it hitting him is left to your imagination, which may or may not be effective

[metternich1815]

impacting but still reasonably tame, the after effect of it hitting him is left to your imagination, which may or may not be effective

I mean it's tame in the sense that we don't see the death of Gage, but seeing the death isn't necessarily required. I tend to believe in the less is more philosophy myself.

[neilold]

fair enough, my point is not everyone feels that way, therefore the power of it is diminished to an extent

[OLO]

childrens deaths in movies i think are one of the worst things to see. most people viewing will be effected in a frozen and shocked sort of way, where they will most likely become emotional into the movie and situations with the characters, especially if they themselves have children. its not something fun... and am kinda shocked people have said here they want to see MORE of it.

im not against having it in movies, its part of the genre, the horror, life, sadness, etc... i actually think its becoming more and more involved with the movies, as well as children being the main characters.

i have a few great movies to basically back up my statements in the first paragraph, with the shocking and emotional aspects, basically a big mind OMG or WTF... but i dont want to ruin the suspense and shock for anyone here.

[neilold]

The more it's seen the more mundane it will become

[newb]

First time I saw a kid killed in a movie was "Assault On Precinct 13" 1976

John Carpenter film in which he kills off little Kim Richards just because she wanted ice cream

[neilold]

first an think of, that iremember was 'm' with peter lorre, though its implied rather than seen. God knows what people thought of a movie with a child killer back in the 1930s. Its frowned upon now, let alone back then

[MrsRickGrimes]

Don't Look Now

The Beyond

Jaws

Alice Sweet Alice

Silver Bullet

Mimic

Flesh Eater

Burnt Offerings

The Mist

The Children (2008)

[Disconser]

Children's deaths aren't shown in movies because for many people it would be too much. Children present innocence, their laughter presents safety. Most of the time it's only added because it can make the movie more dramatic.

But showing the death of a child should be used rarely if you ask me. It can also be quite impressive if you just can imagine what happened to the kid. Our imagination can be scarier than a film could ever be.

[Scythe]

Check out Halloween III: Season of the Witch.

The plot is based around the mass murder of children.

It's 80's cheese so it's not as dark and disturbing.

[Oro13]

Lol, there's the last 6 minutes of Beware! Children at Play.

[Roiffalo]

Recently watched Ghost Shark, and was surprised by the child death in that. It was a cheesy flick though, so I don't know how seriously you'd take it. I also couldn't help but laugh when the little separated lower bodies kept running when the torsos got ate. ::big grin::

[Morningriser]

my personal favorite is the boy on the bicycle in Toxic Avenger.

Who the hell lets a child of that age ride a bike alone at night in Tromaville? Common sense wasn't very common that night.

[Roiffalo]

Common sense wasn't very common that night.

When was common sense EVER common? ::big grin::

[Morningriser]

When was common sense EVER common? ::big grin::

There was that one time when...

wait nevermind

[Moviegirl80]

Pet Sematary

[DeadbeatAtDawn]

In A Glass Cage, the death of the child is horrific.

[Lord Voldemort]

Children's deaths aren't shown in movies because for many people it would be too much. Children present innocence, their laughter presents safety. Most of the time it's only added because it can make the movie more dramatic.

But showing the death of a child should be used rarely if you ask me. It can also be quite impressive if you just can imagine what happened to the kid. Our imagination can be scarier than a film could ever be.

It's why the chainsaw death in Scarface and the ear cutting scene in Reservoir Dogs standout; nothing was ever shown but people always describe those scenes as horrifying to watch and brutal

[DarkGlobe]

Don't see it mentioned but in Dawn of the Dead 2 kids are killed. Ok, Zombie kids, but still kids. Struck me when I saw it how unusual it is for kids to be killed in movies...unless they're teenagers of course, I mean, killing them is a staple of the horror genre!

[TheUltimateDreamWarrior]

There was a movie that disturbed me when I was a child, called The Unborn 2 (1994), which featured infanticide. It really affected me as a child and sticks with me to this day. It's probably the reason I am scared of firearms. I watched that scene with my sister. We didn't watch the whole movie, only the scene in question in the maternity ward. I remember where I was when I watched that scene, in my parent's bedroom and my sister changed the channel, probably because she didn't want my parents catching us watching a horror movie. She did the same with The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), as well.

I don't know if it was based on a real-life case or not, but I could see something horrible like it happening in real-life. The sad truth is things like infanticide and the murder of children do happen in real-life. It's a touchy depraved subject, but one that needs to be commented on in horror films. Art imitates life, and it should, in my opinion, even if that truth is hard to deal with. I never finished the novel Pet Semetary, but I remember in the forward by Stephen King he mentions how they lived near a busy highway, where tanker trucks would pass through. Once his son was almost hit by a tanker truck and that incident had Stephen King wondering what if he hadn't reached his son in time.

Horror movies reflect our mortality and the horrors that are all around us, so for a horror movie to show that kind of menace is bold, but probably not a film I could stomach watching again. Gage's death in Pet Semetary was definitely traumatizing but it was realistic and that's what I love about Stephen King, is his ability to create genuinely funny moments and genuinely scary moments.

[TheUltimateDreamWarrior]

Don't see it mentioned but in Dawn of the Dead 2 kids are killed. Ok, Zombie kids, but still kids. Struck me when I saw it how unusual it is for kids to be killed in movies...unless they're teenagers of course, I mean, killing them is a staple of the horror genre!

George Romero did make mention of it in the commentary. You don't actually see the zombie kids get killed by Peter Washington (Ken Foree). George cuts away, quickly.

Yes, the mortality rate of teenagers in horror films is indeed a staple. Night of the Demons (1988) comes to mind, not the remake I only sat through five minutes of or the sequel with that awkward kissing scene (https://youtu.be/QmpgURRd1Hw?t=1m43s) or the scene where the nun's head grows back after being cut off (https://youtu.be/Wcs-2O4Vw4g?t=1h11m2s).

[diezman]

Salem's Lot - The Glick brothers

Funny Games - the couple's son

[Jmarie]

One child's death I don't think I see mentioned here is Karen Cooper's in Night of the Living Dead. She dies and becomes a zombie. Also, we see her zombie form get shot in the remake.

Then, in the Dawn of the Dead remake, we see that the little girl, Vivian, has become a zombie. In addition, there's the zombie baby.

Other child deaths I don't think anyone's mentioned yet are -

- Robin (the little girl in Prom Night who is scared so bad by an older group of kids that she falls out a window - prompting her twin brother to go on a killing spree 10 years later)

- The children in Village of the Damned (both versions have them blown up by a bomb) and the original's sequel, Children of the Damned. Granted these children were aliens and had killed people, but in the sequel, they aren't completely evil.

- Ralphie Glick (from Salem's Lot) is the vampire Barlow's first victim (and first turned) and Ralphie goes on to kill and turn his brother, Danny. (If you think about it, King's books and movies include a lot of children dying or going through terrible things...

- It
- Silver Bullet (the kid flying his kite)

- Newt (from Aliens) is found dead in the very beginning of Alien 3 and she is autopsied.

- Eddie in The Blob remake

[The Shroud]

I agree with the idea that this is not done much because it would be "going too far", but I think there is another big reason. The kids dying aren't really dying. In other words, they are played by actors and...basically,.. if you want to show a little kid getting killed in a movie, you've got to get an actual little kid to act out the scene, get fake stabbed, fake cut-to-pieces, covered in fake blood, etc. and they may or may not be really mature enough to handle that.

-SPOILER- [recent IT movie] -- (highlight invisible/white text below...or if there is an actual spoiler tag I just don't see...please show me where/how to use it)-

Of course, if you've seen the recent adaptation of Stephen King's "It", Bill's little brother actually does act out some -him getting killed and maimed- scenes so...He does a great and very realistic job, but who knows what it might to do a small child psychologically to have the idea of having you're arm ripped off introduced to his field of possible things that could happen. Truth be told, though, I was hoping that they would show it this time, since they didn't show it in the made-for-tv movie version.


I'm not sure this is actually true or not, but I did hear once, that the little girl in the later Halloween movies (parts 4 and 5) who started out in the movies at maybe the age of 6 was so messed up by being in those movies that she started seeing, Michael Myers, everywhere and eventually was so freaked out that she locked herself in her home. She wasn't killed in the movies, but she was sure around some gruesome stuff in those films.

Heck, even that one filmmaker contest show that they had on tv a while back (don't remember the name, but Carrie Fisher was one of the judges) had this one guy who filmed this short film for the contest and he used identical twin boys to play one character. The character dies (or is already dead) in the film, and he had one of them lie in a coffin in one scene. The kid who was supposed to do it was terrified of lying in the coffin and I think they had to promise him something to finally get him to do it.

[LuvablePsycho]

I don't mind when children die in a horror movie as long as it's important to the story, but I'm not the kind of person who enjoys seeing children get killed just for fun. If you're going to kill a child character in a horror movie then it should be disturbing and horrifying not tasteless. Like for example when a little kid becomes a zombie in a movie like Night of the Living Dead, that kind of thing serves to remind the audience of just how helpless kids are in a zombie apocalypse (and I can't think of any zombie movies I know of where a kid actually lives). But stuff like Nightmare on Elm Street is stupid to me because Freddy is portrayed as being funny, witty, and more likable than the children he murders! ...even if they are annoying teenagers played by 20 something year old actors.

[Morningriser]

The son's death in A Serbian Film was sad considering the situation and although he is shot off camera , the son's death in High Tension was sad too. I think child murder in films effects people the way it does is because its a sensitive subject just like animal killing. Children are considered innocent and not to mention most parents are sensitive to child violence because it automatically makes them see their own child in that situation.

[LuvablePsycho]

A list of horror movies I can think of where children died:

MAJOR SPOILERS ALERT!!!

Night of the Living Dead (The Cooper's daughter becoming a zombie)
Dawn of the Dead original (the two little boy zombies locked in the gas station bathroom)
Dawn of the Dead remake (the little girl next door who became a zombie and the unborn baby who also became a zombie)
Land of the Dead (the little boy zombie in a suit)
Diary of the Dead (the one girl's little brother who became a zombie)
28 Days Later (the infected little boy in the restaurant who gets killed by the main character and the dead baby being held by a dead woman on the floor)
Hell of the Living Dead (the little boy with the bickering parents who became a zombie)
Night of the Comet (the little boy zombie in the one character's house)
The Return of the Living Dead: Necropolis (the one character's little brother who gets eaten)
Resident Evil Apocalypse (the little kid zombies in the school)
Children of the Corn movies (in every movie there is always a kid getting killed though most of them are evil).
Village of the Damned (all the evil kids eventually get killed in the end)
The Shining (the twin little girl ghosts who were chopped to death by their father)
The Ring (Samara herself was the ghost of a little girl murdered by her parents)
Ju-On/The Grudge (Toshio was the ghost of Kayako's little boy who was murdered by his father along with his mother)
Jeepers Creepers 2 (a young boy gets snatched away and killed at the start of the movie)
IT (Pennywise the Clown kills and eats a lot of young children)
A Nightmare on Elm Street (Freddy was a child serial killer and the little girls who appear in nightmares are implied to be some of his younger victims)
Pumpkinhead (the main character's son accidentally gets killed by racing teenagers)

But yeah, you guys see what I mean about how kids always die in zombie movies? Lol!

[idoneus1957]

How about in Assault on Precinct 13 where the little girl gets shot? That scene sort of sent the message "This movie means business."

[LuvablePsycho]

The most gruesome child death I can think of was in the original Children of the Corn when the little boy was running away from the cult through the cornfield and got his throat slashed by Malachi.

[Smeg Head1]

I'm not sure this is actually true or not, but I did hear once, that the little girl in the later Halloween movies (parts 4 and 5) who started out in the movies at maybe the age of 6 was so messed up by being in those movies that she started seeing, Michael Myers, everywhere and eventually was so freaked out that she locked herself in her home. She wasn't killed in the movies, but she was sure around some gruesome stuff in those films.


Danielle Harris was the young actress. Of Halloween 4, she said:

"It was fun for me. I knew we were making a movie and I knew that it was make believe. I was more worried about being a good, little actress and being able to cry and scream really good. I think everybody made such an amazing effort to make sure that I knew that it wasn't real. In between takes we would joke around and it was just fun. It didn't really bother me until I got to be older.

I had a harder time emotionally with Rob Zombie's Halloween and H2 than I did when I was a kid. When I was a kid, it was totally fun and I didn't understand when I did Rob's Halloween, why it was so hard for me to shake it off. I'm like, "I'm an actress! Why am I getting a feeling like I want to cry? This is weird! I did enough crying when I was there [on set]. I don't know why I'm still feeling this way". I think it was because it was the first time I was ever physically touched by him. As a little girl, as Jamie, he never got me, ever. Now as an adult, I don't have my clothes on, doing scenes I've never done before as an actor, and I'm actually being attacked. Even though I should know the guy by now, it's still a weird thing that happens with your psyche I think."

[E.F. Benson]

Hereditary

[Dickey]

There was the little fat kid on the bicycle in "Bad Blood" that gets chased & killed by the Werefrog, but you didn't mind 'cause he was a fat little snitch.

Also, the kid in "Rawhead Rex" was killed & eaten by Rawhead.

[Dead2009]

When Evil Lurks

Theres 2 scenes that are definitely shocking and I wouldnt recommend unless you are numb to extreme child deaths