We all have that one movie that haunts us. It could be an R-rated movie you saw when you were 9, or even a PG movie from last month. We asked Boulder High students what movies traumatized them the most, and received a variety of answers.

Of the numerous students asked, only a few students were most traumatized by the same movie as other students. Human Centipede, Sausage Party(?), and Coraline each traumatized 2 respondents, while 3 people proclaimed Terrifier to be the most, well, terrifying. 

Many of the movies picked were well-known horror films, like Silence of the Lambs, Midsummer, or The Conjuring; However, there were some unorthodox picks. Children’s movies like Gremlins, Happy Feet, and Wallace & Gromit all made the list. This last one could be due to its claymation style, as Coraline is another claymation film that gave one student some nightmares. Surprisingly, claymation films were frequently referenced with concern to terrifying movies, so if you’re also scared of claymation you have lutumotophobia which is the fear of claymation.  

Some students seemed particularly scarred from their viewing experiences, with one student saying the movie Teeth was like “his 9/11, as he was never the same afterward,” and the sad ending of Ford v. Ferrari had one student in tears.

BHS students made some good, and some questionable, picks for what movie messed them up the most. We, however, are inclined to say that Shutter Island is the most traumatizing movie we’ve ever witnessed; a trippy thriller that will have you questioning reality by the time you’re done with it. BHS students had some good picks though, and, for the most part, we see how the trajectory of their lives may have been completely thrown by some of these movies.