People are sharing the films that scarred them the most as kids and the answers are not what you might expect

An intriguing discussion is taking place online after one Twitter user asked the wider public a simple question, “What movie left you scarred as a kid?”

The beauty of this is that most of us weren’t allowed to watch truly terrifying horror films as children but it seems there have been plenty of supposed family-friendly pieces of entertainment that actually contained traumatising material.

This is almost certainly because those involved in making such films get a kick out of including material explicitly designed to scare younger viewers.

The fun began when Ashley Bower posed the question.

The Twitterati were all too keen to share their answers to this fascinating question and plenty referenced one particular moment from the Disney version of Pinocchio.

Others pointed to the Child Catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, one of Roald Dahl's most terrifying creations and thought by some to be an antisemitic caricature.

The Wizard of Oz, The Lion King, The Neverending Story and Willy Wonka all featured prominently in the replies but so did a less obvious choice: Return to Oz.

Jaws, of course, is one of the scariest films ever made but, since the frights largely come from the power of suggestion, many encounter it during childhood.

Other suggestions included Poltergeist, The Exorcist and The Shining. The scariest thing about those choices is that any parent would possibly allow their child to view them.

Here is a particularly meta choice from Rosemary's Baby actor Mia Farrow who chose...Rosemary's Baby.

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