Top 10 Darkest Kids Movies
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Coraline
I saw this movie with my uncle when I was 6. I remember my mother was watching this movie with my aunts and uncles. I wanted to see it with her, but she convinced me not to because it was "too scary." When I saw it with my uncle and his dogs (this was on DVD. Duh, after all, he wouldn't be able to bring his dogs to a theater), I was so scared that after the movie ended, I had nightmares for weeks. I recently rewatched it when I was 14, and I wasn't scared. This film today is one of my favorites.
The bit where she changed into a spider scared my 6-year-old. And when Coraline was told she'd have to have buttons sewn into her eyes... He's seen the rest on this list except Poltergeist, which is no kids' movie.
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The Nightmare Before Christmas
When Oogie Boogie was made of worms and beetles, it not only freaked me out but also kind of disgusted me.
When you see the title, it may look dark, but it's actually a really cute and good movie.
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Monster House
What really scared me is when the house was standing up and chasing the kids and the other guy. What disgusted me was that Bones was a real pervert.
Scared me to death when I was little. Now it still creeps me out. Despite that, it's one of my favorite animated movies.
It's strange because nothing on this list ever scared me as a child except Monster House.
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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Charlie's family is dirt poor, Willy Wonka's father is too strict toward his son, Violet's mother flirts with both Willy Wonka and Veruca's father (yuck), Mike stomps on a pink candy pumpkin and shoves Oompa-Loompas, Violet steals a candied apple from Charlie and calls him a "loser", Augustus taunts Charlie with a chocolate Wonka bar, Augustus' mother steals chocolate eggs from the factory, and Charlie's paternal grandmother, Georgina, is implied to have some form of dementia.
I got scared when Violet turned into a huge violet balloon and when the fat kid got stuck in the tube. I thought he drowned after being in all that chocolate.
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The Hunchback of Notre Dame
I agree with everybody on The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The movie suggests murder and has a dark undertone. There are all these hidden dark messages in the movie.
It is a fine movie, but Hellfire is scary. It gave me nightmares. It's about him murdering her or raping her.
It's really Judge Claude Frollo that scares the hell out of me.
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All Dogs Go to Heaven
Darkest movie about dogs, but it is actually a really good movie.
Dark? Yes. But is it a fantastic, underrated movie? Yes!
It's sad. When I was like 7 or 6, I cried.
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James and the Giant Peach
All the bashing for this on the site needs to stop! I love this, and it is way scarier than Paranormal Craptivity.
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Watership Down
Just watch this classic movie and see. It's very deep and spiritual on many levels and generally a legit classic, but it is also disturbing and gory for a kid's movie about seemingly cute little bunny rabbits.
It's a kids' movie. People are just too PC nowadays. In the '90s, I watched The Animals of Farthing Wood. I even had a little kids' book and magazines.
This should have been marketed as an adult animated film! Besides that, it is an awesome tale (get it) of rabbits trying to find a new home.
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Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
It's darker than the 2005 film. Augustus, Mike, and Violet are much nicer in the 1971 film. Charlie's teacher is very strict and impatient toward him. Grandpa Joe encourages Charlie to steal the Fizzy Lifting Drink from the factory. A woman did not want to give up her Wonka chocolate bars to save her husband from the mafia.
I know a lot of people think Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is the creepier movie. Well, yeah, it may be a little disturbing, but when you really get down to it, the original is creepier. I'm not going to explain everything because I know some people are already familiar with the theories. Still, I disagree with people who think the bad remake is more disturbing.
I think we can all agree that the original is better than Tim Burton's version. I'm not saying Tim Burton is a bad filmmaker. I like his films like the dark Batman movies, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Beetlejuice. But remember, he did make that 2010 live-action version of Alice in Wonderland, so yeah, he was doing some pretty painful remakes for a while. To be fair, though, there are worse remakes out there.
One reason the original is better is that it's more colorful. I know that's Tim Burton's style, so I'm not complaining, but the characters in the original are more likable. Gene Wilder (RIP) was a better Willy Wonka than Johnny Depp, although I know Depp is a good actor. He's been in a lot of great films like Edward Scissorhands, Corpse Bride, Finding Neverland, and Pirates of the Caribbean. But yeah, I just felt his take on Willy Wonka was like a combination of Michael Jackson and Wonka, which was kind of weird.
Another reason the original is better is that it was more creative.
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Frankenweenie
Absolutely LOVE this movie. It's sad though, and a little creepy.
It seems cool! A good way to introduce your kid to classic movie monsters!
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Ice Age: Collision Course
It has a plot about Earth being doomed by an asteroid and stuff.
Good thing it's rated PG, though - it's darker than the other Ice Age movies.
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Madeline: Lost in Paris
Madeline and the girl with black/dark brunette hair have their hair forcibly cut.
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The Land Before Time
Probably the darkest dinosaur movie. Sharptooth (the T-Rex) was surprisingly very terrifying! Some scenes were also very sad and even depressing, and it has an overall dark atmosphere throughout. But it's a great movie with beautiful music and immensely likable protagonists.
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The Secret of NIMH
One of the best animated - no, one of the best - movies of all time. The internal conflicts of the characters, the dark atmosphere, and overall gloomy moments make this movie quite intense. Its complicated plot may be too difficult for younger kids to understand, but it's overall a great movie for people looking for an animated film for older kids and adults.
A masterpiece in every sense of the word. The best Don Bluth film. A dark tale full of tense moments and even a little bloodshed. Although it is rated G, the intention was to give it a PG, which would have made much more sense.
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The Adventures of Mark Twain
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Pee‑Wee's Big Adventure
This movie is so creepy, especially The Large Marge scene. I always cover my eyes every time I see that part.
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Return to Oz (1985)
The pumpkin head freaked me out, but what really freaked me out was the Hall of Heads! I was like, What?
Between the shock therapy and the Hall of Heads, it's definitely a dark and disturbing movie.
This was based on the books, and it seems cool!
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Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire #remove (rated PG‑13)
After Sirius Black dies, the HP movies get darker. This is an exception. At the start of the film, we see skulls that represent death and Harry Potter twerking.
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Disney's A Christmas Carol
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Pinocchio
It's a movie based on a really deranged, dark, and twisted book. The movie's dark too, but OH MY LORD. The book's just sadistic!
This is a fantastic movie. It scares the crap out of me though.
The part when the kid turns into a donkey freaked me out, man.
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Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
17? This should be somewhere down in the top 10 list! It's the darkest Harry Potter movie of the entire series.
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Scooby‑Doo on Zombie Island
The darkest of the animated Scooby-Doo films. I think Daphne's arm was bruised or broken when either Simone or Lena used the voodoo doll that looked like Daphne Blake.
The creepiest of the animated Scooby-Doo films.
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The Black Cauldron
Very dark. If you get scared easily, don't watch it.
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The Brave Little Toaster
This movie is so much darker than Monster House! This movie has a suicidal A/C, a suicidal flower, some mice that tried to pull Blanky into a mouse hole and then eat through him to get to his internal wiring, which could get the mice electrocuted or start an electrical fire. They come across a jump-scare forest, Lampy almost kills himself charging the battery, Kirby tries to eat his own cord, and they almost die falling into quicksand.
They get taken to a parts shop where a blender gets murdered. There's a horribly scary song called It's a B-Movie, and there's a mishmash that's a can opener, a lamp, and a shaver. There are unkind cutting-edge appliances that send our heroes to the junkyard, and there's a second villain song called Cutting Edge.
Our heroes arrive at the junkyard, and there's a third villain song called Worthless. The bloodthirsty magnet tries to kill the master, Toaster sacrifices himself, and back in the jump-scare forest, Toaster has a dream about being tortured by an evil clown.
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The Polar Express
It is so dark, and the elves are creepy. My cousin likes it, but I hate it.
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Night at the Museum
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Toy Story 3
Very dark film. The purple bear was very cruel and sadistic towards the main characters and his henchmen. Has a few adult jokes.
If you took all five of the movies Disney released during their 1930s and 1940s Golden Age and mixed them in a blender, I'm pretty certain this movie would be the end result. Not just in terms of how amazing it is, but also in terms of how downright dark, scary, and depressing the entire movie is.
The incredibly uneasy atmosphere of Sunnyside Daycare and the overwhelmingly high-stakes incinerator scene are enough to rival the infamous Pleasure Island scene in Pinocchio in terms of how dark and frightening they can get. That notoriously depressing ending is enough to give the "Baby Mine" scene in Dumbo and the mother death scene in Bambi a run for their money.