re: What movies scared you when you were little that you didn’t watch till you were an adult

Everything that scared me as a kid, I forced myself to watch/rewatch as a teenager (or older kid).

The original King Kong stands head and shoulder above anything else. It was THE recurring nightmare of my childhood. Despite having seen shite like Terminator, Jaws, Robocop, Predator, Candyman, Carrie, Alien, Jurassic Park, and every Leprechaun and Child's Play movie before I was even 10. Just something about that damned ape and that damned island scared the hell out of me.

I even remember watching the '76 version just to try to "warm up" to the '33 version but even the '76 version didn't scare me half as bad.

I was 10 or 11 when I finally forced myself to watch the original. It didn't play out nearly as scary as I expected it to on rewatch. And I pretty much credit that experience for inspiring my lifelong love of giant monster movies.