Let’s face it, it can be pretty easy for horror films to slip into the cliché we all know of the young woman running around trying to escape someone or someone terrorising her. Although heroines like Laurie Strode (HALLOWEEN) and Sidney Prescott (SCREAM) eventually make all of that running for their lives seem worth it when they go toe-to-toe with their attackers. Score one for the girls!
But, what can be scarier than the likes of even Mike Myers or Jason, we hear you ask? Scary little girls just like Emily Brenek in THE POSSESSION. So, take a look at our list of the top 10 scariest little girls in films, showing us all what can happen when you underestimate the female mind.
THE POSSESSION (2013) – EMILY “EM” BRENEK
We start off our list with our new scary film of the moment, THE POSSESSION. When Emily Brenek comes across a mysterious box, she begins to hear strange noises coming from it. After opening it and unwittingly unleashing a spirit that takes over her body. If you don’t believe us, grab a copy to see a rather frightening looking hand literally try to force its way out of young Em! We kept our mouths firmly closed the whole time!
THE BAD SEED (1956) – RHODA PENMARK
THE BAD SEED tells the story of Rhoda Penmark. With her braided pigtails, the piano-playing tap dancer appears so innocent it is hard to believe she is one of the scariest girls in film. After losing a penmanship medal to classmate Claude Daigle, the young boy’s lifeless body is found drowned in the lake nearby. The last person to see Claude alive? Rhoda.
And if you think he is the only one to have incurred this little madam’s wrath, you’re wrong!
ALICE, SWEET ALICE (1976) – ALICE SPAGES
When 12 year-old Alice Spages’ little sister, Karen (played by a very young Brooke Shields) is found strangled to death, the town begins the desperate search for the killer not realising that she is, in fact, right under their noses.
Expect bodies to pile up (and a very creepy mask) in this film about a scary little girl who will make you pay if you get on her wrong side. Trust us, it doesn’t take much!
THE OTHERS (2001) – ANNE STEWART
Nicole Kidman stars in this thrilling horror flick as Grace Stewart, a mother of two children who suffer from photosensitivity. As if the house could not any creepier cloaked in darkness to protect her children, Grace soon finds that the house seems to begin haunting them all. Expect plenty of moments that will play with your mind and have you jumping out of your seat, including Grace’s daughter, Anne’s sudden transformation!
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968) – KAREN COOPER
After zombies begin to attack a small town in rural Pennsylvania, Karen Cooper is bitten whilst trying to escape. In a desperate attempt to save her, parents Barbra and Harry usher to safety, locking themselves in a basement with her. We don’t have to tell you how bad an idea this is, but let’s just say she enjoys a good meal with dear ol’ pop! As for mum? Well, we don’t own a gardening trowel anyway so we think we’re safe from the same fate she suffers!
REC (2007) – JENNIFER
In Barcelona, a young girl has fallen ill with a mysterious disease after her dog also fell ill and viciously attacked other animals. Things take a turn for the worse when Jennifer begins to cough up blood and then proceeds to transform into a bloodthirsty zombie. If Karen doesn’t scare you, Jennifer definitely will in this horrifying depiction of a very hungry zombie girl and a reporter who should stay away if she doesn’t want to be made a meal out of!
ORPHAN (2009) – ESTHER
After married couple, Kate and John Coleman’s third pregnancy ends tragically, they decide to adopt a 9 year-old Russian girl, Esther, from the local orphanage. Evidently, bad things seem to happen when Esther is around as the couple soon begin to realise when it becomes apparent she is not exactly who the couple think she is. The longer Esther stays with them, the more dangerous she gets in this thrilling film of what happens when one family’s tragedy is turned into a nightmare.
THE SHINING (1980) – THE GRADY TWINS
Arguably the most scary looking we have ever come across are the Grady twins from The Shining. Their first appearance in the film comes at the very same moments gallons of blood come rushing out of the elevator at the Overlook Hotel. The daughters of former caretaker Charles Grady, the twins serve as a terrifying symbol of what happens to the families of the caretaker of the hotel. Quick! Someone hide the axe!
THE RING (2002) – SAMARA
This 2002 remake of the 1998 Japanese horror, Ringu, tells the story of a cursed videotape in which every viewer of it receives a phone call informing of their impending death in seven days time. And then it actually happens!
When a teenage girl dies after watching the tape, reporter Rachel Keller (played by Academy Award nominee, Naomi Watts) investigates the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death. But the more she investigates of the history behind the tape, the closer she gets to incurring the wrath of a young girl named Samara.
Make sure you sit well away from the TV screen just in case she decides to crawl out and pay you a visit!
THE EXORCIST (1973) – REGAN MACNEIL
When 13 year-old Regan MacNeil begins to experience violent mood swings, her parents put it down to teenage angst. But when she resorts to murder, it quickly becomes apparent that there are much more sinister happenings taking place inside the young girl.
A terrifying exorcism takes place in this horror-packed flick which sees a young girl’s head literally spin on her shoulders! (Yikes!)
So, if you feel like being suitably creeped out by more scary young girls, be sure to get a hold of THE POSSESSION, out now on DVD! (And we hope we have taught you a lesson in not crossing these scary girls! Good luck!)
