In Hindsight: 5 Movies You Probably Shouldn't Have Seen as a Kid

It may sound dubious, but age ratings for movies and TV shows are there to protect the imaginative and impressionable minds of children. However, we've all seen some movies we weren't supposed to as children.

These five movies have damaged generations of kids who inadvertently watched them.

Scary Movie (2000, 6.3 on IMDb)

Available on: Max, Hulu, Netflix, Apple TV+, Amazon Prime

This slasher comedy follows a group of teenagers who accidentally slaughter a man in a car accident and dump his body in a nearby lake, only to be hunted a year later by someone wearing a ghostface mask. Although this is a parody movie and there is nothing scary in it, this movie has too many lewd scenes and jokes that are not meant for children.

Starship Troopers (1997, 7.3 on IMDb)

Available on: Disney+, Netflix, Apple TV+, Amazon Prime

This sci-fi action film is set in the twenty-third century, where the world is united under the banner of the Citizen Federation, which is engaged in a space war with a ravenous alien species of Arachnids. The movie follows a group of star troopers who serve in the army to protect the Earth from the extraterrestrial bugs, and it is not meant to be scary, but it does exactly that to children who are already afraid of insects.

Watership Down (1978, 7.6 on IMDb)

Available on: Max, Netflix, Apple TV+, Amazon Prime

Based on Richard Adams' children's novel of the same name, this animated adventure film centers on a group of ordinary rabbits who bounce through their daily lives full of danger and exciting twists. The movie's cozy animation disarms kids, making them think it's just another cute cartoon, but it turns out to be full of damaging brutality and gore.

RoboCop (1987, 7.6 on IMDb)

Available on: Max, Hulu, Apple TV+, Amazon Prime

Set in the near future of Detroit, the sci-fi action film tells the story of Alex Murphy, a police officer tortured and murdered by a gang of criminals and resurrected by a tech company as the titular cyborg lawman. With no memory of his former human life, RoboCop is a crime-fighting machine struggling to process the remnants of his humanity. While there's nothing particularly frightening in the movie, the sight of a human face stitched onto a robot is pretty traumatizing for kids.

Deliverance (1972, 7.7 on IMDb)

Available on: Apple TV+, Amazon Prime

This Oscar-nominated thriller revolves around a group of four friends who go canoeing on a river in Northern Georgia before a dam is built. Intending to simply enjoy the scenery and the picturesque nature of the place, the characters are unprepared for the dangers they face as violent mountain men and unfriendly locals plan to have their own kind of fun with the guests. The movie contains too many scenes of violence and even rape for children to watch.