Orphan: First Kill is set to get a Blu-ray and DVD release just in time for Halloween, adding to the collection a fairly large roster of horror movies featuring killer kids (or at least those who appear as such). Evil children are a common trope used in the horror movie genre. Whether they're undead like The Ring's Samara, possessed like The Exorcist's Regan, or just plain disturbed like Luke from Better Watch Out, there are several ways children can be used to create horrifying situations.

Seeing children behaving deviously and doing heinous things is shocking, which is probably why it's become such a common device in horror. But while there are many disturbed children in horror movies, some are more evil and twisted than others.

The Exorcist (1973)

Regan smiling while possessed in The Exorcist

The Exorcist sees a young girl named Regan possessed by the demon, Pazuzu. Regan's mother, Chris seeks help from the church after her daughter turns violent.

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While she seems determined to hurt anyone who comes in contact with her, she is being controlled by Pazuzu. Otherwise, Regan is a sweet young girl, but it's this switch in her demeanor that makes the movie so chilling. Seeing the child switch after she's possessed and becoming so aggressive towards her mother is shocking.

The Ring (2002)

The Ring is one of the best horror movies about supernatural entities and focuses on the demonic spirit of Samara Morgan. After viewing a cursed videotape, the characters within the movie receive a haunting phone call where a voice promises they will die in seven days.

When viewers learn more about Samara, it transpires she had shown signs of being disturbed and twisted in life. While she is deceased, she isn't possessed like Regan and most likely made the videotape to terrorize and kill people after her death. Samara is more powerful and monstrous after death, but her disturbing behavior is innate.

The Children (2008)

Eva Birthistle in The Children

In this winter-based horror movie, The Children begin to fall ill and subsequently develop murderous tendencies. Teenager, Casey and her mother are pitted against the children, forced to fight back in order to survive. What makes the movie particularly interesting is the adult's reluctance to believe what's happening to their children and the devastation they feel after they're forced to fight back.

Elaine is forced to go against her motherly instincts, having to go as far as to kill her own children. Despite being a mother, when it finally comes down to it Elaine's survival instincts kick in. As the children clearly have some kind of sickness, it's harrowing for the mother to be forced to kill her own children.

Orphan (2009)

Esther with Kate in the background in Orphan

The Colemans decide to adopt a child in Orphan but get more than they bargained for when they welcome Esther into their family. Almost immediately after her arrival, Esther determines to drive a wedge between her adoptive parents and terrorizes her new siblings.

Kate's doubts about her adoptive daughter only serve to distance her further from her husband. In one of the most shocking horror movie plot twists of all time, it transpires that Esther is actually a fully grown woman posing as a child and attempting to seduce her adoptive father. Although Esther isn't actually a child, viewers are led to believe she is throughout the movie and this is what makes her such a terrifying villain.

Pet Sematary (1989)

Gage Creed in Pet Sematary

The original adaptation of Stephen King's Pet Sematary sees the Creed family move to Ludlow and become embroiled in the strange goings-on there. Things first take a turn when the local cemetery is able to revive the family's dead cat, and later, Louis believes the cemetery might be able to bring his son, Gage back to life too.

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The ritual is successful and young Gage comes back from the dead; however, he is changed after his revival. The undead child has developed murderous tendencies, leading him to kill his own mother. Before his revival, Gage is a relatively normal child (unlike Samara Morgan from The Ring) and it is the strange ritual that turns him into a bloodthirsty killer.

The Omen (1976)

Damien in the cemetery in The Omen

The Thorn's adoptive son in The Omen is far more than a disturbed child. Damien is actually the son of Satan, with strange and harrowing events unfolding as he gets older. He goes as far as to kill a priest; however, what is unique about him is that he can somehow cause events to happen indirectly through some malevolent power he has.

The Omen is one of the best films about the devil and sees the child murdering the adults around him for his own sick enjoyment. As the antichrist, Damien was born evil and there is little chance he could ever have turned out any different, unlike Gage from Pet Sematary, whose evil tendencies manifest after his revival.

Eden Lake (2008)Eden Lake

Eden Lake focuses on Jenny and Steve as they head on a weekend break together. However, their holiday soon takes a turn when they are targeted by a gang of unhinged teenagers.

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What starts off as petty arguing between the two groups, soon descends into a fight for survival for Jenny and Steve. The group of teenagers encourages each other, their behavior becoming more and more unbalanced. By the end of the movie, it becomes apparent that the teenagers are a product of their upbringing, with their parents being equally twisted. This makes their actions even more chilling, as it is so grounded in reality, unlike Regan's possession in The Exorcist.

Better Watch Out (2016)

Olivia DeJonge in Better Watch Out

Better Watch Out is one of the best Christmas horror movies, cleverly using seasonal iconography. Precocious child, Luke, puts his babysitter Ashley through a terrifying ordeal when she rejects his advances.

In a horrific spin on Home Alone, Luke uses a swinging paint can to kill Ashley's boyfriend in one particularly tense scene. One of the most memorable scenes in the movie, though, sees Ashley tied up with Christmas lights. Seeing Luke's devious plan unfold at the movie's end secures him as one of the evilest horror movie children, especially as he did everything simply because of a crush.

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