Do You Know Where Your Children Are? Quiz

Answer: The Omen

"The Omen" series began in 1976 and progressed onwards until the 2006 remake. Almost every film in the series revolves around Damien, the new Anti-Christ (though "Omen IV: The Awakening" was a straight-to-video film most horror fans tend to ignore and it does not feature the same child), although there are many people who clearly don't want to see him succeed. Trying to determine who is sent to protect Damien and who is sent to kill him is part of the fun, and knowing that the child has unearthly powers makes viewers fear the child.

The original film was directed by Richard Donner who would go on never creating a horror film again (though he made "The Goonies", the "Lethal Weapon" series, and "Superman"...). The remake was helmed by John Moore who took over production of "Max Payne". Both films were box office successes.

Answer: The Shining

Based on Stephen King's popular book of the same name, Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining" starred Jack Nicholson in one of his most famous roles as the father in a family asked to look over the Overlook Hotel situated high in the Rockies. When the hotel is trapped in snow, the family begins to feel the strain of the job as the hotel, already featuring a gruesome past, begins working its magic. Danny, Jack's son and a boy with the use of 'the shining', is able to see the ghosts inhabiting the hotel and knows something is amiss.

His frequent shifts between himself and his imaginary friend, Tony, make up a large part of the horror in the film. "The Shining" has progressed to become one of the most popular horror stories ever depicted on film grossing nearly one hundred million dollars in theaters.

Answer: The Ring

Based on the popular Japanese horror film, "Ringu", "The Ring" is based on the horror novel written by Koji Susuki who was also responsible for "Dark Water". Released in 2002, the film grossed $250,000,000 overall and became one of the prototypical films to head the J-horror remake movement in American horror films. Coincidentally, what was the first of said movement would become the most popular. The movie follows a video tape which, when viewed, will leave the viewer with only seven days to live. Naomi Watts' character sets out to discover the truth to save herself and her son and she discovers a horrible past in which a mysterious little girl, Samara, haunts the viewers of her cursed tape. Hideo Nakata, the director of "Ringu", directed both "The Ring Two" and "Dark Water" stateside. "The Ring Two" is (for the worse) nothing like "Ringu 2".

Answer: The Unborn

The first non-remake horror film to emerge from Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes production company, "The Unborn" was released to overwhelmingly negative reviews in early January 2009. Despite this, it earned nearly eighty million in box office totals. Starring Odette Yustman (whose earlier works included "Cloverfield") and Gary Oldman, the film throws pregnancy, evil little children, and Nazism into the mix in an oddly delightful blend.

When the protagonist starts dreaming about a boy named Jumby who her babysitting children say 'wants to be born', she falls into a plot involving the dybbuk, a Jewish evil spirit, in this case involving Nazi concentration camps her grandmother was in.

It only gets weirder from there.

Answer: Orphan

"Orphan" received a fair bit of criticism for its topics (involving murderous adoptive children and such), but it also fared quite well in theaters. Though getting mixed reviews, the film offered up a generous amount of jump scares for a film with such a mysterious plot.

The movie follows a family who adopts a young girl from an orphanage, Esther, only to discover that she's not really the sweet, little Russian girl they expected. What turns out to be a blessing in their house is soon discovered to be a horrible child who (as we find out) "wants to sleep with daddy" and would rather see everyone dead than together.

A final major twist culminates in a fight in the family household where the unexpected really does happen.

Answer: The Children

After Sam Raimi's independent horror production company picked up "The Children" in 2009, the film made its way to the United States as a straight-to-DVD release. Despite this, it did appear in UK theaters for a brief time and while it claimed good reviews, it never got the attention many felt it deserved. The film is set around Christmas at which point a number of families are spending the holidays together.

When the children become inexplicably ill, they turn into ravenous, angry murderers and slowly begin to hunt down their families. Blinded by their love for the kids, they fall prey to their killers quite easily. To say the least, despite the content, the film doesn't really relent.

Answer: Rosemary's Baby

Roman Polanski's 1968 film, "Rosemary's Baby", is often cited as one of the most critically-acclaimed horror films ever released. Nominated for two Academy Awards (winning one), the film follows Rosemary (played by Farrow) as she is raped by demonic forces and subsequently gets pregnant with the satanic spawn.

In the days leading up to the birth, she unveils a plot brought on by her neighbours for her to be impregnated and give birth to the Hellspawn signifying Satan's reign on Earth. Like "The Shining", "Rosemary's Baby" has become so popular it has fallen into public consciousness and is frequently referenced in TV and film alike. Roman Polanski has strayed from horror since this offering, but he has directed such award-winning films like "The Pianist", "Chinatown", and "Tess".

Answer: Village of the Damned

In a small town, everyone falls unconscious and all of the female citizens become pregnant. All giving birth on the same day to uniquely similar children, these people see no oddity behind the story of the film. These children aren't really children per se. With glowing eyes, they can control the minds of the parents in the town and it is made clear that they are otherworldly forces to be reckoned with. John Carpenter's remake doesn't stray far from the original film (originally released in 1960) which was critically well-received. John Carpenter's version wasn't so popular. Carpenter has since continued to create horror films though his earlier works have remained the most popular (ie. "Halloween", "The Fog", "The Thing", etc.).

Answer: The Grudge

Takashi Shimizu, who directed the films in Japan under the "Ju-On" name, also released "The Grudge" in 2004 in the States. Starring Sarah Michelle Gellar in the first film of the series, the movies revolve around a horrible curse where an enraged spirit haunts people who enter a specific house.

In this case, a woman and her eight year old son (and their cat) haunt a specific Japanese house. The one thing to learn from these films is that once you're haunted, you basically have no chance. This persists through more than five Japanese "Ju-On" films and three American versions.

It never really ends, and the mother and cat-boy come back every single time.

Answer: Halloween

The original "Halloween" is one of the most popular slasher films ever released. Originally sent to theaters in 1978, it spawned an extensive franchise culminating to the Rob Zombie remakes in 2007 and 2009 respectively. Michael Myers and his mask (later discovered to be in the likeness of Captain Kirk from "Star Trek") became part of horror culture in the later decades much like the hockey mask for Jason. Both "Halloween" films open with scenes of Michael Myers as a young child methodically traveling through his house with a knife in his hand before killing his family. Both the original and the remake were major box office successes.