There’s something extremely creepy about children’s rhymes. First, have you noticed how they are all composed on the same tune? Be it “Twinkle Twinkle” or “Ba Ba Black Sheep,” the lyrics are different, but the tune is the same.
Also, why is the tune so ominous? Don’t sing it with a smile and a cheery voice; rather, hum it at a slower pace, and you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.
Now, when these songs find their way into a horror movie, they work on various levels. Most of the time, they’re fear-inducing or foreshadowing agents in the narrative.
In this article, let’s look at seven children’s rhymes that were used in movies that turn the “creep” on really well.
7 Films That Used Children’s Rhymes to Create Pure Terror
1. “Crooked Man,” The Conjuring 2
I think this song is the least creepy of all the others on this list because it does have a cheery melody and playful lyrics.
The Conjuring 2 revolves around a small family of five who are tormented by a demonic entity after it possesses their second-eldest daughter, Janet.
We are introduced to the song early on, when we see Janet and Billy, her youngest brother, playing with a toy zoetrope that plays “There Was a Crooked Man.”
The first time we hear the song, we don’t make much of it, but you can’t deny that the melody, despite being cheery, does induce a certain eeriness in the quiet of the night.
The next time we hear it, we’re right in the middle of chaos—Ed and Lorraine Warren have already begun their investigation after Janet shows extreme signs of being possessed. This time, the Crooked Man from the song comes alive.
2. “We’re Gonna Get You,” Evil Dead
This rhyme in Evil Dead is sung to the melody of “Ring Around the Rosie.”
“Ring Around the Rosie” has a long-standing reputation as one of the darker entries in the nursery rhyme canon, a reputation that horror filmmakers have been happy to exploit.
In Evil Dead, which follows a group of young adults who inadvertently unleash the dead at a cabin in the woods, the song gets new lyrics and becomes a menacing threat of death:
We’re gonna get you.
We’re gonna get you.
Not another peep.
Time to go to sleep.
Needless to say, “sleep” means death in this context.
3. Freddy Krueger Song, A Nightmare on Elm Street
The Freddy Krueger song is the intro to the iconic killer who claims his victims in their dreams. I love how the song comes in the voice of a child, and combined with the last four lines:
7, 8,
Can you stay awake,
9, 10
Never sleep again
The terror not only hits hard; it creeps into your psyche almost instantly.
4. Three Little Pigs, The Shining
Jack Torrance is an absolute sadist under the possession of the evil spirit of the Overlook Hotel. The fact that he is reciting a children’s rhyme about the Three Little Pigs as he tries to break down the bathroom door to brutally kill his wife and son is absolute proof of his loss of innocence.
The words also add weight to the ongoing scene. Jack is comparing his family to the three little pigs, who were devoured by the cunning wolf, and refers to himself as the cunning predator.
5. O Willow Waly, The Innocents
Jack Clayton’s 1961 movie, The Innocents, revolves around a young live-in governess who takes care of two children for their uncle and is convinced that the grounds are haunted, after seeing apparitions in and around the house.
One notable moment featuring “O Willow Waly” comes when Miss Giddens, the governess, spots a strange apparition across the lake while Flora hums the song nearby. When Miss Giddens asks where she heard it, Flora says she doesn’t remember. Strangely, the apparition vanishes the moment Flora stops humming.
6. The Wonka Song, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
Willy Wonka proves that he finds happiness in others’ misery in this single song he sings while taking a boat ride with the kids and their parents through the tunnel of terror.
As soon as the boat enters the tunnel, it starts racing madly down the dark tunnel. Both the kids and their parents are extremely scared, and it seems like that’s exactly what Wonka wants.
It’s not only the dizzying speed but also the tunnel walls projecting scary images that get to the passengers. Wonka is so happy that he ends up making a song about it.
7. Black Phillip Song, The Witch
The two kids, Mercy and Jonas, play-chasing the black goat as they sing “Black Phillip” isn’t outright scary. However, it underscores the story’s monster, a looming threat to this Puritan family.
The most disturbing lines of this verse are:
Black Phillip, Black Phillip
King of all.
Black Phillip, Black Phillip
King of sky and land,
Black Phillip, Black Phillip
King of sea and sand.
We are ye servants,
We are ye men.
Black Phillip eats the lions
From the lions’ den.
The use of nursery rhymes in horror movies is a reminder that even the most harmless and cutesy things can be used to induce horror, if you know how.
Did we miss any films that featured a children’s rhyme?