YMMV / CryBaby Lane

• Harsher in Hindsight: The creepypasta painted Peter Lauer as an evil person who injected morbid topics into the film and mind raped the main character with horrifying imagery that would later on be used in the movie itself, while also going on in the end about Lauer's apparent legacy at Nickelodeon. While Lauer himself is far from this person, Dan Schneider did develop this reputation due to being a difficult person to work with, to the point of allegations of sexual assault that are widely believed to be the reason he was let go from Nickelodeon despite having produced some of the network's biggest hits in the 2000s and '10s.
• Heartwarming Moments:
  • For Peter Lauer, the director at least. When he heard the film was getting immense hype and was being aired (as well as the immense internet freaking out when a Reddit user confirmed she had the film recorded on videotape), he was actually flattered, finding it amazing a film he directed 11 years ago would get a roaring fanbase.
  • After a decade of denying the existence of the movie and then years of denying that they had ever said they did not make the movie, Nickelodeon finally embraced the fact that, yes, the internet had been right all along and they had purposefully locked it away after complaints in more recent advertisements for the film.
• Hype Backlash: After years of being built up as something truly horrific thanks to various creepypastas, urban legends, and recollections from people who watched it when it first aired, many were disappointed at what they considered to be something no scarier than your average episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark? or Goosebumps (1995).
• Memetic Mutation: This movie quickly became notable for being an actual Truth in Television example of all those "Missing Episode" Creepypastas.
• Nausea Fuel:
  • When the apparition of the evil twin starts scarfing down worms, it makes the most disgusting crunching/squishing sound...
  • Three words: Spider. From. Tongue.
• Nightmare Fuel:
  • Despite how dated the film is, the premise itself is unnerving and very disturbing to say the least.
  • The beginning of the film. Brr.
  • Want some Fridge Horror? You know how every Missing Episode creepypasta acts like something was never aired/aired once and was never seen again? This ended up proving it's frickin' possible.
• Nightmare Retardant:
  • The dated effects and it really only being as scary as a typical episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark? can be like this to some people.
  • Sure, the existence of CryBaby Lane shows that Missing Episode creepypasta involving some super scary thing that only aired once can and does exist. However, the scariness factor is lessened considerably when you realize that the chances of a kids network deliberately creating and airing something as disturbing and graphic as your average Missing Episode creepypasta is rather low. Something like the actual CryBaby Lane movie, sure, but a missing episode full of guts, gore, and decidedly not-safe-for-anybody material would get a kids' network in a load of trouble.
• Retroactive Recognition: Comedian Jim Gaffigan had a bit part in the movie just as his stand-up career was taking off.
• So Bad, It's Good: It's incredibly dated and could be considered average like an episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark?, but it still has its fans, especially after the hype it got from the creepypasta.
• Spiritual Successor: This story would've been right at home on Nick's Are You Afraid of the Dark?, which aired its last episodes a few months before CryBaby Lane's original airing.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: The good twin. Nothing is explored about him and is mostly there as a plot device to get the main characters to summon the wrong twin by mistake. The movie focuses mainly on the evil twin's reign of terror.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: The idea of summoning the good twin after having accidently unleashed the evil twin and then have them fight a good vs. evil battle sounds like a pretty cool idea (it was even suggested in the film itself!), but the idea is quickly dismissed by Bennett telling Andrew that he just needs to cut the vine in the evil twin's heart. The good twin isn't even brought up again after that.
• Values Dissonance: Carl and Andrew's mother panicking once she found out they snuck out of the house after dark is supposed to be seen as overly protective, which their dad points out. Considering how normal (or at least widely discussed) kidnapping, molestation, and murder of children have become in modern times, one can't help but find the mother's concern justified and find the father way too lenient and negligent about their disappearance.

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