Most Terrifying Moments in Film

[Phantonym]

I used to watch loads of horror flicks as a kid. With hands over my face, peering through my fingers. But I was more excited than scared. Can't really remember being terrified.

I saw Omen when I was around 9-10. It was delicious back then and that's the first movie I think when thinking about terrifying movies.

In this scene, the lightning striking several times is better than the final, imo.

In this scene, when she goes through the window.

 

[Totenkindly]

Also have to agree with people on the silent sequences in Paranormal Activity.

Yeah. Totally. It's amazing how creepy it is to see something where nothing is actually happening... but the context is horrifying. Can you imagine waking up to that? Spooky as hell. I actually really liked that movie, despite all the hype. I think I've watched it twice so far.

 

[The Ü™]

I'm not gonna mention The Exorcist because I found the shocking/terrifying moments to be very lame, even though they might not have been in 1973, and The Omen was more boring than scary (Jerry Goldsmith's music did the best to save it, though). But here are some moments that I was scared of either as an adult or as a child.

1. When Bruce the Shark is actually working (and many of the moments, due to clever editing, he was not) -- Jaws
2. The pool scene -- Poltergeist
3. The very presence of the preacher -- Poltergeist II
4. The unintentionally funny moments -- Poltergeist III
5. The moment before the end credits roll -- The Blair Witch Project
6. The forest running scene -- The Blair Witch Project
7. The "Sloth" victim and the "Lust" victim (tie) -- Se7en
8. The heads in the cabinet awakening scene -- Return to Oz (the music in this scene made it particularly effective)
9. The umbrella with the bird's head -- Mary Poppins
10. Amputation (and the build-up towards it) -- Saw

Runners up:

• Being inside the house with that creepy painting -- The Haunting (1999) (again, Jerry Goldsmith's music, along with the eerie sound effects throughout made this underrated movie very effective)
• The "little girl's" surprise -- Orphan (a nice, fresh, unique twist to the evil child cliche)
• The little girl's acting abilities -- the Poltergeist series

 

[Spamtar]

I used to watch loads of horror flicks as kid. With hands over my face, peering through my fingers. But I was more excited than scared. Can't really remember being terrified.

I saw Omen when I was around 9-10. It was delicious back then and that's the first movie I think when thinking about terrifying movies.

]

Yeah those are wickedly creapy fun scenes. The creapy music in that movie still gives me chills.

 

[Viridian]

Also, pretty much any zombie film horrifies me... I think it makes me more "aware" of my own body, and the numerous ways it can be damaged, especially by (brrr) cannibalism.

 

[Totenkindly]

Another startling scene is at the end of The Descent, where Sara is pukes out the car window, then turns back around and....

(The whole movie is actually pretty decent -- with a soundtrack by David Julyan, who did music for a number of Christopher Nolan movies, I think -- for it being about six female cavers lost underground faced with some creepycrawlers.)

I found the clip from Exorcist 3 on YouTube. It didn't do as much for me. The problem is that it was so fast that if you blink you might miss it, and I kind of blinked right as it happened.

In this scene, the lightning striking several times is better than the final, imo.

Wow. Way to stick it to the man [of the cloth].

 

[lane777]

The Orphanage. I went to bed scared with this one and that hasn't happend to me since I was very little. The film is actually the second highest-grossing debut ever for a Spanish film and was the biggest opening of the year, making it even larger than the worldwide success of Pan's Labyrinth, so it's worth looking into. I won't mention any scenes for this one; the whole film is incredibly tense.

Alien. When Dallas is being stalked by the alien in the ventilation shaft.

The Blair Witch Project. As Heather screams the camera pans up where we see Mike standing motionless facing the corner of the wall...

Paranormal Activity. 1) When Katie's possessed, she gets up and stands over the bed motionless for 3 hours of the night. 2) Days after, once again she gets up at night and goes out to her backyard. Her boyfriend Micah finds her there and has a creepy conversation with his possessed girlfriend. 3) In the middle of the night, Katie gets dragged out of bed and down the hall screaming for Micah.

Funny how lame they all sound here

 

[93JC]

Alien. When Dallas is being stalked by the alien in the ventilation shaft.

[YOUTUBE="431nGWVxXf4"].[/YOUTUBE]

 

[ZPowers]

I found the clip from Exorcist 3 on YouTube. It didn't do as much for me. The problem is that it was so fast that if you blink you might miss it, and I kind of blinked right as it happened.

Nothing'll scare you on YouTube like in the movies. You watch a fifteen second clip and say "ooh, something's gonna happen! I'll be totally prepped for 15 seconds!" Plus, the images exist in a void that have no context or, more importantly, built in suspense. It's impossible, even for the best scariest moment in the world, to lull you in with a false sense of ease in a few-seconds long clip called "Good scare from _____!" If you're talking about the part in Exorcist III I think you are, it's a genuinely good jump in the movie. On Youtube? Unless the video title is a trick itself, there is no such thing.

 

[Totenkindly]

Nothing'll scare you on YouTube like in the movies. You watch a fifteen second clip and say "ooh, something's gonna happen! I'll be totally prepped for 15 seconds!" Plus, the images exist in a void that have no context or, more importantly, built in suspense. It's impossible, even for the best scariest moment in the world, to lull you in with a false sense of ease in a few-seconds long clip called "Good scare from _____!" If you're talking about the part in Exorcist III I think you are, it's a genuinely good jump in the movie. On Youtube? Unless the video title is a trick itself, there is no such thing.

Well, I'll agree that mood and ambiance contributes greatly. The problem is that I'm not going to waste 90 minutes watching a really mediocre movie just for a 1-second scare.

 

[violet_crown]

Nothing'll scare you on YouTube like in the movies. You watch a fifteen second clip and say "ooh, something's gonna happen! I'll be totally prepped for 15 seconds!" Plus, the images exist in a void that have no context or, more importantly, built in suspense. It's impossible, even for the best scariest moment in the world, to lull you in with a false sense of ease in a few-seconds long clip called "Good scare from _____!" If you're talking about the part in Exorcist III I think you are, it's a genuinely good jump in the movie. On Youtube? Unless the video title is a trick itself, there is no such thing.

Naturally. The clips just facilitate description. Could you think of a better way to do that within the context of this thread?

 

[Spamtar]

And for you more introspective types, I'd love to hear about great fridge horror moments as well.]

my first home porno

[video]www.thismovieclipisnotauthorisedforrepublication.c om[/video]

 

[EJCC]

I'm not a huge horror movie fan, but oddly The Ring is the last movie that legitimately scared the shit out of me, when the first girl that died was shown briefly in the closet and head flopped down. The head flop did me in.

That exact moment was when I said to myself, and to the friend I was watching it with: "Screw this. I am not watching the rest of this movie."

No horror movies for me -- no sir. I just can't do it. "The Sixth Sense" was probably the scariest movie I ever sat through -- I was probably about ten years old, and someone had told my parents that it was a good movie for kids(!!?!?), so the three of us watched it together. Not gonna lie: once we got to the "Locked in the Dungeon" scene, I was outright bawling. I still remember my parents pausing it and asking if I was okay and whether I wanted to stop watching it. (I didn't! I wanted to finish what I started. I guess it was worth it?)

Also, the scene in "I Am Legend" that's only lit by flashlight was freaking terrifying -- as was the scene where he sees his mannequin friend sitting out in the open, waiting for him in the middle of a trap. Definitely quite a bit of nervous laughter in the theater in both scenes (mostly from me ).

 

[sciski]

The head flop, then when she came out of the TV, but the worst for me was when Noah tried to run and suddenly she "blipped" across the stage right into him. I about fell off the sofa the same time he fell over.

I'd had the pleasure of watching the Japanese one, which is not as big on scares, but more unsettling due to the severe creepiness factor, so I had my eyes blissfully closed during the worst scenes. Strangely, I didn't mind Samara coming out of the TV so much. I think the special video effects running over her were distracting. In the Japanese one, she's just straight up a dead girl with long dark hair and broken fingers/fingernails crawling out of the screen. You NEVER see her face, which is the most horrifying part--oh, and Sadako is TALL in the Japanese one... I always think I can dropkick Samara if need be, but Sadako could tear me in half with her bare hands...

... another movie that came out about the same time was The Grudge remake with Sarah Michelle Gellar. Some really creepy moments there too, just really awful ones. (The little boy ghost hissing; the female ghost coming out of the dark and from under the covers; the female ghost slithering down the steps... ugh.) And of course I was watching it after midnight by myself in a pitch-black room.

I had my eyes firmly closed and ears firmly covered for this one too. There's probably no point in me watching scary movies, now that I think about it.

Otherwise, the first time I watched The Mummy (yeah, be quiet), I just about had a heart attack in the scene where the female lead first encounters the mummy in the underground tomb and he slowly walks toward her.

 

[violet_crown]

You NEVER see her face, which is the most horrifying part--oh, and Sadako is TALL in the Japanese one... I always think I can dropkick Samara if need be, but Sadako could tear me in half with her bare hands...

This had to be the most gratifying moment of the Scary Movie franchise.

[YOUTUBE="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27LKsQ9FfiA"]Brenda v. Samara[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Totenkindly]

"Cindy! The news is on, another little white girl fell down a well!"

 

[sciski]

This had to be the most gratifying moment of the Scary Movie franchise.

[YOUTUBE="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27LKsQ9FfiA"]Brenda v. Samara[/YOUTUBE]

Lol, yes. I am eternally grateful to the Scary Movies for descarifying some of those horror movies.

 

[violaine]

One of the only horror films I've seen happens to be one of the biggies apparently, it's an 80s film called "Maniac". I had friends who were really into horror and this was supposed to be one of the freakiest film of it's genre, so they rented it. Ugh. Ugly, ugly film, the entire movie was terrifying.

 

[ZPowers]

Well, I'll agree that mood and ambiance contributes greatly. The problem is that I'm not going to waste 90 minutes watching a really mediocre movie just for a 1-second scare.

Eh, Exorcist 3 isn't actually bad. It's penned by the guy who wrote the original novel (and possibly screenplay). Brad Douriff, who voices Chucky, played Wormtail in LOTR, and was nominated for best supporting actor for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (he was the suicidal Billy) is in it and does a good job.

 

[ZPowers]

Naturally. The clips just facilitate description. Could you think of a better way to do that within the context of this thread?

No, of course not. But I'd just like to note it's unfair to poo-poo a moment when all the context you have is a very short clip.