Scariest Moments In Film

A Special Introduction By Our Horror Sexpert, Kyle...

Watching horror movies, for many, is mainly just an excuse to get a couple of seconds of thrills and/or chills to make our hearts pump and to fuel our own nightmares, which are generally vastly more creative than the films we watch. While there are certainly quite a few horror films that are actually good and worth repeat viewing, for the most part when we watch a scary movie we never have to see it again, because we’ve learned the mystery and how the killer is, blah blah blah. And a man can’t live on horror films alone. Believe me, I’ve tried, and after a few weeks I felt indescribably itchy and possessed of a craving for human flesh.

But like I said, a lot of the time we don’t have to watch scary movies again because the thing most of us were looking for -- the fright scene(s) -- is now with us forever and forever. We may not think so, but then after a Red Bull-and-sausage pizza all-night bender you’ll hit the sheets and REM your way right into a reenactment of the airlock scene from Event Horizon. Yikes! Event Horizon is a great example of all this: it’s sort of a good movie, not as good as it could have been, and it gets pretty boring by the second or third viewing. Having said that, it has some sights that will stick with you for life, even if you’ve only seen the movie trailer in the theaters. That dude doing a somersault in outer space: damn! Whoa! People with no eyes, ripped flesh, dead babies, noooooo! If you haven’t seen it, rent it! You won’t sleep soundly for weeks! It’ll be great!

Jump scenes aren’t the only reason to watch horror films. There are plenty of movies I love that don’t scare me at all, and never have, like Freddy vs. Jason. But I can watch them over and over, because they’re quality and they’re fun. There are movies I’ve only wanted to see once, like Dark Water and The Eye, because they were cool quality films from other countries and/or clever variations and worth a viewing, and even though I wouldn’t want to see them again I’m glad I saw them once. Horror films have a lot to offer in terms of entertainment and stimulation, and their individual contributions to the collective consciousness’ “scariest movie moments ever” list are just icing on the bloody cake.

So go ahead and check out as many horror movies as you can in life. It’s probably not a good idea to see a film just for some split second of true horror that you read about somewhere, because you’ll be sitting impatiently for a specific time mark and you’ll miss the innovative and well-made movie in one of those forest-for-the-trees scenarios, which I would explain more except I always forget what the “forest” and what the “trees” are so no time for love, Doctor Jones.

It’s also not a good idea to suggest “nude Diane Keaton in that old person movie” as a scariest movie moment, because that’s just inappropriate and immature (as I found out the hard way). But it is a wonderful idea to see horror movies for the fun and thrill of it all, because horror movies are the cat’s meow, man. Check ‘em out! Meanwhile, if you want to know what films have a better chance than most at shocking your socks off, we’ve compiled a nice list with the help of the MRFH forum and the help of our own tortured consciousness. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I just got the Producer’s Cut DVD of Halloween 6, and it’s time to get really scared. I’ll leave you with a few of my contributions, and then the rest is up to you. Meanwhile, please make horror films, Lindsay Lohan and Avril Lavigne! And Paris Hilton, no more horror films for you! Stop! Please! Nooooo!

So we asked MRFH readers what scenes and moments in film have truly scared the living crap out them:

The scene in The House on Haunted Hill (new version), where the chick with the camcorder is la-de-da walking around the basement of the asylum. She goes into a clearly empty operating room, but looks on her camcorder screen... to see doctors and nurses working on a patient, then stopping to look up at her. To complete my freak-out (and girlish scream), she turns around to see some... thing... in the hallway that garbles its head and then runs at her quickly. - Justin

In Poltergeist, that scene where the boy thinks the clown is under his bed, so he goes to look, and at this moment, the suspense is just thick in the air, then... nothing. So he sits back up and the clown is right behind him. I love that shot. - deusdragonexx

The twin girls in The Shining would be one of my top creepy moments. They seem so unnatural. When I finally saw the movie in a repertory theater the hair on my arms stood up at the sight of the blood coming out of the elevator. - Zappakub

In the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, when Leatherface clobbers his first victim with... whatever it was that he hit him with. Just the fact that the guy started twitching afterwards was enough to make me gag. - deusdragonexx

Paperhouse is this British movie about a girl who draws a picture of a house, which she can visit in her dreams. Every time she alters the picture, she alters the dream. It's full of creepy moments. The best is when her Dad shows up on the dreamscape's hillside, in silhouette...I won't spoil it. It's a very good movie that's worth checking out. - Genetic Mishap

Back when I was a child that demon-thing at the end of The Golden Child totally freaked me out. Ditto the Alien but that one is still able to scare me.- Zappakub

I'm not sure if this counts, but in The Animatrix, in the "Second Renissance Part II", when a boy is playing in the ruins of New York City and he goes home, and his parents turn into agents and he's put into a power plant, I was just so freaked out by that. I still am. Second Renissance Part II was the scariest thing in the world because it was the apocalypse, and the way it's portrayed is pretty scary, but it's scary because it's good anyway. - DarthToad

The hand coming out of the grave at the end of Carrie. For some weird reason even though I know it's coming it scares me every time. - Zappakub

When you actually see the alien for the first time in Signs. I swear, that makes me jump every time. It's just a brief shot, and the worst thing is you KNOW it's coming, but the suspense has been built so well I jump and scream every single time. - Lissa

Another creepy child memory I'm sure has scarred more than one viewer has to be the boat ride in Willy Wonka And The Chocolate factory. - Zappakub

The Thing – Hi! Kyle’s subconscious here! While Kyle gorges himself on peanut butter cups and Red Bull, I’ve manifested to tell you that The Thing has quite a few moments to offer that will sear themselves onto your mind. Anyway the Thing shows its bloody self, especially with whipping tentacles, it’s a time for nightmares. Wowsers! - Kyle

The Decompression Sequence in Event Horizon. I really can't watch that, it just gets to me in all the wrong ways, especially because the guy in the airlock knows what is going to happen... oh, it's just giving me shivers thinking about it. Urgh. Also, honourable mention to just about all the rest of that film. - Rich

Silence of the Lambs -- the whole fricking thing. It was an absolute masterpiece of mounting terror. - Lissa

Sakura. Ringu. Television. Please make it stop. I'm referring to the original Japanese Ringu here as well, not the remake. Sooooo disturbing. - Rich

The diner scene in Mulholland Drive, the one where the nervous guy is describing a dream he had. I've seen the movie several times, and that scene never fails to spook the hell out of me, even when I know what's coming. - Macaroni & Death

The last part of Audition. Burned into my memory with the branding iron of "OH THIS IS JUST WRONG" and permanently put me off dating hot Asian girls for all the rest of my life. - Rich

That part in The Shining where Shelly is running around the hotel at the end and the place is just flipping out. She stumbles into a room and spies a couple people doing... something... wearing pig masks or... not... It's just one of those freaky visual things that are scarier for the inconclusiveness of the scene (also the dead twins in the hallway... brr). - Justin

When I was little, one of the scenes that always managed to scare me was from 'Salem's Lot where the little boy is floating outside of the window. That's just creepy. - TromboneMessiah

Suspiria – SubKyle again (my ex-girlfriend calls Kyle SubKyle, but for different reasons) to say that not only is Suspiria Dario Argento’s masterpiece fusion of horror and colorful art, but it also has probably one of the freakiest murder scenes in the history of cinema. It’s so great that Scream paid “homage” to it with Drew Barrymore decades later. That Scream’s scene wasn’t a lick on Suspiria’s is an article for another time, but let me just warn not to watch Suspiria if you can’t handle an exposed human heart taking a knife wound or two. - Kyle

I also remember in The Shining TV movie, the woman in room 217 scared me a lot, and my parents found me later that night in my room, all the lights on, afraid to go to sleep. - TromboneMessiah

In What Lies Beneath, at the end when Harrison Ford is trying to drown Michelle Pfieffer (can't remember their names) and he moves her back and she's all freaky looking. Also, at the very end, the crazy face in the snow... that's really creepy. - PolyesterRage

There are several scenes in The Ring that will forever be ingrained in my memory. When you see the body of that girl from the beginning sitting in her closet... *shudders* And the videotape... and, of course, when Samara comes out of the television. Good God Almighty. - Ms. Jellybean

This doesn't *scare* me so much that I can't watch it, but my favorite scene of all time is the T-rex attack from Jurassic Park. I always get a sense of awe, wonder and hibbie-jibbies every time I watch it. - Genetic Mishap

Signs. I imagined for days afterward that alien. I'd look at the screen door... see the alien in my mind's eye... I also make it a habit to freak out my younger sister by imitating the pose. - Ms. Jellybean

In House On Haunted Hill, when Geoffrey Rush goes to see the guy in the room, and he pulls him back and his face is gone. Also the beginning of that one, with the crazy mental patient video thing. - PolyesterRage

As a little kid I was terrified by the big dinosaur from Land Before Time. I ran out of the room crying once. - pythianlegume

The end scene in Blair Witch Project. Okay, so this film is backlashed so severely that no medical insurance can cover it, but I'd wager that a bulk of us felt the creepy-crawlies deep inside when Heather stumbled into that room to see the dude standing in the corner. Sometimes what we don't see is far more terrifying. - Justin

And then the house creaks, and the kid with half his head blown off from The Sixth Sense walks through the door and steals my soul. - pythianlegume

The ONLY PART I've seen of The Exorcist, when the little girl is all Satan-y and she's like stabbing herself, and the mom is there, and the girl's head goes around. I refuse to watch any more of that movie, it freaked me out so bad. - PolyesterRage

In Final Destination... when the blonde chick bites it... I was sitting there completely not expecting that.- Jamus34

Anyway, I'll second the vote for all of The Exorcist. My God, that movie is insane. The scariest single scene I've ever viewed, though, is at the end of The Last Broadcast. Don't bother trying to remember it; unless you're very, very into the independent releases and/or are from Jersey, you've never seen it... but suffice it to say that it's comparable to the Blair Witch Project's final scene (well, the entire movie is, but that's another story), but even freakier because you actually see what happens. Totally blew my mind and scared the bejeezus out of me. - TheLuckyOne

The last movie to truly freak me out was The Ring, but 2 moments in particular. The first was that whole opening scene with the girls in the house. It felt like a great, old-school suspense scene, and was a perfect setup for all to come. The second was the scene near the end, with Samara and the TV. Sure, it looks a little lame on repeat viewings, but that first time was an absolute killer. I literally came out of the theater shaking. - BlackRiver

When I was little I couldn't watch the scene in Tremors when the doctor and his wife bite it. I could watch everything else, just not that. You think the nice lady is going to get away, but it turns out to one of those cases of "so close, and yet so far..." - Genetic Mishap

In the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, when Leatherface is chasing Sally around the woods for a good who-knows how long. What's so effective is that you feel like you're right beside her, being chased. If she falls, you're gonna die. The entire thing is freaky, but this sequence in particular. - BlackRiver

In the made-for-tv-movie Trilogy of Terror II, the section called "Bobby", a woman's son dies because of her wrongdoing (I forget how exactly). She makes a wish for her son to come back to her, and he does. Over the course of the movie you come to realize that there is something not quite right about him, and eventually we find out that he has come back -- as a troll-like demon. While the demon's face is pretty creepy, the scariest thing of all for me really was the idea that she got exactly what she wished for, and at the same time got exactly what she deserved. Some things are better left laid to rest. *shudders* - BladeStarr

Okay, I admit Signs as a whole just scares the everliving bejesus out of me. My dad loves watching stuff about aliens and made a pretty wimpy kid watch them. Now I'm scarred for life. Thanks, Dad! The scene in the driveway was bad enough to make me LEAVE THE THEATER. - BDC

Don’t Look Now – Kyle has said it before, SubKyle will say it again. Don’t Look Now’s last few minutes contain probably the most mentally scarring footage Kyle has ever seen. Some people are unaffected by it. But for me, little girls and dwarves are equally scary. Put either one in a red raincoat with a knife, equipped with a murderous rage, add a vulnerable Donald Sutherland, and it’s bedtime for no one! Kyle can’t sleep! Someone hold me... - Kyle

Exorcist: I REFUSE to watch this movie. I saw the one scene where the girl is having bloodwork and you see the demon for a split second. HOLYOHMYGOODLORD. I slept clutching my crucifix with my Bible on my chest that night. I'm not kidding, either. - BDC

Creepiness is much easier for me to feel than horror, so I will give an honorable mention to all things creepy, and the thing I find most creepy in the world is: children. Specifically demonic children, like the aforementioned Bobby, The Exorcist, Children of the Damned, The Poltergeist Girl (who was creepier to me than any of the ghosts!) and to a much lesser extent the Children of the Corn (I mean 7 movies from a 10-page short story by Stephen King, come on!) - BladeStarr

I think the freakiest scene I've seen was during Clockwork Orange, when Alex is strapped to the dentist's chair, has his eyelids forced open, and is subjected to watch the vids. - Duckie

Traversing the ducts in Alien. "No! Not that way!" "SCREEEEEEE!" - Genetic Mishap

In The Exorcist when the mother comes home and the lights start flickering and you see images of the devil flashing in the background. That particular scene in that freaky movie keeps me awake at nights. - loulabelle

Labyrinth creeped me out. All of it. David Bowie, farting swamps, trolls in giant suits of armor, creepy trash ladies, worms in apples, EYE STALK PLANTS!!!! This film scared me to no end when I was younger, especially since I spent a good part of my later childhood raising my 4 younger siblings, so the fear of kidnappings was instilled deep in me. - BladeStarr

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