Scariest Movie Moments

[DB7]

The 13 most terrifying movie scenes ever
From the Child-Catcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang to Sadako from Ringu, characters from film have an unparalleled ability to disturb and shock.
Michael Moran

A straw poll of the Times office has revealed the cinema frighteners that still haunt us and thirteen of the most distressing are listed below.

But what about you? Are you plagued by visions of the eerie puppet mask from Saw? Or petrified by the unseen horrors in The Innocents?

13: Se7en

David Fincher's unremittingly dark serial killer tale has a number of scenes that sear themselves on the viewer’s memory. About seven, in fact. The most morbidly memorable moment of all was the discovery of the ‘sloth’ victim. St. Thomas Aquinas was never so unsettling.

12: Mulholland Drive

David Lynch’s cryptic, steamily Sapphic Hollywood noir captures that scrambled logic of nightmare, when we first see the scuzzy hitman behind the diner. There may be more coherent films available, but few more certain to keep us awake long after the credits have rolled.

11: The Wizard of Oz (Flying Monkeys)

The terrors we encounter as children live with us long after the more seemingly potent shocks of adulthood have subsided. The eerie grin of the blue-skinned flying simians of Oz is about as disturbing a sight as one might wish to see.

10: The Blair Witch Project

The hype preceding the film built up our expectation of terror to such a degree that it was almost impossible for audiences to get as frightened as they thought they ought to be. Until that final scene, with the figure facing the wall, that evoked that powerless feeling of nameless dread that can make the most sanguine of us wake up with a start.

9: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me

David Lynch again. This time with the most disturbing 'man-in-an-alcove' scene of any film in recent memory. Watch it tonight, you’ll check your bedroom twice before turning in all week.

8: Psycho

Hitchcock demonstrates his unsurpassed mastery of the psychological chiller with his early dispatch of a major character and his evocation of the oppressively tenebrous atmosphere of the Bates house

7: It

A scary clown is a straightforward enough horror trope, everyone’s afraid of clowns to some extent . The masterstroke is in the casting of Tim Curry as Pennywise, and then having him pop up in unexpected locations that leave you unsure as to whether you are dreaming, or in real trouble.

6: Duel

Every driver’s worst nightmare: The implacable, anonymous road rage antagonist that just will not give up.

5: Jurassic Park

Dinosaurs may have just been large carnivorous turkeys, but the scene with a boy and girl cornered by two ravenous and relentless velociraptors has the power to raise your heart rate more effectively than the briskest country walk

4: Alien

Apart from the shockingly iconic 'chest burster' scene the sinister Xenomorph from the original film is cloaked in shadow for the first hour, only glimpsed for a few seconds at a time while the full horror is seen on the faces of the victims and (in one case) the ship's cat. The mystery only adds to the overpowering sense of dread.

3: Jaws

A film so widely imitated and parodied should by now have lost all its bite, but the moment when the camera discovers a decomposing corpse in the wreck of a fishing vessel still has the power to shock, three decades later.

2: The Omen

An object lesson in how the most prosaic architectural features can turn into deadly weapons, The Omen is a masterclass in the evocation of supernatural paranoia.

1: The Shining

Madness, ESP, and an old fashioned haunting combine in Stephen King’s claustrophobic thriller about an isolated family in a snowbound hotel. Jack Nicholson's bravura scenery-chewing, door destroying performance is the finishing touch to the gripping tale of an ancient brooding evil awakened.

[Hugo Fitch]

The 'mirror' episode in Dead of Night. I first saw it at the age of about 10 and for years later I had a fear of an old mirror in my parents bedroom. The first time you see the 'other room' is unparalleled in eerie moments of cinema IMHO

[lordtednfs]

An excellent list.

Duel is an excellent movie and I think has been watched by every jeepney and taxi driver in The Philippines. Road Sense? Nah! No sense!!!!!

A movie that frightened me as a child was "The Brides Of Dracula", mum let me stay up late. One scene was where there was a coffin with a girl inside that had been killed by Dracula, Chris Lee, and it was secured by two of the biggest big locks in the world and suddenly the locks drop off. I have never been so scared in all my life as the girl started to get out of the coffin.

That night I slept with the light on and with a crucifx close at hand.



__________________
Hooked off the line

[DB7]

Ringu all the way for me. I nearly jumped out of my skin as I didn't see the crossover coming.

[Carmel]

The Exorsist did it for me it scared the life out of me that film still cant watch it on my own.

[Wolfgang]

Another day, another crappy film list.

[Aaryk Noctivagus]

I've never been scared by a movie... but the movie that made the best attempt at spooking me slightly was... 'A Company of Wolves'

[smiffy]

Originally Posted by Carmel The Exorsist did it for me it scared the life out of me that film still cant watch it on my own.

I was shocked by this film , especially the scene where the young girl defiles herself with the crucifix .When it was doing the rounds at the cinemas a couple of years ago my daughter ,who is a horror film junkie persuaded me to go with her, as it is a film I would never have in the house.The reaction of the audience amazed me ,they found it funny maybe there weren't enough special effects or scenes of the violent dismembering type they are used to now.
I was more scared by the battle of good and evil that was going on in the priests psyche ,and wondered how many so called possesions were actually people with some form of mental illness

[A Pemberton]

Originally Posted by DB7 The 13 most terrifying movie scenes ever A straw poll of the Times office has revealed the cinema frighteners that still haunt us

Not really hard hitting or truth seeking journalism or investigative polling at its best? or is it part of a marketing campaign for a new film or a dvd release

or am I getting too cynical,

[batman]

Jamie Lee Curtis hiding from the Boogey Man in the wardrobe in Halloween. I had that nightmare when I was a kid.

Bats.

[Steve Crook]

Originally Posted by A Pemberton Not really hard hitting or truth seeking journalism or investigative polling at its best? or is it part of a marketing campaign for a new film or a dvd release or am I getting too cynical,

Quite possibly you are getting cynical, but it's an unusual poll result in that they are all older titles. None of them are current releases.

Steve

[Aaryk Noctivagus]

Originally Posted by Steve Crook ...but it's an unusual poll result in that they are all older titles...

Crumbs... I was think how recent a lot of them are!!!

And don't the policemen look young these days...

[DB7]

Originally Posted by A Pemberton Not really hard hitting or truth seeking journalism or investigative polling at its best? or is it part of a marketing campaign for a new film or a dvd release or am I getting too cynical,

A few Stephen King stories?

[batman]

Psycho, Duel, Alien and Wizard of Oz are pick of that list.

Bats.

[Aaryk Noctivagus]

Originally Posted by batman Psycho, Duel, Alien and Wizard of Oz are pick of that list.

Agreed, except I'd add 'Jaws'.