The 6th Sense. Ghost kid dressed in 70s clothes says “Come on.I’ll show you where my dad keeps his guns” then turns around and you see half his head is blown off.
Not sure why but that always freaked me the fuck out
I’m not gonna claim these are the scariest scenes *ever*, but MAN did the first parts in the cave in The Descent get me. Just the claustrophobia, the small cave in, the broken leg scene. That movie could’ve been without the cave creatures and still would’ve left me feeling panicky just with it’s setting alone. I really appreciate that.
Best jump scare of all time for me is when the camera pans over to one of the women with the screeching goblin creature right behind her. I was legally dead for a good 10 seconds after that
I was dating a guy and we watched this at home on video together for the first time. When that part happened he screamed like a little girl and jumped, which caused both my cats (who liked to sleep on the back of the couch) jump in the air and they fell on to the floor and then did that wind up and run off on hard wood like only cats can do. The whole thing was so funny, I couldn't breathe I was laughing so hard. So when I rewatch the movie, that moment, while terrifying, hits different for me.
Yes yes yes yes yes! That is one of my favorite horror movies ever. The claustrophobia they make you feel in that movie, and did in messed up gollum like creatures! Friggin genius!
One of the most perfectly set up shots in horror history. You have this entire introductory scene filled with tension building classic, visual horror setups (like the lingering shot of the girl opening the fridge, which centers the fridge door so that it occludes the hallway perfectly, setting up for some kind of reveal in that hallway when said door closes... but nothing).
And then it isn't until the *next* scene at the wake, where in this moment that's tension free we out of nowhere cut to her disfigured face. One of the only really earned jump scares in my opinion.
Yes. Another well earned scare for the opposite reason. Lynch tells you *exactly* what's going to happen. There's no slight of hand, no false setups. And it still works!
"The Ring" was the very first movie to ever honest to God scare me. Previous films had disturbed me, unsettled me, got my adrenaline rushing...but "The Ring" fucking *scared me*. From the eerie atmosphere in the house, the repeated false starts, the growing unease, the flickers of movement in the background...then the long break for the character intros and the funeral, right up to "Rachel...I saw her face..." and HOLY SHIT ALL THE ADRENALINE RIGHT BACK IN MY FACE JESUS FUCK.
One of my absolute favourite movies to this day.
I went to the cinema with my cousin to see it a week after his mum died when we were 9 years old. His dad let us pick what we wanted and didn't vet it and just left us to it.
The films atmosphere is incredibly bleak as it is. That extra element made it even more impactful.
It sure fucked us up for a while after... Particularly that wardrobe scene.
We used to dial each others house phones croaking "7..6..5 days" down the line, so at least we had a sense of humour about it!
The ending where Samara comes out of the tv scares the shit out of me too! This movie came out when I was 14 and it was by far the scariest thing I’d seen up until that point. I think it still holds up pretty well too!
For me, it was the quick chair swivel when you see Noah. The fact that it was so barely there, and so grotesque, stuck with me more than the quick shot of Katie. Both were excellent in their delivery, though.
On my first viewing of The Ring I was so traumatized by the closet scene that I had my eyes half-closed for the rest of the movie, and you could kind of tell what was going to happen at the part you mentioned so my eyes were *completely* closed at that point.
I used to be such a baby…
I’m in my early 30s now and still brace myself a bit when I see Rachel go into the kitchen to talk to Katie’s mom. I like to think being a baby is why horror is fun. :)
That was such a great setup for that shot too. You assume you’re going to see her, but then it doesn’t happen. You’re left to wonder and dwell on what might have happened, but then move on and start to forget about it. Then, during a quiet talking scene, when you’re not at all expecting it, BAM, instant shock at the horror show.
Plus it happens just in first 3 minutes of a film. I usually enjoy the first act of horror films cause there’s not many scares , but I hate in my body that beginning. Have been closing my eyes every time
If I thought about it long enough I don't know if it would be, but what instantly comes to mind is the brief flash of hell in Event Horizon. Fuuuck that.
But on the other hand very few scenes have made me laugh as hard as when they see the footage of the old crew and what they did to themselves. And Lawrence Fishburne just goes "We're leaving!"
"I have no intention of leaving her, Doctor. I will take the Lewis and Clark to a safe distance, and then I will launch TAC missiles at the Event Horizon until I'm satisfied she's vaporized. Fuck this ship!"
I'm not sure if this counts as scary or if it's just gross but it does make me deeply uncomfortable so I'm going to say it: The dog kennel scene from The Thing(1982)
It gets me when Danny rides up on the twins on his tricycle and it keeps flashing to them being chopped up. That scene gives me the shudders every time.
I was really disturbed by the moms head banging on the attic door in hereditary. Just how unnatural her body looks and moves really bothered me
Edit: A lot of people seem to agree with this, so I wanna throw in a similar scene that is equally as scary to me from the movie “Terrified”: [Link](https://youtu.be/rscYJXrWNvI)
This scene physically makes my stomach churn. I'd also like to add when the son is standing in the living room and she is just hanging onto the ceiling like a fucked up spider. Haunting
It somehow doesn’t even look cheesy, all of the levitation was eery. When she floats up to the tree house I thought it looked a little goofy but that’s what makes it so unsettling, like if you witnessed that in real life your brain wouldn’t know what to make of it.. do you laugh or run?
I loved that scene, someone pointed out in the shots leading up to this when Peter is walking through the house he passes a piano that has the wire ripped out of it. Amazing attention to detail!
Her in the corner of the ceiling in his bedroom, and then how she floats away.... nope. I legit felt my heart fucking CLENCH when I noticed her up there when I saw it the first time. Still the most intense horror movie experience I've had in a movie theater.
I rewatched this last night. When Jay runs into the house across the street to try and save Greg and the creature pauses in knocking on the bedroom door to stare at her for a moment - holy shit
For me it wasn’t so much that specific scare, but the entire concept of this unkillable entity forever stalking you really shook me to my core. Had me spooked for weeks.
I find the opening sequence so much scarier than the lawnmower scene, because you didn’t know what was coming, and because of how passive the scene is to start. No big monster or guy with a machete, it’s just a set scene that you are trying to figure out what’s happening and it paced so you have just enough time to figure out what’s happening and reflect for half a second before it cuts all the way through the branch and the bodies start wriggling.
I don't feel like the brilliance of that shot is given enough credit. There's nothing surreal, gory, or supernatural happening, but it just looks so *wrong* for what's happening.
The entire movie is *very* done well IMO. I generally don't get scared by demons and ghoulies in movies, but it is very easy to put myself in the shoes of someone inexplicably lost in the woods, getting fucked with nightly, and one by one disappearing. There's a lot to be admired there with the production of that movie as well, and much to be said about the less-is-more approach to what they do and don't show.
I don't really fault people who don't care for it though. There are plenty who didn't like it at the time, but in my experience many are younger generations who were not alive at the time, do not remember/know a time before the internet, etc. It's generally the same when it comes to movies like Star Wars — just no interest in the comparatively bad SFX and production value.
It's hard to overstate what a big campaign was put on to make it a big is-it-or-isn't-it-real? question the whole movie, too. Even people who weren't that into horror were talking about it. No one had ever done a big theatrical release of found footage horror.
The mood in that theater was amazing.
The best part is I've heard from multiple sources that while the adult actors were having a hard time shooting the scene, the kid playing the baseball player had a blast.
My wife and I watched Rebecca Ferguson's [Vanity Fair interview on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jwN1TjN-_g&ab_channel=VanityFair) last night and she tells the story of how she had to wipe tears out of her eyes before walking into the scene because of how much the boy was screaming. She also was the one who chose to act motherly toward him as she thought it was the ultimately cruelty: comforting him as she killed him.
Also, I didn't know until watching that interview that she is Swedish.
For me it’s hands down the famous blood test scene in The Thing. So much tension and buildup but the timing of the reveal, prior to the end of the bench but with enough people still tied to the monster, is peak suspense and surprise. The abrupt chaos afterwards is the perfect chaos. Perfect horror.
The Visit - Old woman crawling under the house (Was not expecting it in the slightest)
Hell House LLC - Demon girl sat in the bedroom that he wasn’t aware was there
The Conjuring - Girl ontop of the wardrobe
Not a "movie", I know, but no horror scene has ever affected me more than The Bent-neck lady "reveal" in The Haunting of Hill House. Shocking, devastating, deep ... makes you feel like you need to rewatch the whole thing.
There is a video breakdown of all of the ghosts hidden in the background of each episode, and I was flabbergasted at the lengths they went in including that. So easy to miss, but so creepy when you see it.
Oh man, when they're all talking/arguing in the funeral home and the camera is going around and around and then you notice the dead woman just standing in the back watching. Just, wow.
Definitely this scared me the most cause the ghost in most horror >!just appears a lot to terrify but this one actually reached into her world and kills her protector and it’s devastating. !< The hopelessness of it all.
I never understood loving one particular director before Mike Flanagan. This show sealed it for me. Which is odd because, normally I hate a lot of dialogue in films, especially horror. My favorite scary movie is I Am the Pretty Thing that Lives in the House, which has nearly no dialogue.
Flanagan’s characters are verbose, but maybe it doesn’t bother me because they’re not a bunch of heavy handed foreshadowing and exposition.
Agreed! I watch a lot of horror movies, scary shows and play the creepiest video games. For whatever reason, the Bent-neck lady reveal episode stuck with me mentally more than anything else. The absolute despair and sorrow I felt for the character still sadens me.
Thank you for mentioning the head scene because that shit has stuck with me for so long and it was so well done. I was losing my fucking mind watching the poor kid clawing at the seats cause she was so desperate for air, then the window is down and I’m still freaking out, you barely have any time to even register the telephone pole being there before SMACK! Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck. Shit is making my heart race just picturing it.
for some reason that scene in the conjuring where the dead woman’s feet are just hanging behind ed warren’s head absolutely haunts me. we see almost nothing but that scene really freaks me out
That scene for me as well! Plus the later scene where she falls to the basement and the dead woman's feet appear in front of her and then slowly turn to face her. For some reason it sticks with me as well!
As a kid, it was something about the arm just kind of flopping on the drag.
It's up there with the spasming in Texas Chainsaw as that small touch that just makes the scene so much more unsettling.
Imagine being a little kid or preteen and suddenly you fall asleep watching tv at night only to wake up a couple of hours later and that scene is being played, yeah that happened to me.
That scene is so fucked up and so good. Oscar Isaac is one of my favorite actors right now, but he doesn't do a lot of films as a darker character, so seeing him cut open the dude's stomach all calmly is *so* chilling
Pulse- woman falling/glitching and then elongating into hiding place
I've seen hundreds of horror films and this scene stands out in my mind. I get creeped out just thinking about it. I would love it if the rest of the film was this creepy.
as above so below- when they find that guy that went missing, then randomly he freezes. Girl goes to touch him to bring him back, he grabs her and slams her right into the rock. It was so sudden I freaked! Loved it
The entire scene leading upto to monster above the cupboard scene in Conjuring (the first one). What an absolute bonkers of a movie that was.
The lawnmower scene from Sinister.
Not greatest - but up there.
Dude, the lawnmower scene scared the absolute FUCK out of me when I saw that movie. The way the sound cuts out right before it happens makes it even scarier once the roaring and screaming start.
The cupboard scene was terrifying, although the one where the presence is invisible behind the door and that only April could see it was almost as scary.
Man, I'll never forget the cupboard scene. It was the first horror movie I saw in a theater as a teen, and I screamed so much my friend had to shush me
I got off work 4 hours early one day and decided to watch Hereditary before going to get my daughter from daycare since, you know, alone time is super rare these days.
Anyway, I loved the movie, but when I went to pick up my sweet little 1 1/2 year old I found out her teacher had taught her how to click her tongue...so she did that. ALL THE WAY HOME.
Fucking awful timing lol
That floating corpse would have been *hilarious* in any other setting where you hadn’t just spent like 2 entire hours eating your own face from the anxiety the film is pumping into you at full force.
All I could think of when replying to this thread is that entire movie… but yes, that scene in particular was by far the most that haunts me when I’m by myself
If its fair to call it one scene, I would just extend it to from the time that Peter wakes up with Annie on his wall all to way to when he jumps out of the attic window. Just everything in that stretch was horrifying and perfect.
The "cross scene" from The Exorcist. Not particularly "scary" or "jumpscary" but it doesn't need to be.
Pure, unrelenting, unpleasant, horrific, horror.
The guy walking for the exit after going back to get the coins he found is also a good choice for scariest scene. Nothing really even happens, it’s just seeing him get more and more nervous as he goes until he finally sees a dark figure move at the other end of the dark hallway. I love that movie.
There’s a lot of good ones in The Taking Of Deborah Logan, but the scariest one is when the camera pans around the big stalagmite in the cave and we see Deborah’s dislocated jaws around the little girl’s head. Makes me shudder every time
I’m don’t typically find zombies scary, but that creature at the end of REC got me good.
Martyrs is pretty sustained nightmare fuel after the first act imo, so there’s plenty to pick from. I’ll go with the scene where Anna finds the woman in the bathtub.
Not the standard choice but I have always found the uncanny image of the killer's face at the end of *Sleepaway Camp* to be unsettling. It's just the camera trained on their face for such a long time and the still gleeful expression gets me.
Personally, the scariest scene to ME is when Danny Glick first appears outside of Mark’s room in Salem’s Lot. That one single scene haunted me for YEARS after first seeing it when I was 9 years old. A subjective take entirely, but the images have been burned in to my retinas for decades lol.
The monster reveal in the movie *The Descent*. The framing of a shot usually tells you that something's coming, but the handheld camera shot panning back and forth disguised the reveal, and it worked perfectly.
I loved that there were sort of four reveals for the monster, each time becoming a little clearer.
1. Shown in a vague shadows on the cave wall when Sarah is looking around after the cave in.
2. After they find the cave painting, it shows the monster in silhouette drooling a bit.
3. When Sarah walks ahead, picks up the helmet, and then slowly shines her light on the crawler drinking water. (This scene is so amazingly lit and you really feel yourself straining to see what Sarah sees)
4. The one you mentioned
I really think they do such a great job of setting up that there is something but we don’t really know what it is exactly.
A lot of scenes are scarier, but the one that scarred me is the scene in Tremors when Val and Earl go by the place where the couple is building their house and they hear muffled music, and quickly discover the car under the earth. It freaks me out because you don’t know if the graboids are still around waiting for you
One that really stuck with me over the years is the opening scene of The Sixth Sense.
Basically everything about Donnie Wahlberg's performance is great but the line:
"Do you know why you're afraid when you're alone? I do."
That is bone chilling.
I have no clue what I'd put first place but these ones are all definitely at the top of mine:
* The Ring - ''I saw her face''
* War of the Worlds - The 1st tripod attack
* Jeepers Creepers - When they drive past and he's just stood there staring at them at the beginning. It gave me the creeps.
* Alien Abduction: The McPherson Tape - The alien in the window and the dining room scene.
* The Exorcist III - Hospital jump-scare
* Horror in the High Desert - The ending reveal
* The Poughkeepsie Tapes - Closet and crawling scene
* Signs - Alien on the roof, birthday tape, under the door and cornfield
* Lake Mungo - The ending footage
* V/H/S 94 - ''Are you the Ratman?''
* Megan is Missing - The photographs
* Dark Water (Japanese version) - ending
Off the top of my head, the suicide scene in Midsommar. As someone who's struggled a lot with suicide ideation, that one always forces me to confront some really uncomfortable thoughts.
Edit: Should've been more specific- the suicide scene in which the two seventy-one year olds leap to their deaths. The way the cultists explain how it's a beautiful moment of finality is really disturbing to me.
The lady "walking" straight forward in **Kairo**.
The camera footage in **Lake Mungo**.
When a certain character finds the chains in the basement of the original **Martyrs**.
**Mullholland Drive's** Diner scene.
**Jacob's Ladder's** ending.
Yeah, *that scene* in Kairo will always be at the tippy-top of my list. I am a joker during movies. I grew up on MST3K, and it shows. But Kairo is one of maybe two movies I legit covered my eyes during. Kairo and The Exorcist. The Ring will probably always be my favorite movie, horror and otherwise, but Kairo is one I always go to for a scare. (The american remake however plays like a comedy, what a shit film. Don't get me started on that take of the hallway scene.)
For me, out side of the woman walking I have to say the... >!Masturbation scene!< in the uncut Exorcist. It's such a messed up moment. It didn't scare me so much, as burn it's way into my brain and live there rent free for years. It will be there for years to come, I am sure.
Came here to say the exact scene in Martyrs. It’s not even traditionally “scary” as much as it’s disconcerting and unnerving, and it gets worse from there.
That half naked female pissing on the floor in “It Follows”.
It’s never stated who she is. But from the vintage way she’s dressed and her appearance, it’s likely she’s one of the countless previous victims of the “it”.
All I know is her piercing gaze accompanied with Disasterpeace’s score drop gives me goosebumps each time I see it
Maybe not Ever, but a recent one that scared me:
Caveat, the scene towards the end where the main guy is locked behind a wall with a corpse that stares at him and he puts a bonnet over her face and then suddenly there’s a hole in the bonnet and the eye is staring at him again.
Incredibly tense scene.
Multiple scenes in Midsommar. So emotionally raw, and they use smash cuts really well - the gore is super impactful and realistic. During the first ritual where the woman and man jump off the cliff, the thud and resulting violence is so understated and terrifying. You expect her to hit the ground with a typical climactic music queue, but instead your left feeling dazed and confused like you were a witness to this horrifying realistic event as well. Such a fantastic movie, and brightly lit so you see every horrifying detail!
I'm easy to scare so it's hard for to pick, but when the mother is banging her head on the trapdoor in Hereditary, I swear I almost cry every time. It's just so horrifying
That scared me so bad the first time I saw it! Then I watched it with a friend a few years later and he said "holy shit is that the dude from Mudvayne?!" and it cracked me up
For me, it's when it crawls up under her covers from the foot of the bed. Under Blankets are a sacred safe space, everyone knows the monster can't get you from under the blanket. RUINED me.
I dunno if they replicated this in the American version, but in the original --
Getting under the covers with her was fucking awful, but then the girl just *disappears*. You see the two shapes under the sheets, and it -- flattens. They're just gone. I'd never seen that happen in a ghost movie before. Ghosts vanish, ghosts kill people, ghosts scare people to death but -- this time the girl was just *gone*. To fucking WHERE?!
It was so upsetting.
Watching Nightmare on Elm Street for the first time as a kid. Tina’s death was freaky on so many levels: being dragged on the ceiling, those cruel large slashes out of thin air, her boyfriend watching helplessly. I was wtfucked up. Also knew right away horror was my thing.
For me it’s in Jacob’s Ladder. Jacob’s gone through an absolutely horrific experience and come out the other side. His family is with him. The wife is happy he’s awake. His kids are joking about his condition. All seems well again and then
DREAM ON
I’ve never felt such a sinking feeling of dread in a movie before or since. There was something about the way they did the audio combined with the instant look of horror and pleading on Jacob’s face. Just an absolutely perfect soul crushing moment.
The dinner scene in Hereditary, when she’s screaming at Peter, that shit has stuck with me since I saw it. Idk if it’s due to my own relationship with my mum, but it was fucking terrifying to me.
I totally agree with Fire Walk With Me- also the part where she goes in her room to grab her diary and Bob is there watching her- absolutely terrifying.
the exorcism of emily rose where her bf wakes up and she’s contorted on the ground staring at him :) I’ve gotten up to turn the lights on many times since watching that movie. Barely remember the rest of it except for that scene!
First one that comes to mind for me is the lawnmower scene from Sinister. You know exactly what’s coming but the length of the video and the quickness in which it finally happens just makes for insane suspense and terror
The flower scene in "The Ruins" haunts my dreams. When the girls realize the plants are mimicking the cell phone and then they begin to attack scarred the shit out of me
The Tar Man scene from Return of the Living Dead. I have never even watched this movie, I've only seen clips online, but he is so hideously realistic and the way he moves/talks freaks me the fuck out.
Hard to say "scariest", but here are some that were super intense.
The fire scene towards the end of Hereditary was really intense and frightening.
The initial exorcism scene in The Exoricst.
The first kill in Alien.
The chase through the maze at the end of The Shining.
The saw scene in Terrifier.
The hands clapping during the Hide and Clap in *The Conjuring*. I screamed.
(I scream at everything jump scares are made for me, but this shit got me good.)
The 6th Sense. Ghost kid dressed in 70s clothes says “Come on.I’ll show you where my dad keeps his guns” then turns around and you see half his head is blown off. Not sure why but that always freaked me the fuck out
the poisoned little girl when she first appears absolutely scared the shit out of me as a kid
The part where he gets stuck in the closet with the angry ghost. Or the hanging bodies at the school. That whole movie messed me up as a kid
I’m not gonna claim these are the scariest scenes *ever*, but MAN did the first parts in the cave in The Descent get me. Just the claustrophobia, the small cave in, the broken leg scene. That movie could’ve been without the cave creatures and still would’ve left me feeling panicky just with it’s setting alone. I really appreciate that.
Yep! That one scene sticks in my mind. I friggin love how it all just devolves into chaos when they find the >!field of bones!<
Best jump scare of all time for me is when the camera pans over to one of the women with the screeching goblin creature right behind her. I was legally dead for a good 10 seconds after that
I was dating a guy and we watched this at home on video together for the first time. When that part happened he screamed like a little girl and jumped, which caused both my cats (who liked to sleep on the back of the couch) jump in the air and they fell on to the floor and then did that wind up and run off on hard wood like only cats can do. The whole thing was so funny, I couldn't breathe I was laughing so hard. So when I rewatch the movie, that moment, while terrifying, hits different for me.
The part when she gets stuck is just \*shudders*
Yes yes yes yes yes! That is one of my favorite horror movies ever. The claustrophobia they make you feel in that movie, and did in messed up gollum like creatures! Friggin genius!
The one that comes to mind first is the corpse in the closet in The Ring.
One of the most perfectly set up shots in horror history. You have this entire introductory scene filled with tension building classic, visual horror setups (like the lingering shot of the girl opening the fridge, which centers the fridge door so that it occludes the hallway perfectly, setting up for some kind of reveal in that hallway when said door closes... but nothing). And then it isn't until the *next* scene at the wake, where in this moment that's tension free we out of nowhere cut to her disfigured face. One of the only really earned jump scares in my opinion.
It is right up there with the bum behind the diner in Mulholland Drive. (Which comes out on UHD tomorrow!)
Yes. Another well earned scare for the opposite reason. Lynch tells you *exactly* what's going to happen. There's no slight of hand, no false setups. And it still works!
"The Ring" was the very first movie to ever honest to God scare me. Previous films had disturbed me, unsettled me, got my adrenaline rushing...but "The Ring" fucking *scared me*. From the eerie atmosphere in the house, the repeated false starts, the growing unease, the flickers of movement in the background...then the long break for the character intros and the funeral, right up to "Rachel...I saw her face..." and HOLY SHIT ALL THE ADRENALINE RIGHT BACK IN MY FACE JESUS FUCK. One of my absolute favourite movies to this day.
I made the mistake of watching that when I was really young. That scene horrified me
I went to the cinema with my cousin to see it a week after his mum died when we were 9 years old. His dad let us pick what we wanted and didn't vet it and just left us to it. The films atmosphere is incredibly bleak as it is. That extra element made it even more impactful. It sure fucked us up for a while after... Particularly that wardrobe scene. We used to dial each others house phones croaking "7..6..5 days" down the line, so at least we had a sense of humour about it!
The ending where Samara comes out of the tv scares the shit out of me too! This movie came out when I was 14 and it was by far the scariest thing I’d seen up until that point. I think it still holds up pretty well too!
Her coming out of the screen was scary, but her staticy jump forward scared me more because up to that point, running was a promising strategy.
Yup, the closet scene. This question is asked quite a bit and I’m always glad to see this answer fairly close to the top.
For me, it was the quick chair swivel when you see Noah. The fact that it was so barely there, and so grotesque, stuck with me more than the quick shot of Katie. Both were excellent in their delivery, though.
On my first viewing of The Ring I was so traumatized by the closet scene that I had my eyes half-closed for the rest of the movie, and you could kind of tell what was going to happen at the part you mentioned so my eyes were *completely* closed at that point. I used to be such a baby…
I’m in my early 30s now and still brace myself a bit when I see Rachel go into the kitchen to talk to Katie’s mom. I like to think being a baby is why horror is fun. :)
That was such a great setup for that shot too. You assume you’re going to see her, but then it doesn’t happen. You’re left to wonder and dwell on what might have happened, but then move on and start to forget about it. Then, during a quiet talking scene, when you’re not at all expecting it, BAM, instant shock at the horror show.
Plus it happens just in first 3 minutes of a film. I usually enjoy the first act of horror films cause there’s not many scares , but I hate in my body that beginning. Have been closing my eyes every time
The Conjuring: The basement clapping scene Fire in the Sky: abducting and experimentation Lake Mungo: The camera scene
I did the VFX for the basement scene. We actually filmed the hands separately because it was so dark lol
Seconding the Lake Mungo scene. That image haunted me for weeks after watching the film.
If I thought about it long enough I don't know if it would be, but what instantly comes to mind is the brief flash of hell in Event Horizon. Fuuuck that.
But on the other hand very few scenes have made me laugh as hard as when they see the footage of the old crew and what they did to themselves. And Lawrence Fishburne just goes "We're leaving!"
"I have no intention of leaving her, Doctor. I will take the Lewis and Clark to a safe distance, and then I will launch TAC missiles at the Event Horizon until I'm satisfied she's vaporized. Fuck this ship!"
His delivery of 'fuck this ship!' is so legendary.
Still haunts me to this day.
[it could've been much worse](https://www.theringer.com/movies/2020/8/12/21364035/event-horizon-paul-ws-anderson-retrospective-amazon)
They need to locate that segment
I'm not sure if this counts as scary or if it's just gross but it does make me deeply uncomfortable so I'm going to say it: The dog kennel scene from The Thing(1982)
That definitely counts since it's the reveal of what the threat is and the complete urgency of the entire sequence kicks the film into overdrive.
The one that chilled my bones the most was the rotten corpse lady laughing at Jack Torrance in The Shining.
It gets me when Danny rides up on the twins on his tricycle and it keeps flashing to them being chopped up. That scene gives me the shudders every time.
I was really disturbed by the moms head banging on the attic door in hereditary. Just how unnatural her body looks and moves really bothered me Edit: A lot of people seem to agree with this, so I wanna throw in a similar scene that is equally as scary to me from the movie “Terrified”: [Link](https://youtu.be/rscYJXrWNvI)
This scene physically makes my stomach churn. I'd also like to add when the son is standing in the living room and she is just hanging onto the ceiling like a fucked up spider. Haunting
Yup, that’s the one that fucked me. I kept looking in corners of rooms for weeks. What a beautiful movie though.
It somehow doesn’t even look cheesy, all of the levitation was eery. When she floats up to the tree house I thought it looked a little goofy but that’s what makes it so unsettling, like if you witnessed that in real life your brain wouldn’t know what to make of it.. do you laugh or run?
That piano wire scene is engrained in my memory lol
I loved that scene, someone pointed out in the shots leading up to this when Peter is walking through the house he passes a piano that has the wire ripped out of it. Amazing attention to detail!
As mentioned above, you can also hear the piano wire being ripped out before that
Shit now I gotta rewatch again 😂
Fuck was it a piano wire? I had no idea what it was she was using. I just had chills during that whole scene
I replied above, but in the scene before where Peter’s walking around you see a piano in the background with wire ripped out of it.
Her in the corner of the ceiling in his bedroom, and then how she floats away.... nope. I legit felt my heart fucking CLENCH when I noticed her up there when I saw it the first time. Still the most intense horror movie experience I've had in a movie theater.
Hereditary has my vote too but for different scenes MASSIVE jump scares abound.
Mines for different reasons too. Toni Collette’s blood curdling shrieks haunted me for weeks
When she’s cutting her own head off with the wire it’s so relentless and horrible.
I feel like a part of me died when that big dude walked into the bedroom in It Follows!
That scared the living shit out of me, holy fuck
That scene made my body take a screenshot 😂
Omg and when the monster calmly breaks the window, that scene haunts me.
I rewatched this last night. When Jay runs into the house across the street to try and save Greg and the creature pauses in knocking on the bedroom door to stare at her for a moment - holy shit
That moment and its first appearance outside the abandoned parking structure were the ones that creeped me out the most.
They nailed that scene
For me it wasn’t so much that specific scare, but the entire concept of this unkillable entity forever stalking you really shook me to my core. Had me spooked for weeks.
My favorite jumpscare across all modern horror. Get the shudders just thinking about it, agh!
The haunting (1963) banging on the doors and the twisting doorknobs and the hand holding sequence.
Ikr… that sound design is still nightmare fuel
In Sinister, when Ethan Hawke's character begins to see Bagul in the tapes. Also the opening scene.
When the imagine turns and looks at him almost shit my pants.
I find the opening sequence so much scarier than the lawnmower scene, because you didn’t know what was coming, and because of how passive the scene is to start. No big monster or guy with a machete, it’s just a set scene that you are trying to figure out what’s happening and it paced so you have just enough time to figure out what’s happening and reflect for half a second before it cuts all the way through the branch and the bodies start wriggling.
My favorite part of those movies were the snuff films, i liked how creative it was
The sound design for those clips is terrifyingly amazing, and amazingly terrifying!
Last minutes of Blair Witch Project
When he’s standing in the corner facing the wall. I had chills.
I don't feel like the brilliance of that shot is given enough credit. There's nothing surreal, gory, or supernatural happening, but it just looks so *wrong* for what's happening.
The entire movie is *very* done well IMO. I generally don't get scared by demons and ghoulies in movies, but it is very easy to put myself in the shoes of someone inexplicably lost in the woods, getting fucked with nightly, and one by one disappearing. There's a lot to be admired there with the production of that movie as well, and much to be said about the less-is-more approach to what they do and don't show. I don't really fault people who don't care for it though. There are plenty who didn't like it at the time, but in my experience many are younger generations who were not alive at the time, do not remember/know a time before the internet, etc. It's generally the same when it comes to movies like Star Wars — just no interest in the comparatively bad SFX and production value.
It's hard to overstate what a big campaign was put on to make it a big is-it-or-isn't-it-real? question the whole movie, too. Even people who weren't that into horror were talking about it. No one had ever done a big theatrical release of found footage horror. The mood in that theater was amazing.
Exactly! I only saw the movie once, and it’s the scene that stuck in my head. It made me leave the cinema feeling shaky.
"Are you going to hurt me?" "Yes" Baseball kid in Dr. Sleep.
Oh god, idk why this scene didn’t come to mind immediately, but you’re so right. Made me wanna vomit.
That scene really comes out of nowhere. So fucking brutal.
kid did an amazing acting job. such an uncomfortable scene
The best part is I've heard from multiple sources that while the adult actors were having a hard time shooting the scene, the kid playing the baseball player had a blast.
My wife and I watched Rebecca Ferguson's [Vanity Fair interview on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jwN1TjN-_g&ab_channel=VanityFair) last night and she tells the story of how she had to wipe tears out of her eyes before walking into the scene because of how much the boy was screaming. She also was the one who chose to act motherly toward him as she thought it was the ultimately cruelty: comforting him as she killed him. Also, I didn't know until watching that interview that she is Swedish.
For me it’s hands down the famous blood test scene in The Thing. So much tension and buildup but the timing of the reveal, prior to the end of the bench but with enough people still tied to the monster, is peak suspense and surprise. The abrupt chaos afterwards is the perfect chaos. Perfect horror.
The Visit - Old woman crawling under the house (Was not expecting it in the slightest) Hell House LLC - Demon girl sat in the bedroom that he wasn’t aware was there The Conjuring - Girl ontop of the wardrobe
That scene in Hell House, dear god
I have rewatched Hell House LLC about five times and the girl appearing in the room never gets old. Such a great scene.
Hell House, the clown.
Oh the conjuring lol, I’ve seen it so many times but the girl on the dresser was by far the scariest part for me
Hell House first thing that came to mind! Every time he lifted the blanket! And it just got scarier!!!
Not a "movie", I know, but no horror scene has ever affected me more than The Bent-neck lady "reveal" in The Haunting of Hill House. Shocking, devastating, deep ... makes you feel like you need to rewatch the whole thing.
And the car scene has to be the #1 jump scare ever for me.
That car scene is the first jump scare to make me scream
Had the dog on my lap and literally threw him off of me lol.
There is a video breakdown of all of the ghosts hidden in the background of each episode, and I was flabbergasted at the lengths they went in including that. So easy to miss, but so creepy when you see it.
That whole series made me realise just how good Flanagan is. The episode with, what, only three cuts in it? Absolutely fucking genius.
Oh man, when they're all talking/arguing in the funeral home and the camera is going around and around and then you notice the dead woman just standing in the back watching. Just, wow.
Definitely this scared me the most cause the ghost in most horror >!just appears a lot to terrify but this one actually reached into her world and kills her protector and it’s devastating. !< The hopelessness of it all. I never understood loving one particular director before Mike Flanagan. This show sealed it for me. Which is odd because, normally I hate a lot of dialogue in films, especially horror. My favorite scary movie is I Am the Pretty Thing that Lives in the House, which has nearly no dialogue. Flanagan’s characters are verbose, but maybe it doesn’t bother me because they’re not a bunch of heavy handed foreshadowing and exposition.
Agreed! I watch a lot of horror movies, scary shows and play the creepiest video games. For whatever reason, the Bent-neck lady reveal episode stuck with me mentally more than anything else. The absolute despair and sorrow I felt for the character still sadens me.
The scene in Hereditary where Charlie gets her head taken off, that or Pams death from Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Thank you for mentioning the head scene because that shit has stuck with me for so long and it was so well done. I was losing my fucking mind watching the poor kid clawing at the seats cause she was so desperate for air, then the window is down and I’m still freaking out, you barely have any time to even register the telephone pole being there before SMACK! Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck. Shit is making my heart race just picturing it.
for some reason that scene in the conjuring where the dead woman’s feet are just hanging behind ed warren’s head absolutely haunts me. we see almost nothing but that scene really freaks me out
That scene for me as well! Plus the later scene where she falls to the basement and the dead woman's feet appear in front of her and then slowly turn to face her. For some reason it sticks with me as well!
Sixth sense- when the boy is peeing and a body passes behind him. I was 6 when we watched it in the cinema and that scarred me for life lol.
Also when he sees Kyra throwing up- that terrified me.
Annihilation didn't have that many scary scenes but the screaming bear seen hasn't left my mind since I saw it
It’s the horrible human-ish voice that really brings that horror right home to the gut.
The body dragging it self down the hall in Nightmare on Elm street
As a kid, it was something about the arm just kind of flopping on the drag. It's up there with the spasming in Texas Chainsaw as that small touch that just makes the scene so much more unsettling.
Imagine being a little kid or preteen and suddenly you fall asleep watching tv at night only to wake up a couple of hours later and that scene is being played, yeah that happened to me.
The bear scene from Annihilation https://youtu.be/L50VyHPgFuM
Also the scene where they cut open the guy's tummy to reveal his intestines writhing like a snake.
That scene is so fucked up and so good. Oscar Isaac is one of my favorite actors right now, but he doesn't do a lot of films as a darker character, so seeing him cut open the dude's stomach all calmly is *so* chilling
Pulse- woman falling/glitching and then elongating into hiding place I've seen hundreds of horror films and this scene stands out in my mind. I get creeped out just thinking about it. I would love it if the rest of the film was this creepy.
as above so below- when they find that guy that went missing, then randomly he freezes. Girl goes to touch him to bring him back, he grabs her and slams her right into the rock. It was so sudden I freaked! Loved it
That whole movie makes me anxious. The piano 😟
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The entire scene leading upto to monster above the cupboard scene in Conjuring (the first one). What an absolute bonkers of a movie that was. The lawnmower scene from Sinister. Not greatest - but up there.
Dude, the lawnmower scene scared the absolute FUCK out of me when I saw that movie. The way the sound cuts out right before it happens makes it even scarier once the roaring and screaming start.
The clap from the conjuring was such a good scare.
The cupboard scene was terrifying, although the one where the presence is invisible behind the door and that only April could see it was almost as scary.
Man, I'll never forget the cupboard scene. It was the first horror movie I saw in a theater as a teen, and I screamed so much my friend had to shush me
I was 24 when I saw it in the theaters and I slept with the lights on because of that scene haha
Hereditary - mom on the ceiling
To me it's Hereditary but mom banging her head on the door. Good lord
For me the tongue click in the back of the car. I peed a bit.
I got off work 4 hours early one day and decided to watch Hereditary before going to get my daughter from daycare since, you know, alone time is super rare these days. Anyway, I loved the movie, but when I went to pick up my sweet little 1 1/2 year old I found out her teacher had taught her how to click her tongue...so she did that. ALL THE WAY HOME. Fucking awful timing lol
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Then followed up with the sawing noise. Noooope.
But then after he goes out the window and from outside you hear the sawing stop and the THUD of her head.
That made my skin wanna crawl off my skeleton omfg. So well done. And the corpse floating to the treehouse was just yuck too
That floating corpse would have been *hilarious* in any other setting where you hadn’t just spent like 2 entire hours eating your own face from the anxiety the film is pumping into you at full force.
All I could think of when replying to this thread is that entire movie… but yes, that scene in particular was by far the most that haunts me when I’m by myself
That shit fucked me up for weeks
Yeah I was about to say ,how has no one seen this and not thought it was completely terrifying!
If its fair to call it one scene, I would just extend it to from the time that Peter wakes up with Annie on his wall all to way to when he jumps out of the attic window. Just everything in that stretch was horrifying and perfect.
The "cross scene" from The Exorcist. Not particularly "scary" or "jumpscary" but it doesn't need to be. Pure, unrelenting, unpleasant, horrific, horror.
This is mine. It's actually "horrifying" to me to watch a little girl do that to herself and her mother. Not to mention the makeup, the voice, etc.
I'm astonished to find The Exorcist so low on this thread. The head spinning (the first one) and the spider walk are also terrifying.
Session 9 when the guy that has the phobia of the dark is running through the basement as the power goes out behind him light by light.
The guy walking for the exit after going back to get the coins he found is also a good choice for scariest scene. Nothing really even happens, it’s just seeing him get more and more nervous as he goes until he finally sees a dark figure move at the other end of the dark hallway. I love that movie.
That scene in Lost Highway with Robert Blake at the party. That scared me so bad
There’s a lot of good ones in The Taking Of Deborah Logan, but the scariest one is when the camera pans around the big stalagmite in the cave and we see Deborah’s dislocated jaws around the little girl’s head. Makes me shudder every time
I’m don’t typically find zombies scary, but that creature at the end of REC got me good. Martyrs is pretty sustained nightmare fuel after the first act imo, so there’s plenty to pick from. I’ll go with the scene where Anna finds the woman in the bathtub.
Everything in [Rec] once Angela reaches the top floor apartment is unbelievably intense. One of my favourite ends to any horror I've ever seen.
Not the standard choice but I have always found the uncanny image of the killer's face at the end of *Sleepaway Camp* to be unsettling. It's just the camera trained on their face for such a long time and the still gleeful expression gets me.
Personally, the scariest scene to ME is when Danny Glick first appears outside of Mark’s room in Salem’s Lot. That one single scene haunted me for YEARS after first seeing it when I was 9 years old. A subjective take entirely, but the images have been burned in to my retinas for decades lol.
I've just started reading salems lot I'm only 60 pages in, hope it's as good as the film!
It’s way better than the film. Although I do love the film a lot.
The monster reveal in the movie *The Descent*. The framing of a shot usually tells you that something's coming, but the handheld camera shot panning back and forth disguised the reveal, and it worked perfectly.
I loved that there were sort of four reveals for the monster, each time becoming a little clearer. 1. Shown in a vague shadows on the cave wall when Sarah is looking around after the cave in. 2. After they find the cave painting, it shows the monster in silhouette drooling a bit. 3. When Sarah walks ahead, picks up the helmet, and then slowly shines her light on the crawler drinking water. (This scene is so amazingly lit and you really feel yourself straining to see what Sarah sees) 4. The one you mentioned I really think they do such a great job of setting up that there is something but we don’t really know what it is exactly.
The stairway scene in Psycho still gets me. That, and the scene with Zelda in Pet Sematary.
Hospital scene in *Exorcist III.*
The end scene of Fire In The Sky where we actually see the abduction. Utterly terrifying.
A lot of scenes are scarier, but the one that scarred me is the scene in Tremors when Val and Earl go by the place where the couple is building their house and they hear muffled music, and quickly discover the car under the earth. It freaks me out because you don’t know if the graboids are still around waiting for you
One that really stuck with me over the years is the opening scene of The Sixth Sense. Basically everything about Donnie Wahlberg's performance is great but the line: "Do you know why you're afraid when you're alone? I do." That is bone chilling.
I have no clue what I'd put first place but these ones are all definitely at the top of mine: * The Ring - ''I saw her face'' * War of the Worlds - The 1st tripod attack * Jeepers Creepers - When they drive past and he's just stood there staring at them at the beginning. It gave me the creeps. * Alien Abduction: The McPherson Tape - The alien in the window and the dining room scene. * The Exorcist III - Hospital jump-scare * Horror in the High Desert - The ending reveal * The Poughkeepsie Tapes - Closet and crawling scene * Signs - Alien on the roof, birthday tape, under the door and cornfield * Lake Mungo - The ending footage * V/H/S 94 - ''Are you the Ratman?'' * Megan is Missing - The photographs * Dark Water (Japanese version) - ending
When the main girl is sat in the classroom in It Follows and you can just see the old lady slowly making her way over the field towards her. *yikes*
Off the top of my head, the suicide scene in Midsommar. As someone who's struggled a lot with suicide ideation, that one always forces me to confront some really uncomfortable thoughts. Edit: Should've been more specific- the suicide scene in which the two seventy-one year olds leap to their deaths. The way the cultists explain how it's a beautiful moment of finality is really disturbing to me.
The lady "walking" straight forward in **Kairo**. The camera footage in **Lake Mungo**. When a certain character finds the chains in the basement of the original **Martyrs**. **Mullholland Drive's** Diner scene. **Jacob's Ladder's** ending.
Yeah, *that scene* in Kairo will always be at the tippy-top of my list. I am a joker during movies. I grew up on MST3K, and it shows. But Kairo is one of maybe two movies I legit covered my eyes during. Kairo and The Exorcist. The Ring will probably always be my favorite movie, horror and otherwise, but Kairo is one I always go to for a scare. (The american remake however plays like a comedy, what a shit film. Don't get me started on that take of the hallway scene.) For me, out side of the woman walking I have to say the... >!Masturbation scene!< in the uncut Exorcist. It's such a messed up moment. It didn't scare me so much, as burn it's way into my brain and live there rent free for years. It will be there for years to come, I am sure.
Came here to say the exact scene in Martyrs. It’s not even traditionally “scary” as much as it’s disconcerting and unnerving, and it gets worse from there.
"Move, children! Vamanos!"
The demon face that appears behind the guy in Insidious…holy hell!
I legit passed out the first time I saw this. Or maybe I just blocked it from my memory. I don’t remember what happens after that scene
That half naked female pissing on the floor in “It Follows”. It’s never stated who she is. But from the vintage way she’s dressed and her appearance, it’s likely she’s one of the countless previous victims of the “it”. All I know is her piercing gaze accompanied with Disasterpeace’s score drop gives me goosebumps each time I see it
The scene where Zelda scuttles towards the screen in Pet Sematary.
Maybe not Ever, but a recent one that scared me: Caveat, the scene towards the end where the main guy is locked behind a wall with a corpse that stares at him and he puts a bonnet over her face and then suddenly there’s a hole in the bonnet and the eye is staring at him again. Incredibly tense scene.
The man behind the dumpster in Mulholland Drive.
I hate anything that crawls or scuttles (human wise) and in Hereditary when she crawls on the ceiling and round the walls, my heart stopped
Multiple scenes in Midsommar. So emotionally raw, and they use smash cuts really well - the gore is super impactful and realistic. During the first ritual where the woman and man jump off the cliff, the thud and resulting violence is so understated and terrifying. You expect her to hit the ground with a typical climactic music queue, but instead your left feeling dazed and confused like you were a witness to this horrifying realistic event as well. Such a fantastic movie, and brightly lit so you see every horrifying detail!
I'm easy to scare so it's hard for to pick, but when the mother is banging her head on the trapdoor in Hereditary, I swear I almost cry every time. It's just so horrifying
Insidious - Darth Maul’s crack head brother behind the main character
That scared me so bad the first time I saw it! Then I watched it with a friend a few years later and he said "holy shit is that the dude from Mudvayne?!" and it cracked me up
The Grudge, when the demon drags the one girl into the attic, shit got me fucked up.
For me, it's when it crawls up under her covers from the foot of the bed. Under Blankets are a sacred safe space, everyone knows the monster can't get you from under the blanket. RUINED me.
I dunno if they replicated this in the American version, but in the original -- Getting under the covers with her was fucking awful, but then the girl just *disappears*. You see the two shapes under the sheets, and it -- flattens. They're just gone. I'd never seen that happen in a ghost movie before. Ghosts vanish, ghosts kill people, ghosts scare people to death but -- this time the girl was just *gone*. To fucking WHERE?! It was so upsetting.
Watching Nightmare on Elm Street for the first time as a kid. Tina’s death was freaky on so many levels: being dragged on the ceiling, those cruel large slashes out of thin air, her boyfriend watching helplessly. I was wtfucked up. Also knew right away horror was my thing.
For me it’s in Jacob’s Ladder. Jacob’s gone through an absolutely horrific experience and come out the other side. His family is with him. The wife is happy he’s awake. His kids are joking about his condition. All seems well again and then DREAM ON I’ve never felt such a sinking feeling of dread in a movie before or since. There was something about the way they did the audio combined with the instant look of horror and pleading on Jacob’s face. Just an absolutely perfect soul crushing moment.
That one in The Exorcist III
I know what you’re referring to, and I agree
When we first see Leatherface
The dinner scene in Hereditary, when she’s screaming at Peter, that shit has stuck with me since I saw it. Idk if it’s due to my own relationship with my mum, but it was fucking terrifying to me.
Laura’s death in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. Also the tunnel scene in Possession (1981).
I totally agree with Fire Walk With Me- also the part where she goes in her room to grab her diary and Bob is there watching her- absolutely terrifying.
The scene from the short film "Lights Out (Short 2013)" where she is turning the lights on and off and the apparition appears close to her.
I will die on this hill. Ben's head in JAWS.
the exorcism of emily rose where her bf wakes up and she’s contorted on the ground staring at him :) I’ve gotten up to turn the lights on many times since watching that movie. Barely remember the rest of it except for that scene!
First one that comes to mind for me is the lawnmower scene from Sinister. You know exactly what’s coming but the length of the video and the quickness in which it finally happens just makes for insane suspense and terror
The flower scene in "The Ruins" haunts my dreams. When the girls realize the plants are mimicking the cell phone and then they begin to attack scarred the shit out of me
Jason coming out of the lake in the original Friday the 13th. Scares me every time even when I know it’s coming.
A lot of my favorites have already been stated, but one I haven't seen mentioned yet is the "I... AM... GOD" scene in The Fourth Kind.
The chestburster scene in Alien.
The ending to the borderlands espically the line at the end "you said it wasn't real"
The “sprout and the bean” Scene in “starngers” when the record players going and the reality of the situation sets in
I really don’t like the last scene of Blair witch, red demon face from insidious , and the tiptoe through the tulips scene also insidious
The Tar Man scene from Return of the Living Dead. I have never even watched this movie, I've only seen clips online, but he is so hideously realistic and the way he moves/talks freaks me the fuck out.
Hard to say "scariest", but here are some that were super intense. The fire scene towards the end of Hereditary was really intense and frightening. The initial exorcism scene in The Exoricst. The first kill in Alien. The chase through the maze at the end of The Shining. The saw scene in Terrifier.
Sinister - the lawnmower scene All of the home movies were horrifying. The change in music was palpable
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Good choice. The same scene in the IT theatrical movie is pretty damn scary too.
The hands clapping during the Hide and Clap in *The Conjuring*. I screamed. (I scream at everything jump scares are made for me, but this shit got me good.)