The blood testing scene in The Thing is up there with scariest of all time for me.
― One Eye Open, Friday, 10 May 2019 00:19 (four years ago) link
The scene I'd pick from Under the Skin would be this one where the two guys meet while floating in the void. One of the few times while watching a movie where I really felt like I was seeing something otherworldly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UCPwlNd3Js
― One Eye Open, Friday, 10 May 2019 00:23 (four years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdIlLn52Oak
― d'ILM for Murder (Hadrian VIII), Friday, 10 May 2019 00:26 (four years ago) link
Not really scary, but very, very creepy: Rosemary and Guy in bed when you hear the chanting next door for the first time. Can't find a clip, can't even find a still. The camera movement--a slow tilt up from Rosemary and Guy to the wall above--is beautiful.
― clemenza, Friday, 10 May 2019 00:40 (four years ago) link
a lot of the unremarkable domestic scenes in that movie are somehow terrifying
― d'ILM for Murder (Hadrian VIII), Friday, 10 May 2019 00:43 (four years ago) link
Furry fellatio
― calstars, Friday, 10 May 2019 00:44 (four years ago) link
xxp yeah I just saw that, it was great
― Dan S, Friday, 10 May 2019 00:45 (four years ago) link
I hate to derail this early, but imo "scary scenes not in horror movies" should also be a thing we discuss here
Can't find a decent video of it, but one episode of Luther there's an extended opening of a woman coming home to her flat, brushing her teeth, taking off her shoes, getting into bed, drifting off to sleep. Then this man with a knife slides out from under her bed with this sort of stealthy wiggle. Absolutely horrible.
― And according to some websites, there were “sexcapades.” (James Morrison), Friday, 10 May 2019 01:14 (four years ago) link
If you have a fear of mannequins/dummies/dolls suddenly springing to life, Tourist Trap is riddled with effective instances of just that. Movie makes zero goddamn sense but it does what it does well.
― Artisanal Personality Disorder (Old Lunch), Friday, 10 May 2019 01:52 (four years ago) link
Plus these fuckers in old Doctor Whohttps://cdn-static.denofgeek.com/sites/denofgeek/files/styles/article_width/public/autons_1.jpghttps://cdn-static.denofgeek.com/sites/denofgeek/files/styles/article_width/public/daffodils.jpg
― And according to some websites, there were “sexcapades.” (James Morrison), Friday, 10 May 2019 02:34 (four years ago) link
Oh, the scene with the bag in Audition
Full body shivers the first time I saw that
― Number None, Friday, 10 May 2019 07:41 (four years ago) link
Co-sign the subway sequence from The Wiz. Total nightmare fuel for my 7-year-old self.
― zama roma ding dong (Eric H.), Friday, 10 May 2019 14:34 (four years ago) link
yes to both under the skin scenes for sure
the b&w pictures of previous 'martyrs' in martyrs are haunting af, as is the entire last few minutes of body horror shading into cosmic nihilism and back again
― michael keaton IS jim thirlwell IN ‘foetaljuice’ (bizarro gazzara), Friday, 10 May 2019 14:41 (four years ago) link
Martyrs is all time and relies on its cumulative build to that pay off
― call me cismale (Noodle Vague), Friday, 10 May 2019 14:45 (four years ago) link
That scene towards the end of Bone Tomahawk is the thing that's fucked me up the most recently. It's the audio track as much anything. Yeesh.
The ghost at the end of Personal Shopper is pretty extraordinary and had a huge effect on me - physically and emotionally.
The 'daylight stabbing' in Zodiac is horrible.
― Good cop, Babcock (Chinaski), Friday, 10 May 2019 16:42 (four years ago) link
Yes, there's something about the overuse of darkness/nighttime as the setting for scary scenes that makes scary things happening in broad daylight even scarier.
― Artisanal Personality Disorder (Old Lunch), Friday, 10 May 2019 16:45 (four years ago) link
when Matthau kneels on broken glass proposing to Elaine May in A New Leaf
(people do scream)
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Friday, 10 May 2019 17:04 (four years ago) link
― Good cop, Babcock (Chinaski), Friday, May 10, 2019 9:42 AM (twenty-two minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
oh god zodiac is a very scary non-horror movie
― american bradass (BradNelson), Friday, 10 May 2019 17:06 (four years ago) link
just the sight of the killer stepping out from behind a tree in a long, kinda indistinct shot is terrifying even before the methodical stabbing happens
― michael keaton IS jim thirlwell IN ‘foetaljuice’ (bizarro gazzara), Friday, 10 May 2019 17:09 (four years ago) link
yeah cosign that scene, horrible
― deemsthelarker (darraghmac), Friday, 10 May 2019 17:13 (four years ago) link
the end of this scene from the eye never fails to literally raise the hairs on the back of my neck for some reasonhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIiVlAJ6FqwThe elevator scene in this movie is awesome too
― michael keaton IS jim thirlwell IN ‘foetaljuice’ (bizarro gazzara), Friday, 10 May 2019 17:15 (four years ago) link
i'm not a horror buff, but i feel like that one scene in inland empire, a couple hours deep when things are getting almost nauseatingly dreamlike, where laura dern's face temporarily morphs into a digital doom mask, should be in this thread
― these are not all of the possible side effects (Karl Malone), Friday, 10 May 2019 17:16 (four years ago) link
the first appearance of BOB
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Friday, 10 May 2019 17:17 (four years ago) link
yes
and behind the cafe in Mulholland Drive
― deemsthelarker (darraghmac), Friday, 10 May 2019 17:18 (four years ago) link
Yes, I was alluding to those scenes and more in my earlier 'Lynch is the master of this' post. See also: Winkie's, Maddy's death, etc., etc.
― Artisanal Personality Disorder (Old Lunch), Friday, 10 May 2019 17:19 (four years ago) link
deems knows
BOB terrified me the first time i saw it when it aired originally and didn't happen long after i watched Bedroom Window (mentioned upthread)i guess i am terrified of creepy men hiding behind things and then revealing their faces
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Friday, 10 May 2019 17:19 (four years ago) link
I want to include haunting and uncanny scenes in this list, as well! Even if they aren't (finger quotes) SCAAARY.
Like I'm thinking of Kwaidan atm. The scenes of Hoichi singing as the camera slow pans across his spectral audience...nothing like it. And the freeze frame at the end of 'The Black Hair'. Movie is dope, yo.
― Artisanal Personality Disorder (Old Lunch), Friday, 10 May 2019 17:21 (four years ago) link
as i said in the Stephen King thread i think Lynch is underrated by a lot of folks for his mastery of dread-including atmosphere and framing. the original Twin Peaks was a tough show to watch at night as a kid living in a rural somewhat desolate town with a couple of lonely intersections and a road traveling into town covered by a tunnel of thick trees for a mile-plus. the woods and traffic lights swaying in the wind at night, no thank you for some reason!
― omar little, Friday, 10 May 2019 17:24 (four years ago) link
the end of this scene from the eye never fails to literally raise the hairs on the back of my neck for some reasonbecause it's 100% nightmare fuel, jesus! though i think this scene from the 1989 woman in black just about tops it:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhuc-ot7Ryg
― The Pingularity (ledge), Friday, 10 May 2019 17:29 (four years ago) link
linus roache’s face slowly, almost imperceptibly morphing into andrea riseborough’s and back again in mandy is very effectively creepy/trippy, while we’re on the topic of weird face stuff
― michael keaton IS jim thirlwell IN ‘foetaljuice’ (bizarro gazzara), Friday, 10 May 2019 17:30 (four years ago) link
^^^ almost brought up this scene
― american bradass (BradNelson), Friday, 10 May 2019 17:32 (four years ago) link
That diner scene in MD is so fucking terrifying. I've only seen it once but it's imprinted on my mind's eye. Lynch is master of the uncanny.
Re that stabbing scene in Zodiac, there's a documentary with the extended edition that details just how forensically rebuilt the park so it fitted the descriptions just so - to the point that he dug up and replanted a tree. That obsessiveness makes its way into the scene, somehow.
― Good cop, Babcock (Chinaski), Friday, 10 May 2019 17:32 (four years ago) link
And god yes, that scene from Woman in Black is shriek-inducing. The stage version of WiB is one of the best scary experiences of my life. Had to sleep with the light on for a week the first time I saw it.
― Good cop, Babcock (Chinaski), Friday, 10 May 2019 17:33 (four years ago) link
*xp just how forensically *Fincher* rebuilt the park
― Good cop, Babcock (Chinaski), Friday, 10 May 2019 17:34 (four years ago) link
i put that scene on until the camera started panning across the bed with the voice and nope
― deemsthelarker (darraghmac), Friday, 10 May 2019 17:48 (four years ago) link
Sister Ruth's eyes in the final part of Black Narcissus
― jmm, Friday, 10 May 2019 17:55 (four years ago) link
Rewatched The Innocents recently and even knowing the the plot, the final scene still had me white knuckled. Speaking of scary stuff in broad daylight tho, this shot from the film has never failed to scare the shit out of me when it comes up:
http://dailygrindhouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/THE-INNOCENTS-600x300.jpg
― One Eye Open, Friday, 10 May 2019 18:04 (four years ago) link
Yessssss, I couldn't think of anything specific but there are definitely some effectively spooky moments in The Innocents.
― Artisanal Personality Disorder (Old Lunch), Friday, 10 May 2019 18:12 (four years ago) link
the stabbing in Zodiac has that same daylight horror as The Strangers. I see they were only a year apart release.
― Yerac, Friday, 10 May 2019 18:18 (four years ago) link
I guess it's sort of daylight horror but the first appearance of Leatherface in the og Texas Chainsaw Massacre was and continues to be very effective.
― Artisanal Personality Disorder (Old Lunch), Friday, 10 May 2019 18:23 (four years ago) link
As mentioned above, all the scary face scenes in Salem's Lot and Inland Empire. Agree also with the television version of Woman In Black and hong kong version of The Eye.
Lake scene in Let's Scare Jessica To Death
Where do I start with Watership Down?
Even though its a horror comedy kung fu, the opening of Spooky Encounters is pretty spooky.
Not totally scary but the lightning scene in Secret Chronicles Of The Ghost Cat is awesome. Cat woman would have scared me more if I was 2-20 years old. Definitely intimidating though.
Bloody coffin scene in Alucarda is really awesome.
Blair Witch and Rec endings of course.
A few haunting scenes in The Premonition (70s) are pretty jumpy stuff, in a good way.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Friday, 10 May 2019 18:28 (four years ago) link
The Premonition is the only one in the American Horror Project box that I haven't watched. Must get on that.
― Artisanal Personality Disorder (Old Lunch), Friday, 10 May 2019 18:30 (four years ago) link
― Artisanal Personality Disorder (Old Lunch), Friday, May 10, 2019 11:23 AM (six minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
the door slamming
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QSsVgPbmeU
― american bradass (BradNelson), Friday, 10 May 2019 18:31 (four years ago) link
Yup. That impassive, static medium shot does so much of the heavy lifting. Frustrating that a setup that effective is used so seldom in horror.
― Artisanal Personality Disorder (Old Lunch), Friday, 10 May 2019 18:37 (four years ago) link
Like, toss yr ooky-spooky score in the trash, don't telegraph every damn thing before it happens, just put that camera on a tripod and let us be a fly on the wall for the terror about to unfold.
― Artisanal Personality Disorder (Old Lunch), Friday, 10 May 2019 18:38 (four years ago) link
Can't find a clip but the Ugly Wuglies scene from the BBC version of E Nesbit's The Enchanted Castle would probably do for a 12 years old's version of lynchian not actually scary but pretty damn creepy.
― The Pingularity (ledge), Friday, 10 May 2019 18:42 (four years ago) link
Last 20 minutes of Bone Tomahawk really freaked me out.
― Darin, Friday, 10 May 2019 18:48 (four years ago) link
Came here to post first appearance of Leatherface, as I'm sure I have in some similar thread. That is alltime.
Here's one of my recent "favorites"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbNGXZO4vbA
― While My Guitar Gently Wheedly-Wheedly-Wheedly-Weeps (Dan Peterson), Friday, 10 May 2019 19:12 (four years ago) link
mary elizabeth mastrantonio’s drowning and revival in the abyss is genuinely upsetting
― michael keaton IS jim thirlwell IN ‘foetaljuice’ (bizarro gazzara), Friday, 10 May 2019 20:04 (four years ago) link
The scene in Paul Schrader's "Blue Collar" where Yaphet Kotto is slowly asphyxiated by spray paint
― Hongro Hongro Hippies (Myonga Vön Bontee), Thursday, 21 November 2019 18:00 (four years ago) link
The scene where Peter Weller gets shot at the beginning of Robocop made me queasy at age 14 in the theater, especially when his hand gets blown apart by the shotgun. Ugh!
― Mazzy Tsar (PBKR), Thursday, 21 November 2019 18:13 (four years ago) link
Yeah, that scene has stayed with me too. The 'knife across the chest' in First Blood had a similar, visceral impact.
― Life is a meaningless nightmare of suffering...save string (Chinaski), Thursday, 21 November 2019 18:25 (four years ago) link
Midsommar - ritual suicide scenes
This piqued my interest, as I somehow hadn't heard of Midsommar. I took myself over to YouTube, where someone has helpfully uploaded an edit titled "All the deaths in Midsommar".
I really wish I hadn't watched it.
― Vast Halo, Thursday, 21 November 2019 21:47 (four years ago) link
child-catcher scene in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 21 November 2019 21:50 (four years ago) link
There's a scene in The Exorcist that terrified me, no pea soup vomit, no head spinning, just the expression on Regan's face watching the priest walk across the room. Still haunts me, and I haven't seen the movie since 1974.
― A breezy pop-rock feel fairly typical of the mid-'80s (Dan Peterson), Thursday, 21 November 2019 21:54 (four years ago) link
Hardly original but the Wheelers and the creepy statue setting is just perfectly terrifying (Return to Oz)
― kinder, Thursday, 21 November 2019 22:44 (four years ago) link
I mean hardly original in that it's probably been suggested already
isn't Midsommer the movie with the cliff diving scene
remember being like..."uh you're supposed to cut away from that"
― frogbs, Thursday, 21 November 2019 23:04 (four years ago) link
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_Catcher
the character does not appear in Fleming's book itself. In fact, Roald Dahl, co-author of the film version's screenplay, originated the Child Catcher (as well as almost all of the Vulgarian scenes).
The Child Catcher is very very Roald Dahl.
― john cage fighter (Matt #2), Thursday, 21 November 2019 23:16 (four years ago) link
uh i am apparently only now learning that chitty chitty bang bang is roald dahl's second film adaptation of an ian fleming novel, the first being you only live twice? which is very off-topic but blowing my mind regardless
― american bradass (BradNelson), Thursday, 21 November 2019 23:30 (four years ago) link
A tiny moment that gave me a chill--Richard Gere's face hitting the water in Days of Heaven.
― Hideous Lump, Friday, 22 November 2019 05:26 (four years ago) link
Re The Exorcist, the scene where they're doing tests on Regan & put something into her neck and blood spurts out always makes me shudder. Realism/physicality I guess. The sound in that scene also plays a role.
― lilcraigyboi (Craigo Boingo), Saturday, 23 November 2019 08:52 (four years ago) link
thread just reminded be about ghostwatch
i think it did genuine fuckin damage to me for a while, that did. i was put to bed screaming, and woke up the same way, for about a week.
― deems of internment (darraghmac), Sunday, 24 November 2019 02:08 (four years ago) link
It's not generally thought of as a scary film, but the first abduction scene in Communion used to freak the hell out out of me, and still kinda does. I dreaded the alien on the book cover as a child, so maybe watching it was never the best idea.
But I do like the somewhat surreal, dream-like approach is takes in regard to the experience, which is a nice contrast to the literal-mindedness of most UFO/abduction depictions on film and TV. There's the sense of intrusion from some "other", akin to the Diner monster in Mulholland Drive and the subway/passing car people in Jacob's Ladder.
― Duane Barry, Thursday, 21 November 2019 12:53 (three days ago) link
Totally. “IS THAT SOMEONE THERE?”
Underrated movie.
Christopher Walken giving the most Christopher Walken performance ever only compounds the strangeness further.
Perhaps not as surreal but certainly justc as scary is the alien abduction flashback from Fire in the Sky. The movie itself is mediocre but that sequence could stand on its own as one of the greatest sci-fi horror shorts ever made. It masterfully captures the pure animal terror of being treated like a lab rat by beings with unfathomable motives.
― Conceptualize Wyverns (latebloomer), Sunday, 24 November 2019 03:05 (four years ago) link
Forgotten to mention the scary bits in Beyond The Black Rainbow
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Friday, 7 August 2020 18:11 (three years ago) link
As this thread seemed to expand to include 'disturbing or upsetting' I'm going to nominate the beating dished out to Ray Liotta in Killing Them Softly. Brilliantly acted and really quite horrible.
― Shard-borne Beatles with their drowsy hums (Chinaski), Monday, 10 October 2022 17:32 (one year ago) link