A coworker and I were just talking about Carrie. The subject of the final scene came up and I said that was probably the scariest single moment in any horror film I'd ever seen.

I thought I'd open the question up to the illustrious board and get some additional input.

What do you think is the scariest single moment in a horror film? Not the entire film, but just one scene or shot that made you jump out of your seat or send your heart racing?

I don't know about the "scariest single moment in any horror film" of all time, but the last scene in "Blair Witch Project" really creeped me out.

José

The "That's Ben Gardner's Boat!" scene from "Jaws" really nailed me.

When that chewed up head pops out I screamed like a little girl (I was only 9).

When Donald Sutherland catches up with that quick little figure in the red raincoat in those creepy venice canals in "Don't Look Now", and realizes it's not what he was scared it was (his drowned daughter or her spirit), but is in fact, something far more menacing.

Honorable mention, when Alan Arkin opens the refridgerator and jumps suddenly into that pool of light to get blind Audrey Hepburn in "Wait Untill Dark". Scared the hell out of me the first time I saw it on TV as a kid.

Okay, this is a fun one...

I think the most frightening movie-watching moment of my life occurred when I was seven years old; my parents had taken me back to Oklahoma to visit my grandparents, who lived in a big antebellum-style house adjacent to a wooded grove. It was night, a thunderstorm was raging outside, and I was watching the 3-part pilot episode of "Night Gallery" during its original broadcast. Those of you who've seen it may recall the moment in which a terrified Roddy McDowell watches his murdered grandfather rise from the grave via a painting of the family mansion/ graveyard...

That scene, combined with the setting in which it was viewed and my age at the time... suffice it to say I've never fully recovered from the heart-stopping terror I felt watching that dumb, 1970 made-for-TV movie.

Another horrific scene is worth noting mainly because it's not from a horror film. Anyone who's seen "The Conversation" will remember the scene in which Gene Hackman makes his grizzly discovery in the hotel bathroom. It's the moment in which the guilt-ridden protagonist's worst fears become a reality, and thanks to a combination of brilliant direction, editing, and sound design, it is mind-numbingly terrifying.

The last scene of Carrie is the all time "make you jump" scene. Last scene of Blair Witch with the kid standing in the corner facing the wall is the creepiest, along with that creepy girl crawling out of the tv set at end of The Ring. In the "really gets you going" category-Jamie Lee Curtis trying to get in the front door while Michael Meyers is casually crossing the street after her in Halloween, perfect pacing.

In Spider-man the movie where Norman Osbourne is lying down on the floor...Then....BOOM! Suddenly there is an unexpected flashback...Scared me silly.

The expression on Joe E. Brown's face when he says "Nobody's perfect!" at the end of "Some Like It Hot" after Jack Lemmon has announced "I'm a man!"

Thought of a few more...

The creepy "I am your daughter" moment in "The Others"...

Haley-Joel's face-to-face encounter with the spirit of the murdered girl in "The Sixth Sense"...

Karras's dream in "The Exorcist"...

The words "Help Me" rising on Reagan's chest in the same movie...

The last shot in "Dead of Night" (i.e. the walking ventriloquist dummy)...

And let's not forget the double-whammy reveal of the mummified Mrs. Bates and her crazy knife-wielding son at the climax of "Psycho." The music!... the swinging lightbulb!... the high-pitched screaming!...

I find it interesting that so many of the cinema's most frightening moments are relatively bloodless. Obviously there are exceptions -- the chestburster comes instantly to mind -- but most of the examples posted thus far could be shown unedited on network television (indeed, most of them have).

I'd probably have to go with the ending of "Don't Look Now" also for pure "Oh my God!" horror, but Buffalo Bill in "Silence of The Lambs" genuinely creeped me out too, especially the scene where he dresses up in the kimono and then turns toward the camera ... you know the scene I'm talking about. Also, the first shot of the dead girl vomiting in "The Sixth Sense" scared the bejesus out of me.

Another scary one. In "The Weird Tailor" segment of ASYLUM when the dummy wearing the suit made out of skin comes to life. Ten years earlier this was a Thriller episode and was even scarier. And how about THE DEVIL DOLL chasing karen Black around her apartment.

The only film that's ever creeped me out so bad I couldn't bring myself to watch it again is "Eraserhead". A truly disturbing flick. And then there's Todd Browning's "Freaks," the ending of which also ranks WAY high on the disturb-o-meter.

The sounds of the children circling outside the tent in Blair Witch comes to mind.

The only film that's ever creeped me out so bad I couldn't bring myself to watch it again is "Eraserhead". A truly disturbing flick.

I introduced my wife to "Eraserhead" when she was two months pregnant. She's never forgiven me. And speaking of "Eraserhead", I don't think any other filmaker has quite so effectively portrayed "nightmares" as well as David Lynch. The backward-talking dream sequence in the third episode of "Twin Peaks" comes to mind: "I feel like I know her but sometimes my arms bend back..." "She's filled with secrets. Where we're from, the birds sing a pretty song and there's always music in the air." Another scene that chills my bones is the horrified discovery of the contents of the cask in "The Other (1972)".

That's a very hard question. There are different kinds of scares. Plenty of movies chill me, creep me out...but there's the kind of scare that make you leap out of your seat, and very few films ever do that for me in a ny big way. The Ben Gardner scene in Jaws is a good call, that was one of the first that came ot mind for me too. So did the chum scene in the same movie.

There's a scene in Seven that scared the hell outta me too, though I feel less for the film itself...the presumed corpse that suddenly wakes up. Damn thing really unnerved me. Silence of the Lambs, otoh, had a few 'jump' moments and also effectively creeped me out for the length of the film and beyond. Any sequence in Jamie Gumb's basement makes you wanna get the hell out, and the night vision goggles sequence is a masterpiece of terror and tension.

The part in the movie "The Vulture "when the woman is waiting for a bus and it's about to reach her when the vultures claws plop down on her shoulders and picks her up.And the bus just drives on by.Scared the crap out of me watching it in the theater.

"The Shining": When Danny rounds the corner on his Big Wheel and encounters Grady's murdered daughters holding hands and chanting; "Come and play with us, Danny. Forever ... and Ever ... and Ever!"

The creepy "I am your daughter" moment in "The Others"....

Oooh! Good one! The whole movie had me tight as a rope. I don't like scary movies if they're gory. I like them suspenseful and creepy. "What Lies Beneath" is another one.

José

The Jaws boat scene and the Alien chestburster scene. Brrrrr....shivers.....

Another scary one. In "The Weird Tailor" segment of ASYLUM when the dummy wearing the suit made out of skin comes to life. Ten years earlier this was a Thriller episode and was even scarier. And how about THE DEVIL DOLL chasing karen Black around her apartment.
Oh yeah I remember the "devil doll" !!!
I remember seeing that for the first time when I was a kid .
Scared the Bejezus outa me. :freak:

Showgirls.


The whole film.


No, really.

Actually, I can't think of too many at the moment. I'll fall back on my favorite, scariest horror film of all time, 1970's "The Bood on Satan's Claw." The film creates a constant atmosphere of eeriness and tension thanks to perfect art direction, convincing period dialog (set in 1600s England), and the creepiest film score ever. It's mostly a bunch of slow creep-outs with only a couple of real shock-scares. The final slow-mo confrontation between the newly-risen demon Behemoth and the holy-sword wielding bishop gets all your muscles knotted up real good.

Then there's the old TV horror film "The Mephisto Waltz." Toward the end Jaqueline Bisset summons up the devil in a last act of deperation to keep her husband (Alan Alda). Satan's arrival is monumentally nerve-tingling to me, mostly because the only thing you see are his feet - wearing very nice, polished dress shoes! But Bisset's reaction to what we CAN'T see of him is deep-down terrifying.

"The Shining": When Danny rounds the corner on his Big Wheel and encounters Grady's murdered daughters holding hands and chanting; "Come and play with us, Danny. Forever ... and Ever ... and Ever!"

I have to agree with this one. I had read somewhere that the scariest moments in a film is that period of time when you are expecting something to happen. A friend of mine told me that he actually had to have a stitch put in his forearm from his girlfriends extra sharp fake nails while hanging on during that scene. Stanley Kubrick was a genious

I don't think any other filmaker has quite so effectively portrayed "nightmares" as well as David Lynch.

Lynch is great at this ("The Elephant Man" is one of my favorite films; Lynch's best, IMO), but Roman Polanski gives him a run for his money in "Rosemary's Baby". I also love Friedkin's dream work in "The Exorcist", and Harry Caul's dream in "The Conversation" ("He'll kill you if he gets the chance. I'm not afraid of death... but I am afraid of murder...).

Another scary one. In "The Weird Tailor" segment of ASYLUM when the dummy wearing the suit made out of skin comes to life. Ten years earlier this was a Thriller episode and was even scarier. And how about THE DEVIL DOLL chasing karen Black around her apartment.

My Dad took my brother and I to see a lot of these early 70's films like Tales From the Crypt, Arnold and Asylum. I think the best part of Asylum was the guy that kills his wife, chops her up, wraps the parts up like ground chuck and puts her in the freezer. The parts are reanimated and they are not happy. Scary stuff for a 7 year old. Come to think of it, Super Dad with Bob Crane was a lot scarier. :D

Can you believe there's actually a "original soundtrack" recording of "Eraserhead" available? I bought it for a friend years ago, as a thank-you for introducing me to the movie. Listening to it puts you in a...unique...frame of mind.
I agree with quite a few of the scenes mentioned, but "Blair Witch" just left me irritated. The original "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and "Evil Dead 2" both kept me on the edge of my seat - quite a few of the scenes in the latter gave me a start.

When I see some of these scenes again, I wish I could re-experience that shock. It gets me to wondering about film audiences from the 20s and 30s - to be there in the theatre, seeing a film for the first time, when Lon Chaney is unmasked, or King Kong breaks through the forest. When we saw "The Creature..." in 3-D the audience chuckled at the cliche 3-D effects shots, but what was the reaction back in the '50s on the first go-round?

The "That's Ben Gardner's Boat!" scene from "Jaws" really nailed me.

When that chewed up head pops out I screamed like a little girl (I was only 9).

Doggy! That was the exact scene I was going to put down too. I still closed my eyes through that scene twenty-years later when I came across it on TV. I'm 37 years old and I can't stop getting scared at that scene. Nevermind that I've seen real road kill, autopsy video and photos -that scene was just so scary...

In "Exorcist 3", there is a scene where a nurse is on night watch. The camera is at the far end of the hall away from her. She goes about her business, until she hears a noise...she slowly investigates only to find that it is ice melting in a patients glass. The patient wakes up, and scares both her and us.

Now the good part...we watch her go back to work at the other end of the hall...and well....you had better see it. The scariest thing that I have seen as an adult. It's not gore or anything..it's just the buildup of tension and the use of the camera and editing to really get you when you don't expect it.

Plus a highly underrated film. It was directed by the author of the Exorcist, William Peter Blatty. He also wrote the novel that this film was based on, "Legion".

CSI is usually too matter-of-fact to scare or gross out, but there was an ep this season that got me. It involved some sort of illegal surgury which I can't specifically recall right now. But the CSI team followed the clues to a storage facility, where they discovered bloody footprints leading away from one of the storage cubicles. For once they played it right, building tension with mood lighting and music. They opened the cubicle door and played their flashlights around, which built up an image in pieces, rather than hitting us with it all at once. We realize what we're seeing is a woman lying on an operating table, mutilated, dead, blood everywhere, the "doctor" obviously just left before we got there. Creeped me the hell out REAL good!

A couple to add:

In Tales From the Crypt (1971), the first segment with the homicidal Santa Claus. When the wife runs out to the iron gate to be sure it's locked and the Santa's arms suddenly reach through. That made me jump....big time.

On a more personal level, I've got a thing about old hags. Black Sabbath by Mario Bava has the worst of all old hags. The first segment, A Drop of Water, has the old gypsy woman coming back to life to seek revenge. When the funeral dresser is back in her own house and the quick shot zooms in tight on the gypsy woman's face in her bed.....oh crap. That's still the only time, in my nearly 43 years on the planet, that I put my hands up over my face. I think I was about ten when that happened, but it's still damned effective.

In "Exorcist 3", there is a scene where a nurse is on night watch...

I remember it well; the Big Gotcha at the end of the sequence you mention is the best thing about the movie, and certainly ranks as one of the most frightening film moments I've ever experienced.

While I've never thought much of the filmed version, W.P. Blatty's "Legion" is a helluva good supernatural thriller, and a worthy sequel to "The Exorcist". Lt. Kinderman is a great character -- and the sequence detailing the terminally ill pain specialist's experiments in recording voices from beyond the grave is THE most terrifying thing I've ever read (this sequence never found its way into the film, although I gather the new thriller “White Noise” deals with the same subject matter).

If you like scary books and you've never read "Legion" you might want to check it out.

If you like scary books and you've never read "Legion" you might want to check it out.


I read "Legion" several years before the movie...and the main thing that really got me about the book, is that you have to read 3/4 of the book before you realize that it is the sequel to "The Exorcist".

That was some cool writing.

On a more personal level, I've got a thing about old hags. Black Sabbath by Mario Bava has the worst of all old hags. The first segment, A Drop of Water, has the old gypsy woman coming back to life to seek revenge. When the funeral dresser is back in her own house and the quick shot zooms in tight on the gypsy woman's face in her bed.....oh crap. That's still the only time, in my nearly 43 years on the planet, that I put my hands up over my face. I think I was about ten when that happened, but it's still damned effective.

Yes that segment of Black Sabbath is very scary. The old woman's face, her eye. When she comes back to life and moves across the room is a major creep out.
One scene in THE HAUNTING scared me pretty good as a kid. Lois Maxwell has gotten lost in the house and there is a scene where a trap door in the wall or something opens and her face is there.
THE NEW EXHIBIT episode of The Twilight Zone had me looking over my shoulder for years. Those wax figuires creeping up behind Martin Balsam.

The old hag giving "yodeling in the valley" hints to Woody Harrelson in "Kingpin" is pretty damned frightening.

The old hag giving "yodeling in the valley" hints to Woody Harrelson in "Kingpin" is pretty damned frightening.

That, and Woody milking the bull!

I saw "Salem's Lot" channel surfing yesterday on sci-fi channel. I can still remember two scenes from when it premiered on TV, when Barlow jumps into frame suddenly to get that kid walking thru the woods, and even more memorable, when the same kid is floating outside Lance Kerwin's window and scratching at the glass. That gave me serious heebie-jeebies as a kid.

Once, I almost walked into the theater playing catwoman!!!

For me it depends on atmosphere more than shock effect. I remember the first time I saw Holloween at the drive in, when Donald Pleasence says that yes that was the boogyman, then he was gone from the yard after taking 6 bullets and a 2 story fall.....brrrrr.

Once, I almost walked into the theater playing catwoman!!!

AAIIEEEEEE!!!!!! http://www.inpayne.com/smilies/smiley_440.gif

:freak: "Hellraiser" when I first saw it , it definitly freaked me out !!! :freak:

Another horrific scene is worth noting mainly because it's not from a horror film. Anyone who's seen "The Conversation" will remember the scene in which Gene Hackman makes his grizzly discovery in the hotel bathroom. It's the moment in which the guilt-ridden protagonist's worst fears become a reality, and thanks to a combination of brilliant direction, editing, and sound design, it is mind-numbingly terrifying.

I can't believe you've said that!

It was one of the most frightening scenes I had seen in a movie (I was only 3) - the screetchy noise and all the blood - sounds silly but it gave me an actual toilet phobia - until I was about 10, I wouldn't go by myself!

Mike

When I see some of these scenes again, I wish I could re-experience that shock. It gets me to wondering about film audiences from the 20s and 30s - to be there in the theatre, seeing a film for the first time, when Lon Chaney is unmasked, or King Kong breaks through the forest. When we saw "The Creature..." in 3-D the audience chuckled at the cliche 3-D effects shots, but what was the reaction back in the '50s on the first go-round?

I think I know a little of that feeling firsthand myself, Chris. The very first time I ever saw Lon Chaney's THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA it was in a movie theater in Kansas City, Missouri aptly named The Bijou.

Well, of course, the make-up imagery was no surprise to me. But when Chaney was unmasked on that big silver screen, it was still effectively frightening! I was a sophomore in High School at the time and that cinematic memory is still a chillingly treasured moment for me.

- GJS

a movie theater in Kansas City, Missouri aptly named The Bijou.



- GJS
The Bijouin Westport, Kansas City, MO the long time home of THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW at midnight on fridays and saturdays for many years. Know it well. Also saw TARZOON, SHAME OF THE JUNGLE there.

Steel Magnolias.

>shudder<

For me it depends on atmosphere more than shock effect. I remember the first time I saw Holloween at the drive in, when Donald Pleasence says that yes that was the boogyman, then he was gone from the yard after taking 6 bullets and a 2 story fall.....brrrrr.

Exactly the same here...I could rattle off a list of movies that scared me so, but still struggle to single out any particular moment that made me jump or froze my blood.

As a child, my favorites were The Night Stalker (tv series, I'd missed the two movies - scared me once a week), Killdozer (I remember a guy trying to hide in a pipe being chopped in half by the dozer's blade), and a tv movie caled Don't be Afraid of the Dark with a bunch of creepy people/things hiding in some womans basement. Can't remember a single scene from that, but it was way scary.

Night Stalker, I had chills for years every time a biker drove by on an unmuffled chopper. And the episode in the underground complex with a creature who'd get you in the dark - and it's been smashing out all the lights...(shudder).

I recall several moments that made me scream out loud, which is very difficult to do because I'm a very cynical movie-goer. Cliches make me roll my eyes, like the "cat jumping out of the trashcan" scene that's been done to DEATH! But here are a few that did the trick:

Jaws - the head in the boat scene. I screamed and lost most of my popcorn in the movie theater.

Friday the 13th - When Jason comes out of the water. I'm surprised no one mentioned that one yet.

Arachnophobia - okay, I have a little thing against spiders, but when Jeff Daniels is holding that shovel looking for the tarantula, and the camera zooms out to reveal it's ON the shovel and Jeff doesn't know it! And it starts crawling toward his hands......!!!!..... I'm getting goosebumps thinking about it!!

Fright Night - when Charlie is comforting his crying girlfriend Amy, who has become a vampire... then she suddenly turns to him with a pointy grin that literally stretches from ear to ear... that freaked me out!

And finally, there is a scene in the movie The Changeling, starring George C. Scott that didn't make me scream, but was so incredibly creepy. He has a seance at his home, which is kinda creepy in itself, but afterwards, when he is by himself, he listens to an audio tape recording of the seance. I won't ruin it for those of you who haven't seen it, but go out and RENT this movie!

- Joe J.

the head popping out from the hole in the bottom of the boat in Jaws and the Wait Until Dark scene when Arkin jumps out are definately 2 of the scariest . i remember the entire theater crowd for both those scenes jumping . in fact at Jaws my date literally whacked me in the face when she threw her hands up .
BUT ...the "scariest" moment for me ( and you have to put this one in context that i was about 4 yrs old) was during Frankenstein the first time we see the monster . i jumped and ran screaming down the hall . my Dad and uncles had a good laugh over that one .
hb

The Bijouin Westport, Kansas City, MO the long time home of THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW at midnight on fridays and saturdays for many years. Know it well. Also saw TARZOON, SHAME OF THE JUNGLE there.

You got it, pal. When I lived there, they were showing lots of silents and other classics. 'Wish I'd gone there more often. My buddy went there a lot 'cause his Grandmother lived in the Westport area.

- GJS

...there is a scene in the movie The Changeling, starring George C. Scott... Joe J.

In addition to the scene refernced above, don't forget the moment where Scott sees the ghost of the drowned boy "floating" beneath the floorboards. Chilling!

i gotta add my voice to those for whom the jaws "head popping" scene was the scariest... i think in part its because youre expecting the shark that it really catches you off guard....

The Shining when the babe turns into a rotting cadaver.

The procedures in the medical clinic to diagnose the girl in The Exorcist.

VTTBOTS when I was 6 years old.