A list of scenes and images that I have found unnerving over the years that were not from what I would consider genre "Horror" films. Eerie moments that either haunted me as a child or continue to haunt me to this day. Many Dark Fantasy, Action, Suspense/Thrillers, Science fiction, Animated, and Surrealist movies have scenes just as bone-chilling as the best Slasher ones, so this list is my attempt to remember what those scenes were for me personally. I know I'm not the only one that has lost sleep over some of these..
↓↓ Not Ranked↓↓
Christina being tortured to death off camera
- KISS ME DEADLY (1955)
*****
Centaurian slugs crawl into ears
- STAR TREK II:
THE WRATH OF KAHN (1982)
*****
Slow dismemberment.. vanishing body parts
- LOOPER (2012)
*****
Face crushing with fire-extinguisher
- IRREVERSIBLE (2002)
***
Burying a not quite dead Julian
- BLOOD SIMPLE (1985)
It was either going to be this "buried alive" scene or the similar one in CASINO (1995), only there was a moment of ultra-violence from the latter film I personally find even more horrifying-- one I single out further on down this list
*****
Territorial dispute with baboons for the title of "alpha"
- SANDS OF THE KALAHARI (1965)
 |
"Shock the Monkey" indeed, Mr. Peter Gabriel
**** |
Gynecological surgery gone wrong
- DEAD RINGERS (1988)
*****
Charlie returns home.. Corridor fire
- BARTON FINK (1991)
*****
the Swamp-hag Meg Mucklebones
- LEGEND (1986)
****
Government agents in astronaut suits seize Elliot's house
- E.T.: THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (1982)
*****
Princess Mombi's Head Awakens
- RETURN TO OZ (1985)
 |
"Dorothy Gale!"
Of all the creepy things featured in Walter Murch's brilliant adaptation of both Return To and Ozma of Oz (Wheelers, Rock Gnomes, Deadly Desert, Shrieking patients in the basement of a sanitarium, etc.) this is the scene that has stayed with me the longest. The way her other captive glass-encased heads just coldly stare as Dorothy quietly tries to steal a potion. The headless body snoring/gurgling through an open esophagus. The eyes suddenly opening & body swiftly sitting up. The other heads screaming like a burglar alarm... Sends shivers down the spine.
|
*****
Buried alive
- THE VANISHING (1988)
 |
| One of the most effective reveals to ever grace a mystery film. Devastating or infuriating depending on the viewer. A true stroke of genius on the part of Tim Krabbé. |
*****
Flashback of waking on the UFO
- FIRE IN THE SKY (1993)
***
Lampwick transforms into a donkey
- PINOCCHIO (1940)
*****
Graysmith visits poster artist's basement
- ZODIAC (2007)
 |
"Are you sure there's nobody else in the house?"
***** |
Questioning & de-masking of Dr. Harford
- EYES WIDE SHUT (1999)
*****
Head in a vice
- CASINO (1995)*****
Premature exit from a fallout shelter
- THE DAY AFTER (1983)
****
Clown doll left in the mansion driveway
- THE GAME (1997)
****
Electroshock therapy juxtaposed with amputation
- REQUIEM FOR A DREAM (2000)
*****
Forced to drink the blood of Kali
- TEMPLE OF DOOM (1984)
****
Thunderstorm & lightning hallucinations
- SHOCK CORRIDOR (1963)
*****
A rat lurking in baby's bedroom
- LADY & THE TRAMP (1955)
+
kidnapper bat breaks in
- THE RESCUERS (1977) ****
Killer crawls onto roadway during night thunderstorm
- MEMORIES OF MURDER (2005)
*****
Twister outbreak on the prairie
- WIZARD OF OZ (1939)
*****
David investigates a home invasion
- UNBREAKABLE (2000)
*****
German shepherd mauls old man in church
Blurred & scrambled faces
- ETERNAL SUNSHINE
OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (2004)
*****
the banshee is suddenly at the door.. my God, disney
- DARBY O'GILL
& THE LITTLE PEOPLE (1959)***
the infant ghost on the ceiling nightmare
- TRAINSPOTTING (1996)
*****
a swarm of bugs & worms!! Jackson's recreation of the lost Spider Pit sequence from KING KONG 1933
- KING KONG (2005)
****
Corporate sponsored torture
- BRAZIL (1985)
 |
| "This is a professional relationship" |
*****
Grandma Bill wants a kiss
- BILL & TED'S BOGUS JOURNEY (1991)
****
Jeffrey returns to the crime scene and hides in the closet
- BLUE VELVET (1986)
*****
Unexpected train while crossing a bridge
- STAND BY ME (1986)
****
Tetsuo's evil toy hallucinations
- AKIRA (1988)
*****
Cannibal gang's basement of human harvest
- THE ROAD (2009)
***
the Slow limping "mummified" patient in the background
- SAFE (1995)
*****
Dilophosaurus reveals frilled neck & spits ink
- JURASSIC PARK (1993)
****
Pris goes ape-shit & attacks Deckard
- BLADE RUNNER (1982)
*****
Mysterious shadows & sounds at the Radley house
- TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (1962)
*****
Flattened Judge Doom inflates himself & reveals his true identity
- WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT (1988)
*****
Thorwald realizes Lisa is signaling
- REAR WINDOW (1954)
*****
young villager returns, assaulted & traumatized
- COME AND SEE (1985)
*****
Toxic waste causes henchman to melt
- ROBOCOP (1987)
*****
Rabid Bigwig and Woundwort fight
- WATERSHIP DOWN (1978)
****
sudden stabbing
- RABID DOGS (1974)
****
Prophecized disaster during a traffic jam
- KNOWING (2009)
***
Selena is resurrected by feral cat bites
- BATMAN RETURNS (1992)
*****
Soul stealing
- THE DARK CRYSTAL (1982)
*****
Chopping up a corpse
- SHALLOW GRAVE (1994)
****
Sudden violence in a family neighborhood
- ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 (1976)
*****
Hiding from a pack of wolves
- NEVER CRY WOLF (1983)
*****
Child abduction sequence
- CLOSE ENCOUNTERS
OF THE THIRD KIND (1977)
*****
Bludgeoned with an oar
- TALENTED MR. RIPLEY (1999)
****
Roat suddenly leaps from the dark ****
Icarus informs Capa of mystery crew member
- SUNSHINE (2007)
****
Agents silence & bug Neo in interrogation
- THE MATRIX (1999)
*****
Ellen allows a disabled boy to drown
- LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN (1945)
*****
the Stomach mutant baby "Kuato"
- TOTAL RECALL (1990)
****
the Fish hooks to throat scene
- THE ISLE (2000)
****
Large Marge visually portrays wreck victim's face
- PEE WEE'S BIG ADVENTURE (1985)
*****
The "pale man" chases Ofelia
- PAN'S LABYRINTH (2006)
*****
Strangers staring in a zombie-like trance
- THE BOX (2009)
****
the Man behind the dumpster
- MULHOLLAND DRIVE (2001)
*****
Source of the metallic bull's wheezing is revealed
- IMMORTALS (2011)
****
Early humans discover a camp site of cannibal Neanderthals
- QUEST FOR FIRE (1982)
****
Figures levitating through the skyline with frozen posture
- DARK CITY (1998)
*****
Bloody stairwell scene
- THIRD PART OF THE NIGHT (1971)
****
McBurney gets his leg amputated
- THE BEGUILED (1971)
*****
the tunnel mutants attack
- THX 1138 [special edition]
****
The bath-house fight. Multiple stabbings
- EASTERN PROMISES (2007)
****
Giant bug slurps dude's brains
- STARSHIP TROOPERS (1997)
*****
Invisible "id Monster" breaks force-field & climbs stairs
- FORBIDDEN PLANET (1956)
*****
Bridge trolls / Dragon transformation sequence
- WILLOW (1988)
****
Pvt. Pyle goes full Section 8
- FULL METAL JACKET (1987)
*****
the Root-baby chomps Mother's hair
- LITTLE OTIK (2001)
*****
the crawling severed hand
- THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL (1962)
And the crawling metallic hand of "Other Mother"
- CORALINE (2009)
*****
Grendel attacks. Wailing like a banshee
- BEOWULF (2007)
***
Flowers tear The Conquistador from the inside out
- THE FOUNTAIN (2006)
*****
Nazi dentist torturing gums & teeth
- MARATHON MAN (1976)
****
the centipede creature attacks a young prostitute
- NAKED LUNCH (1991)
****
an Angry mob attacks Luke's vehicle
- CHILDREN OF MEN (2006)
*****
Under the Ghost of Christmas Future's cloak
- SCROOGED (1988)
***
Chigurh's motel murder spree
- NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (2007)
*****
Children with the same face on a passing train
- PINK FLOYD THE WALL (1982) ***
Curtis's vision of men abducting his daughter
- TAKE SHELTER (2011)
*****
Ricky gets exposed to super mutating serum
- FREAKED (1993)
***
Getting a black market spinal implant
- EXISTENZ (1999)
****
Kid dies in dry quicksand
- MAD MAX BEYOND THUNDERDOME (1985)
****
the Flesh fair
- A.I. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (2001)
*****
Legally blind child wanders in the middle of a minefield
- TURTLES CAN FLY (2004)
*****
Killer plant with vine tentacles
- JUMANJI (1995)
***
the Jabberwocky appears in Alice's home
- THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS (1985)
***
Hutt's Advisor *Bib Fortuna*
- RETURN OF THE JEDI (1983)
 |
So within the Star Wars realm, we're led to believe there's supposed to be a planet host to an entire species that looks like this "Space Nosferatu"??? Can the Death Star not wipe that planet out too?
**** |
Telekinetically pulling teeth
- CHRONICLE (2012)
*****
Nightmare of L.A. nuclear blast
- TERMINATOR 2 (1991)
And the T-800 removing his eye covering
- THE TERMINATOR (1984)
*****
The walls are full of bodies
- SICARIO (2015)
****
Gmork the Wolf taunts then attacks Atreyu
- NEVERENDING STORY (1984)
*****
surrounded by Sphinx cats with human faces
- MIRRORMASK (2005)
***
Convulsing death via VX chemical WMD
- THE ROCK (1996)
****
Abandoned city
- OPEN YOUR EYES (2001)
****
Also
The entirety of movies featuring little people in crappy, over-sized, barely expressive prosthetics.. It looks so uncomfortable for the performers and the masks/animatronics with their dead eyes freak me out
- GARBAGE PAIL KIDS (1987)
HOWARD THE DUCK (1986)
And; NUKIE (1988)
 |
| He did it all for the Nukie |
*
