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Underground > Film, TV & Theatre >

100 Greatest Scary Moments

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21:35 / 26.10.03

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1. No way was the Metz advert scarier than Chris Cunningham's Aphex Twin's Come to Daddy video. No way no way no way!

2. Hello? Sapphire and Steel? You can find a place on the list for the Stone Tapes, Quatermass and, um, Doomthingy, but not Sapphire and fucking Steel?

3. Am I just being horribly sexist/classist or was that posh woman off the Erotic Review incredibly annoying with her dry, sophisticated chuckle and "aren't-we-all-terribly-adult-about-sex" attitude?

21:40 / 26.10.03

Shit, didn't see it... but am going to write a strongly worded letter of complaint to the Radio Times, who, in both pictoral and textual form, managed to give away the last minute of Don't Look Now to anyone who hasn't seen it.

Twats.

22:11 / 26.10.03

Why the hell weren't the Oompa-Loompas on that list?!?!?

22:58 / 26.10.03

Oh, it was a givingendingsawayfest. Luckily all the spoilers were for things I'd either seen or had already been spoiled for me by some other obnoxious bobbin.
Torn about this show. On the one hand it was, like all list shows, pretty pointless. However there were unusually some interesting people saying interesting things (Rick Baker, Kim Newman, David Quantick) or people saying banal things in an interesting voice (Christopher Lee).
The Shining as number 1 scary moment? Meh. Scary for Shelley Duvall perhaps.And what really put pedants in my pants is many of these things weren't moments. Some were characters, some were entire films...

23:14 / 26.10.03

It looks like it was decided by vote, which would go a long way in explaining odd inclusions, exclusions, etc.

I'm making a horror movie for drama class, and am giving a great deal of thought to what makes successful scary and suspenseful moments work. I was going to start a thread on the subject to get different opinions, but this one sprang up. Is it ok if I highjack it? If not, let me know and I'll start my own.

So, please help me out. Talk up your favourite scary moments, whether it's in a genuine horror movie or any other genre. Unlike the list linked to above, please don't just say "the entirety of Basket Case". Also, don't hesitate to mention great moments in otherwise bad movies (ie. Exorcist 3). Feel free to describe what made it work for you, from the anticipation to the climax, with any twists and turns in-between. And include SPOILERS! Thanks.

23:18 / 26.10.03

Were *any* of them specific moments?

Surprised that Ghostwatch wasn't in there (unless it appeared while I was making a cup of tea), although the majority of the choices were very much 100 cheapest, poorly-acted, quite-boring-if-we're-honest-about-it, not even remotely scary when you saw it as a kid but let's all pretend that childhood telly was actually much better than it's ever been since no really, BBC tea-time cheesarama, and I remember that one being quite effective originally. That said, it's probably utter shite now.

Quantick = new career as rentagob for I Love 100 Greatest Clip Shows Ever production companies going swimmingly.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

23:19 / 26.10.03

The scene in "Paper House" when you see the silhoutte of her father coming over the hill looking for her, which suddenly raises a hammer and shouts "I'm BLIND!!!"
The landscape's just so ominous, the hammer so unexpected, and the blind part just plain fucked.

23:29 / 26.10.03

Oh yeah (sorry m, will let everyone get back to the previous discussion after this), am I the only person in the world who's ever seen The House in Nightmare Park? It was the inclusion of Carry on Screaming that reminded me of it - a very odd attempt at the horror spoof, starring Frankie Howerd and written by Terry Nation, which would be a complete failure apart from the disturbing, totally unintentional feeling of sickness and decay that runs through it. A slapstick fever dream, if you will.

Murray Hamhandler

23:33 / 26.10.03

Typical. No Repulsion. That one scene (you either know the one I'm talking about or you need to see the film) freaks me out every time I see it. One of the most effectively scary scenes ever.

Brigade du jour

00:58 / 27.10.03

Oh Randy, Ghostwatch was a fucking shitbagger. I switched over right at the end when Michael Parkinson looked straight at the camera and sounded like he was possessed cos I was so scared. Switched straight back of course, and it was the end credits. You see, for some reason I've never quite fathomed I'd thought it was all real. Even though I'd read in the Radio Times the previous week that it wasn't. Err ...

Shall we start a Ghostwatch thread?

Foust is SO authentic

03:03 / 27.10.03

Bloody hell, I want to see the Don't Look Now spoilers. I've seen the movie except for the last 20 minutes. That was on cable. I can't rent it anywhere and am not bothering with ebay just to see one scene. I know what happens, but I want pics! However, they don't seem to exist on the web.

Scariest moments...

Escape of Hannibal Lector
Final scene in The Ring

04:28 / 27.10.03

One of the scariest film moments for me is the baby's death in Eraserhead, the whole movie is freaky as hell. I agree with the mention of Twin Peaks, particularly the final image of the series, which is just captivating. And Fire Walk With Me deserves a mention, particularly the cut away when Laura is like a vampire, and the final cabin sequence.

07:06 / 27.10.03

Ghostwatch was in there somewhere, yeah... and oh my God, that bit in Paper House is completely the scariest thing ever. I spent a whole year squeaking and hiding under sofas every time my housemates shouted "I'M BLIIIIND!!" (Which, as you can imagine, was quite frequently.)

I once made a list of all the scariest things I could imagine in a film (it started off with "corridors") but then I realized they were all in The Shining, so it wasn't much use to anyone wanting to make a horror movie that wasn't The Shining.

07:59 / 27.10.03

One scary/sickening moment which springs to mind is the bit in Julie Taymor's 'Titus' when we see the mutilated Lavinia for the first time, in all her handless, tongueless glory...

Foust is SO authentic

10:34 / 27.10.03

More threadrot. Briefly.

Hey, there's no IMBD entry for Paper House. What is it?

12:26 / 27.10.03

It's all one word, is what it is.

14:10 / 27.10.03

Recent trouser-soiling horror was the early episode of Spooks, Series one, when they unexpectedly and gruesomely deep-fried a major character (Lisa Faulkner).

I wouldn't quarrel with Nicolson in Kubrick's The Shining up at the very top, but the dwarf in the red coat from Don't Look Now is the culmination of a beautifully sculpted tale of the uncanny and would have got my vote.

15:24 / 27.10.03

Bugger me, that 'Whistle and I'll Come to You' looked scary, eh? Michael Horden's low "I want to scream but I can't" terror noise was spot on. And they managed to make a bed sheet jumping about look scary.

Moan:

- They put the Shining at no.1, but totally failed to mention, let alone show, the scariest bits: boy riding go-cart up corridors (carpet- floorboards-carpet-floorboards), THE TWINS (!), the music (bendy kettledrums) and the final zoom into the old photo with Jack's face in the crowd.

Curious thing:

- Camille Paglia appeared once, halfway through the first prog, talking about Snow White. We didn't see her again after that, but we DID see a film critic lady with EXACTLY the same voice. An unconvincing robot replacement, perhaps?

Funny:

- Muriel Gray on Dracula: "It was pant-wettingly scary. It provided the blueprint for every horror film that followed." Muriel Gray on Alien: "It was pant-wettingly scary. It provided the blueprint for every horror film that followed." Muriel Gray on Rentaghost: "It was pant-wettingly scary. It provided the blueprint for every horror film that followed." etc etc

The Last Telephone

17:44 / 27.10.03

They copped out a bit with the Texas Chainsaw Massacre; the scene in which Leatherface is carrying one of his victims into the back room - with that meathook hanging in the foreground as she struggles and screams - had me reaching for the rewind button, I mean the cushion.

18:06 / 27.10.03

I really want to see Whistle & I'll Come To You. And that nuclear holocaust docudrama set in Kent (because that's where I grew up and apparently all the scenes of my youth are in it, strewn with bodies). And The Stone Tapes, but that's because I'm collecting scary 70s UK TV programmes about recording technology (Sapphire & Steel - the photograph adventure again).

Sax:

THE TWINS (!),

I know. C4 seem to have a 'twin' blind spot - I was waiting for the twins in the League of Gentlemen bits, as well. (I would have had the same moans as you about The Shining, since all the bits you quote are way scarier than the "Heeeeere's JOhnny!" moment I'm sure they put in - but I have to confess that I missed the last few moments because I was on my own in the house and was so frightened by the clips from The Evil Dead that I had to go to bed. And then I was really cold and I couldn't get up to make a hot-water bottle in case there was a scary thing in my kitchen. I'm such a wuss.)

18:29 / 27.10.03

the very very end of carrie gets me every time. you know it's coming, but it's still so freaky!
in the sixth sense, when the kid's in his little tent and he looks up and the clothespins are just coming off the top, eeeee!
but then, i'm a bit of a puss when it comes to these things.

19:11 / 27.10.03

riding go-cart up corridors (carpet- floorboards-carpet-floorboards

Exactly! That's what I said to my boyfriend as he's never seen the movie. I tried to explain how that scene was so well crafted and genuinely creepy and unsettling but he was having none of it...

19:17 / 27.10.03

Deva: Lo!

Whistle and I'll Come to You

The War Game

The Stone Tape

20:21 / 27.10.03

Yep, 'Here's Johnny' is where the film starts to go wrong...
for ten minutes.
The rest is perfect. Especially the Butler in the Bog scene. Brrrr...
Has anyone read the interesting dissection out there [searches... aha! www.drummerman.net/shining/essays.html] on the Indian motifs. I had noticed the Calumet cans many times but never made the connection...
Now.
Blair Witch? I know this has probably been threaded to death, but even watching again last night, I just DON'T GET IT!
The scariest interpretation I can get is that Mike and Josh have killed/raped/tortured Heather and faked a tape to make it look like they all died, but... naaaahhh.

21:03 / 27.10.03

Another thing which occurred to me and that I had forgotten until just now.
What struck me about the film was that in the same way earlier horror may have have had sociopolitical overtones (50's communist threat, 70's "rejection of the church is wrong", 80's/90s you all die even if you're good because the machine is bigger than you) it had a little message about what's out there. The new message seems to be: Don't go looking, or you'll get dead, and nobody'll believe what happened to you even if they find out.
Embedded journalism as a solution for such a fear? Hmmm...
Or journalist about to go to bed? yeeesss.. night all.

Murray Hamhandler

22:11 / 27.10.03

Having no clue what I was going to see, I saw a preview screening of Blair Witch. Scariest shit ever, hands down. I'd never seen an entire audience sit in their chairs for almost a full minute after a film was over, silent and unmoving. After the hype and knowing that it was fake, I saw it again. Not scary at all. That probably says a lot for not knowing too much going into a movie. Show it someone who knows nothing about the movie and see what they say.

08:31 / 28.10.03

ERandy: Woo! Thank you! I know one little girl who's going to have a very scary Christmas now...

09:23 / 28.10.03

"At a distance of three miles, the heat is sufficient to cause melting of the upturned eyeball." - from "The War Game"

What comes through is the cold anger of Peter Watkins (via the narrator) toward anyone stupid enough to think a "limited" nuclear war is winnable, survivable, or even possible. The movie is really, really good.

Another MR James adaptation, "A Warning to the Curious," is also available from the same production company and distributor!

Poke it with a stick

09:31 / 28.10.03

Deric - spot on about the preview and its atmosphere being scary rather than the actual film. I went to see it on Halloween and remember being scared to seath about 20 minutes afterwards when I realised why the cameraman was standing in the corner.
What happened to Man Bites Dog on the list, by the way? Not a scary film per se, but certainly shocking enough - the scene where they break into a house and chase the little kid about made me squirm...
"Cinemaaa, cinemaaa!"

14:03 / 28.10.03

Never having seen that children's favourite [sic] Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, I was astonished by Sir Robert Helpman's creepy, creepy Child Catcher. Glad I didn't see it as a child. Pied Piper of Hamelin was visceral enough without such visuals.

14:09 / 28.10.03

and two more things:

1. Agree with deric about Blair Witch. Very accomplished horror film making. That it made 140 million bucks when it cost peanuts to make must have given quite a few Hollywood fat cats nightmares too.

2. Interesting factoid, that the mask Michael Myers wears in Hallowe'en was purchased from a local joke shop, for budgetary reasons. It's just a William Shatner mask with enlarged eye holes, spray-painted. Hehe...

Murray Hamhandler

18:45 / 28.10.03

The unrated version of Man Bites Dog is very squirm inducing, I agree. The rated version (which was all I'd seen for some time) is much lighter and funnier, so it was pretty shocking to see how much grimmer the whole movie became w/the addition of those few cut scenes.

Poke it with a stick

10:14 / 29.10.03

An unrated version? Jesus - I hope that's the one I've got - I don't even want to contemplate the possibility that it gets worse than the scene with the couple...
Still can't believe it was released on video as Reservoir Dogs was banned - apparently scenes of torture are fine in French/Flemish.

01

20:11 / 29.10.03

Scariest flim moment: The alien walks in front of the camera at the Brazilian kid's birthday party in "Signs."

Holy smokes did I jump, and I was bracing for something because I knew it was coming.

Brigade du jour

08:39 / 26.12.03

ooh you bugger, I was going to mention that bit!

Actually, the great thing about that for me was that I was totally aware that I was being manipulated by a very manipulative film maker having a particularly manipulative day ... and I was still scared! I think it's the way the shadowy green figure (well, stunt performer in a rubber suit) seems to almost turn to look at the camera.

Just for the moment, I WAS Joaquin Phoenix.

And then a robot tried to send me into space.

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