The Scariest Movie Scenes Ever

It's Halloween and to celebrate The Cinema Blog has compiled a list of the ten most frightening movies scenes.

But be careful because there are spoilers ahead!

10) Hidden - Suicide.

"I just wanted you to be present for this..."

These are words of an old acquaintance of Hidden's main character. What follows is one of the most unexpected and shocking scenes in cinema as he suddenly grabs his knife and slits his throat. The still, quiet nature of the scene makes it all the more chilling as the camera doesn't move once or cut away for an entire minute.

09) The Descent - Hand-held camera footage.

Who isn't scared of the dark? The Descent not only shrouds the background in total darkness keeping us afraid of what may jump out, but also messes with our sense of direction and places its characters in an underground prison for this scene. Therefore, the monster could be lurking anywhere and there's no escape for the characters when he appears.

08) The Birds - Gathering outside the school.

"Do not make a sound until I tell you to run..."

A mother waits outside a school when, all of a sudden, she notices hundreds of black birds sitting eerily on the climbing frame. Silent but for some distant squarks, they look on from above while a sense of doom gradually begins to arise. As someone admittedly afraid of birds, Hitchcock's horror was at its most terrifying here.

07) The Ring - The little girl walks out the TV set.

Something so innocent and harmless as a TV set. Something so inanimate and unthreatening as a VHS tape. The Ring takes both of these everyday household items and turns them into a dangerous tool of evil that no-one can escape from. After this particular scene, you'll view every old video tape with fear and discomfort.

06) Jaws - An attack in the water.

You'll never want to go in the water again after seeing Jaws. Playing on our fear of the unknown, the opening scene cleverly hides the shark underneath the water and focuses entirely on the victim's suffering as she is thrown about like a child with a doll.

05) The Shining - Danny meets the twins.

The long tracking shot, the bizarre camera work, the surprising cut aways and the creepy score, when Danny meets the twins in The Shining it'll send goosebumps down your body.

04) Rosemary's Baby - Birth of Satan's child.

"Hail Satan!"

There's something wrong with the apartment complex in Roman Polanski's masterpiece and in the last ten minutes, the grand decor and caring tenants give way to an eerie undercurrent of satanism. One of cinema's most haunting moments.

03) Psycho - Shower scene.

Brilliantly directed and edited to create the illusion of stabbing and complemented by a piercing score, the iconic and frightening shower scene in Hitchcock's Psycho deserves recognition if only for kicking off the entire mainstream horror genre.

02) The Exorcist - Crucifix masturbation.

"Let Jesus fuck you!"

There's something utterly demonic about this scene from The Exorcist. Maybe it's the washed out colour scheme, the chaotic editing, the disturbing hybrid of blood, sex and religion or just the possessed voice of a young girl as she spouts off some disgusting language. Whatever it is, you won't quite feel the same watching this.

01) Alien - Dallas in the ventilation.

I'm not jumpy. I never have been. All through my life I've told people this and they have, in response, tried to jump out at me and startle me with little success. But one movie scene changed all that; when Dallas encounters the alien in Ridley Scott's 1970s masterpiece. It's terrifying work of suspense and impending doom that uses the Spaceship's mise en scene to terrific effect.

By Daniel Sarath with 5 comments