Great horror films ease their way into the deepest, darkest parts of our minds and tend to stay there for a while, occasionally rearing their heads at 3AM to prompt a fevered inner dialogue - is there somebody crouching in the corner? This is a list of moments from such films, moments that don't necessarily shock and appall (although some do that too), but creep and crawl their way into our soft, vulnerable psyches, moments we recall years later as we try - against hope - to fall asleep.
Here's a look at 25 of the most disturbing scenes in horror.
Please note, we've omitted a handful of scenes which feature extreme violence and/or explicit nudity, and have replaced them with theatrical trailers. Major spoilers of all films discussed ahead.
The Fly: Watch Brundlefly Eat
The first demonstration of ‘eating’ from an insect-gene-spliced-Seth Brundle is arguably more disgusting than disturbing, but it’s his casual manner that unsettles, as if Brundle forgot how gross it might be to his onlooking girlfriend when he pukes acid on a doughnut. It’s the first in a series of foreboding moments where Seth unconsciously leaves his humanity at the door, giving in to his more basic, insect instincts.
The Blair Witch Project: Mike Faces the Wall
Directors Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez were master manipulators in their debut, proving that scares can be much more powerful when they’re played out in one's peripherals. Blair Witch’s final shock is a stunning example. Mike facing the wall is far more chilling seen through Heather’s hysterical - and therefore unreliable - lens, leaving us questioning our perception of the film’s final events once the credits begin to roll.
Poltergeist: Marty in the Mirror
The mirror scene in Poltergeist has a lot to answer for - namely the crippling nightmares of every poor kid who watched it thanks to its surprisingly lenient PG rating. The scene is made more pertinent because we’ve moved - for a change - away from the predictable targets, the Freelings, focusing instead on an unremarkable visiting paranormal investigator. Upon reflection, the triviality of Marty's character makes him a prime mark for mischief, but watching him claw chunks of flesh off his face as he peers into the bathroom mirror came out of nowhere on first viewing. Fun fact: Marty’s tearing hands belong to one Stephen Spielberg.
Pet Sematary: Zelda
While both of Pet Sematary’s central monsters are wonderfully perverted manifestations of familial anxiety, it says a lot about the wrongness of ‘Zelda’ that she trumps an undead child in the horror stakes. Zelda is the long-dead sister of Rachel Creed, whose guilt over her death manifests itself in nightmares, and, in one relentlessly horrifying scene, a supernatural delusion. Zelda’s attack on Rachel is terrifying, not only because Zelda was played by a male (Andrew Hubatsek), whose emaciated frame and hardened facial features adds other-worldliness to the character, but because she scuttles, scuttles! right toward the camera as she unleashes her tirade.
Sleepaway Camp: Peter Revealed
As is the case for many ‘80s slashers, Sleepaway Camp’s scares can’t quite escape the kitschy kiss of the decade, its shorts just a little too tight and its performances just a little too awful. But while Sleepaway’s slaughter-in-summer-camp formula is mighty familiar, it plays an entertaining guessing game with the audience as to the identity of its killer, which remains genuinely ambiguous to the bitter end. The film's magnificent pièce de résistance? Not only is our doe-eyed protagonist Angela the killer, she’s also a he! More specifically, he’s Angela’s brother Peter, whose psychosis presumably spawned from his gender identity disorder(!) enforced by his Aunt(!) On paper it might seem laughable, but Peter’s silent scream during the last minute of the film will stay with you for days.
Source : ign[dot]com
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