Have you ever gone to see a horror film and ended up spending the entiretime struggling to breathe in anticipation of what might come next?
Millions of people experience this when going to see a scary movie, but not everyone has the same reaction to them. Just because you jumped does not mean the person next to you did. Or maybe you were freaked out at something and your date ended up yawning through it.
Since fear is subjective, it is hard to know when something is going to effect an entire audience. However, when it happens, it is just plain amazing.
Here are some of the scariest horror movie moments, ranked from worst to best.
For about two hours, Zodiac is a thrilling horror film about one of the most famous serial killers that was never caught. It is a terror that cuts people to the core because this is a real person still walking around today. But the moment that Robert Graysmith figures out he was talking to the real killer, it was too late for him.
The early days of the horror movie genre dates back to the 70's when films started to take a more serious approach to horror films. Carrie was not just a terrifying film but a good story that brought us to a graveyard scene that had us thinking about what could possibly happen next. No one knew that a hand would end up grabbing us by the spine.
Alfred Hitchcock did more for the horror movie genre than anyone before him. He created an atmosphere of fear that kept viewers on the edge of their seats for the entire film. His masterpiece is Psycho, where his iconic shower death scene is still studied by filmmakers today.
It seems that scary films took a vacation between the late 80's and early 90's until Scream came out and brought the entire genre back. It was Wes Craven who was able to take a lot of the classic horror stuff we loved and modernize it by turning it into a fad among teenagers.
For the entire time you are watching The Descent, you are pulled into this claustrophobic environment that uses our imagination as the biggest fear of them all. However, when we are finally introduced to these monsters, that we knew were down there all along, it makes us even more nervous and, ultimately, frozen in fear.
As far as horror films are concerned, this one might be a deep cut, but if you are reading this we are going to assume you love the genre and know about this scene already. The angle of the camera down the hall, standing still, as the nurse exits the room, makes us anticipate something bad is going to happen, and when it does it gets us at the core.
It seems that whenever an entity pops out of a television screen, we will get terrified and jump back a few feet. When The Ring was still in movie theaters, and we were constantly teased about this girl with her hair covering her face being in the film that everyone died from watching, no one expected her tocomeout the screen.
The Shining was Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece and a legendary horror film that has beenstudied countless times over for the filming techniques he used, down to the way the scenes were shot. But when we see this beautiful woman in her bathtub, we are fooled to think that this could actually be real. Too bad it was nothing butJack's insanity.
Although it is not considered a certified horror film, Seven is just as much a scary movie as any of the rest on our list. Throughout the entire film, we are left to deal with moments of pure insanity, including one that caught us all off guard. Without spoiling anything, just make sure you watch this film in a quiet room.
The only reason they made so many Paranormal Activity films was because of the fear of never knowing when the next scare was going to come. Especially during the first film, we were never sure what to expect and, on the 21st night of the experiment, Katie finally gives us the scariest moment in the entire film series.
After watching Annie take a sledgehammer and absolutely crush Paul Sheldon's ankles, all we could do was cringe and fall to the ground in agony as we all felt that pain along with him. Not only did she hithis ankles with the hammer, she placed a block of wood between them in order to make sure he felt every inch of those blows.
Commercially, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was not a huge hit back in the 70's. But over the years, it has grown into one of the most frightening horror films ever mostly because it was based off a man, Ed Gein, who was never even caught until he was in his 50's. To see Pam get lifted up and put on a hook like a piece of meat still sticks with audiences today.
As far as shockers are concerned, Alien wins the title because there is not a single person that saw the film and was expectingan alien to come bursting out of Kane's stomach. The moment not only scared us to the core, it gave us reason tocome back for the sequels.
If there is a more iconic horror film opening scene then Jaws, we simply do not know about it. Steven Spielberg went from being a talented young director to a brilliant mind that would change the way in which we watch cinema today simply from how he turned Jaws into a horror film that feeds off your innermost fears about swimming in open water.
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There is simply something scary about demon nuns that already has audiences on edge. But the way it was done in The Conjuring 2 turned the scene into one of the scariest ever. There is not a single person alive today that saw that film and will walk past a painting of a nun without looking twice.
Scary movie scenes are not always about the amount of fear they tend to put on the audience, but rather the inability to anticipate what the heck is going to happen next. Although Insidious was full of jump scares, this is a scene that was perfectly cut to not only make audiences jump, it made us terrified and kept us looking over our shoulders when we got home.
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There is nothing scarier than when it is late at night, you are home alone, and you get that feeling that someone is watching you.Have you ever just taken off running to your room and closed the door without ever looking back?
This scene puts you in the house and makes you feel for Liv Tyler as she never notices the strangerstanding in her hallway. Until it's too late, that is.
Long before social media, the only way to share your thoughts about a new film was to talk to your friends. The Blair Witch Project scared so many peopleafter rumors started going around that it was real. But regardless of whether or not it was real, the very ending of the filmwillsend chills to every part of your body.
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Children are so innocent that whenever we see them in a horror film, our first reaction is to panic that something bad will happen to them and we want no part in it. But when Georgie meets Pennywise, we felt obligated to watch, out of curiosity, just to see if the kid would really fall for the clown's tricks.
As if the Silence of the Lambs was not already one of the creepiest films ever, they had to go and create an ending that you cannot help but find yourself becoming a part of it. Buffalo Bill following Clarice around the house wearing the night vision goggleswill scare you to the core.
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Ranking The Scariest Horror Movie Moments From Worst To Best - TheThings
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