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Cinematical
The 31 Scariest Movie Moments
The Scariest Movie Moments
Come On In ...
We Dare You
Do we like scary movies? Hell yeah! That's why we picked the 31 best scary movies of all time last year. And it's why we're at it again this year, counting down the 31 most twisted and terrifying moments ever filmed by Hollywood.
We've got scenes that'll make you scream and shots that'll make you jump. And we'll be revealing a new moment each day in Schocktober, er, October. Can't wait for all the scares to be unveiled? Click through our countdown of clues--and you might just live to see another sunrise. -- By Ed Tahaney
31. 'The Sixth Sense' (1999)
Moment: Mischa Barton under Haley Joel's bed
Why It Scares Us: These days, actor Haley Joel Osment would probably be excited to find Mischa Barton in his bedroom. But when she materializes in this 1999 ghost story, the sight of her sickly apparition hiding under his bed was the kind of movie moment that made every theater-goer jump. Or maybe even wretch. Writer-director M. Night Shymalan's spirited story about a kiddie shrink (Bruce Willis) and his young patient (Osment) who sees dead people received an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. Not too shabby for a scary movie.
ZUMA Press
30. 'When a Stranger Calls' (1979)
Moment: "We've traced the call ... it's coming from inside the house."
Why It Scares Us: Not exactly the words you want to hear if you're babysitting and a psychopath keeps calling the house like some twisted telemarketer. Carol Kane plays the terrorized high schooler living every babysitter's nightmare in an otherwise forgettable 1979 flick. Kane's character eventually makes it out of the house, only to have the creep come back to haunt her and her hubby in the sequel. Next time don't answer the phone. And skip the 2006 remake.
Everett Collection
29. 'The Blair Witch Project' (1999)
Moment: Final shot of something in the corner of the room.
Why It Scares Us: 'Blair Witch''s scariest scene was one in which you couldn't really make out what was happening. All anyone can see is student filmmaker Michael Williams silently standing in the corner of an abandoned basement (clawing his eyes out? who knows!), a shot that is quickly followed by a freaked-out Heather Donahue, who drops her handheld camera. The final shot of something in the corner of the room is disturbing because the fake documentary style -- improvised by cast and crew -- seems so real. Of course, all those weird rock piles and stick figures were pretty darn spooky, too.
ZUMA Press
28. 'The Wizard of Oz' (1939)
Moment: Flying monkeys!
Why It Scares Us: "Fly, fly, fly!" the Wicked Witch of the West cries into her crystal ball after ordering her head winged monkey Nikko (Pat Walshe) to send the troops on to capture Dorothy and her posse of misfits. Many of the actors playing what appeared to be hundreds of flying monkeys were not credited in the film and several were injured shooting this scene when the piano wires lifting them up snapped. Not that that makes us any less irrationally afraid of these nasty creatures.
ZUMA Press
27. 'Signs' (2002)
Moment: The aliens show up in home video footage shown on TV.
Why It Scares Us: Creepy crop circles have been appearing on the land surrounding a charming farmhouse inhabited by the Rev. Graham Hess (Mel Gibson) and his good looking family. But how does the family learn who is behind the spookiness? By watching the news. Namely, Graham's brother Merrill (Joaquin Phoenix) turns on the boob tube to discover that out-of-this-world lizard men have invaded a children's birthday party in South America. (Even scarier: the sight of Phoenix speaking Spanish to the television.) Cue the screams.
ZUMA Press
26. 'The Fly' (1986)
Moment: Scientist turns into Brundlefly (and loses body parts) in the bathroom.
Why It Scares Us: That'll teach you not to spray for bugs before you attempt to teleport yourself, you twit. The scene when scientist Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) is turning into Brundlefly, half man-half housefly, and starts losing body parts in the bathroom -- serious ick! The great stuff from director David Cronenberg helped the film snag an Oscar for Best Makeup. Bet it was that ear in a jar that won over the Academy.
20th Century Fox / ZUMA Press
25. Coming Tues. Oct. 7
Clue: Look up in the sky! It's not a plane, and we are not talking about 'Superman,' either.
24. Coming Wed. Oct. 8
Clue: Just say no thank you. Secret experiments and chemical weapons make this postman ring thrice.
23. Coming Thurs. Oct. 9
Clue: This silent scene killer is based on a famous book and had to change its name to avoid a lawsuit that almost destroyed all copies of the film. The horror ...
- Posted » Oct 1st 2008 6:00AM by Moviefone Staff
- Filed under » Halloween
Reader Comments (page 1)
Um...I'm pretty sure that Barton was hiding under her own bed. When he first saw her, she found him in his tent as he was hiding and she puked all over the place. Then he went to her house after the funeral, and that's when she came out and handed him the box with the incriminating video. It was an important part to the plot, so it should be correct.
Lilpanda718 at 1:29AM on Oct 2nd 2008
I am amazed at this list which is obviously opinion based and not based on statistics or fan response. The fact that "The Changling" did not make the list, or "Poltergeist" is amazing. I think the editor of this article should do him/herself a favor and check out the two movies above and also try to get a really consensus going next time.
C at 4:12AM on Oct 2nd 2008
I guess who ever wrote this didn't watch the movie because she was under her own bed not his. He went to her funeral after she haunted him at his house where she went in his tent he had made in his room. She kept throwing up saying I feel better now.
Linda K at 10:30PM on Oct 2nd 2008
Poltergeist was not scary at all. It was too filled up with FX junk to be scary. I vote the scariest to be One Dark Night, a film made in the early eighties. This movie is eerie all the way through.
Mike at 1:07AM on Oct 3rd 2008
I think you hit most but you missed one of the all time cult hits: phantasm. That phrase "Boy" will always make my hair stand up!!
JB at 1:12PM on Oct 3rd 2008
Am I missing something? Why is 3/4 of this list attributed to scenes in a movie called "Clue" that hasn't even come out yet???
Adam at 4:40PM on Oct 4th 2008
your description of the 31st scariest scene in a movie is WRONG.... the "dead" character doesn't materialize under the boys bed, she invades his makeshift private tent in his room ... if you are referring to the scene depicted in the pict accompanying the description, she is under her bed in her house... just check out the decorating of the room, does it look like a boys bedroom!!? Both scenes are very memorable, so getting it wrong on the first movie you are promoting calls into serious question your expertise in selecting and writing on the subject at hand. Perhaps the reason I completely disagree with the selection of the Blair Witch Project which was not scary for even a millisecond. I watched this movie with my parents (in their mid 60's at the time ) who had seen many psychological thrillers made by some of the masters of filmmaking and had to hear "when is it going to get scary" every 10 mins. Anyone pushing the propaganda that this movie was scary 10 years later is to be ignored, imho.
FLKraka at 9:13AM on Oct 5th 2008
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seriously can someone tell me who the voters are
angelo at 11:16PM on Oct 1st 2008
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