JumpCutz

I'm sure this has been done to death, did a cursory search, no results. Please merge or feel free to castigate.

Basically, what's the single scariest scene you've ever witnessed in a film?

This of course allows for a wide berth...so any and all responses are appreciated.

Please don't post a clip or describe the scene, as the impact will be lessened due to lack of context etc... just list the movie and a perhaps a cryptic remark or two.

I'm going to go with the tried and true Exorcist III sequence. The mega jolt, if you will. Yeah I know...predictable, but this crunked my shit in 1990.

Why So Blu?

You read my mind, bro.

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DaveyJoe

Got something in mind, but let me try to find a clip of it.

JumpCutz

Why So Blu?

I got all excited and posted a clip. I just re-read the post. Too late.

Supermallet

Gotta go with the lady in the bathtub from The Shining.

E Unit

Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and the slamming of that metal door. You knew something was about to happen back there.

Crocker Jarmen

When they made it into the attic at the end of Rec and that "girl" came out, my jaw was on the floor. The way she looked and moved, in that cramped dark space, was the scariest thing I had ever seen in a movie. I hadn't been that frightened of anything in a movie since I was 5.

And when I really was 5, my answer would have been the "Get her!" scene in Ghostbusters. I must have seen that movie 4 times in the theater back in 84, and after the first time, I always shut my eyes when that part came up.

Trevor

I get scared pretty easily, probably why horror is my favorite genre, but I'm not sure if I could pick just one scene. It may be something from The Exorcist or The Evil Dead though; possessions really freak me out.

TomOpus

Jaws - Hooper checks hole in Ben Gardner's boat.

Crocker Jarmen

When Karras enters the room, and for a moment sees his mother in the bed, I always gasp.

JumpCutz

Yeah this would be on my short list. The sound design and the direction really inform and elevate this sequence. Then we cut to Terry Mcminn and "Kurt?" then that dolly shot into hell pushes the viewer right into the story. No more messing around.

Giles

The Changelling - I'm not going to ruin the scene, but if you seen this movie you know it.

DJariya

Fighting Back. The mugging/Ring scene is pretty scary.

Death Wish 2: the scene with the thugs and the maid.

Obviously I'm not limiting this to horror. There are plenty of films with scary scenes that don't fall in the horror or torture porn genre.

Mondo Kane

Great picks here. I always thought the phrase "Blood running cold" was...Just that, a phrase. But something definetly happened to my bloodstream when I first saw that image in Rec.

And to think that the design for the libriarian ghost was originally going to be scarier! (It was later re-used as the "Amanda-vampire" in Fright Night)

Ranger

Ha, that's a classic.

Also could say Indiana Jones after that dude drinks from the wrong cup.

The Fugitive where he looks down over the dam. I've seen some huge floodgates up close so it's more scary to me.

Hazel Motes

Any sex scene from any John Holmes movie.

brayzie

About Exorcist III. That's a good scene but what creeped me and my friend out was the old lady spider walking on the ceiling.

For me single scariest scene in a film would be anything from Jacob's Ladder.

GoldenJCJ

For me the scariest scenes have always been the ones that get in your head and reach your psyche on a personal level.

Even though the movie doesn't hold up well at all on multiple viewings, the final scene in The Blair Witch Project really got to me the first time I saw it. The intense level of hysteria, confusion, and chaos really effected me. The feeling of being isolated deep in the woods while being chased by an evil entity that you can't see but you know is there is terrifying especially when the characters have all been separated and have to deal with the situation alone.

Norm de Plume

The mirror scene?

Oh man, JC, this is a toughie. So many to choose from. Do you mean split-second jump scares or slow-building frights?

Norm de Plume

If that's the criterion, then the ending of the original The Vanishing probably takes the cake.
I don't know why so many people hate B.W.P. I'm one of those who finds it highly effective.

Hazel Motes

cleaver

The closest a scene has ever come to making me piss myself

JumpCutz

It's entirely up to you Norm. It could be a quick edit or a prolonged sequence.

Speaking of which, the Richard Jaekel sequence in "Sometimes a Great Notion" makes me incredibly anxious each time. It hasn't lost it's impact one iota all these years later.

TheySentYou

@ the 5:00 mark. I don't even get what the hell is going on. cheap creepy flick called Tourist Trap.