Top 10 Horror Movie Moments That Left Us SPEECHLESS
#10: The Sunken Place
Top 20 Movie Moments That Left us SPEECHLESS
“Get Out” (2017) Although there are warning signs that things are not what they seem in his potential in-laws’ house, Chris doesn’t truly understand the evil at play until he goes to the “Sunken Place.” He first encounters the mind-bending and oppressive void during a particularly harrowing and sadistic hypnotism session with his girlfriend’s mother. His consciousness becomes totally divorced from his body, and he can only watch through his own eyes like a fading screen in the dark. Even for a viewer who didn’t get the metaphors in writer-director Jordan Peele’s social commentary, the “Sunken Place” is a visceral, oppressively bleak, and terrifying experience.
#9: Jigsaw Reveals Himself
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“Saw” (2004) It’s a twist that launched a franchise. When Adam and Dr. Gordon wake up chained to toilets in a filthy bathroom, the corpse on the floor is almost an afterthought. He’s there so long that in the middle of all the torture and flashbacks, it’s kind of easy to forget about him. It’s only after Gordon literally saws off his own foot that the corpse reveals himself to be alive. And not only is he alive, he’s actually the gravel-voiced mastermind behind this entire set-up. This jawdropper of a finale was a surprise the sequels always tried to replicate, but could never quite duplicate.
#8: The Tape
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“The Ring” (2002) In what is probably one of the great opening sequences in modern horror, “The Ring” starts with a pair of tremendous scares and a great explanation of the cursed video tape at its center. But what really disturbed viewers was the tape itself. We don’t get to actually see the curious sounds and images until Rachel, the journalist investigating the tape, watches it. At first glance, some of the footage is more confusing than scary, but it’s so anxiety-inducing with its trees on fire, creepy noises, and little girls crawling out of wells. By the end, we, like Rachel, feel like we’ve just gotten a glimpse of something we should never have seen.
#7: What Have You Done to His Eyes?
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“Rosemary’s Baby” (1968) Apartments usually have a few quirks, but this one has secret passageways and a Satanic cult instead of a condo association. In the last sequence of this paranoid horror classic, Rosemary is a new mother whose baby was born under duplicitous and downright evil circumstances. She finds her husband and neighbors in a secret room standing around her baby’s bassinet, and is shocked at her newborn’s appearance. In the movie’s greatest stroke of genius, we never actually see the baby. We only see Rosemary’s look of horror and hear the terrible question. [insert “What have you done to it?”] But the final gut punch is how she overcomes her fear and takes her place as the mother of Satan’s child.
#6: The Penthouse
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“Rec” (2007) This low-budget Spanish hit follows a news crew who have been unwittingly quarantined in an apartment building with people infected with a mysterious virus. Escaping from the infected hordes, the pair flee to the top floor penthouse where they learn the truth. But even here there’s no hope. We’re forced to watch shaky night vision footage of their chilling last moments as the monstrous patient zero closes in, dispatches one of them, and then drags the other into the darkness. The details of her fate are left open, but the result is pretty clear. Combining our primal fear of the dark and the unpolished creepiness of found footage, it’s a bleak and heartstopping climax.
#5: Chestburster
“Alien” (1979) This is one of sci-fi horror’s greatest shocks. The first appearance of the chestburster alien is not only true to its name, it’s also a marvel of practical effects. As the crew of the Nostromo celebrate Kane’s apparent recovery from having an alien surgically removed from his face, an unexpected guest crashes the party. It also crashes right through Kane’s ribcage. More than just a jump scare, it’s a moment that comes seemingly out of nowhere and reveals yet another terrifying feature of the eponymous alien. This blood-covered reptilian is a lingering image that has us forever second-guessing every stomach cramp.
#4: Ben Is Killed
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“Night of the Living Dead” (1968) George Romero’s grindhouse classic was not for the faint of heart, and definitely not for moviegoers who want happy endings. After watching every other character get dragged into devouring hordes of undead ghouls, Ben is the last remaining survivor in an abandoned farmhouse. But once safety arrives in the form of a gun-toting mob, Ben is mistaken for one of the zombies and shot in the head. Many critics have identified the montage of grainy photographs of bodies being burned and the racial dynamics at play in Ben’s death as a sobering reflection of real-world violence.
#3: Charlie’s Death
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“Hereditary” (2018) Writer-director Ari Aster’s first feature found a million different ways to ratchet up the tension. 13-year-old Charlie Graham is positioned as the movie’s focal character. At least, until she has an allergic reaction and, through a wild confluence of events, is decapitated by a telephone pole. It’s a brutal scene that is played at breakneck speed, no pun intended. Her brother’s fugue state and her mother’s desperate howls of grief afterward hang over us the entire time. Given that it only happens a third of the way in, Charlie’s death lets us know that no one in this story is safe. It’s only the first stop on a breathless nightmare.
#2: Seconds from Rescue
“The Mist” (2007) When you go into a creature feature like this, it usually ends one of two ways. Either the military gets their act together and slays the monsters, or everyone dies. This gnarly Stephen King adaptation somehow does both at the same time. Stranded in a car, David and the other survivors decide to end their lives, including that of David’s young son, rather than meet a painful demise in the tentacles of the fog-dwelling monsters. Moments after the deed is done and only David is left alive, the military suddenly arrives. Realizing they were only minutes from rescue and the sacrifice was for nothing, a horrified David breaks down in the middle of the road. Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
The Abandoned House, “The Blair Witch Project” (1999)
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Zelda, “Pet Sematary” (1989)
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Burned Alive, “The Wicker Man” (1973)
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Christine Meets Her Fate, “Drag Me to Hell” (2009)
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Angela’s Identity Revealed, “Sleepaway Camp” (1983)
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#1: “She Wouldn’t Even Harm a Fly”
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“Psycho” (1960) Audiences in 1960 were stunned by the climax, which sees the mild-mannered motel proprietor Norman Bates unmasked as the killer. The twist is now legendary, but even more affecting is the monologue at the movie’s close. It may be Norman sitting alone in that cell, but it’s Mother’s voice in his head. Her insistence that she wouldn’t even harm a fly is a chill-inducing counterpoint to Norman’s complete break with reality. Anthony Perkins’ wordless performance is subtle, sad, and so creepy. If the scene weren’t eerie enough, Hitchcock’s brilliant idea to superimpose Mother’s skull over Norman’s face adds the perfect finishing touch.
