Top 10 Movie Scenes That Will Always Be CREEPY

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most unsettling movie scenes that will always creep us out – no matter how much time passes. And beware, skin crawling spoilers lie ahead. What creepy movie scene will always send shivers down your spine? Share your visually scarring picks in the comments below!

#10: Linda’s Possession

“The Evil Dead” (1981)

Sam Rami's first “Evil Dead” flick may have been made on a low budget – especially compared to the franchise’s many sequels, but that doesn’t make it any less unnerving! In fact, one moment will always send shivers down our spine. With protagonist Ash William’s night off to a nightmarish start, things go from bad to worse when his girlfriend, Linda, is turned into a Deadite. Her transformation from Ash’s sweet girlfriend into a cackling demon resembling a possessed doll is incredibly jarring. Linda’s white eyes, distorted voice, and shrieking laughter remains just as deeply disturbing all these decades later.

#9: Red Coat Reveal

“Don’t Look Now” (1973)

The Donald Sutherland-starring psychological thriller "Don't Look Now" follows a couple grieving their daughter’s death. When they head to Venice, they begin to encounter a series of eerie occurrences. The film plays with many motifs and symbolisms throughout, especially as it relates to the color red. Come the film’s close, the father, John, catches up with the red-hooded figure whom he has had numerous prior glimpses of. Could this be a lost child? Or, somehow, his own? Nope – it’s a repulsive-looking deformed little person with a meat cleaver! This wholly unexpected (not to mention brutal) ending will always leave us unsettled to the core.

#8: Clown Doll Attack

“Poltergeist” (1982)

Let’s face it, clowns are creepy enough on their own, but 1982’s "Poltergeist" took their creep-factor up a notch. It’s all thanks to a scene where young Robbie, before going to bed, notices that his clown doll is not where it should be. He looks under the bed but sees nothing. Phew! When Robbie gets up though, the doll is suddenly behind him. The terrifying clown proceeds to grab him, before dragging him under the bed – all with elongated arms. This sequence expertly taps into our childhood fears and remains one of cinema's most memorable scares – giving us serious chills every time we watch it!

#7: Demon in the Bedroom

“Insidious” (2010)

Upon its release, James Wan’s "Insidious" breathed new life into the supernatural horror genre with several terrifying scenes. Of course, one particularly terrifying moment continues to haunt our nightmares to this day. When Lorraine relates a terrible dream she had, we are served up creepy flashes of her visions. This includes a menacing demon in the corner of her grandson Dalton’s room. It’s incredibly unsettling, but the frights don’t end there. When Lorraine looks over at Josh, she sees the now-infamous red-faced demon behind him. The suddenness of it all, combined with the demon’s creep-tastic stare, makes this jump scare extremely effective!

#6: Tall Man Approaches

“It Follows” (2014)

"It Follows" introduced us to one of cinema's most unsettling concepts — an unrelenting entity that is passed between people through sexual encounters. Clearly a metaphor for sexually transmitted diseases, the entity takes on a variety of creepy forms throughout the movie. Creepiest of them all, however, is the entity’s “tall man” persona, played by the late Mike Lanier. Seemingly emerging from out of nowhere, he strikes fear with his giant frame, not to mention gouged-out eyeballs! Making the situation even more disturbing is the fact that our protagonist, Jay, can never outrun him. It’s a visual we’ll never be able to shake, no matter how hard we try!

#5: Pennywise in The Gutter

“It” (2017)

Remember what we said earlier about clowns being creepy? Well, we can all thank Stephen King's creation, Pennywise, for further cementing our collective fear of clowns. Everyone who read the original novel or saw the 1990 miniseries knew Georgie’s fate going into 2017’s “It” film adaptation. It doesn’t make it any less disturbing though. Looking down a storm drain for his paper boat, little Georgie finds a pair of yellow eyes staring back at him instead. Maybe it’s the sinister grin, or actor Bill Skarsgård's playfully haunting read, but this scene will never not creep us out! Afterall, it preys on childhood innocence, only to lead to unspeakable brutality.

#4: Crawling Out of the TV

“The Ring (2002)”

Adapted from the Japanese horror film “Ringu” - itself based on a novel, "The Ring" introduced North American audiences to the concept of a cursed videotape. What’s so scary about that? Well, for starters, it brings death to anyone who watches it! There is also the ominous girl seen in the video, Samara. Audiences were in shock when they witnessed the grisly girl rise from a well (her watery grave) in the video. Oh, but the horror didn’t stop there. Samara also crawled through the TV screen and into reality. The static noise coupled with Samara’s disjointed movements created an entirely new level of fear regarding technology-based hauntings. It’s a creepy visual we have yet to truly recover from.

#3: Hallway Encounter

“The Shining” (1980)

Who are we kidding, the entirety of Stanley Kubrick’s film adaptation of Stephen King’s "The Shining” is creepy! However, among the countless hair-raising moments and ax attacks, there is one sequence that will always make us uncomfortable in the worst way. It all goes down when Danny encounters twin girls at the end of the hotel hallway. Their synchronized speech inviting him to play “forever” is incredibly chilling. And thanks to Danny’s psychic flashes of bloody corpses, the palpable dread continues to resonate in cultural psyches everywhere! If you look up “creepy kids” in an online dictionary, you best believe there will be a link sending you directly to this scene! At least there should be…

#2: Basement of Horrors

“The Blair Witch Project” (1999)

"The Blair Witch Project” not only popularized the found-footage style of filmmaking but also left audiences questioning what was real and what wasn’t upon its release. As you might imagine, this led to a sense of dread throughout the film. It all culminated with one heck of a creepy conclusion that still unnerves us today. When Heather and Mike stumble upon an abandoned house in search of their missing colleague, they find their way to the home’s basement. When Heather discovers Mike facing a corner, an unseen force attacks. It’s chillingly ambiguous – and it will continually leave us deeply unsettled as we try to piece together just what happened to these poor people.

#1: Head Spin

“The Exorcist” (1973)

William Friedkin’s classic “The Exorcist” is chock full of unspeakable, and in some cases un-showable, acts of horror. Let’s just say there’s a good reason why it’s widely considered as the scariest film ever made. However, amidst all the shocking and graphic content, there is one scene that continuously creeps us out more than the rest. And while Regan’s backwards crabwalk down the stairs is pure nightmare fuel, it’s her viscerally disturbing head spin that always does us in. Turning her head a full 360 degrees, we are given an unsettling look at the pure evil that runs through Reagan’s body. Five decades later and the sequence still has us squirming in our boots – and likely forever will!