10 Movie Scenes Too Disturbing to Forget
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VOICE OVER: Tom Aglio
WRITTEN BY: Lindsey Clouse
Prepare to be haunted by the most spine-chilling movie scenes that will forever be etched in your memory. From gruesome executions to demonic possessions, these unforgettable moments will leave you sleepless and questioning your sanity. Our countdown includes shocking scenes from iconic films like "Alien," "The Exorcist," "Raiders of the Lost Ark," "Hereditary," and more! These are the moments that have traumatized audiences and become legendary in cinema history. Which disturbing movie scene has stayed with you forever? Let us know in the comments.
Top 10 Disturbing Movie Scenes That Will Stay With You FOREVER
Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the film scenes that will haunt you long after the credits roll. Some of these involve major plot points, so there will be spoilers ahead.
This 2007 film from director Frank Darabont is based on a Stephen King novella. It revolves around a group of people trapped in a supermarket as a mysterious fog filled with terrifying monsters descends on the town. The protagonist, David, manages to escape in his car with his young son Billy and a few other people. Eventually they run out of gas. Knowing what horrors await them in the mist, David shoots his son and fellow passengers to spare them a more agonizing death. And that’s not even the most disturbing part. Moments later, the military arrives, transporting survivors to safety, and we learn that David murdered his own child for no reason.
We’ve seen Dr. Lecter do some terrible things to people, but this one tops them all. After breaking into the house of a Justice Department official named Paul Krendler, Hannibal drugs the man and slices off the top of his head. Clarice Starling, who is also trapped in the house with them, is forced to watch as Lecter cuts out a piece of Krendler’s brain, sautés it, and feeds it to the still-conscious man. It’s gruesome and terrifying, and Ray Liotta’s incredible performance in the scene makes it that much worse. It’s a stark reminder that as much as we might love watching Hannibal, he’s still the villain.
Another Stephen King adaptation, most of this film isn’t scary at all, but this nightmarish scene is the exception. Eduard Delacroix is a sweet and gentle man on death row at a 1930s Louisiana prison. Percy is a sadistic prison guard who brutally bullies Del and even kills his pet mouse. When it’s Del’s turn to ride the lightning, Percy intentionally botches his execution, just to see what will happen. The results are horrific. Del screams, jerks, and writhes as the electricity courses through him. When his body catches fire, the witnesses panic and stampede toward the door. Even Percy is shocked by what he sees. It’s one of the most disturbing execution scenes ever put to film.
The setup for this scene is almost as disturbing as the scene itself. Earlier in the film, Rent Boy and his friends discover that an infant has died of neglect while they were all high on heroin. Shockingly, this isn’t enough to convince Rent Boy to get clean. Later, after he overdoses and nearly dies, his parents lock him in his room to force him to quit. As he goes through withdrawal, he has unnerving hallucinations, including seeing the baby crawling on the ceiling. If this scene alone doesn’t convince you to stay away from drugs, nothing will.
We could have picked any of the crime scenes from this movie for our list. The sloth victim’s emaciated body suddenly coming to life scared the pants off everyone in the room and everyone in the audience. And although we’re spared a good look at the lust victim, her killer’s traumatized interrogation is enough. But the final scene of “Se7en” is famous for a reason. We don’t even have to see what’s in the box. The score, the slowly building tension, and the brilliant performances from all three actors combine to make the scene as perfect as it is harrowing.
It’s probably no coincidence that there are so many Stephen King adaptations on this list. The man is the master of the disturbing, after all. In this 1990 classic, James Caan plays writer Paul Sheldon, who gets into a bad car accident and is rescued by a deranged superfan named Annie. Determined to keep him with her at all costs, Annie incapacitates Paul by breaking his ankles with a sledgehammer. It’s impossible to watch the scene without cringing in your seat. In King’s original novel, Annie hobbles Paul by cutting off his foot, but we’d argue that the movie scene, with its bone-crunching sound effects, is even more unsettling.
Honestly, every scene in this movie is disturbing, but none more so than the ending, when the demon cult gathers in the family treehouse to worship their leader. The sight of reanimated corpses praying to a child’s head on a statue is bad enough. But it’s Colin Stetson’s incredible score that really puts it over the top. The music is loud and triumphant, as if the movie is celebrating the demon’s victory. “Midsommar,” Ari Aster’s follow-up to “Hereditary,” also deserves a shout-out for its gruesome imagery, especially the scene in which two cult members sacrifice themselves by jumping from a cliff.
If you watched this movie as a kid, you probably weren’t prepared for it to turn into a full-on horror flick in the climactic scene. All the blood and violence leading up to it is much tamer, as you’d expect in a classic action-adventure film. By the end, René Belloq and the Nazis achieve their goal: they recover the Ark of the Covenant and take it to a secret location to test its powers. But the spirits that emerge from the Ark aren’t friendly. They wreak all kinds of havoc on the group, including melting off a couple of Nazi faces in a shot that gave a lot of 80s kids nightmares.
A lot of older horror movies don’t hold up well today, since modern audiences are more jaded and tougher to scare. That’s not true of “The Exorcist.” You could probably hit pause at random just about anywhere in the movie and find a scene that’s worthy of our list. But of all the freaky images in this movie, we think the sight of Regan’s head rotating 180 degrees is the freakiest. She first shows off this horrifying new talent to her mother in an early display of the demon’s true power. Later, as the two priests attempt to exorcize it, she repeats the trick, and it’s even more spine-chilling the second time around.
If you’re a big horror fan, you’ve probably seen this clip dozens of times, but that doesn’t make it any less disturbing. It certainly terrified audiences at the time. When the film was released, some theater owners reportedly complained that the scene made viewers sick, and they cut it from the film to reduce the cleanup needed. Contrary to rumor, the cast did know that the alien was going to pop out of John Hurt’s chest, but they had no idea how much fake blood would be involved. So those on-screen reactions are totally real. It’s a big part of what makes “Alien” an all-time iconic horror movie.
Which disturbing movie scene gave you nightmares? Let us know in the comments below.
Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the film scenes that will haunt you long after the credits roll. Some of these involve major plot points, so there will be spoilers ahead.
#10: The End
“The Mist” (2007)This 2007 film from director Frank Darabont is based on a Stephen King novella. It revolves around a group of people trapped in a supermarket as a mysterious fog filled with terrifying monsters descends on the town. The protagonist, David, manages to escape in his car with his young son Billy and a few other people. Eventually they run out of gas. Knowing what horrors await them in the mist, David shoots his son and fellow passengers to spare them a more agonizing death. And that’s not even the most disturbing part. Moments later, the military arrives, transporting survivors to safety, and we learn that David murdered his own child for no reason.
#9: Feeding a Man His Own Brain
“Hannibal” (2001)We’ve seen Dr. Lecter do some terrible things to people, but this one tops them all. After breaking into the house of a Justice Department official named Paul Krendler, Hannibal drugs the man and slices off the top of his head. Clarice Starling, who is also trapped in the house with them, is forced to watch as Lecter cuts out a piece of Krendler’s brain, sautés it, and feeds it to the still-conscious man. It’s gruesome and terrifying, and Ray Liotta’s incredible performance in the scene makes it that much worse. It’s a stark reminder that as much as we might love watching Hannibal, he’s still the villain.
#8: Del’s Execution
“The Green Mile” (1999)Another Stephen King adaptation, most of this film isn’t scary at all, but this nightmarish scene is the exception. Eduard Delacroix is a sweet and gentle man on death row at a 1930s Louisiana prison. Percy is a sadistic prison guard who brutally bullies Del and even kills his pet mouse. When it’s Del’s turn to ride the lightning, Percy intentionally botches his execution, just to see what will happen. The results are horrific. Del screams, jerks, and writhes as the electricity courses through him. When his body catches fire, the witnesses panic and stampede toward the door. Even Percy is shocked by what he sees. It’s one of the most disturbing execution scenes ever put to film.
#7: Baby Hallucination
“Trainspotting” (1996)The setup for this scene is almost as disturbing as the scene itself. Earlier in the film, Rent Boy and his friends discover that an infant has died of neglect while they were all high on heroin. Shockingly, this isn’t enough to convince Rent Boy to get clean. Later, after he overdoses and nearly dies, his parents lock him in his room to force him to quit. As he goes through withdrawal, he has unnerving hallucinations, including seeing the baby crawling on the ceiling. If this scene alone doesn’t convince you to stay away from drugs, nothing will.
#6: “What’s in the Box?”
“Se7en” (1995)We could have picked any of the crime scenes from this movie for our list. The sloth victim’s emaciated body suddenly coming to life scared the pants off everyone in the room and everyone in the audience. And although we’re spared a good look at the lust victim, her killer’s traumatized interrogation is enough. But the final scene of “Se7en” is famous for a reason. We don’t even have to see what’s in the box. The score, the slowly building tension, and the brilliant performances from all three actors combine to make the scene as perfect as it is harrowing.
#5: Hobbling
“Misery” (1990)It’s probably no coincidence that there are so many Stephen King adaptations on this list. The man is the master of the disturbing, after all. In this 1990 classic, James Caan plays writer Paul Sheldon, who gets into a bad car accident and is rescued by a deranged superfan named Annie. Determined to keep him with her at all costs, Annie incapacitates Paul by breaking his ankles with a sledgehammer. It’s impossible to watch the scene without cringing in your seat. In King’s original novel, Annie hobbles Paul by cutting off his foot, but we’d argue that the movie scene, with its bone-crunching sound effects, is even more unsettling.
#4: Gathering in the Tree House
“Hereditary” (2018)Honestly, every scene in this movie is disturbing, but none more so than the ending, when the demon cult gathers in the family treehouse to worship their leader. The sight of reanimated corpses praying to a child’s head on a statue is bad enough. But it’s Colin Stetson’s incredible score that really puts it over the top. The music is loud and triumphant, as if the movie is celebrating the demon’s victory. “Midsommar,” Ari Aster’s follow-up to “Hereditary,” also deserves a shout-out for its gruesome imagery, especially the scene in which two cult members sacrifice themselves by jumping from a cliff.
#3: Face Melting
“Raiders of the Lost Ark” (1981)If you watched this movie as a kid, you probably weren’t prepared for it to turn into a full-on horror flick in the climactic scene. All the blood and violence leading up to it is much tamer, as you’d expect in a classic action-adventure film. By the end, René Belloq and the Nazis achieve their goal: they recover the Ark of the Covenant and take it to a secret location to test its powers. But the spirits that emerge from the Ark aren’t friendly. They wreak all kinds of havoc on the group, including melting off a couple of Nazi faces in a shot that gave a lot of 80s kids nightmares.
#2: Head Spinning
“The Exorcist” (1973)A lot of older horror movies don’t hold up well today, since modern audiences are more jaded and tougher to scare. That’s not true of “The Exorcist.” You could probably hit pause at random just about anywhere in the movie and find a scene that’s worthy of our list. But of all the freaky images in this movie, we think the sight of Regan’s head rotating 180 degrees is the freakiest. She first shows off this horrifying new talent to her mother in an early display of the demon’s true power. Later, as the two priests attempt to exorcize it, she repeats the trick, and it’s even more spine-chilling the second time around.
#1: Chestburster
“Alien” (1979)If you’re a big horror fan, you’ve probably seen this clip dozens of times, but that doesn’t make it any less disturbing. It certainly terrified audiences at the time. When the film was released, some theater owners reportedly complained that the scene made viewers sick, and they cut it from the film to reduce the cleanup needed. Contrary to rumor, the cast did know that the alien was going to pop out of John Hurt’s chest, but they had no idea how much fake blood would be involved. So those on-screen reactions are totally real. It’s a big part of what makes “Alien” an all-time iconic horror movie.
Which disturbing movie scene gave you nightmares? Let us know in the comments below.
