Top 20 Horror Movie Scenes That Were Terrifying to Film

“Midsommar” (2019)
Horror films, by definition, are designed to frighten. Does this necessarily mean that the actors are going to be prepared for everything that might happen on-set? Jack Reynor spoke to “Collider” in 2019 to promote “Midsommar,” and laid this misconception to rest. The actor described the atmosphere on set as both “dark” and “unsettling” when it came time to film his scene inside of a bear skin. Reynor admitted that he was terrified during this climactic finale, and challenged audiences’ perceptions about the reality of movie-making, and its emotional effects upon performers.

“Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers” (1988)
Home video extras for famous movies can be very revealing when it comes to on-set mishaps. Ellie Cornell was interviewed in 2013 for a featurette documenting the making of “Halloween 4.” This somewhat underrated sequel featured a scene where Cornell’s character of Rachel Carruthers has to slide down a roof alongside her foster sister Jamie Lloyd, played by Danielle Harris. Cornell revealed how she was unaware of how slippery the shingles were on this fake roof that was constructed for the scene. The actor ended up falling and cutting herself on an errant staple in the structure, a fall that necessitated quick thinking and quicker stitches.

“Prometheus” (2012)
Actor Noomi Rapace told “Wired” in 2012 that the emergency C-section scene in “Prometheus” “messed me up completely.” This bit of self-surgery was a knowing homage to Ridley Scott’s original “Alien” from 1979, with Rapace seeking to utilize as little CGI as possible for the scene. This decision proved to be the correct one, since the panic and fear are palpable behind Rapace’s performance. It’s a race against time to stop the growing alien creature from fully incubating itself inside Dr. Elizabeth Shaw. And the end results offer a grim parallel to human childbirth, albeit with the most inhuman of lethal parasites.

“Incident in a Ghostland” (2018)
The promotional poster for this film unfortunately mirrors a real-life accident that traumatized star Taylor Hickson. During one scene, the young Canadian actress was instructed to pound on a glass door, but the pane broke, and she fell through the shards. She was cut so badly that she required 70 stitches, and she later sued the production company for the damage caused to her face. Incident Productions Inc. eventually pled guilty to workplace safety violations and paid a $40,000 penalty. That was probably cold comfort for Hickson, who was left with permanent scars.

“The Silence of the Lambs” (1991)
Sometimes, an actor needs to go to certain places in order to properly step into the shoes of a role. Sir Anthony Hopkins succeeded at doing exactly that when it came to portraying Dr. Hannibal Lecter in 1991’s “The Silence of the Lambs.” In fact, co-star Jodie Foster was left shaken after her on-screen appearances with Hopkins. This trepidation and nervousness definitely translates to the screen, since Foster’s character of Clarice Starling also feels uneasy with Lecter. It was a match made in heaven (or maybe hell) when it came to adapting Thomas Harris’s novel.

“Hereditary” (2018)
In a 2018 promotional interview, actor Alex Wolff revealed just how deeply the horror ran on the set of Ari Aster’s “Hereditary.” Wolff claimed that the film “seeps in your bones,” while detailing how physical it was to shoot. When it came time for him to film a scene where he freaks out in class and breaks his nose on a desk, Wolff was told that the prop in question would be padded. However, he was surprised to find that the padding was minimal, and the scene left Wolff bloodied and shaken for real, with a severe cut on his knee, a swollen ankle, and a numb arm.

“The Blair Witch Project” (1999)
There were a lot of improvised moments in 1999’s “The Blair Witch Project,” as well as a number of moments where the actors were legitimately caught off guard. Their reactions to being lost in the woods, for example, were genuine, as was the nighttime sequence of a tent attack. The lack of a fully fleshed out shooting script meant that not all of the actors knew that the tent shake was coming, or that the sounds of children’s voices would be played all around them during the scene. What audiences wound up seeing on screen, as a result, felt visceral, unpredictable and, well, scary!

“Maximum Overdrive” (1986)
This rare directorial effort from Stephen King is largely seen today through a more comedic lens. That said, this lawnmower scene felt quite scary for one of the film’s young actors, Holter Graham. “Maximum Overdrive” was shot prior to the prevalence of CGI, meaning this machine was very real. Although it was remote controlled, its operator lost control of it during filming and it began running wild for real. Similarly real were Graham’s fearful reactions to the contraption, while things got even worse for the film’s cinematographer, Armando Nannuzzi. He lost an eye as a result of wooden splinters being shot out of the lawnmower after it chopped up a block that was serving as a camera support.

“The Exorcist” (1973)
There were a number of injuries and surprises on the set of “The Exorcist.” Jason Miller, for example, wasn’t acting when he received a face-full of projectile-vomited pea soup. Meanwhile, both Ellen Burstyn and Linda Blair suffered back injuries while working on the film. The former was hurt by a cable held by a crew member who pulled her down to the floor too hard. Blair, for her part, was injured by an improperly secured bed harness. Her resulting screams during a possession sequence are therefore quite real, and the actor wound up developing scoliosis as a result of her ordeal.

“It” (1990)
Call us crazy, but we don’t think the child actors in the 1990 adaptation of Stephen King’s “It” needed to try very hard to act scared of Tim Curry’s Pennywise. This dancing clown entered the nightmares of a certain generation almost immediately after “It” aired on television. The fright was also palpable with young actor Tony Dakota, who played Georgie in the film. Curry regaled audiences at 2017’s Fan Expo about how Dakota actually broke character during a take of the scene, because he was so terrified of Pennywise’s toothy and malevolent visage.

“The Green Inferno” (2013)
Eli Roth decided to pay homage to the Italian cannibal flicks he adored with 2013’s “The Green Inferno.” Unfortunately, this film almost crossed the line into actual on-screen death. We’re speaking specifically of a scene where lead Lorenza Izzo nearly drowned while attempting to escape her cannibal captors. Roth and Izzo had arranged a safe word should the actress be in any real danger. However, Roth told Yahoo in 2015 how the noise of the water prevented him from hearing Izzo’s pleas, while the latter was clinging for dear life to a rock. What’s even crazier is that some of the footage remains in the final cut of this scene.

“Scream” (1996)
We all know that prop weapons are common in the movie business, but the word “prop” doesn’t necessarily mean “harmless.” Skeet Ulrich and Melissa Barrera both found this out, albeit decades apart, during the filming of the 1996 and 2022 iterations of “Scream.” Barrera was nearly sliced by a real knife that was part of a set of both rubber and harder-edged versions. Ulrich, meanwhile, was accidentally stabbed with a prop umbrella with a retractable tip. The actor’s reactions were left in the final cut, too, as Neve Campbell jammed Ulrich with the umbrella in a section of his chest that was left unprotected by a safety vest.

“The Monster Squad” (1987)
Actress Ashley Bank didn’t require much coaxing in order to get a proper scream out of her during the filming of 1987’s “The Monster Squad.” This cult classic featured a bevy of famous monsters, from a gross Gill-man and wicked werewolf to a very convincing Count Dracula. Bank starred in the film as a child actor, while Duncan Regehr’s Dracula is fully menacing and ready to make an impression. Put those two together, and you have a scene where Bank’s required screams were reportedly achieved in a single take.

“The Shining” (1980)
Director Stanley Kubrick became infamous for his terrible on-set behavior during the filming of “The Shining.” True, the end results went on to become a horror classic, but this didn’t occur without a cost. We’re speaking specifically about star Shelley Duvall, and how Kubrick made her shoot the notorious bat sequence a hundred and twenty-seven times. This went far beyond perfectionism, and was instead designed to drive Duvall to near madness. Kubrick succeeded, and you can see it on screen with Duvall’s wide-eyed stare and hoarse screams. It’s a sequence where the audience, whether they like it or not, become witnesses to abuse.

“Psycho” (1960)
An interview with star Janet Leigh from a 1984 issue of “Women’s World” magazine provided an interesting bit of insight into one of horror cinema’s most iconic scenes. Leigh told the magazine that she basically quit showering altogether in the aftermath of “Psycho,” and instead stuck to baths. Leigh also mentioned how she allegedly received some disturbing attention from fans that took their “Psycho” obsessions a bit too far. The actor stressed that, if she absolutely had to shower, then she made sure that she was facing the door, with the shower curtain open. You know… just in case.

“Alien” (1979)
Here’s a question: how does a director ensure that they’re receiving the proper, visceral responses from their actors? Well, in the case of Ridley Scott and “Alien,” you just don’t fill them in on what’s going to happen next. Veronica Cartwright knew that something was going to happen when the Xenomorph emerged from the chest of her co-star, John Hurt. That said, Cartwright’s frightened exclamations are very real, a gut-reaction to the wild special effects that are occurring before her eyes. It’s a bit of trivia that, once you know, makes the scene all the more intense.

“The Birds” (1963)
Alfred Hitchcock was another famous and influential director with very specific ideas about what he wanted on screen, and how far he would go to achieve those goals. Tippi Hedren’s dream of working with Hitchcock turned into a nightmare on the set of “The Birds.” This 1963 classic featured an attack sequence in an attic that used real birds instead of fake mechanical substitutes. This was despite Hitch knowing full well about Hedren’s real-life fear of the creatures. Hedren spent a week having frightened birds hurled at her by crew members standing out of frame and received plenty of cuts and bruises for her trouble. The ordeal was so exhausting, a doctor ordered her to take a week of bed rest afterward.

“Poltergeist” (1982)
The plot of this film involves a haunted house built on a Native American burial ground, but did the usage of real skeletons during a pool scene contribute to the franchise being cursed? Well, that depends upon how deeply you believe in the supernatural, but there’s no denying that the performance of JoBeth Williams during this scene is frighteningly realistic. Surprisingly, though, it wasn’t until years later that Williams was informed that those decomposed remains in the pool were just that: real actual human skeletons! It makes the scene a hundred times more terrifying in retrospect.

“The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” (1974)
The background stories around the production of “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” are legend at this point. From the heat and the smell to the stress of completing this mob-financed exploitation horror film, it seemed as if everything was stacked against director Tobe Hooper and crew. The film’s climax sees Gunnar Hansen’s Leatherface falling to the ground and suffering a nasty injury. The actor was wearing a metal plate, so as not to get cut once the chainsaw sliced into his leg. However, the speed of the machine turned that metal plate so hot, that it gave Hansen a nasty burn. That scream you hear in Hooper’s finished cut? Yeah, that’s not fake.

“The Last House on the Left” (1972)
It can be an endurance test for those watching Wes Craven’s controversial 1972 horror classic for the first time. This is gritty and grimy exploitation horror filmmaking that was originally intended to be a full-blown adult feature, right down to the casting of industry performers such as Fred Lincoln. It would be co-star Sandra Peabody that nearly walked off the film, however, thanks to the method performance of star David Hess, with whom Peabody shot a disturbing scene of assault. This sequence was so harrowing, and Peabody’s experience so negative, that the actress eventually left the screen for more backstage roles in coaching and production.