Ethan Morris,
Oct 27, 2006
Editor's Note: Visit our Halloween page for more tricks and treats, the costume and horror classics photo galleries, and our own scariest movies.
It's Halloween, and the pressure is on in the blogosphere for everyone to come up with their pick for the all-time scariest movie. A pretty tall order when you think about it. I mean, what makes a movie scary? Is it the suspense? The number of times you jump out of your seat? Or should it be based on blood and gore and body count?
How is any true movie fan supposed to come up with just one single movie and call it "the scariest? So instead of coming up with an absolute scariest flick, I've compiled my personal list of the scariest movie moments.
- Scariest Beginning: Jaws (1975) You don't even see the shark (and you don't have to) as it devours its first victim. I don't know if it's the look on her face when she's yanked under the water, or her blood-curdling and water-gurgling screams as she's thrashed about, but the start of this movie sets the terrifying tone for the rest of this film.
- Scariest Death: Psycho (1960) No, not the shower scene! I'm talking about when Norman Bates kills the private detective played by Martin Balsam. Hitchcock lures you into a false sense of security, then hits you when you least suspect it. Shot amazingly from almost directly overhead, this is one scary scene that will stick with me for a lifetime.
- Scariest Surprise: The Shining (1980) "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." Wendy Torrance (Shelley Duvall) discovers the true depth of her husband's insanity after finding his manuscript is nothing but page after page of this twisted mantra. The rest of the movie's pretty damned scary too, btw.
- Scariest Chase: Silence of the Lambs (1991) The climactic cellar scene in Jame Gumb's house. When the lights go out, the terror begins as the serial killer hunts Clarice Starling with night vision goggles. After I saw this movie the first time, I took a girl to it knowing she'd let me put my arm around her for this frightening finale.
- Scariest Villain: Silence of the Lambs (1991) Hands down, Hannibal Lecter is the scariest bad guy around. Chillingly charming one moment, eating your flesh the next. "Ready when you are, Sergeant Pembry."
- Scariest Twist: When a Stranger Calls (1979) "We've traced the call ... it's coming from inside the house." This is what I like to call a "Holy Crap" moment: when the babysitter discovers the terrifying calls urging her to "check the children" are being made by the killer right upstairs.
- Scariest Monster: Alien (1979) It grows in your stomach, has acid for blood, and a set of teeth within teeth. This creature set the standard for space monsters for the next 20 years. And if the scene where it gets Tom Skerrit doesn't scare you ... well, you're a robot.
- Scariest Attack: A Tie: Jaws (1975) and Jurassic Park (1993) I don't know which is scarier, when the shark eats Quint, or when the T-Rex nearly devours the children in the jeep. Spielberg gets credit for both, so what's the diff?
- Scariest Nurse: Misery (1990) Not your typical movie category, I grant you. But Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates) is deserving based on nothing more than the scene where she calmly explains the process of "hobbling" to Paul Sheldon (James Caan), then demonstrates it using a sledge hammer on his ankles.
- Scariest Ending: The Blair Witch Project (1999) Pure brilliance & terror. Just as I was getting sick of the screaming and shaky camera work, Heather ends up in the basement of the abandoned house to find Michael standing in the corner. If you paid attention at the beginning of the movie, you know exactly what it means. It doesn't get any freakier than that!
Check out these classic, scary trailers, and give us your vote on which you think is scariest:
Friday the 13th
Psycho
The Omen
Carrie
