Top Ten Film Moments That Haunt Me: Silver Screen Serenade

So Cara from Silver Screen Serenade went with something slightly different for her top ten list today. Cara has an awesome blog that features a whole lot of stuff and a really cool review layout, and hosted the Resolutions 2014 blogathon earlier this year which was a cool thing to get involved in and get up, be productive and watch those movies you have been putting off for such a long time! Also, she is the winner of Shitfest: Winter (2014)! Definitely worth looking into and a lot of fun, I now move over to give you Cara’s top ten!

Should you be interested in submitting a Top Ten list, draw up a list of either your top ten personal favourite movies or a top ten list by a specific genre/theme and send it along to me at sporadiczoe@hotmail.com. Hope to see a few more lists!

Top 10 Film Moments That Haunt Me

I don’t know about you guys, but I love scary movies. For me, the thrill of a well-done horror is one of the best thrills you can get. Great horrors get your heart racing, your blood pumping, and your brain churning—all things that can keep you wide-eyed and terrified when you go to bed, but it’s a risk that you have to run. The following ten film moments may not be the scariest moments to everyone, but they’re the ones that send a chill down my spine just thinking about them.

10: The Doll Family (Insidious)

Insidious may not be the scariest movie out there, but you’ve got to admit that it has some fairly freaky moments. This is arguably the freakiest of them. Concerned father Josh has entered the ghostly realm of The Further to search for his lost son, and he comes across a family with strange, doll-like faces. Their eerie history plays out in front of him, and then they all pop up to say hello to Josh with unnatural smiles. Eeeeeek!

 9: In the Corner (The Blair Witch Project)

It certainly takes a lot of time before we get to anything truly scary in The Blair Witch Project, but this tense, creepy scene makes for quite a finale. Heather and Mike go inside a spooky house in search of their lost friend. However, the two are eventually separated, and Heather later comes to the basement to find Mike standing in a corner—where the Blair Witch liked to send her victims before she killed them. The camera cuts out shortly after that, but it’s easy to guess what happens. The idea of it leaves you a little chilled…

 8: Lawn Work (Sinister)

Aside from the very top moment, this is the creepiest film moment I’ve ever experienced in a movie theater (the other films I watched in the safety of my own home). True-crime writer Ellison finds a box of 8mm home movies in his new house, and, to his horror, each one shows grisly family murders.  The film labeled “Lawn Work” is the worst of these, showing a lawnmower moving in the dark and eventually coming to a tied-up body…It doesn’t show anything, but you can guess what happens. The moment sneaks up, leaving both the viewers and Ellison thoroughly shaken and a little sick.

 7: The Twins (The Shining)

Ah, the twins. What on Earth would we do without them? Arguably the scariest twins in the history of scary twins (a long history, I’m sure), these gals scare the bejesus out of poor Danny Torrance, who only wants to ride his trike. Danny rounds the corner to find these ghostly young ladies standing down the hall, speaking at the same time and in the same tone and staring at him with their matching dead eyes…Brrrr. Did it just get colder in here?

The Shining Honorable Mention: The Typewriter

This is a worthy moment that I had to mention. Wendy Torrance discovers the depths of her husband Jack’s insanity when she sees what he’s been writing: one sentence over and over again. Creepy to the max.

 6: The Crawlers (The Descent)

One of my very favorite creature features, The Descent also has one of my top scary moments. When a group of tough ladies goes on a spelunking trip to a series of unexplored caves, they soon find themselves trapped and pursued by creepy, dangerous predators. The film dubs these beasties “crawlers,” and they are humanlike, but extremely pale and basically sightless. Oh yeah, and they have the munchies for raw flesh. The first time you see one of these nasty buggers via night vision, it’ll give you a major case of the willies.

 5: Toca la Pared (The Orphanage)

Spanish horror The Orphanage (aka El Orfanato) has been one of my absolute favorite scary films for some time. The premise is just too cool: Laura moves into her old orphanage with her husband and son, hoping to fix the place up and make it into a home for disabled children. But ghosts of the orphans—the kids Laura grew up with—linger. At one point, she decides to play a game with these ghosts—a game they played when she was little. It’s called “toca la pared,” or “knock on the wall,” and it is the most terrifying game ever. That’s all I’m sayin’.

The Orphanage Honorable Mention: The Mask

Another one I simply must mention: any time we see the above mask, which I’m pretty sure was once a burlap sack used to tote around nightmares, children’s tears, and the spawn of Satan. Just guessing, though.

 4: Samara Says Hello (The Ring)

 

A unique horror tale of a video tape that kills, The Ring as a whole is pretty freaky, but all of its other scary moments combined do not add up to the terrifying final minutes of the film, when angry ghost child Samara crawls out of the damn TV to kill someone. Just the way she walks toward the camera and how she emerges from the screen, dripping and dragging herself and looking all nasty…UGH. I CAN’T.

 3: The Spider-Walk (The Exorcist)

Some people might not even be aware of this moment in The Exorcist, as I believe it’s only on the extended edition, but it just haunts me. Poor, possessed Regan has already begun to show signs of not exactly being herself, but if I recall, the spider-walk down the stairs pretty much seals the deal for her mother to seek an exorcism. It’s so unnatural and eerie that it gets me every time…

The Exorcist Honorable Mention: The Head Spin

This is probably the scariest Exorcist scene for most viewers, and it’s a very, very close second for me. Regardless of the second place ribbon I gave it, it’s one of the most iconic horror film moments. Also, one more gif because I couldn’t resist…

2: The Creature ([Rec])

This…this is the scariest creature I have ever seen in my life. [Rec] is a pretty freaky found-footage style Spanish film. If you’ve seen Quarantine, it’s basically the same thing, but the creature at the end of [Rec] is much, MUCH scarier. TV reporter Ángela has found her way to a secret room in the apartment complex where she is quarantined due to the outbreak of a mysterious disease. This room is where the disease began, and as Ángela and her cameraman look around, the creature pops up. The way it looks and the way it moves…Oh man. Again, I just CAN’T. Literally, I almost couldn’t watch the end.

 1: The Possession (Paranormal Activity)

I’m sure plenty of people would disagree, but for me this is the scary moment. Poor Katie and her idiot boyfriend Micah have been tormented by an angry demon for quite a while, and bit by bit it has been chipping away at Katie’s nerves until finally she’s vulnerable enough for it to take hold—and boy does it take hold. Katie has completely gone over the edge in the final moments of the film, and after a dramatic finale with lots of staring and yelling and violence, Katie sneaks in for a final close-up, and her face…changes. Creeps. Me. Out. It’s such a tense moment that sometimes I can’t even stand to watch it.

Paranormal Activity Honorable Mention: Katie Gets Dragged

Though the very end of Paranormal Activity is the moment that gets me the most, this is another scary one. Suddenly, the demon takes on a much more physical role, actually dragging Katie out of bed. It’s enough to make you wrap yourself up tight in bed and sleep with a light on.