Top 5 Movies That Scared the Hell Out of Me

Ya’ know, since it’s Halloween coming up at the end of the month, I thought it would be appropriate to make a list of the top 5 movies that, for whatever reason, just scared the hell out of me. It may not be the entire movie, maybe it was just a particular scene/moment; they may not be the technically BEST horror movies (they may not even be strictly “horror” per se.), but just something about them had me hiding behind the pillow, jumping at every noise, looking through the cracks in my fingers, thinking about it for days afterwards, and… changing my underwear — okay, too much information…

Before I get on with the list, just know that (like every list) this is purely opinion and therefore it obviously isn’t going to match YOUR list. If a movie that you find particularly scary isn’t on my list then feel free to let us know in the comments section, but there’s no need to go crazy because “this” movie is on there and shouldn’t be, while “that” movie isn’t on there and should be.

Also, be warned that there will be SPOILERS discussed with each film, so unless you’ve seen the film or don’t mind being spoiled, you might want to just note the title and look ahead to the next film.

Okay, now that we’ve got those things out of way, let’s get on with the scary countdown!

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5. An American Werewolf in London (1981)

While I’m told I used to love watching this movie (particularly for the famous transformation scene), I didn’t properly sit down to watch it from start to finish (now grown up…) until about a couple of years ago, and boy did it scare me. All great horror movies stand the test of time and John Landis’ An American Werewolf in London is definitely one of those movies. Almost every scene that was talked about as truly frightening almost 30 years ago is no less scary today.

The diverse Landis (can you believe he made this AND Animal House?) brought us an eerie atmosphere and a great mix of on-screen horror along with off-screen that’s left to your imagination. The likability of David Naughton as our afflicted leading man makes it that much more compelling – we root for him yet he turns into this hideous monster that terrorizes and attacks people. And the special effects makeup by the legendary Rick Baker are just about unmatched with this type of thing.

Scariest Scene/Moment: There’s quite a few horrific and frightening moments to be found here (such as the repeated moments of the main character’s dead friend talking to him), but I have to give it to the famous, unforgettable scene of our leading character, David Kessler, transforming into the titular werewolf. As mentioned, the special effects makeup by Rick Baker is just astonishing and still holds up today, even after all these years. It’s one of those scenes that serves for re-watches on its own, without watching the rest of the movie. Not just to see the scene again for the effect it has, but to try and see just how technical it “goes down.” I would be very surprised if ANY werewolf movie to come will match that transformation scene.

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4. Misery (1990)

Like John Landis above, Rob Reiner is a diverse filmmaker, going from comedy with such things as This Is Spinal Tap, When Harry Met Sally; fantasy with The Princess Bride; crime/drama with A Few Good Men; and finally horror with Misery. The latter slides in at number 4 on my scary list and for good reason: Has there ever been such a terrifying female horror “villain” as Kathy Bates’ Annie Wilkes? There’s probably some out there, but I certainly can’t think of any. She’s at first and on the surface a loving, kind and helpful woman – a former nurse, in fact. What more could you possibly want from someone helping you to get better?

Well, as the film shows, she’s a crazed, obsessed fan of James Caan’s novelist, Paul Sheldon, and after he crashes his car after just having written the final book in his series, he unluckily gets “rescued” by Annie who keeps him sedated in her secluded home, eventually forcing him to rewrite his novel because he killed off her favorite character. It’s a fairly straightforward horror/thriller premise (taken from my favorite book by my favorite author, Stephen King), but director Reiner and screenwriter William Goldman draw everything they can from it and make for one helluva of chilling watch. And this is helped tremendously by the performers, particularly Bates as Annie (she won an Oscar for it, FYI).

Scariest Scene/Moment: One scene jumps straight to mind not only when I think about the scariest moments from this film but from any film, and that would be when Annie puts a piece of thick wood between the ankles of Paul and proceeds to break them sideways with a sledgehammer. In King’s book, Annie uses an axe instead of a hammer, which (as you can imagine by the way King describes things) is horrific enough. But somehow the sledgehammer – or at least the way Reiner shows it happening on-screen – is even MORE horrifying.

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3. [REC] (2007)

Anyone who’s read Screen Rant for a while will probably know that I was scared to no end by the Spanish language “in-camera” horror, [REC]. Ever since news of the sequel came out (which picks up mere minutes after the events of the first) I’ve been letting anyone know who’ll listen that the first is one to make the effort to seek out and watch. It really is a frightening film, one that I thankfully managed to see for the first time when it came out in theaters… in the dark… with surround sound… and hardly anyone else in the theater.

Going just by the plot description, it may seem like any other of the millions of zombie films out there (okay, like 28 Days Later, they’re TECHNICALLY not zombies, but do we really wanna’ split hairs?), but give it a chance and you’ll see it trumps most of those. The pace is put it up to an eleven from about the 20-minute mark onwards (there’s some lead up that allows us to actually CARE of the characters that are about to head into horror mayhem – shock horror!), and it never lets up until the credits role. There’s moment after moment after moment of jump scares, skillfully done gore (it’s enough to get the point across but doesn’t go overboard) and “gets under your skin” moments that stay with you long after the film ends. The performances, particularly from the lead actress, are very convincing that they’re actually scared (so many horror movies are unbelievable because they lack that authenticity).

Scariest Scene/Moment: Like pretty much ALL of the films on this list, there are so many “scariest moments” to be found (a couple that come to mind is when one of the firemen falls down the middle of the stairs, and when the little infected girl bites someone out of nowhere), but I simply HAVE to give it to the last 5-10 minutes when the lights go out and the night-vision of the camera gets turned on. Other recent movies (such as 28 Weeks Later and another certain “creature feature” that’s also on this list) have used night-vision for horror effect but none quite so well done as with [REC]. Just what is in that room with the last two remaining non-infected? It’s hard to tell when all you have is a greenish vision to see with, but what it hints at is truly horrific.

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2. The Shining (1980)

Probably the technically BEST horror film I’ve ever seen (and subsequently on this list), Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining is a haunting, truly terrifying movie that features some of the most iconic horror moments, dialogue and imagery of all time. Differing WILDLY from Stephen King’s original book (so much so that it prompted King, who disliked what Kubrick did with his story, to make his own, VASTLY inferior TV mini-series in the late ’90s), Kubrick turns King’s story into much more of an ambiguous and dream-like one than it originally was.

Everything from the Steadicam floating through the hallways and rooms of The Overlook Hotel, to the strange and terrifying visions, make The Shining one of the all time greats of the genre. Jack Nicholson, in one of his best roles, gives a fantastically chilling performance as Jack Torrance; Shelley Duvall is convincingly terrified as his wife Wendy; and Danny Lloyd as little Danny is the perfect “horror survivor child.” One of the few films to literally have me laying awake at night still thinking about so many of the scary moments it has.

Scariest Scene/Moment: The blood flowing from the elevator, Jack following Danny in the snowy maze and the beautiful woman suddenly turning old all come to mind as highlights, but I think there’s no question the greatest scary moment from The Shining, and maybe any OTHER horror, is Jack chopping his way through the bathroom door with that axe. On the other side is a terrified Wendy, with nothing but a knife to protect herself, and with every chop of that axe and the closer Jack gets to getting through, the scarier it becomes (Duvall’s convincing scared performance doesn’t hurt). Finally, Jack breaks enough through the door to get his face through, and he says those famous horror words – “Heeeeeeerrrees Johnny!” Classic and horrific.

Click to continue on to the number 1 movie that scared the hell out of me…

1. The Descent (2005)

Like with [REC], anyone who’s read Screen Rant for a while will find it no surprise that number 1 on my list is Neil Marshall’s horror masterpiece, The Descent. It features an all-female cast (despite one guy at the beginning for a few minutes) and has what I think is some of most well-judged atmosphere to ever grace the big-screen. It starts off with the terrible death of our main character’s (Sarah) husband and daughter which sets in motion our ability to feel sorry and connect to the character, meaning that we actually care about what happens to her as the film goes on. As we do for the rest of the cast – it’s very rare for us in horror movies to care what happens to what are essentially “meat for the killer” but Marshall manages it with ease.

One of the great things about The Descent is that even though it’s essentially a “creature feature,” it’s scary BEFORE we even get to the monsters. For a good 45 minutes we are subjected to what seems likes endless caves of darkness, almost unbearable claustrophobia and hints of what could be lurking in the shadows. The tables definitely turn once the monsters (“Crawlers” as they’re billed as) are introduced, but it’s really something when a horror can be two types in one and for that to work out so well.

Scariest Scene/Moment: A couple of scary moments of note is when Sarah is trapped in one of the narrower passageways that lead from one cave to another and suddenly it starts to collapse, and when the night-vision gets turned on and we see the Crawlers feeding. But the crowning moment has to be when we first get a look at the Crawlers: the group of women find their way to an fairly open part of the cave that has paths leading off in directions all around and suddenly, out of nowhere, one of the Crawlers appears, standing upright and looming over one of the women. I remember when I first watched the movie I literally had to pause it because of how much I jumped at that moment. What ensues is a bloody, messy and crazed attack from the Crawlers on the women, some managing to fight them off and run away, while others are not so lucky and get killed or injured. Truly terrifying stuff that’s just one of the reasons The Descent sits comfortably at number 1 on my list.

Five Honorable Mentions: Ju-on, Dumplings, Inland Empire, Rosemary’s Baby, Psycho

Well, there you have it, my list of top 5 movies that scared the hell out of me. I’d love to hear your thoughts on my list: Do you agree or disagree? Am I a big wuss or was I right to be scared by those mentioned? What is YOUR list of movies that scared the hell out of YOU? Let us know in the comments below.

Look out for more Halloween related articles from Screen Rant on the road to October 31st.

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