Horror movies have a way of sticking in the viewer’s mind long after credits have rolled, and certain particularly creepy scenes still stay chilling even years into the future. The best horror movies feature scenes that are terrifying enough to stick with me for a long time, never getting easier to watch no matter how many times in a row it’s been. The enjoyment of the thorough shudders up the spine these kinds of scenes cause is the perfect encapsulation of the genre’s appeal.

It’s worth bearing in mind the distinction between sheer gripping terror and blood-curdling creepiness these scenes go for. While jump scares can certainly be effective, they lose much of their potency after only a single viewing, relying so much on the element of surprise. Meanwhile, scenes that instead relish in a slow, gradual buildup of disturbing fear remain effective for years to come.

10

The Achilles Cut

Pet Semetary

Gore is always an effective tool for making audiences squeamish, but for whatever reason, minor injuries to certain body parts can be more wince-inducing than total dismemberment. A perfect example of this is in the classic tale of resurrection gone wrong, Pet Semetary, in which the revived Ellie kills the kindly neighbor Jud in cold blood. To do so, she slices his Achilles tendon with a scalpel before mocking him with his ᴅᴇᴀᴅ wife’s face and stabbing him to death.

This scene is a variation on a similar kill from the original, which features the young boy Gage doing the slashing instead. Whereas the original’s child actor was too adorable to take seriously as he made scary faces, Ellie’s disturbing psychological torment paired with the modern remake’s updated effects makes for a scene that remains chilling no matter how many times one watches it. There’s just something particularly skin-crawling about seeing a delicate area of the human body like the Achilles heel be chopped up.

9

Jean Jacket Inhaling The Crowd

Nope

Among the filmography of Jordan Peele, Nope is a standout favorite of mine for its unique spin on the alien abduction subgenre. Before long, the film reveals that its flying saucer isn’t a ship containing the real aliens, but an extraterrestrial beast all its own, preying upon the residents of the Californian desert. The alien Jean Jacket, named after a particularly unruly horse the protagonist’s father used to own, has an incredibly disturbing method of consuming its victims.

After sucking up an entire crowd of onlookers at a disastrously failed sideshow attraction, Jean Jacket gets to digesting its fresh food. Screams that sound like delight from a muffled distance are soon revealed to be those of horror as the film gives a brief peek at the inside of Jean Jacket’s body, showing the swallowed crowd and debris slowly be crushed to death and digested with nowhere to run. As a claustrophobic person myself, this scene is easily the most blood-curdling moment in a consistently horrific film.

8

The Piano Wire Scene

Hereditary

Ari Aster’s Hereditary is perhaps my single favorite horror movie of all time, and for good reason. The entire film’s runtime is stuffed with haunting moments, from the dizzying hallucination sequences suffered by the young Peter to the haunting victory fanfare of the demon Paimon. Most of the film still gives me goosebumps every time I watch it, but if there’s one scene that especially stands out, it’s the sickening piano wire scene.

After being harᴀssed by a variety of cult members and demonic hallucinations, Peter finally hears a nauseating grinding sound from behind him. This sound is soon revealed to be Toni Collette’s Annie sawing her own head off with a piano wire, staring at her terrified son with a haunting gaze. Beyond the stomach-churning gore of the scene, the presence of the steady noise and the sheer terror of the look on Annie’s face burns it into the nightmares of any viewer.

7

Sam Disappears

The Witch

As great as Hereditary is, Ari Aster’s other films haven’t hit as hard for me, whereas Robert Eggers has remained a consistent force of horror. His debut film, The Witch, is still one of my favorites, largely because of the slow-burn of dread it’s able to inspire through the atmosphere alone, not necessitating intense gore or jump scares. One of the earliest moments of the film is also one of the best in this regard, instantly setting the unsettling tone of the entire period piece.

The scene begins innocently, with Anya Taylor-Joy’s Thomasin playing peekaboo with her newest little brother, Sam. Thomasin opens her hands, only for her smile to fade to horror once she realizes Sam is suddenly missing, with the only clue towards his disappearance being some wiggling plants suggesting some kind of creature just skittered away. This scene is the perfect example of doing a lot with a little, and is followed by perhaps the most disturbing and gory scene in Eggers’ career.

6

The Smile Demon Appears

Smile

Smile has to scientifically be one of the most terrifying and adrenaline-pumping horror movies of all time, a non-stop cavalcade of jump scares and psychological torment with almost no relief or time to breathe in between. The plot centers on a therapist who becomes traumatized when one of her patients smiles before committing suicide in front of her eyes, cursing her with a profane demon that takes the form of various smiling people. The demon is scary enough already, but it’s in the pounding terror of the climax that it shows its true form.

After impersonating Rose’s mother, the Smile demon reveals itself in all its shaking, gibbering glory, with sunken piercing eyes and multiple rows of jagged smiling teeth. It’s hard not to look away as the demon crawls into Rose, completing the curse and officially taking its next victim. No matter how many times I watch this scene, it never gets any less unnerving or unsettling.

5

The Tall Man Appears

It Follows

As great as Smile is, it owes a lot to an earlier film with a similar presence, It Follows. It Follows tells the story of a young woman who comes into context to a similar curse spread by Sєxual activity, in which a malevolent enтιтy only its bearers can see (disguised as random people) slowly walks towards its victim before it can kill them. After claiming a life, the curse moves on to the last person to spread it, working its way down a line of Sєxual partners.

The biggest jump scare and creepiest moment in the entirety of It Follows is relatively early on in the film, in which the monster suddenly appears in the young Jay’s home. The moment in which it ducks into sight as an incredibly tall, gaunt man with dark eyes is a thrill of silent terror made all the more spine-chilling by Jay’s reaction, screaming in reaction to a terror her friends can’t see. It’s no wonder so many subsequent horror films have borrowed elements from It Follows‘ demon.

4

The Mirror Dance Scene

Suspiria

As great as the original Suspiria is, the remake by Luca Guadagnino deserves just as much credit for putting forth a scene that’s disturbing in both gore and suspense. Just like its predecessor, Suspiria takes place at a prestigious ballet academy in Europe, explored through the perspective of an eager American student, Susie, who manages to get in. What she doesn’t know is that the entire academy is run and operated by a coven of witches, proven when indignant student Olga is punished for her insubordination.

Trapped in a mirrored studio, Olga is violently contorted into painful shapes, twisting her body like a pretzel in a harsh pantomime of Susie’s actions. It’s difficult to watch the scene as Olga’s actress sells the inhuman pain, howling in anguish and even urinating due to the sheer shock. Left with her bones snapped in a crumpled-up ball, Olga’s violent yet graceful and well-choreographed death is a disturbing moment that’s impossible to look away from.

3

The Night Vision Scene

The Silence of the Lambs

Obviously, The Silence of the Lambs is far more famous for Anthony Hopkins’ legendary performance as the disturbing and vile Hannibal Lecter, an incarcerated serial killer and psychologist recruited by rookie FBI Agent Starling to help profile and catch a new murderer. But Buffalo Bill himself doesn’t get enough credit for how much he’s able to drive the sheer horror of the narrative. In my estimation, one of the film’s most terrifying scenes takes place from his perspective.

Just as it seems Clarice has Buffalo Bill ᴅᴇᴀᴅ to rights, the slasher reveals he has one more trick up his sleeve, shutting off the lights of his home. As Clarice fumbles her way through the pitch darkness, Buffalo Bill stalks her using night vision goggles, giving him multiple opportunities to murder her that he instead uses to ogle her silently. It’s this sort of deranged behavior that makes The Silence of the Lambs such an effectively disturbing exploration of psychosis years later.

2

Red Speaks

Us

Another Jordan Peele picture, Us gets a lot of deserved criticism for its awkward second half, which transitions from effective horror to a bizarre survival science fiction story with worldbuilding that simply doesn’t add up. Nevertheless, Us deserves more credit for its early scenes that play out like a more traditional horror film, especially the first appearance of the Tethered family. In particular, Lupita Nyong’o’s Red is one of the most spine-chilling villain performances in years up to that point.

I can’t help but shudder in fear every time I hear Red speak for the first time, addressing her better half with a hauntingly raspy voice. Her facial expressions and ominous descriptions of her monstrous family all set the mood perfectly, making for an unforgettably scary sequence that’s sadly let down by the film’s later developments. Regardless, Lupita Nyong’o deserved far more recognition for her ability to perfect such a taxing and terrifying manner of speaking.

1

The Alien Abduction Scene

Fire in the Sky

Among all the alien-themed horror movies, Fire in the Sky is famous for being one of the few to actually be based on an alleged firsthand account of an extraterrestrial abduction. This only makes the implications of the fearsome experimentation scene that much more difficult to consider, as something similar supposedly happened to the real Travis Walton. Whether his account of the abduction is real or fake, it’s impossible to deny the sheer terror the film is able to capture.

The aliens themselves aren’t all that scary to look at, but it’s the sheer indifference with which they go about their foreign procedures in the wake of Travis’ screaming that truly dials up the creepiness. It’s hard not to gag watching them cram a long metal tube down Travis’ throat, but the film is gracious enough to cut away before a slender needle nearly enters his eye. Even if the full extent of the torture isn’t shown, leaving one’s imagination to run rampant is an effective trick for any horror movie to use.