# Brief scenes in films that FREAKED YOU OUT **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 24, 2004, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brief-scenes-in-films-that-freaked-you-out/270841 "2004-10-24T01:52:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![kung\_fu\_lola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f4b2a3/32.png) [@kung\_fu\_lola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kung_fu_lola)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brief-scenes-in-films-that-freaked-you-out/270841/81 "2004-10-25T06:26:17Z")
> [@Talon Karrde](#): > > I see this one mentioned all the time. Can somebody spoil it for me? This is the creepy villain’s catchphrase, which he says while torturing Dustin Hoffman by using a dentist drill on an exposed nerve. ---
**Author:** ![partlycloudy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/partlycloudy/32/3114_2.png) [@partlycloudy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/partlycloudy)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brief-scenes-in-films-that-freaked-you-out/270841/82 "2004-10-25T06:46:38Z")
Alright, what about that part in **Pee Wee’s Big Adventure** with the truck driver lady, “Large Marge” - she picks Pee Wee up and starts telling this really creepy story. Then she turns around to look at him and her eyes start popping out and everything! I haven’t seen that in a long time, but when I was younger my mother used to make us leave the room for that scene because we’d have nightmares about it! ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brief-scenes-in-films-that-freaked-you-out/270841/83 "2004-10-25T07:39:27Z")
When I was really little, the scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade when the guy chooses poorly. Now that I think about it, in the Temple of Doom, when the guy has his heart pulled out as a sacrifice used to get to me too. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brief-scenes-in-films-that-freaked-you-out/270841/84 "2004-10-25T14:48:22Z")
Event Horizon- There’s a scene in that where they unscramble the lost ship’s video log and everyone on the ship has gone howlingly insane and are eating each other and attaching each other, then the ship’s captain walks up…HOLDING HIS EYES IN THE PALMS OF HIS HANDS…while speaking in Latin. This film got panned pretty hard, but I always liked it. ---
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brief-scenes-in-films-that-freaked-you-out/270841/85 "2004-10-25T16:00:28Z")
> [@LoganDear](#): > > Alright, what about that part in **Pee Wee’s Big Adventure** with the truck driver lady, “Large Marge” - she picks Pee Wee up and starts telling this really creepy story. Then she turns around to look at him and her eyes start popping out and everything! I haven’t seen that in a long time, but when I was younger my mother used to make us leave the room for that scene because we’d have nightmares about it! > **[Scenes that traumatized you as a child](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=282577)** > > They are those scenes that just stuck with you for a long time, scaring you for much longer than you would think. Perhaps you look back and see the scene later, and remark on how comically phony it is, maybe laugh, “How could that have scared me?”... see the above thread to find some of us that agree with you wholeheartedly! ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brief-scenes-in-films-that-freaked-you-out/270841/86 "2004-10-25T16:05:39Z")
> [@drewbert](#): > > My college roomie and I were watching the alien abduction flick “Fire in the Sky”. The aliens have got their latest subject strapped to the table with his eyes forced open, as the gigantic needle comes closer and closer. You know, after seeing this movie as a kid and not thinking about it for probably 10 years, this is the second reference to it I’ve seen in the last few weeks. What a freaky movie. The other was a scene in Futurama, I may have imagined it but I thought they copied a shot or two or three from the movie. Very subtle visual reference. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecccb3/32.png) [@Evil\_Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Death)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brief-scenes-in-films-that-freaked-you-out/270841/87 "2004-10-25T16:55:04Z")
> [@galen ubal](#): > > In _The Serpent and the Rainbow_, there’s a part where the main character is dosed with the zombie drug, and then buried. He fades out of consciousness, as I recall - and then the screen is dark for a time. > > After a few moments, you hear him scream… > > _shudder_ So you weren’t waaarrgled out so much by, you know, the main character _getting his scrotum nailed to a chair_? Maybe it’s a guy thing, and maybe you’re not a guy. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brief-scenes-in-films-that-freaked-you-out/270841/88 "2004-10-25T17:21:44Z")
> [@zoogirl](#): > > I got totally skeeved by a movie called Dr Sardonicus when I was a kid. This guy dug up a body, his father’s, I think, and the face was all twisted into a horrible grin. When he got home, his face had gone the same way. :eek: I had nightmares about that for years! He was digging up his father’s body, in search of a winning lottery ticket. Another one that freaked me out when I was a kid, was an episode of the original “Twilight Zone”. An old man was on his deathbed, and his adult children were gathered around him. They were waiting for him to die, so they could get his money. He was telling them they were all a bunch of “greedy pigs”. Then when he died, all theirs faces turned into pig faces! ---
**Author:** ![saluki\_fan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@saluki\_fan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saluki_fan)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2004, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brief-scenes-in-films-that-freaked-you-out/270841/89 "2004-11-05T02:31:27Z")
The movie It when the clown kills the little boy with the boat by luring him down in the sewer. I saw that movie way too early in my childhood. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2004, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brief-scenes-in-films-that-freaked-you-out/270841/90 "2004-11-05T02:52:27Z")
Saving Private Ryan. The landing boats. When the whistle blew and the ramp came down… If you were in the first few rows you simply died. No saving throw, no means of avoidance, just dead. ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2004, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brief-scenes-in-films-that-freaked-you-out/270841/91 "2004-11-05T03:36:39Z")
The first one to come to mind was the scene in the cursed video in _The Ring_, when the nail goes through the finger. Ack. The body in the closet? Neat! Maggots and dismembered fingers? Whatever. Coughing up electrodes and hair? Interesting. Dead girl coming out of TV and hopping around room? Cool. Nail going through finger? Arrrgghhh! _Un Chien Andalou_, I don’t want to even think about. I had to see that at an early-morning film class, where the sadistic proctor launched it on us with no warning. After the first shot I spent the rest of the class with my head in my hands trying desperately not to throw up. My worst phobia right up there on screen at 8:15 AM. Thanks, teach! I just remembered the movie _Audition_, although I really wish I hadn’t. The whole climax scene with the “kee kee kee kee kee” and the needles and the drugs and the sawing… that was plenty bad, but I fast-forwarded through most of it. Because I had already seen the most horrible thing I could imagine: when she lets the guy out of the bag and “feeds” him. Bleeeurrrrgghhhh. Worst thing I’ve ever seen in any movie, and I’ll be glad if it stays that way. ---
**Author:** ![eunoia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eunoia/32/97_2.png) [@eunoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eunoia)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2004, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brief-scenes-in-films-that-freaked-you-out/270841/92 "2004-11-05T10:23:17Z")
"On this very night, ten years ago, on this same stretch of road, in dense fog just like this, I saw the worst accident I ever seen. There was this sound, like a garbage truck, dropped off the Empire State building… …and when they finally pulled the driver’s body from the twisted burning wreck, it looked like [THIS!](http://www.eunoia.com/largemarge.jpg) Yes sir, that was the worst accident I ever seen." [sub]Another vote for Large Marge, from Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, thread’s only 2 pages long, maybe nobody else came up with it yet ;)[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![FisherQueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@FisherQueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FisherQueen)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2004, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brief-scenes-in-films-that-freaked-you-out/270841/93 "2004-11-05T12:44:07Z")
**Brazil**. The funeral scene. I’ll still be having nightmares about that coffin when I’ve forgotten the names of all of my loved ones. ---
**Author:** ![TommyTutone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c4cdca/32.png) [@TommyTutone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TommyTutone)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2004, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brief-scenes-in-films-that-freaked-you-out/270841/94 "2004-11-05T13:59:01Z")
Furry fellatio from **The Shining**. I knew why it was there from the book, but it still came out of the blue film-wise. Also the subliminal demon images from **The Exorcist**. I did not see the movie until I was much older so I knew what to expect with the pea soup, etc, but nobody had mentioned the damn fanged head in the darkness. It was so sudden, so unexpected, that it startled the hell out of me, and to this day, I get antsy seeing the flick while waiting for it to appear. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2004, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brief-scenes-in-films-that-freaked-you-out/270841/95 "2004-11-05T14:47:16Z")
> [@TommyTutone](#): > > Furry fellatio from **The Shining**. I knew why it was there from the book, but it still came out of the blue film-wise. I’ve never read the book, so why was it there? ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2004, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brief-scenes-in-films-that-freaked-you-out/270841/96 "2004-11-05T14:58:47Z")
First time I saw \*Alien \*in the theatre. The scene where Dallas is crawling around the ducts with a flame thrower looking for the creature, and we see half a second of it before it shrieks and pounces on him. Then realizing the fucking CAPTAIN got killed…he’s the one who usually survives. ---
**Author:** ![shadowfax33](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@shadowfax33](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shadowfax33)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2004, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brief-scenes-in-films-that-freaked-you-out/270841/97 "2004-11-05T17:52:55Z")
I’ll third the shot in Carrie with the hand coming out of the ground. I saw it on late-night TV and literally screamed; it was so unexpected. The final basement scenes in “Silence of the Lambs” where Buffalo Bill is stalking Clarisse, wearing those night-vision goggles. The was you can hear them _breathing_ makes me crawl under pillows and hide. After seeing that movie in a near-deserted theatre late one night, I was terrified to go home. Scariest movie I’ve ever seen in the theatre–although it may have had something to do with the mood I was in at the time. A close second would be the tree outside the little boy’s window in “Poltergeist.” I saw that when I was fairly young, and there was a storm going on at the time. You could hear the thunder in the theatre. _shudder_ ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2004, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brief-scenes-in-films-that-freaked-you-out/270841/98 "2004-11-05T18:20:39Z")
[Gummo](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119237/). The whole damn movie is disturbing. But oddly delightful. (I have it on DVD.) ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2004, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brief-scenes-in-films-that-freaked-you-out/270841/99 "2004-11-05T18:30:27Z")
As ridiculous as it sounds, what really freaked me out as a kid was the movie “Willie Wonka.” The boat ride through the psychedelic tunnel (while “Wonka” is singing), the little girl who blows up like a blueberry, and those freaky Oompa Loompas! Brrr. I always got the creeps watching that movie. A scene from a movie that blew me away was from “Hush, Hush…Sweet Charlotte.” Being fairly young when I saw it, I naively assumed that black & white movies never showed anything too violent. Then, about 30 seconds into the movie, Bruce Dern loses a hand. And I hit the ceiling. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2004, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brief-scenes-in-films-that-freaked-you-out/270841/100 "2004-11-05T20:13:15Z")
Golly (channeling my inner Jim Neighbors/Gomer Pyle), most of mine have obviously already been mentioned… **Misery** and we all know why, the spider walk from **The Exoricist** (hell, I’d already seen this online and still almost climbed into a stranger’s lap when it came up on the big screen – shudder), **Spoorloos** , dear freaking Og! When _he_ is buried, I swear that this claustraphobic almost crapped on herself. Then there are those who’ve made the list but for a different scene than the one that freaked me out. Like **Jacob’s Ladder** , when the hospital slowly degrades until it’s nothing but attrocities. I _still_ have nightmares over that. **Mothman** ’s ending: [although I’m sure it’s not necessary, just in case – highlight for explanation] the bridge collapse. I thought I’d literally die from my heart exploding. I hate anything even close to my worst fear (see above). More shuddering. **The Ring** ’s sequence with the overboard horse. Anything with loud thumps like that makes my skin crawl. And I, too, was scared to death of that old “Twilight Zone” episode with the damn thing on the wing. Still am, as a matter of fact. The movie didn’t do it justice (although the guy with no mouth came close). Also, there was one about ‘earwigs’, I think, who’s concept had me terrified for YEARS. New additions: [ul] [li]In **Chinatown** , Jack Nicholson’s nose splitting. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy though. :o[/li][li]The **When A Stranger Calls** , part II, and the guy is body painted _exactly_ as the bricks and just seamlessly appears from nothing.[/li][li]More than enough in the **Final Destination** movies, but specifically the situation in 2 where the sheet of glass obliterates that person. And the ladder bit wasn’t anything to sneeze at either. Perhaps I’ve put all of the first one out of my mind. ;)[/li][/ul] Lastly, _anything_ at all to do with embedded fingernails. Like in **Echoes** or **Gingersnaps** (I think) and something I saw over the Halloween weekend, maybe by Mario Brava, but I don’t remember. That has to be the heighth of cringe inducing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brief-scenes-in-films-that-freaked-you-out/270841.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brief-scenes-in-films-that-freaked-you-out/270841.md?page=6)