# Identify a movie by the scene I remember **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 26, 2007, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-a-movie-by-the-scene-i-remember/431310 "2007-12-26T20:18:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bkoochin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f04885/32.png) [@bkoochin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bkoochin)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2007, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-a-movie-by-the-scene-i-remember/431310/1 "2007-12-26T20:18:54Z")
Well this one is driving me crazy. I can recall watching a movie when I was a kid that I enjoyed that I cannot for the life of me remember anything but a single scene: A guy with super speed chasing after a bullet. He tries to grab it with his hands but it is too hot. Eventually he grabs the elbow joint off of a suit of armour and uses that to deflect the bullet somewhere else. I think the movie had to do with old superheroes or tall tale characters coming out of retirement or something. Can’t remember really anything other than that really. I would have been watching it in the late 80s so it has to be older than that. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2007, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-a-movie-by-the-scene-i-remember/431310/2 "2007-12-26T20:34:31Z")
[The Adventures of Baron Munchausen](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0096764/) ---
**Author:** ![bkoochin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f04885/32.png) [@bkoochin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bkoochin)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2007, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-a-movie-by-the-scene-i-remember/431310/3 "2007-12-26T21:05:41Z")
That’s the one by God! Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2019, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-a-movie-by-the-scene-i-remember/431310/4 "2019-02-06T22:16:45Z")
Bumped, since the thread title is generic. I’m thinking of a sf movie in which a detective or a cop goes into a bad guy’s dimly-lit apartment. The bad guy is nowhere to be seen - because he’s clinging to the high ceiling somehow, like a giant spider, and the cop doesn’t think to look up. You keep expecting the bad guy to drop down and attack, but he never does. It’s a very tense scene since the cop is unaware of the danger he’s in. He searches the apartment and eventually leaves, and the bad guy silently drops down to the floor, looking mad. I was thinking this might’ve been Deckard’s and Gaff’s search of Leon’s apartment in _Blade Runner_, but I’ve seen that recently, and it’s not. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2019, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-a-movie-by-the-scene-i-remember/431310/5 "2019-02-06T22:30:03Z")
It’s common enough that [TV Tropes has a page for it](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CeilingCling). Maybe one of the movies listed will ring a bell? ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2019, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-a-movie-by-the-scene-i-remember/431310/6 "2019-02-06T22:42:13Z")
Excellent recycling of an old thread! Scene sounds familiar, but I got nothin’. ---
**Author:** ![Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_Arachnid_Laser_1)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2019, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-a-movie-by-the-scene-i-remember/431310/7 "2019-02-06T23:13:48Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Bumped, since the thread title is generic. > > I’m thinking of a sf movie in which a detective or a cop goes into a bad guy’s dimly-lit apartment. The bad guy is nowhere to be seen - because he’s clinging to the high ceiling somehow, like a giant spider, and the cop doesn’t think to look up. You keep expecting the bad guy to drop down and attack, but he never does. It’s a very tense scene since the cop is unaware of the danger he’s in. He searches the apartment and eventually leaves, and the bad guy silently drops down to the floor, looking mad. > > I was thinking this might’ve been Deckard’s and Gaff’s search of Leon’s apartment in _Blade Runner_, but I’ve seen that recently, and it’s not. There’s a very similar scene in Shyamalan’s recent movie _Split_. No cop, though, just a psychiatrist. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-a-movie-by-the-scene-i-remember/431310/8 "2019-02-07T03:10:03Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > It’s common enough that [TV Tropes has a page for it](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CeilingCling). Maybe one of the movies listed will ring a bell? Thanks. I know it was a live-action film, and none of those I’ve seen on that list was it. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-a-movie-by-the-scene-i-remember/431310/9 "2019-02-07T03:36:46Z")
Could it be from a TV show? It sounds familiar but I have the feeling the scene I’m thinking of is from a monster-of-the-week series like The X-files or Kolchak or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-a-movie-by-the-scene-i-remember/431310/10 "2019-02-07T15:24:19Z")
You know, it could’ve been\* The X-Files\*, come to think of it, but I kind of doubt it. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-a-movie-by-the-scene-i-remember/431310/11 "2019-02-07T15:42:27Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > You know, it could’ve been\* The X-Files\*, come to think of it, but I kind of doubt it. Maybe the character Tooms who could squeeze is body. He was in a few episodes. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2019, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-a-movie-by-the-scene-i-remember/431310/12 "2019-02-08T03:32:31Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > Maybe the character Tooms who could squeeze is body. He was in a few episodes. Tooms has two episodes and I have not seen them recently enough to remember if he does that. ---
**Author:** ![Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_Arachnid_Laser_1)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2019, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-a-movie-by-the-scene-i-remember/431310/13 "2019-02-08T09:34:47Z")
Do you have an approximate timeframe, Elendil’s Heir? The 90’s? The 00’s? ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2019, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-a-movie-by-the-scene-i-remember/431310/14 "2019-02-08T15:35:10Z")
X-Files doesn’t ring a bell but there’s a vaguely similar scene in the great Exorcist 3. George C. Scott is wandering around the main room of an elderly home (or maybe it’s a section of the hospital) And while he’s puttering around, a possessed woman is scrabbling across the ceiling. But this probably isn’t it. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2019, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-a-movie-by-the-scene-i-remember/431310/15 "2019-02-08T16:41:13Z")
Haven’t seen\* The Exorcist 3\*, so that isn’t it. > [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser](#): > > Do you have an approximate timeframe, Elendil’s Heir? The 90’s? The 00’s? I think it was in the Eighties, but can’t swear to that. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2019, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-a-movie-by-the-scene-i-remember/431310/16 "2019-02-08T17:51:46Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > Maybe the character Tooms who could squeeze is body. He was in a few episodes. I concur. It has been too many years since I saw the episodes to say for sure, though. ---
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2019, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-a-movie-by-the-scene-i-remember/431310/17 "2019-02-09T08:37:17Z")
As described, it doesn’t ring a bell for X-Files. There was a scene in “Squeeze” (the first Tooms episode) where Mulder and Scully find Tooms’ lair, and after they leave the camera pans up to reveal Tooms had been watching them from the rafters the whole time (and also managed to steal Scully’s necklace). The way I read the description of the mystery scene is the audience is aware that the antagonist is on the ceiling the whole time, but the cop/detective character is not. There was also the fifth season episode “Folie a Deux” which featured an insectoid boss from hell who could turn his employees into compliant zombies. He scuttled across the ceiling and exited a room behind Mulder’s back. Mulder was facing the camera in the foreground; insect-man scurried across the rear of the scene. If EH’s 80s time frame is accurate, that puts it too early to be X-Files. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2019, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-a-movie-by-the-scene-i-remember/431310/18 "2019-02-10T05:15:50Z")
> [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](#): > > …The way I read the description of the mystery scene is the audience is aware that the antagonist is on the ceiling the whole time, but the cop/detective character is not… Yes, that’s right. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-a-movie-by-the-scene-i-remember/431310/19 "2019-02-22T22:40:58Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Bumped, since the thread title is generic. > > I’m thinking of a sf movie in which a detective or a cop goes into a bad guy’s dimly-lit apartment. The bad guy is nowhere to be seen - because he’s clinging to the high ceiling somehow, like a giant spider, and the cop doesn’t think to look up. You keep expecting the bad guy to drop down and attack, but he never does. It’s a very tense scene since the cop is unaware of the danger he’s in. He searches the apartment and eventually leaves, and the bad guy silently drops down to the floor, looking mad. > > I was thinking this might’ve been Deckard’s and Gaff’s search of Leon’s apartment in _Blade Runner_, but I’ve seen that recently, and it’s not. That sounds like a scene from Exorcist III. ---
**Author:** ![BobBitchin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@BobBitchin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobBitchin)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-a-movie-by-the-scene-i-remember/431310/20 "2019-02-22T23:07:47Z")
Also sounds like the Suliban from Enterprise. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-a-movie-by-the-scene-i-remember/431310.md?page=2)