# Most harrowing scene in a movie. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 15, 2011, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803 "2011-03-15T16:52:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/41 "2011-03-16T03:35:57Z")
“Squeal like a pig!” ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/42 "2011-03-16T03:43:52Z")
The chainsaw scene from _Winter’s Bone_ is a recent example. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/43 "2011-03-16T03:55:37Z")
Braveheart: The torture and execution of William Wallace. Serenity: Wash getting run through by something spiky just after successfully crash-landing the Serenity I have a hard time watching either movie again, due to those scenes. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Hen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Small\_Hen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Hen)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/44 "2011-03-16T04:46:33Z")
A little seen movie called Mysterious Skin. “Then…we played the five dollar game.” Churned my gut. ---
**Author:** ![Drum\_God](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drum_god/32/44_2.png) [@Drum\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drum_God)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/45 "2011-03-16T04:48:45Z")
In James Cameron’s _Titanic_, when the lady is reading her children a bedtime story while the ship is going down. Yeah, I know the scene is obvious and manipulative. Fine. I was manipulated. It got me. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/46 "2011-03-16T05:46:06Z")
> [@PookahMacPhellimey](#): > > _The Green Mile_, when they get the settings for the electric chair wrong, on purpose IFRC. They didn’t get the settings wrong- Percy deliberately put a dry sponge on Del’s head. ---
**Author:** ![Walmarticus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Walmarticus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walmarticus)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/47 "2011-03-16T06:20:42Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > American History X. > > Upper teeth. Curb. Boot. > > There is no other scene in the history of cinema that shook me so hard. > mmm Goddamnit, you got me cringing. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/48 "2011-03-16T06:26:29Z")
I’m pretty inured already I suppose. Rape scenes used to get to me, but nowadays I just shrug them off. The last one that came close was maybe the shower rape scene in American History X. Real violence (e.g. MMA, NFL) is hard for me to watch. What I see in film is never able to become “real” to me. On the other hand, quite a few animals still get hurt in films. I can’t tell if it’s tripwire or not, but for non-US films, I get a bit squeamish when animals get chopped up. I’m never sure if the animal was worth more or less than the CGI needed to make chopping off their leg/body part for real cheaper. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/49 "2011-03-16T06:39:02Z")
The part in _Closetland_ where Alan Rickman describes how to rip someone’s fingernails off with a pair of pliers…it’s not actually shown, he just talks about it, but it’s disgusting. ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/50 "2011-03-16T10:58:48Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > They didn’t get the settings wrong- Percy deliberately put a dry sponge on Del’s head. Ah yes. I knew there was something, but I really didn’t want to go anywhere near close enough to that scene to find out. _shudder_ ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/51 "2011-03-16T11:20:42Z")
The juxtaposition (if I’m using that word correctly) of light-heartedness with cruelty is always disturbing. Examples: The carnival atmosphere of the torture of the hunters in **The Naked Prey** (esp. as one victim is coated in clay and roasted alive). The (historically false) use of _Garryowen_ at the Washita in **Little Big Man**. Little boys being marched into battle to _The Bonney Blue Flag_ in **The Horse Soldiers**. _Singing in the Rain_ in **A Clockwork Orange**. ---
**Author:** ![NineToTheSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/52 "2011-03-16T12:55:00Z")
I found, for what is touted as a ‘feel good’ movie, quite a lot of Slumdog Millionaire rather distasteful. But the burning out of the child’s eyes was truly harrowing. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/53 "2011-03-16T15:49:05Z")
I think of “harrowing” scenes as drawn-out scenes of danger. Therefore, I nominate the “crossing the bridge” scene from William Friedkin’s **Sorcerer**. [Here’s the trailer](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMof5PuQF7w), a bit of the bridge scene is visible between 2:10 and 2:20. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/54 "2011-03-16T16:44:57Z")
Towards the end of the movie [Payback](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120784/), Mel Gibson’s character, Porter, has kidnapped the son of a bigwig in “The Outfit,” the organized crime ring in the city. Kris Kristofferson, as the kidnapping victim’s father, has captured Porter, and is having his hired goons work Porter over to get the location of his son from Porter. Porter’s barefoot. Kristofferson uses a hammer on his toes. One by one. Starting with the little ones. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/55 "2011-03-16T20:34:16Z")
Many scenes in _Pan’s Labyrinth_, but more specifically, the scene with the bottle. Good movie, but I was surprised how violent and graphic the movie could get at times, especially with the scene mentioned above. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/56 "2011-03-16T21:12:31Z")
The scene in \*\*Cast Away \*\*when Tom Hanks bashes his own tooth out with an iceskate blade. There’s also a scene with the same nauseating theme in **Dogtooth**. A few people have mentioned the rape scene in **Irreversible** and I usually counter with the “fire extinguisher scene”, though that’s more graphic than harrowing, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/57 "2011-03-16T21:17:09Z")
> [@Tarwater](#): > > No, it’s definitely shown. The camera cuts away a split-second after the impact, but it’s still there. It wasn’t the act itself that really got me, though. It was the sound of the poor guy delicately putting his teeth on the curb. No, you’re mistaken. They show a close-up of the man’s teeth scraping against the curb, and then cut to a long shot of Norton stomping on the guy’s head. His jaw breaking is not shown on camera, just the sound of it happening. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/58 "2011-03-16T21:20:48Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > No, you’re mistaken. They show a close-up of the man’s teeth scraping against the curb, and then cut to a long shot of Norton stomping on the guy’s head. His jaw breaking is not shown on camera, just the sound of it happening. I too distinctly remember seeing what I’m assuming is a dummy’s head getting stomped for a split-second before the cut. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/59 "2011-03-16T21:41:38Z")
Obviously any version shown on TV would be edited. I’ve seen it on TV and DVD and can’t actually tell if it’s ever shown, even fopr a split second. I feel like it’s such an excruciating moment that our imaginations have filled in the blank, making us think we’ve actually seen more of the violence than was shown. Either way, it’s some pretty powerful film making considering how many times people bring it up in these types of conversations. ---
**Author:** ![CornTheHead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@CornTheHead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CornTheHead)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/60 "2011-03-16T21:44:47Z")
I have a couple - 1. **The Rules of Attraction** - suicide scene. I am not sure why it gets me, but it makes my stomach turn. 2. **Saving Private Ryan** - I did okay with most of the movie, but the opening scene when they are first landing on the beach…something about that just put me there and I could never in a million year imagine the pure fear those soldiers must have faced. 3. **America History X** - of course. 4. **Oldboy** - damn near all of it. 5. **Kids** - again, damn near all of it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803.md?page=4)