# 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:** 4
**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, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/61 "2011-03-16T21:55:22Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > 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. Well I’m going to watch it later and find out for sure. If it’s there I’ll try to get a perfectly-timed screenshot for you. ---
**Author:** ![Ostrya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/35a633/32.png) [@Ostrya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ostrya)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/62 "2011-03-16T21:59:01Z")
I took the movie _Gladiator_ (the one with Russell Crowe) over to a friend’s. They were so appalled by the violence they started to cry. We ended the movie right then and there. And it had only just started. ☹ Am in agreement with others in this thread who think _Irreversible_ is the worst they have seen. ---
**Author:** ![Tarwater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9de0a6/32.png) [@Tarwater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarwater)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/63 "2011-03-16T22:09:51Z")
> [@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. No, I’m not mistaken. [Enjoy!](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdVeW4hCLpE&t=1m15s) ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/64 "2011-03-16T22:15:23Z")
The teeth drilling without novocaine torture scene in _Marathon Man_ made me squirm. In _Atomic Cafe_, a movie about nuclear propaganda in the early cold war, they showed a real life study of the effects of atomic blast on live pigs. They put a herd of pigs in the danger zone of a test blast, and when the bomb goes off you can hear the pigs screaming. Then they show them loading the still breathing pigs with their entrails ripped apart onto a truck. The rest of the movie is a black humor “Ha-ha, look how stupid people were back then about radiation” type of thing, but whenever I watch my tape, I fast forward through that scene. When my father was alive, and he saw this movie with me, he said loudly, “Those people should die! Those people who did that should die!” ---
**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, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/65 "2011-03-16T22:32:35Z")
> [@](#): > > AClockworkMelon > Well I’m going to watch it later and find out for sure. If it’s there I’ll try to ge t a perfectly-timed screenshot for you. Thanks for the offer, \*\*Clock \*\*(not!) but it looks like your sadistic brother, **Tarwater** beat you to the disgusting punch. No way no how am I gonna click that link. Anyone want to describe precisely what can actually be seen? ---
**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, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/66 "2011-03-16T23:33:14Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Thanks for the offer, \*\*Clock \*\*(not!) but it looks like your sadistic brother, **Tarwater** beat you to the disgusting punch. No way no how am I gonna click that link. Anyone want to describe precisely what can actually be seen? Awwww. I came back with a screenshot. [Picture.](http://i330.photobucket.com/albums/l438/AClockworkMelon/screenshot7.jpg) I promise it doesn’t show anything gross. All it is is the guy laying on the street with Norton’s foot _about_ to come down. Imagine a half-deflated basketball instead of a head on the curb. Imagine it sort of compressing when you stomp on it. That’s what happens to the guy’s head (obviously it’s just a plastic dummy- they wouldn’t kill someone just for a movie… would they? But the quick cutaway makes it hard to tell). ---
**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 17, 2011, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/67 "2011-03-17T00:17:14Z")
Meep:eek: puppies and kittens. . .puppies and kittens…puppies and kittens. . . ---
**Author:** ![Sakuma\_Drops](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sakuma\_Drops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sakuma_Drops)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/68 "2011-03-17T00:32:46Z")
> [@the lone cashew](#): > > I took the movie _Gladiator_ (the one with Russell Crowe) over to a friend’s. They were so appalled by the violence they started to cry. We ended the movie right then and there. And it had only just started. ☹ Ugh, I didn’t like _Gladiator_. It wasn’t the violence that I hated so much as when Commodus is taunting Maximus by describing what the soldiers did to Maximus’ family, including crucifying his young son and gang-raping his wife. Also squirmed a lot during the scene where Commodus tries to seduce his own sister._What_ an asshole :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/69 "2011-03-17T04:21:42Z")
> [@the lone cashew](#): > > I took the movie _Gladiator_ (the one with Russell Crowe) over to a friend’s. They were so appalled by the violence they started to cry. We ended the movie right then and there. And it had only just started. ☹ Seriously? For _Gladiator_, of all things? How bizarre. ---
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/70 "2011-03-17T07:42:03Z")
The rape scene in \*Strange Days \*is horrifyingly graphic. Especially nauseating as its filmed from the rapist’s POV (a brilliant movie, btw). ---
**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:** [March 17, 2011, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/71 "2011-03-17T14:46:12Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Seriously? For _Gladiator_, of all things? How bizarre. Yeah, I don’t think it was _that_ bad. I’ve seen a lot worse in mainstream Hollywood movies. Which reminds me, much as I loved the British cop comedy _Hot Fuzz_, there were two scenes which squicked me out: the reporter’s death next to the church, and the villain’s injury in the miniature village near the very end. If you’ve seen it, you know what I mean. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/72 "2011-03-17T16:02:25Z")
I really really really want to see **Irreversible** , but I’ve heard so much about that rape scene, I’m pretty sure I would be unable to watch it. At least without curling up in a fetal position and whining and crying for a few days afterward. **The Accused** was so trauma triggering for me, I suppose it’s best if I avoid this movie completely. Other harrowing scenes in movies: - Most of **American Psycho** , but mostly when Bateman hires the prostitutes. You don’t actually see what he makes them do to each other, but when a prostitution gig ends with two hookers bleeding and crying, it’s pretty clear that “date” didn’t go so well for them. At that point in the movie, Bateman’s actions just get creepier and sicker and more harrowing. \* shudder \* - Another rape scene: the 11/12 year old girl (played by Jena Malone, IIRC) in **Bastard Out of Carolina**. You don’t see it much (or at least I didn’t because I was hiding my eyes), but she lets out a blood-curdling scream that I still cannot get out of my head. I really like that movie, but have to cut it off before that scene comes up, so I can go meditate in a field full of daisies and comfort myself. - In **Se7en** , when the detectives are called to the crime scene wherein the John was forced to strap on a giant razor dildo and fuck a prostitute with it, which of course, sliced her to bits. I believe that was the “lust” portion of the movie. I think his screams of horror are what got me. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/73 "2011-03-17T16:29:20Z")
[QUOTE=Slithy Tove] Little boys being marched into battle to _The Bonney Blue Flag_ in **The Horse Soldiers**. [/QUOTE] I never thought of that as harrowing, but incredibly tragic. The old preacher/Dean of the school argued against using the boys, but is begged by a Confederate Army officer to buy some time (IIRC). He marches those boys with a “stiff upper lip”. I kept thinking about how the boys don’t have a clue what real war is like, they just think it’s going to be an adventure. The old man could not deny that mom that came running after the drummer boy. The cheese comes in when none of the boys actually gets hurt. (One gets spanked.) A scene I saw when just a little too young for it: Jaws, when the shark is on the back of the boat and Quint slides into the mouth. The shark thrashes him from side to side a bit before pulling him in to the water. That still sticks with me today. (My nightmares still occasionally include hungry/biting things hiding in deep water that I can’t avoid.) ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/74 "2011-03-17T16:58:58Z")
_The Unforgiven_ did a great job, exactly as it set out to do, of making the whipping scene painful and harrowing rather than tough-guy cool. ---
**Author:** ![Milky\_Joe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@Milky\_Joe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milky_Joe)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/75 "2011-03-17T18:55:02Z")
Out of them all, American History X is the one that always makes me squirm. I’m surprised though that no one has mentioned the male gang rape scene and the victim’s suicide in ‘Scum’. Particularly gritty and real. In fact, the whole movie never lets up, but that is the worst for me. ---
**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 17, 2011, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/76 "2011-03-17T19:16:17Z")
Probably because hardly anyone has seen that movie. But I agree, it’s brutal. One of the bleakest films I’ve watched. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/77 "2011-03-17T19:22:39Z")
The Elizabeth McGovern/Robert De Niro rape scene in _Once Upon a Time in America_. I’ll never watch that movie again. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/78 "2011-03-17T22:54:08Z")
> [@the lone cashew](#): > > I took the movie _Gladiator_ (the one with Russell Crowe) over to a friend’s. They were so appalled by the violence they started to cry. At school many years ago, we read a description of a gladiator fight in Latin. One of my classmates fainted. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/79 "2011-03-17T23:52:29Z")
HAL sings “Daisy Bell” for the last time in 2001: A Space Odyssey. ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/80 "2011-03-18T02:09:37Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > The scene in ‘Silence of the Lambs’, when Hannibal Lecter is about to be served his meal of lambchops. Another Silence of the Lambs scene - When Clarice chased Buffalo Bill into his basement and he turned the lights out. That movie’s up for a 20th anniversary this year :eek: Now that’s the scary part. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803.md?page=5)