# Movie moments that caused genuine shock **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [September 17, 2020, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-moments-that-caused-genuine-shock/920807 "2020-09-17T03:58:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ZosterSandstorm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e0b2c6/32.png) [@ZosterSandstorm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZosterSandstorm)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-moments-that-caused-genuine-shock/920807/1 "2020-09-17T03:58:39Z")
Not necessarily the best-constructed or most culturally relevant plot twists, but the moments where you actually remember hearing an auditorium full of movie watchers gasp, shout, or otherwise involuntarily react. Here’s some I remember: \*Caesar saying “no” in _Rise of the Planet of the Apes_. Perfectly set up and caused whole rows to scream “OH SHIT!” in two screenings I saw. \*The “warm black dingus” monologue in _The Hateful Eight_. It’s really hard to shock people these days in terms of “did they really let THAT into a movie?” You can put almost anything you want into South Park, let alone into an R-rated film that you have to be an adult ticket-buyer to see. This movie found a way to genuinely make audiences react with incredulity that they were seeing and hearing this. \*The winner for me - Jigsaw standing up and revealing himself at the end of the original _Saw_. No one knew anything about the movie at the time, prior to seven sequels etc. It quickly became a word-of-mouth hit and in the weeks after Halloween packed theaters repeatedly had a collective freakout as the ending unfolded. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-moments-that-caused-genuine-shock/920807/2 "2020-09-17T04:08:48Z")
I didn’t see it in a movie theater, and I already knew there was a twist, but the “big reveal” in _The Crying Game_ was certainly shocking. (Anyone who’s seen it will know the moment I’m referring to.) ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-moments-that-caused-genuine-shock/920807/3 "2020-09-17T04:08:53Z")
Not really a plot twist, but a line: “I’m having an old friend for dinner”. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-moments-that-caused-genuine-shock/920807/4 "2020-09-17T04:19:47Z")
This is what I was going to mention. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-moments-that-caused-genuine-shock/920807/5 "2020-09-17T04:20:42Z")
Indy shooting the swordsman. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-moments-that-caused-genuine-shock/920807/6 "2020-09-17T04:31:37Z")
Spoiler for L.A. Confidential: When James Cromwell shot Kevin Spacey. Was not expecting a police captain to shoot one of his detectives in his own house, or even kill off Kevin Spacey halfway through the movie. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-moments-that-caused-genuine-shock/920807/7 "2020-09-17T04:40:29Z")
Psycho shower scene. Superlative horror scene thrown at an unsuspecting audience early in the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-moments-that-caused-genuine-shock/920807/8 "2020-09-17T04:53:42Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Psycho shower scene. Superlative horror scene thrown at an unsuspecting audience early in the movie… The first time I saw it I was prepared for that one, because it’s so famous. But there are two more jumps in the movie, when the detective gets killed, and when Norman’s mother is revealed.. I wasn’t prepared for those. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-moments-that-caused-genuine-shock/920807/9 "2020-09-17T04:55:23Z")
I did see _Alien_ during its first run in a movie theater. The chest-burster scene made the whole theater jump. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-moments-that-caused-genuine-shock/920807/10 "2020-09-17T05:05:38Z")
In my case, when that scene ended (the little critter took off, leaving the bloodied crew staring in open-mouthed shock) the audience _applauded_. As in: “Well done!” ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-moments-that-caused-genuine-shock/920807/11 "2020-09-17T05:05:56Z")
Speaking of Tarantino movies, Uma Thurman’s adrenaline shot to the heart in _Pulp Fiction_ made the audience sit up too. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-moments-that-caused-genuine-shock/920807/12 "2020-09-17T05:15:09Z")
The scene near the beginning of _Midsommer_ showing the aftermath of a murder-suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning from car exhaust certainly shocked the hell out of me and when I looked up reviews and Reddit threads about the movie afterwards, it was pretty consistently mentioned as the most gut-wrenching moment in a movie that’s full of fucked-up moments. I guess it’s one of those things that we frequently read about happening, but never really see depicted on the screen (at least not as explicitly as in that scene) so it really stuck with people. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-moments-that-caused-genuine-shock/920807/13 "2020-09-17T07:43:33Z")
In _Jaws_, there’s a scene where a scuba diver (Hooper, as I recall) is investigating a sunken boat that the shark attacked. There’s a big hole in the sunken boat, and when the diver touches the boat, the owner’s head falls out. Cue audience screaming. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-moments-that-caused-genuine-shock/920807/14 "2020-09-17T08:44:41Z")
I was watching that with my girlfriend at the time. (Hi, Gina! 😉 ) We both jumped out of our seats. The moment in _ **Crocodile Dundee** _ when Susan is filling her canteen from a pond never fails to freak out an audience too. For me, the biggest surprise ever was when Vincent blew Marvin’s head off in _ **Pulp Fiction** _. Didn’t expect that one at all. And I loved the splatter of blood all over the rear window. A great added touch, that! Sam Jackson’s big black Johnson didn’t surprise me as much as it just made me gag. Yeccch! 😖 ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-moments-that-caused-genuine-shock/920807/15 "2020-09-17T10:47:50Z")
Samuel Jackson getting eaten in **Deep Blue Sea**. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-moments-that-caused-genuine-shock/920807/16 "2020-09-17T10:51:29Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I didn’t see it in a movie theater, and I already knew there was a twist, but the “big reveal” in _The Crying Game_ was certainly shocking. (Anyone who’s seen it will know the moment I’m referring to.) Craig Kilborn was still hosting The Daily Show when _TCG_ came out, and when he mentioned it in the fake news, he added, “Have you heard the big secret about it? _It’s overrated._” ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-moments-that-caused-genuine-shock/920807/17 "2020-09-17T11:05:26Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I did see _Alien_ during its first run in a movie theater. The chest-burster scene made the whole theater jump. The cast were not fully informed about how that scene was going to go down, **[resulting in genuine shock on their part](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_(film)#Creature_effects)**: > For the filming of the chestburster scene, the cast members knew that the creature would be bursting out of Hurt, and had seen the chestburster puppet, but they had not been told that fake blood would also be bursting out in every direction from high-pressure pumps and [squibs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squib_(explosive)).[[27]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_(film)#cite_note-McIntee,_32-28)[[67]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_(film)#cite_note-68) The scene was shot in one take using an artificial torso filled with blood and viscera, with Hurt’s head and arms coming up from underneath the table. The chestburster was shoved up through the torso by a puppeteer who held it on a stick. When the creature burst through the chest, a stream of blood shot directly at Cartwright, shocking her enough that she fell over and went into hysterics.[[27]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_(film)#cite_note-McIntee,_32-28)[[30]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_(film)#cite_note-8th_passenger-31)[[32]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_(film)#cite_note-book_of_alien-33) According to Tom Skerritt, "What you saw on camera was the real response. She had no idea what the hell happened. All of a sudden this thing just came up. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-moments-that-caused-genuine-shock/920807/18 "2020-09-17T11:22:34Z")
For some reason the moment in _Point Break_ where Keanu Reeves’ character jumps out of the plane without a parachute caught me completely off-guard. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-moments-that-caused-genuine-shock/920807/19 "2020-09-17T11:35:15Z")
_Wait Until Dark_. If you’ve seen it, you know what I mean. The trope has since become a tired cliche, but this was the first and the best. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-moments-that-caused-genuine-shock/920807/20 "2020-09-17T12:03:59Z")
The first time I saw that, I was sitting on the floor in front of the television set. Swear to God, I must have jumped a foot straight up in the air! 😮 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-moments-that-caused-genuine-shock/920807.md?page=2)