# Movies: What scares the crap out of you? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 16, 2005, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-what-scares-the-crap-out-of-you/290420 "2005-02-16T21:17:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-what-scares-the-crap-out-of-you/290420/61 "2005-02-17T18:29:23Z")
The scariest part to me in 28 Days Later was the danger faced by the women from male characters exploiting the breakdown of society. As soon as they arrived at that army outpost and the soldiers were so weirdly cheerful, I knew what was going down. The idea of being trapped in a situation of civil unrest or disaster where you can’t count on being protected, and you have no means of escape or of defending yourself, freaks me right out. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-what-scares-the-crap-out-of-you/290420/62 "2005-02-17T18:46:35Z")
I remember, I watched this one zombie movie, and throughout the whole movie they were hiding in their house, nearly comatose with fear. At the end one girl survives, and she literally can outstep the zombies, they just can’t catch her! What’s scary about that? The movie ended with her saying “They’re us. We’re them,” which I thought was the stupidest moral in the entire universe. Look, humans aren’t all that great but there is simply no comparing us to the zombies in that movie. ---
**Author:** ![Ichini\_Sanshigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/d9b06d/32.png) [@Ichini\_Sanshigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichini_Sanshigo)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-what-scares-the-crap-out-of-you/290420/63 "2005-02-17T18:58:44Z")
Originally posted by **Tengu** : [quote] For some reason, spooky things with hair are really bad to me.\*\* Then you really shouldn’t watch **The Apprentice** … Seriously though, zombies? Everyone’s afraid of ZOMBIES??? C’mon, they’re not scary, they’re just funny. The one movie that scared me was the first **Final Destination**. I can easily imagine being killed by some sort of freaky household accident. Clumsiness plus the malice of fate equals bad things. ---
**Author:** ![shy\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@shy\_guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shy_guy)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-what-scares-the-crap-out-of-you/290420/64 "2005-02-17T20:52:35Z")
> [@](#): > > they just can’t catch her! What’s scary about that? Well, the fact that eventually, they _will_. That’s why I think slow zombies are scary - sure, you might think you’re okay. You might even have fun shooting them or bashing them in the head like those Hillbillies in Dawn of the Dead. But then you slowly start to realize that (at least in a Romero film) the zombies ain’t goin’ anywhere. There will always be more, and no matter what you do, the zombie population will continue to grow and humans will continue to die out. And even if you’re one of the survivors, your society is utterly destroyed and you end up isloated and most likely insane. I agree with **lisacurl** about the scariest aspect of 28 Days Later. The feeling that you have absolutely no one to turn to, no help whatsoever and other people can do whatever they want to you is terrifying. ---
**Author:** ![Judith\_Prietht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b19c9b/32.png) [@Judith\_Prietht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Judith_Prietht)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-what-scares-the-crap-out-of-you/290420/65 "2005-02-17T21:45:40Z")
Building on what **shy guy** said, the thing about zombies is that they’re relentless, whether they’re fast or slow. They keep coming at you, and because we’re human, we all have the potential to become the living dead. They might appear human on the outside, but they’re devoid of anything that makes them human on the inside, and that’s the root of horror in its purest sense: something that evokes an emotional reaction of fear or dread. Zombie movies work because they address an inherent fear of death, and of ordinary things becoming completely and terribly extraordinary (see previous examples of dolls coming to life, rocking chairs rocking of their own accord, faces warping, etc.). And in zombie movies, there seems to always be a moment in which normalcy is turned utterly on its ear in a very unsettling way, particularly where familial relationships are concerned. The little girl in the basement in Romero’s _Night of the Living Dead_ who kills her mother and worse, Jim waking up in a totally deserted London in _28 Days Later_, another creepy little girl in the recent remake of _Dawn of the Dead_, and the especially poignant scene already addressed in _Shaun of the Dead_. Therefore, I’m not sure if zombie movies are supposed to be scary as much as they’re supposed to be horrifying, if that makes any sense. The sense of inversion and apocalypse in many zombie movies also lends itself to cultural critique, which has been beaten to death as far as _Dawn of the Dead_ is concerned, but is still an important role of horror narratives in general. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-what-scares-the-crap-out-of-you/290420/66 "2005-02-17T21:47:52Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > I remember, I watched this one zombie movie, and throughout the whole movie they were hiding in their house, nearly comatose with fear. At the end one girl survives, and she literally can outstep the zombies, they just can’t catch her! What’s scary about that? > > The movie ended with her saying “They’re us. We’re them,” which I thought was the stupidest moral in the entire universe. Look, humans aren’t all that great but there is simply no comparing us to the zombies in that movie. Heresy. Heresy, I tells ya! That was the remake of _Night of the Living Dead_, and IMHO much better than the original. The only thing I didn’t like was the “happy” ending, but there’s a nice little surprise in it. I thought the remake of _Dawn_ was pretty mediocre, but the first 10 minutes were some of the scariest footage I’ve ever seen. Has anybody ever seen _Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things_? It’s like all the other zombie movies but but with much groovier clothes. The part that freaked me right out is when the caretaker was tied up, and he could see the zombies coming towards him, and he couldn’t do anything but squirm. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-what-scares-the-crap-out-of-you/290420/67 "2005-02-17T22:04:36Z")
> [@Judith Prietht](#): > > Yes, yes it does. Miike’s **Ichi The Killer** also does, especially in one particular torture scene. > > I just looked over my shoulder while reading this thread. I fucking HATED Ichi The Killer. One of the worst movies I’ve ever seen, and not just because it was gory and disgusting. I don’t remember the particular scene you’re referring to, but it was enough to turn me off to the rest of Miike’s body of work forever. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-what-scares-the-crap-out-of-you/290420/68 "2005-02-17T22:14:25Z")
> [@Big Bad Voodoo Lou](#): > > I fucking HATED Ichi The Killer. One of the worst movies I’ve ever seen, and not just because it was gory and disgusting. I don’t remember the particular scene you’re referring to, but it was enough to turn me off to the rest of Miike’s body of work forever. I missed **Judith Prietht** ’s reply on page 1, but yeah, that scene from Ichi was pretty horrible. Another movie that creeped me out was Eyes Wide Shut. For one thing, it wasn’t any good and didn’t have a proper ending, but the most famous sequence is really unnerving… you know, the giant masked orgy at the mansion. For all the nudity and sex, it isn’t the least bit erotic. It is SCARY, because you don’t know who these people are except for the fact that they’re rich, probably more than a little amoral, and don’t want anyone to know what they’re up to. That repetitive four-note piano line became as effective a theme for fear as the familiar shark music from Jaws. When the masked people finally catch idiot-boy, I mean Tom Cruise, it is scary because you don’t know if they’re going to kill him, rape him, torture him, ruin his life in ways that only corrupt rich evil secret societies can do, or what. Then the naked masked girl steps in to “save him,” and we have no idea what she’s in for either. Of course we never find out the significance of any of that stuff, but it was pretty memorable and chilling for what was otherwise a boring and overhyped (IMO) movie. That goes along with my original theory that “betraying the audience’s trust” and showing them something that they don’t expect and can’t begin to comprehend can be scariest of all. ---
**Author:** ![Alias](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e4f/32.png) [@Alias](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alias)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-what-scares-the-crap-out-of-you/290420/69 "2005-02-17T23:47:21Z")
> [@RenMan](#): > > Another vote for zombies. Especially the fast ones from **28 Days Later** and the the re-make of **Dawn of the Dead**. Homicidal, unable to be reasoned with, horrifying, relentless, and FAST. This is exactly what I came in to post. Zombies didn’t bother me at all until I saw these two movies. Those running zombies (and they can run FOREVER) are far scarier than the shuffling zombies. The other thing that freaks me out is a well done, dreamlike quality. Moments in both versions of The Ring are very nightmarish and eerie. There’s a Japanese movie called Uzumaki that’s pretty silly for the most part, but a few dream-like scenes in it were enough to give me nightmares. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-what-scares-the-crap-out-of-you/290420/70 "2005-02-17T23:50:12Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Heresy. Heresy, I tells ya! That was the remake of _Night of the Living Dead_, and IMHO much better than the original. The only thing I didn’t like was the “happy” ending, but there’s a nice little surprise in it. I thought the remake of _Dawn_ was pretty mediocre, but the first 10 minutes were some of the scariest footage I’ve ever seen. I knew \*someone \* was going to come in here and defend that awful movie. 😉 There were a few good scenes in it. I don’t remember it that well but I think there was a guy in there whom I liked, and he died. Man, that’s clear as mud, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Talon\_Karrde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Talon\_Karrde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Talon_Karrde)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-what-scares-the-crap-out-of-you/290420/71 "2005-02-18T01:04:35Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Religious imagery done in just the wrong way can do it to me too. The first trip scene in _Altered States_ freaked me right out. Flashing images of an old man dying while holding a burning Bible, interlaced with the ritual sacrifice of a crucified man with a goat’s head – which had an overabundance of eyes and horns. An insomnia special! That sounds incredibly creepy. I agree with you. The mother in Carrie was the scariest part for me. > [@TommyTutone](#): > > and more horrific as a result would be the knife scene in Saving Private Ryan That part bothered me more than most stuff from horror movies. I’m not sure why, either. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-what-scares-the-crap-out-of-you/290420/72 "2005-02-18T01:51:19Z")
What gets me are the conspiratorial scenarios, where an entire community is either atavistically evil (The Lottery, The Wicker Man, The Children of the Corn) or is infected/infiltrated/taken over by a corrupting force (Invasion of the Body Snatchers) and turns on the last remnant of humanity amongst them. That, and vermin, insects, etc. Rats, cockroaches, killer bees (even though there hasn’t been a good killer bee movie yet), reanimated ancient-Egyptian scarabs… ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-what-scares-the-crap-out-of-you/290420/73 "2005-02-18T02:11:02Z")
I get freaked out by freeky kids and monotone laughter. Someone mentioned scary books. Can anyone suggest a scary book? I’ve been reading “scary” books my whole life and have never been scared by one. ---
**Author:** ![Roland\_Orzabal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@Roland\_Orzabal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roland_Orzabal)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-what-scares-the-crap-out-of-you/290420/74 "2005-02-18T02:20:24Z")
> [@EmeraldGrue](#): > > Okay, I’m too damned cowardly to click on it, will somebody tell me what it is? It’s one of the quick shots from _The Ring_ of a character dying of fright, right? Must…not…click!! It’s the dead chick in the closet. And, while **Silentgoldfish** is correct that Ringu’s death scenes were (ostensibly) more _creepy_, none of them came close to being any more _nasty_ than the above-referenced thing, which, as you may recall, is the Nastiest Thing Ever Made. Ick. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-what-scares-the-crap-out-of-you/290420/75 "2005-02-18T02:21:02Z")
> [@Talon Karrde](#): > > That part bothered me more than most stuff from horror movies. I’m not sure why, either. It’s much easier to disengage yourself from a movie about zombies or guys with chainsaws when you know that hasn’t, and in most cases couldn’t happen. On the other hand, a guy getting killed like that in a war movie is definitely in the realm of possibility in the movie, and may have actually happened in real life. ---
**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:** [February 18, 2005, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-what-scares-the-crap-out-of-you/290420/76 "2005-02-18T02:24:40Z")
I am scared of auditory hallucinations and stuff - hearing disembodied voices. I saw _Ringu_ after I saw _The Ring_, and consequently, I found the dead-of-fright Japanese actors comical-looking - especially the kids in the car (did anyone else notice the girl still had her panties hooked around one ankle? Tee hee). Now it’s a running joke in my house that I hate Japanese people and laugh when they die \*. Still, the video in _The Ring_ scares the everloving hell out of me - especially the roiling “white noise” that is going on in the background. It’s giving me the heebie-jeebies just typing about it! I think that goes back to my general fear of :wierdness: as a kid. Jarring images or things with screwed-up perspectives or everyday things that _just don’t fit_ - disturbing. \*I do not actually feel either of those things in actuality. ---
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-what-scares-the-crap-out-of-you/290420/77 "2005-02-18T02:35:30Z")
> [@kung fu lola](#): > > Still, the video in _The Ring_ scares the everloving hell out of me - especially the roiling “white noise” that is going on in the background. It’s giving me the heebie-jeebies just typing about it! I think that goes back to my general fear of :wierdness: as a kid. Jarring images or things with screwed-up perspectives or everyday things that _just don’t fit_ - disturbing. > > . I find this kind of thing disturbing as well. The part where the ex-husband talks about not being able to see the camera in the mirror freaked me out, b/c I couldn’t figure out what was so wrong about that part of the video. That, and any mirror-image scenes where the character can’t see themselves in the mirror, or sees stuff in the mirro and turns around and it’s not there. The girl in the closet freaked me out also, so of course I clicked the link even though I closed my eyes at that scene the second time I saw the movie. I’m a wicked smahtie… ---
**Author:** ![shy\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@shy\_guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shy_guy)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-what-scares-the-crap-out-of-you/290420/78 "2005-02-18T04:14:36Z")
The girl in the closet scared the fuck out of me, too. When I spent my utterly sleepless post-Ring night laying awake in bed, it was that face and the tiny glimpse you get of the husband’s face that absolutely would not leave my mind. I’m with kung fu lola when it comes to the faces in _Ringu_. They didn’t really do anything for me (I liked the whole movie less than I liked _The Ring_, but I’ve heard that it depends on which you saw first). I’m also odd in that, in retrospect, the thing that terrifies me the most about the movie is the thought of Samara living in that room in the barn, above all those horses. Since, as mentioned before, I have a total phobia of horses, the thought of that is just horrific. On the other hand, a lot of people seem to get freaked out by the girl coming out of the TV, which doesn’t scare me in the least. > [@](#): > > That, and any mirror-image scenes where the character can’t see themselves in the mirror, or sees stuff in the mirro and turns around and it’s not there. Yes! There’s a scene like that in Ringu toward the end where the woman is looking in the TV and in the reflection sees her dead husband with his face wrapped up pointing toward something. Scariest part of the whole movie, for me. Brrr. And the thing that gets me about that scene is another thing that scares me - when something absolutely horrifying is right there on the screen but so subtle and so not presented in the way that scary things are usually put out on display for you (front and center with big spooky noises) that you completely fail to notice it at first. That feeling of “okay, this isn’t so bad, I - _holy shit_!” really gets to me, because it makes me wonder what other horrifying things I’m glossing over in everyday life. Also, It’s weird, old media has a tendency to scare me - old photographs and films. It’s a hard aesthetic to describe. The Nine Inch Nails video Closer pretty much nails it - the brown, faded tones and old clothing and machinery - glass and copper wires and scientific equipment - and something about the way people’s eyes in old photographs tend to look dead. It can either look totally boring or extremely frightening. Man, I really need to not be reading this thread before bedtime. ---
**Author:** ![fontor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/34f0e0/32.png) [@fontor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fontor)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-what-scares-the-crap-out-of-you/290420/79 "2005-02-18T11:45:28Z")
My votes: Things wrong with faces. Google “whatswrong.swf” for an example. Sorry – not at my own computer now. The very fast flashes of Brad Pitt in _Fight Club_ during the support group scene. Bleeding from the eyeballs, as in _One Hour Photo_. That scene had a terribly effective buildup. That one old movie where a guy can turn people into mannequins. When the girl sees them all, they turn towards her and their mouths flop open. Laaaaa… What is that movie, anyway? I don’t think zombies are scary, but I understand. I’m at peace with my inner zombie-like nature. BTW, zombies don’t have to be fast to be scary. It’s like in a dream, when someone is after you and you _can’t move_, or for some reason you have to move very slowly. Hate that. ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-what-scares-the-crap-out-of-you/290420/80 "2005-02-18T14:14:12Z")
> [@Judith Prietht](#): > > I was thinking of the one where Ichi’s sitting there calmly making shrimp tempura while the guy is hanging on hooks before him, and you know pretty much exactly what’s going to happen with the oil, and then it does and it’s just as bad as you might suspect. That one. Yeah, that’s what I thought you were talking about, but the nipple scene was pretty horrifying as well. Also, that wasn’t Ichi. Ichi was the “hero” of the movie, the one the old man controlled into killing all the “bullies.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-what-scares-the-crap-out-of-you/290420.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-what-scares-the-crap-out-of-you/290420.md?page=5)