# Scariest elements in a movie--spoilers maybe? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 28, 2010, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-elements-in-a-movie-spoilers-maybe/534109 "2010-03-28T16:23:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 4
**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:** [April 5, 2010, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-elements-in-a-movie-spoilers-maybe/534109/61 "2010-04-05T13:50:07Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > You don’t see it all that much anymore, but I used to be afraid of quicksand in movies… One of my strongest childhood memories of being scared while watching a movie was some remake of _The Hound of the Baskervilles_ on TV. The bad guy is out on the moors, fleeing from Holmes and Watson, and gets caught in quicksand. He’s absolutely freaking out with panic and the last you see of him is with quicksand pouring into his open mouth before he sinks beneath the surface. Yikes. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-elements-in-a-movie-spoilers-maybe/534109/62 "2010-04-05T17:13:56Z")
Don’t know if anyone remembers it but I recall [Special Bulletin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Bulletin) being shown over here on UK TV in the early 80’s. I do think that the mock-realism-reconstruction style of TV is overdone somewhat these days but this seemed very fresh and very frightening 25 years ago. I remember the point of detonation vividly and was petrified by it. Never had chance to watch it again and I wonder if it has stood up to the test of time or not. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-elements-in-a-movie-spoilers-maybe/534109/63 "2010-04-05T19:06:34Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Don’t know if anyone remembers it but I recall [Special Bulletin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Bulletin) being shown over here on UK TV in the early 80’s. > > I do think that the mock-realism-reconstruction style of TV is overdone somewhat these days but this seemed very fresh and very frightening 25 years ago. I remember the point of detonation vividly and was petrified by it. > > Never had chance to watch it again and I wonder if it has stood up to the test of time or not. Very vivid memory. The moment when the team trying to defuse the bomb has a huge “oh shit” moment and something obviously has been triggered was petrifying, I agree. They later showed a surviving camera team located a few miles away, patching in recorded footage of the bomb going off with an accompanying mushroom cloud. That part struck me as a bit hokey, though: as a middle schooler growing up in the early 80s, I knew what EMP was. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-elements-in-a-movie-spoilers-maybe/534109/64 "2010-04-05T19:28:25Z")
> [@Cuckoorex](#): > > When an actor can convincingly pull off a reaction of mortal terror it really helps, too… In one of my favorite old movies, **The Monster that Challenged the World** , Tim Holt pulls this off very nicely. In a climatic battle with the creature, his expression is pitch-perfect scared-shitless-but-doing-what-has-to-be-done. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-elements-in-a-movie-spoilers-maybe/534109.md?page=3)