Usually, when a moviegoer wants to be scared, they choose one of the hundreds of high quality horror films available. Fear is something that is natural to expect and even want from this particular genre of cinema, whether it conveys fear through screamers, tension or surrealism.
However, sometimes films that do not fit into the horror genre can scare quite unexpectedly. Whether the idea that it comes from a harmless movie improves or worsens the fear factor is debatable. However, one thing is certain: such scenes are simply awful.
Helping Hands - ‘Labyrinth’ (1986)
labyrinth about a young girl named Sarah (Jennifer Connelly), who accidentally wishes for her little brother to leave. Realizing her terrible mistake, she embarks on a journey through a mysterious labyrinth to save her sister from the evil Goblin King, played by a musical legend. David Bowie. Along the way, Sarah encounters many traps, traps and puzzles. One of these traps is a trap trap leading into a vertical tunnel filled with dozens of dozens of hands.
What’s creepy is that the hands can talk and can communicate by turning into faces. While this scene is pretty quick and perhaps not too scary at first glance, the thought of hundreds of dirty and disembodied hands touching you from all angles is enough to keep someone from getting goosebumps.
Judge Doom - “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” (1988)
Who Framed Roger Rabbit? was revolutionary for its time as it was the first major film to seamlessly blend 2D animation and live action. More often than not, this effect is quite surprising. However, the villain from the movie is not. Judge Doom, played by Christopher Lloyd, a man obsessed with exterminating living cartoons from Earth. But it is not until the film’s climax that it is revealed that Doom is actually a cartoon himself.
This revelation is nothing but horror. Doom’s eyes pop out and are replaced by a set of bizarre cartoon eyes, and his voice changes from a deep and stoic rumble to a high-pitched screech, creating a rather terrifying moment. Whether you’re watching this as an adult or a child, this scene is pure nightmare fuel.
Cemetery - Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
Indiana Jones There are a few scary moments in the franchise, but there is one particularly creepy scene from the so-called worst part. Indie (Harrison Ford) and Matt (Shia LaBeouf) travel to Nazca, Peru in search of the legendary crystal skull, which they track down to the nearest cemetery. Deciding to go there at night for some reason, they find themselves being chased by the cemetery’s guards.
The Guardians are a small group of inhumanly agile combatants who all wear skull masks, screech loudly, and appear out of nowhere at random times. As if that weren’t enough, the tomb that houses the skull is even creepier, with mummified bodies that decompose in seconds on contact with air, and ragged breath that has no origin but is strong enough to be noticeable. This serves as a warning as to why you should never explore a graveyard at night.
Sméagol’s Transformation - The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Ending opening scene Lord of the Rings the film serves as a flashback depicting Gollum’s previous life (Andy Serkis), one of the film’s antagonists. It details how Gollum, at the time a hobbit named Sméagol, found the One Ring lying at the bottom of the pond. The ring immediately corrupts his mind and causes him to choke his cousin to death.
Sméagol then begins a gruesome transformation into the being better known as Gollum. His mind decays, his body turns from a hobbit to a scoundrel, and he develops a taste for raw fish and dark caves. Serkis, as always, delivers an incredibly intense approach that really shows just how jaded Gollum is. Although this scene is less scary and more unsettling, it really does a good job of demonstrating the evil contained in the One Ring and why it must be destroyed once and for all.
Tunnel - Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory This is a classic movie for the ages. These are the stars Gene Wilder as the titular Willy Wonka, who gives a tour of his factory to five young contest winners. Soon in the film, the children and their guardians find themselves on a boat floating on a river of liquid chocolate. Wonka orders the Oompa-Loompa to lead him into a dark tunnel, which could also be a tunnel to the Ninth Circle itself.
Lights start flickering and grotesque images of insects and vermin appear, and colors start to flicker like some bad acid trip. As the families plead with Wonka to stop the boat, he begins to softly hum a tune about how their doom is imminent. As the boat picks up speed, Wonka’s singing changes from a gentle rhythm to a manic scream, but the boat suddenly comes to a halt at the dock. Wonka and the winners just drop off and leave like nothing happened. It’s a strangely unsettling scene in such a bizarre film.
Fear Gas - “Batman Begins” (2005)
Much of the plot Batman Begins revolves around fear. Fear is the main weapon as Batman (Christian Bale) and one of the film’s antagonists, Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy). In spite of, Batman Begins still an action movie, and certainly not a place where you can expect them to be put off by their pants.
When Batman interrogates Scarecrow, he uses Scarecrow’s own fear gas to get the villain to cooperate. For a few brief moments, Batman can be seen through the Scarecrow’s eyes, which is scary. The Caped Crusader looks like some form of demon with a distorted voice. Of the several hallucinations of fear gas in the movie, this one is by far the creepiest.
Beware the Wheelers - “Return to Oz” (1985)
Return to Oz is an underrated pseudo-sequel to the classic movie, Wizard of Oz (1939). The key difference is that while the 1939 film was playful, bright, and innocent, this film is extremely unnerving. The film follows Dorothy (Fairuza Balk) when she returns to Oz and finds the kingdom in ruins.
In one abandoned part of the kingdom, graffiti warns Dorothy to “Beware of the Wheelers.” It doesn’t take viewers long to figure out who the Wheelers are. These nightmares on wheels, with wheels for limbs and bizarre masks, left many unsuspecting onlookers, especially children, in a daze.
Pale Man - ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ (2006)
Whether Pan’s Labyrinth whether a horror movie is a matter of controversy, and this particular scene is the reason for that. When OpheliaIvana Baquero), is instructed by a mythical faun to retrieve a dagger from the Pale Man’s lair (Doug Jones), she is ordered not to eat or drink anything from the sumptuous feast in front of her.
Ofelia, being a naturally curious child, eats two grapes anyway, and that’s when the unnaturally motionless Pale Man comes to life. What appears to be an eyeless monster is actually not eyeless at all, and begins stalking Ophelia with eyes on her palms and a terrifyingly inhuman gait. The rest of the movie is dark and definitely not for kids, but it doesn’t usually go into horror territory until this particular scene.
Inferi - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
Sixth Harry Potter part is perhaps the darkest. Long gone are the days of magical bliss and bizarre discoveries, replaced by war and death. Where once HarryDaniel Radcliffe) met mandrakes and brownies, in this part he meets inferi - corpses animated by dark magic.
Inferi suddenly appear when Harry and Dumbledore (Sir Michael Gambon) try to get one of the Dark Lord’s Horcruxes from the island in the underground lake. They come out of the dark water in hordes, making their way to the shore. Many fans were horrified by this scene and seemed to share the same opinion as Dumbledore: kill him with fire.
Searing Life - “Dark Crystal” (1982)
Dark Crystal is a film about an alien race known as the Skeksis, who use the power of a huge purple crystal to drain the life essence of the unfortunate creatures that inhabit the world around them in order to gain immortality. The first time viewers see this effect in action is a little unsettling to say the least.
The poor little poling, who was first devastated, writhing and resisting, which upset many onlookers. To make matters worse, the creature’s rapid aging effect, as its eyes are fixed on the crystal’s light, looks rather creepy. It’s amazing that this movie was ever marketed as a children’s movie.
Source: Collider
