It’s that time of the year, that time for kids dressing up in ghoulish outfits, throwing eggs at their neighbours, ghost stories, and rom-coms on TV??? Here in Ireland the local station can’t seem to afford horror movies the last week of October, so they end up screening Autumn in New York every (un)bloody year. But these are the times of BitTorrent, thank goodness.

In light of the upcoming pagan celebration, below are some of the scariest scenes from some of the best horror films around. Where possible, I’ve linked that scene to a Youtube vid that will probably be erased in seconds.

But first, let me explain my sense of what is scary. For me, the slasher and torture-porn films of late are not scary. This is because the horror derives from humans, and humans aren’t scary. Why? Because with the omnipresent press, especially from stations like Sky and Fox, it seems almost inevitable that atrocious human acts of violence and murder occur. As for films like Nightmare on Elm Street, they’re too focused on immediate shocks and jumps to ever have a lasting effect.

The horror that truly terrifies me is what I call sublime scary. I’m using philosopher Immanuel Kant’s understanding of the sublime, which is a reaction of being overwhelmed by something which overloads our cognitive powers, like the vastness of the ocean. It’s something that confounds the senses. Good horror movies are able to utilise this feeling through forces and creatures that act in unpredictable, unknown, and thus disturbing ways. Here are the ten best examples:

Alien- Dallas in the vents

It was a tossup between the motion-tracking scene in Aliens and this, but this scene wins out for the utter tension generated by not quite fully seeing the creature that terrorises a bunch of space-truckers. Creating a motion sensor, they attempt to trap the creature in the ship’s vents and then blast it into space. Captain Dallas offers up himself as bait, and the crew’s plan turns into a disaster when the creature turns out to be a little more crafty than imagined. The creature of these films is the ultimate example of sublime scariness- it’s inspired by insects from earth, yet vastly different from anything we have seen or imagined before- its strengths are unknown, but its acid blood makes killing it as concerning as facing it. Ash refers to it as the perfect being, an entity existing out of pure impulse- yet another intimidating characteristic for us law-governed animals. The genius of this film was keeping the Alien out of sight as much as possible- we barely get to grasp what this creature is. All we know is that if you see it, you’re gone, as Dallas realises when he tries to dash out of the vents and runs straight into the alien. This see-it-then-die ethos was quickly ditched after the first sequel and the films became very, very, unscary.

Pan’s Labyrinth- The Man With No Face

This recent Spanish film was a wonderful surprise, being both a moving war drama and a magical but creepy fantasy, exploring the connections between the imagination and morality. In one scene, protagonist Ofelia is guided through a magic door into an ominous room by some ally fairies. There she sees a seemingly immobile creature which lacks eyes, sitting at a dining table. As she passes him to get an ornate dagger, we see images of the wall of the creature devouring children, its eyes on its hands. She ventures on, but we’re screaming for her to get the hell out of there. Upon obtaining her dagger, she grabs a grape from the creature’s table, despite being warned not to. The creature awakens, grabbing its eyes and affixing them to its hands, as it creeps eerily after Ofelia, who runs to a door that no longer exists. The make-up and effects are astounding, and that creature will lurk in my nightmares for years.

The Terminator- Rise in the Flames

More sci-fi and action than horror, nevertheless this film proposes the terrifying idea of facing an unstoppable machine that looks and acts like us humans. There’s something deeply disturbing about something seemingly human that is utterly inhumane. After several tense encounters between the terminator and Sarah Connor, the saviour of humanity’s future, and her protector, Kyle, they manage to blow up the truck being driven this assassin machine. Director James Cameron plays us well by having the couple embrace to the cue of an it’s-all-over score, only to have the metallic skeleton of the terminator rise from the flames, to pursue the weaponless heroes once more. The relentlessness of the machine is almost exhausting, if it wasn’t so damn scary.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers- The End

My favourite of the body-snatcher films, this 1978 version ties in alien infection with the suspicion the US harboured for its own government.

SPOILER ALERT
Donald Sutherland’s journey of discovery, infiltrating the alien clones by pretending to lack any emotions, takes him to the main hive, where the alien eggs are being nurtured for further contamination. Sutherland makes a desperate attempt to scupper the plan, but he’s outnumbered a million to one. A long chase occurs, and Sutherland, exhausted, finds shelter, only for a torch to shine in his eyes. We cut to later, much later, and the film ends with Sutherland performing his daily routine, until he’s met by fellow infiltrator Veronica Cartright. She smiles at him, and the film ends in one of the most unnerving moments in cinema. Maybe it’s the surprise, maybe it’s the film ending on such a downbeat note, or maybe it’s that horrifying scream the clones emit, but no matter what, this ending will stay with you far longer than the flat conclusion of this year’s remake.

Lord of the Rings- Bilbo Sees the Ring

Not an obvious contender for sublime scares, considering it’s a fantasy movie. But in the first film, The Fellowship of the Ring, the Hobbit who brings the One Ring back to civilisation becomes obsessed by it. But Bilbo remains a gentle soul, until the new bearer of the ring, Frodo, Bilbo’s cousin, meets him in the safe haven of Rivendell. Upon seeing the ring, Bilbo makes a lunge for it, his face distorting into something dark and horrifying for a split second, until Bilbo manages to recompose himself, and break down due to guilt. It’s an unexpected shock in a seemingly calm moment. Apparently, the effect was achieved by superimposing over actor Ian Holm’s face the image of a puppet- the scariest entity known to humanity, after the clown.

The Thing- Defibrillator

John Carpenter’s greatest achievement was this 1980′s remake of a group of researchers, based in the Antarctic, who uncover a life-form that upon touch infects and mimics of the cells of the infectee. This alien is one of the best-imagined in cinema- it has no identity, no features, its physical form is just an amalgamation of whatever it infects. In one scene, a doctor attempts to resuscitate a convulsing work-mate. He applies a charged defibrillator to his chest, only for the chest to open up into a huge mouth and tear off the doctor’s hands. But the sublime scene is what happens next, as hero Kurt Russell burns the infected body, only to miss its head, which detaches from the charred corpse, spouts legs, and runs off. The Thing has some of the most brilliant art design and special effects in horror.

The Omen- Photos

The Devil is a prime example of a sublime figure, for his “powers” are never known to us, instead we must invest all our thoughts of what is wrong and evil into this icon. The Omen conveys this perfectly by never directly showing anything, but rather the atrocities that happen are caused by seemingly normal forces (the nanny committing suicide, the priest being skewered by a pole falling from a building). One of the best scenes in the film is when photographer Keith Jennings invites suspicious adoptive father of the demon child, Robert Thorn, to his dark room. He shows pictures of several dead characters taken days before they died, with marks on the photos perfectly outlining their deaths (a mark around the nanny’s neck, a line through the priest’s body). Thorn decides to investigate the situation, and Jennings offers assistance. Thorn wonders why, and Jennings shows him a self-portrait. A dark line cuts through his neck. The predictive forces of these pictures creates an eerie sense of destiny, fulfilled for Jennings in a truly horrific beheading.

The Exorcist- Dream Sequence

The Exorcist is a film that many have come to mock for its dated effects, but barring one scene (the pea-soup vomit), this remains a genuinely upsetting movie. Not just for the horrifying voice and twisting-neck scenes, but because the films leaves plenty of mysteries in its wake (the possessed Regan reacting to holy water even though it was tap water, the presence of the ornamental stone, etc). But one of the creepiest scenes occurs early in the film, as Father Carris has a premonitory dream about his mother, whom he feels about for placing her in a mental institute. The muted sounds of the dream immerse us in the dream, only to see a single frame of a demonic face jump at us- the face doesn’t factor in the film except for another split second during the exorcism session- its significance is never explained, it remains a disturbing mystery.

Mulholland Drive- Behind Winkie’s Diner

David Lynch is a director that can make very effective moments in cinema- he can disturb us with characters like Frank Booth in Blue Velvet, reduce us to tears with the beauty of The Elephant Man, and envelop us in weirdness in Twin Peaks, Lost Highway, etc. But he can also terrify us. In the multi-layered Mulholland Drive, the film diverts to a scene in a diner, where an uneasy man describes the disturbing dream he had of this diner, where he saw a tramp from behind. When describing the dream, he comes to realise that the dream is coming true, and he and his friend seem almost urged to walk behind the diner. The camera floats as the man’s POV as we glide towards the back, Angelo Badalamenti’s eerie score turning up the tension. Then from behind, a disgusting, crusty tramp glides from around the corner. The moment will cause you to jump, but what’s interesting is that the man dies instantly after seeing the tramp, his friend seeming not to notice. The scene is Lynch’s little nod to the power of dream, or fantasy, and its affect on reality.

Ringu- The TV

Without doubt, this is the single most unnerving scene in cinema. I watched Ringu on TV one night, aware of its reputation but unconvinced of its scariness. Admittedly, I was on edge through the film, mostly by the offbeat sound design and the face of those killed by the mysterious video tape, which ensures your death one week after watching it. The contents of the tape itself are disturbing and sublime in their powerful imagery and enigmatic significance. The film seems to come to an end, the heroine surviving her week, but is left unsure of how. We cut to her ex, who is at home, a week after seeing the tape himself. The TV turns on, the image of a well appears, and out crawls Sadako, the force behind these deaths. She crawls toward the screen, her movements broken and jerky, completely unnatural, if not supernatural. But the true scare is in seeing her disjointed body crawl through the TV screen and into the ex’s living room. It’s an ingenious device that causes so much fear in the viewer for it is implying that the sublime horror we see on TV has the ability to cross the boundary between fantasy, and invade our reality. For weeks afterwards I felt uneasy when passing by Asian girls.

By Eoin O’Faolain