10 Most Paused Horror Movie Moments
Psycho stabbings, Michael Myers unmasked, and the Blair Witch incarnate.
Home media and horror movies go together like blood and guts, or Ari Aster and our deep existential misery. And, through decades of censorship and cinemas not banking on the genre enough to show it, our trusty VHS, DVDs and Blu-rays have come to our rescue, offering all the thrills, spills and chills we can't find elsewhere.
Even in this age of horror revival, where your most mainstream of theatres can be found showing the new Mike Flanagan flick, home video still holds an unimpeachable place in the true fan's film appreciation arsenal, because you can't pause the cinema (and, no, Funny Games doesn't count).
To scope out all the juicy background details, head-scratching puzzles or film fanatic Easter eggs that directors leave around the screen for us, we have spent the last 50 years becoming sharpshooters on the pause button. Indeed, it's hard to fathom how many hours have been ploughed into single frames of Blair Witch, searching for the old hag herself. And the possibility of penetration in Psycho has kept generations of viewers' eyes peeled. And, hell, let's face it, who hasn't wanted a second look at the big red guy from Insidious?
Well, it's time to enjoy all of that and more. You can sit back, put down the remote, give those thumbs a rest, as this article does the hard work for you.
10. Carved Patio Boyfriend - Scream (1996)
While the big horror movies of today tend to fit into often quite well funded and fairly refined categories, the '90s was still something of a wild west in terms of content and quality. Nonetheless, Scream rose out of the schlocky ashes of the '80s, stole all the tropes and turned the genre upside down, all on a budget of $15 million.
And one of the many reasons that budget was kept so wafer-thin was the clever use of camera, editing and simple practical effects. Which leads us into our first most-paused moment, straight from the movie's opening sequence. Casey Becker (Drew Barrymore) is home alone waiting for her boyfriend, and Ghostface makes the last house call of Casey's life.
To the shock of all, the big bad has her high school sweetheart gagged and bound on the patio, and Casey has to answer a few horror-themed questions in order to keep him alive and squirming. Spoiler: she doesn't.
We hear a squelch, we see blood, the boyfriend's head slumps to the side and the camera only rests on his body for a moment before we're pulled back to Casey, her face reflecting the horror outside. But what has Ghostface done? Multiple pauses show what might be a trail of guts, but, no matter how many times we freeze the frame, we still can't quite figure it out.