Horror movies are often sprinkled around with moments that really and truly look at what makes us human - hope, compassion, fear, anger... and it's a shame that movie moments are often ignored in favour of the thrills and spills. The imaginative kill, the blood, the identity of the killer behind the mask. They're the ones that are iconic, more iconic perhaps that the ones that make the films more of an exploration of the human condition. However, that isn't to say that the most "authentic" moments in horror movies are the boring ones - often they're bloody and tragic and heroic and even weirdly beautiful depending on how strong your stomach is. There's nothing worse in a horror film than if it's bleak and brainless and empty, a soulless cash-in with characters you could not care less about. So, here are my selection of 10 moments within horror movies that are truly awesome - they'll make you laugh, make you cry, make you scream in genuine fear or make you think about what it's all about. They'll make you grin in delight as the broken hero triumphs in their swan song or whoop as someone finds strength they never even knew they had. Lights. Camera. Action.
10. Wrong Turn 2 (2009) - Hanging Around
It's a little known film and a straight-to-DVD sequel that might actually be better - at least in my opinion - than the original, but Wrong Turn 2 has one of the unexpectedly sweetest and most beautifully tragic moments in a sea of torture porn horror. The entire film begins as a satire of reality shows before quickly devolving into a survival against the cannibalistic family who roam the woods. Two of the show's contestants - snarky, sleazy douchebag Jonesy and tough lesbian Marine Amber - end up trapped in one of the cannibal's traps and killed by an arrow to the face. It's their final moments together that make this such a bittersweet moment - they comfort each other in an underplayed, utterly emotional moment in which the douchebag's bravado falls and the Marine opens herself up to human contact, something she'd previously rejected. They die instantly together in each other's arms and despite the darkness of the whole thing, it's a positive statement on humanity in a series seemingly dedicated to their pain and suffering.