20 Horror Movies Everyone Remembers For Just One Scene
How much else from these movies can you even remember?
Horror is one of those genres that's built on the big moments. Similarly to, say, comedy or action, this genre's films rely on carefully crafted set-pieces in order to achieve their goals - in this case, to frighten the viewers - and inevitably, it's going to be these big crescendos which linger in people's minds the most. After all, horror buffs have always loved to discuss the scenes that scared them the most.
An unforgettable horror movie scene is one hell of a powerful thing. In fact, such a thing can single-handedly allow the overall film to live on in the public consciousness, as is displayed by the following 20 films. Whether fairly or not, and for better or for worse, they are all remembered for one specific moment above anything else they did.
Ranging from big scares to punchy deaths, from ingenious plot twists to legendary endings, these scenes have all secured their movies a place in horror legend; not all of them in a good way, mind you. Kicking off with one of the best jump scares of all time...
20. The Exorcist III - THAT Jump Scare
The Exorcist III received mixed reviews at the time of release and didn't pump the box office with money, but it has been remembered nevertheless for this exceptional jump scare. This scare technique often gets a bad rep, yet this one is practically perfect.
In an agonizingly drawn-out sequence, a nurse is wandering the corridors of an asylum and running various errands. Most of this is filmed in a static long shot of the corridor, and the stillness is absolutely eerie, with the poor nurse being a distant, powerless figure overwhelmed by the corridor's creepy ambience.
Occasionally, the camera cuts to show the insides of various rooms, and in one of those, a patient jumps out at the nurse. Viewers will falsely believe that that's the big pay-off, but it isn't.
After leaving a particular room, that static long shot of the hallway finally moves. It violently crash-zooms on the nurse as she walks along, pursued by a hooded figure wielding sharp garden shears, all accompanied by a screeching sound effect. Absolutely brown-trousering stuff!
This being so iconic is a double-edged sword. Thanks to this scene's notoriety, it's likely that more people have discovered The Exorcist III, but on the other hand, it's annoying that the film just gets remembered for this one scare. The Exorcist III is a fantastic sequel and arguably one of the most underrated horror pictures of all time; this moment is just one of the many brilliant things about it.