10 Best Elevator Scenes In Horror Movie History

James Wan was the Executive Producer in this prequel to the Conjuring but returned to his Director role for what was arguably the scariest scene in this otherwise average horror movie. The tension comes from the repeated threat of a jump scare which doesn’t materialise, then a sudden reveal when you think you are safe.

Mia rides the elevator down to the dimly lit basement of her apartment block to drop off some boxes. She hears a baby crying and a pram appears down the corridor. She investigates and sees some blood-stained linen in the pram just before a black demon claw grabs her wrist and rises next to the pram.

She breaks free and runs back to the elevator as all the lights go out. Pressing the floor button, she frantically looks out into the darkness with her torch as the doors take a painfully long time to close.

The doors open twice on the same floor, leaving her shining her torch into the darkness while desperately pressing the buttons, until the elevator starts to move. The flickering lights further suggest something is about to jump out.

When it stops and the doors open to reveal she is still on the same floor she does a mad dash through the darkness on to the stairwell where you finally get the demon jump scare before she gets back to the safety of her light apartment.