10 Horror Movie Scenes You Remember Totally Wrong

Wait, Dracula didn't have fangs??

Hannibal Lecter
Orion Pictures

"Do you feel lucky, punk?" "If you build it, they will come." "Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who's the fairest of them all."

Lines such as these are often regarded as the most iconic movie quotes of all time.

But they all have something in common: none of those sentences were uttered in their corresponding movies. Because of the psychological phenomenon known as the Mandela Effect, people collectively misremember iconic film moments like these all the time.

Although this can happen with any genre, it seems to occur more regularly with horror. Because slashers, kaiju films, and zombie flicks are regularly parodied, film fans convince themselves they saw a scene that doesn't exist. Icons like Count Dracula and The Phantom of the Opera have been remade and rebooted so many times, it's easy to forget what happened exactly in the original.

Upon reading the entries on this list, you'll swear there's some mistake, since you vividly remember how these scenes played out. But with a bit of research, you'll see you've been remembering these horror moments wrong for most of your life.

10. Zombies Eat Brains - Night Of The Living Dead

Hannibal Lecter
Image Ten

Back in 1960, small-time director George A. Romero made a small film called Night of the Living Dead. Little was expected to come from it, but Romero's indie feature successfully spawned a whole new subgenre of horror.

Even though zombies are among the most iconic movie monsters, there's one trait about the undead flesh-eaters everyone gets wrong. Contrary to popular belief, the zombies from the Dead series don't just eats brains. Sure, they have no aversion to chomping on a brain or two, but they're just as inclined as gobbling down a liver or a heart.

This misconception is tied so deeply to zombie lore, Romero was compelled to speak out about it.

During an interview with Vanity Fair, he said:

"Whenever I sign autographs, they always ask me, 'Write "Eat Brains!"' I don't understand what that means. I've never had a zombie eat a brain. But it's become this landmark thing."

The idea that zombies target grey matter, stems from the 1985 horror-comedy, Return of the Living Dead, which isn't connected with Romero's franchise. Because the title is similar, it's easy to understand how fans conflated the two.

Contributor

James Egan has been with Whatculture for five years and prominently works on Horror, Film, and Video Games. He's written over 80 books including 1000 Facts about Horror Movies Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about The Greatest Films Ever Made Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about Video Games Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts About James Bond 1000 Facts About TV Shows