10 Horror Movies Too Scary To Watch Again

Say what you will about the classification of Jaws as a horror movie, but any film that made an entire generation of film-goers afraid to take a dip deserves its place on this list.

It's unavoidable to mention that the shark looks bloody awful. It's all the more impressive, then, that it still manages to be so frightening in spite of how unconvincing it looks. However, the scariest part of Jaws is still the brutal attack of Chrissie at the beginning, where we see nothing but the shark's POV followed by her frantic flailing on the water's surface.

'Bruce' the mechanical shark was intended to have a lot more screen time, had it not been for the constant technical problems that plagued the production. This was for the better, as the shark is concealed and revealed just the right amount and at exactly the right moments leading up to the climax. One particularly terrifying shot is of the shark's jaws approaching and closing down on the capsised rower's leg in the pond.

So, what is the scariest way to approach a monster movie? Is what we don't see scarier than what we do see? This seems to be the popular opinion. Take Val Lewton, for example: he is fondly remembered by the horror community for that philosophy. Many people find Tourneur's Night of the Demon (1957) very suspenseful right up until the laughably fake-looking demon makes its appearance (at the studio's misguided insistence).

On the other side of the coin, we have filmmakers like John Carpenter, who once said: "if you have a monster, show it!". Jaws is one of those films that strikes that perfect balance and is all the scarier for it, even if withholding it so much in the first half wasn't entirely by design.

Also, it's essential to mention what is unquestionably the greatest jump scare in the history of horror cinema. You know the one. Anyone who claims that one didn't get them on first viewing is fibbing.