10 Most Frightening Moments In Film History

5. The Thing- "Clear"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCGyeV8p-fc The Thing is a masterclass in paranoia and gross out effects. This scene is brilliant because there hasn't been any appearance of The Thing for almost an hour at this point in the movie so when it appears here it surprises the characters just as much as the audience. A really solid jump scare is very difficult to pull off but John Carpenter goes above and beyond here by playing up the unknowable nature of his monster. The Thing itself can take any form and it is never made clear what it can do next. When Cooper attempts to revive Norris with defibrillation only to break his entire chest away, revealing that he is hollow, it breaks the delicate balance that the characters had between themselves. Before this point they were all on edge but composed. After this point the paranoia is set to unbearable levels and the entire rest of Carpenter's film is basically one long scare.