10 Most Shocking Horror Movie Unmaskings
9. The Phantom - The Phantom Of The Opera
The OG jump scare despite coming in a silent film, the 1925 release of The Phantom of the Opera sees the Phantom laid bare in all his glory as his mask is ripped off from behind. What we've only seen as a bizarre, uncanny human face previously - half fitted from brow to nose and painted in an expression of empathy, with the lower hanging loose to hide his mouth - is taken away to reveal a screeching, enraged Phantom. And oh boy, is his face anything but empathetic.
Maddened at Christine's disobedience, the looming mass of Lon Chaney moves ever closer to the screen - distorted and manipulated into a terrifying, skeletal spectre. For an audience in the 20s especially, this would have been a moment so heady and unexpected it's no surprise that they apparently fainted; even now it still stands as a defining moment of early horror cinema.
Whilst Chaney's look has since gone down in history, seeing it for the first time in such a built up, surprising reveal still has the power to send a spooky chill down the spine.