With Halloween coming up you're no doubt going to be seeing lists and articles discussing the scariest movies of all time, and more specifically, the scariest movie moments of all time. And while, yeah, stuff like The Exorcist and The Shining will definitely chill you to the bone for Halloween, everyone tends to gloss over some of the most terrifying cinematic moments simply because they come from films that fall outside the genre. That doesn't make them any less horrifying. When it comes down to it, the relationship between scare-factor and genre is often entirely arbitrary. How many Disney films have memorably haunting moments? After all, it's that sort of clash of sensibilities that adds extra impact. With horror flicks, you know what you're getting yourself into, and if you've seen enough of those movies you can kind of guess as to when you should brace yourself for the next loud-noise jump-scare or creepy background moment. Directors basically lead you in to them knowingly. The films in this list allow you no such luxury though. With your guard well and truly down, these horrifying moments can come out of nowhere to shock you to your very core. Whether you sat down to watch an unassuming kids film or stumbled across a particularly spooky moment during a mind-bending psychological thriller, these ten movies served up images and scenes that will have stuck with you long after the credits rolled...
Josh has over 11 years of experience as a published writer, having worked nine of those years as a full-time content producer at WhatCulture. In that period he has created hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes for multiple WhatCulture channels, specialising in gaming, horror and film & TV. He now primarily works as a senior content producer and presenter on WhatCulture Gaming where he co-hosts the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast, a top 3 UK most listened to gaming podcast that he co-created in 2018. Over the years he has reviewed several high-profile gaming releases, covered industry events with on-site reporting, opined on breaking news, and even kicked off his interviewing career by chatting to childhood hero, Tommy Wiseau.