10 Scariest Movie Paintings
5. Dorian’s Ageless Portrait - The Picture Of Dorian Gray
The most infamous haunted painting in horror history, the eponymous portrait of Dorian Gray has the distinction of being the only painting on this list which is the subject of an entire story rather than some additional creepy set dressing as part of a larger plot.
Okay, technically Ghostbusters II's story also revolves around a haunted painting. But it's fair to say that this Oscar Wilde story is scarier in all its many adaptations and varied screen incarnations.
A moving moral horror story, The Picture of Dorian Gray tells the tale of the young, corrupted titular anti-hero who has his youthful beauty preserved in a painting before meeting the scandalous hedonist Lord Wotton. Although Dorian undertakes a life of debauchery and depravity under Wotton's wing, he sells his soul to ensure that his external beauty never fades.
Meanwhile, however, the mouldering, festering portrait of his visage records every sin he commits in its grotesque changing image.
Adapted as a classic black and white horror from 1945 and a lesser 2009 re-do, no screen version of this chilling tale has done justice to its poignant subtext. But credit where it's due, the painting ends up creepy as all hell in both incarnations.