10 Terrifying Basement Scenes In Horror Movies

Horror movies have taken people and audiences all around our little terrifying world, and even beyond into the depths of space. Whether on a silent hulking spaceship or creeping through a decrepit castle, horror has always been able to deliver some truly spine-tingling chills and thrills.

Yet, even with a seemingly endless selection of locales to terrorize a band of unsuspecting teens, most horror movies all seem to end up choosing the comforts of our homes to infect with their aliens, demons, ghosts, and psychos. Slasher genre pioneers like Halloween and Black Christmas both go far in illustrating how scary everyday surroundings can become.

However, for as creepy as a dusty attic or a nighttime stroll to the kitchen can be, the most terrifying place inside those homes that have one, is the dreaded basement.

Basements are already terrifying enough without seeing them in a horror film. Most normal basements are dark, smell terribly musty and old, and are definitely infested with spiders, bugs, rats, and real-life ghosts. Add in an unstoppable knife-wielding murderer or ghost and you’ve got yourself the most terrifying place on Earth outside of Hell or your local high school.

While some places in the world are free of basements, most horror movies include at least one section where the main characters are forced down into the depths of their concrete houses, which is where the horror really reaches its peak...

Jordan Peele's stellar first entry into the horror genre Get Out tackled a lot of political and racial topics, all while creating some of the most awe-inspiring horror moments in recent memory, including the now-iconic basement scene.

The scene itself starts when the main character Chris discovers that his girlfriend Rose has actually dated several Black men before him, despite her claims that he was her first. This is just the breaking point for Chris, who over the course of the movie noticed several strange inconsistencies with the Armitage family.

Chris tries to escape from the house but is stopped by Rose and her family, and is hypnotized by Rose's mom. When he awakes, he finds himself strapped to a chair in the basement when a video projector turns on and Rose's grandfather shows up to basically explain what's going on.

Despite the cheery exterior of this old man walking around a garden, the scene itself is terrifying and tense as the bad guys finally reveal to the audience and the main character their intentions all along, and for a moment it seems like there is no way out of what is going to happen.