10 Terrifying Basement Scenes In Horror Movies

Crime thrillers and horror can come quite close together depending on the movie or TV show. One movie that is able to perfectly blend the two genres together is Jonathan Demme's classic, The Silence of the Lambs.

There are several hair-raising scenes in the movie, most coming from the terrifying Hannibal Lecter. However, it is Silence's climax that marks the film's greatest and most terrifying sequence.

In the finale, FBI agent Clarice Starling accidentally discovers the serial killer Buffalo Bill and chases him down into his basement lair. At first, things are going well. Clarice has the upper hand, she found the senator's daughter and the killer had nowhere to go.

Then suddenly the lights switch off and Clarice is trapped inside the basement with no way out. To make matters worse, Bill equips some night-vision goggles, allowing him to stalk Clarice in perfect clarity.

The scene is truly terrifying because it shows the audience Buffalo Bill's perspective as he confidently stalks Clarice, taunting her with his presence by running his hands close to her face or through her hair.

Starling manages to shoot Bill after he cocks his weapon, but it's only when one of her bullets hits a nearby window - allowing daylight to cascade into the basement - that the nightmare is finally over.