15 Most Terrifying Horror Film Moments Of The Decade (So Far)

With Paranormal Activity 3, the main addition to the franchise involves putting the camera on an oscillating fan, an innovative trick that draws out the tension like never before. In this sequence, the camera moves back and forth between the living room and the kitchen while a babysitter does her homework. Suddenly, in the living room, someone can be seen standing under a sheet perfectly still. 

What's so brilliant is that you desperately want to stay on this shot to investigate, yet the fan forcibly drags you away and deprives you of information. While the camera lingers on the kitchen, you have no idea what's happening in the other room anymore, and what you don't see is far scarier than what you do. When the camera finally pans back, the sheet is gone. Where'd it go? Is it in the kitchen? Now, you desperately want the camera to pan over again, and when it does, the thing is right behind the babysitter. What's going on? Is it just one of the kids playing a prank? Nope. The sheet collapses, and even though it showed the outline of a person before, nobody is underneath. 

Without needing any spike in audio, the movie scares by drawing out tension and keeping much of the necessary information off screen. The audience squirms precisely because they're forced to fill in the blanks themselves.