20 Greatest Moments In Wizarding World Movies
18. The Cave - Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince
The tension-free, badly paced and astonishingly dull Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the only Harry Potter film that was genuinely bad and it was the franchise's worst film by far for many years. Inevitably, it's now been knocked off that pedestal by Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.
Nevertheless, it's not a total loss and the film still boasts some amazing moments. The scene in which Harry and Dumbledore have to retrieve a Horcrux from a massive, frightening cave is a superb set-piece that is more terrifying than many horror film scenes from the noughties.
Not only is the swarm of Inferi (zombies, basically) that attack Harry and Dumbledore extremely scary, but this offers some horrifying psychological stuff too.
In order to retrieve the Horcrux from a basin of liquid, Dumbledore has to drink all of it and undergoes some horrific psychological torment as he does so - presumably he's reminded of his tragic family history, which sadly wasn't explored in the films. Michael Gambon's performance as Dumbledore was rarely, if ever, better than it was in this scene.