19. Train Pulling Into A Station (1896)
Since cavemen ran away from their first camp fire it has been apparent that humanity has been fearful of the unknown. As such, in 1896 when the Lumiere Brothers showcased their 50-second film for the first time, it's no surprise that some members of the audience were struck with pure, distilled terror. While this black-and-white film would clearly have zero horror impact today, it was revolutionary at the time. Some of the audience are said to have thought the train was real and was set to burst forth from the frame and plough right into them in the auditorium. It may sound silly but imagine having no knowledge or understanding of what a film was and seeing a huge train head right towards you. You could argue that this is the most terrifying cinematic moment of all time, transcending the projected image and making people think they were actually about to meet their maker however, the fact that it wouldn't scare a 5-year old today makes it difficult to really give Train Pulling Into a Station a high placing. The Train Pulling Into A Station was portentous as it gave some idea of how the medium could be used to scare the bejesus out of film-goers in search of a scare.