20 Scariest Horror Movie Moments Of The 21st Century

For claustrophobes, the thought of being trapped in a broken elevator is the stuff of nightmares. In the case of The Eye, a frightener from Hong Kong/Singapore, almost suffocating tension is created in one that’s perfectly operational.

Fresh from a retrospectively ill-advised cornea transplant to cure her blindness, protagonist Mun’s new gift of sight is accompanied by the somewhat less welcome ability to see ghosts. The most unnerving appearance of the restless dead arrives in close quarters, as Mun finds herself facing an elevator occupied by a disfigured entity.

Ominously facing the corner like a Blair Witch victim, the ghost cannot be seen on security camera footage, but momentarily disappears causing her to risk a venture into the lift. We all know what’s going to happen next; the ghost suddenly reappears, and a petrified Mun can barely stand to peek behind her.

The agonising closed space of the lift is taken full advantage of here, as the spectre begins to turn and hover towards Mun with chilling calmness, getting closer and closer before the doors finally open. It taps into the primal fear of an unknown something lurking behind us in an uncomfortable environment, but here we can see it, and it’s bloody awful.

You’ve never been in a lift as slow as this one, with every second feeling like an eternity.