20 Scariest Horror Movie Moments Of The 21st Century

We’ve all had those dreams where we’re trying to run away from something horrifying, but through a cruel twist of fate, our legs have turned to stone or jelly, rendering escape impossible.

When the last survivors of Spanish horror [REC], protagonist Angela and camera-operator Pablo find themselves inside the penthouse of an apartment block gone to hell, escape is similarly not an option. Forced to flee upstairs away from raging zombies, they lock themselves in the uppermost room which has already taken on the air of a dreaded place. Indeed, it’s where the horror truly began, as they quickly discover.

It’s hard to breathe as they search the unholy domain, adorned with horrifying remnants of a demonic presence, confirmed by a tape recording of the penthouse’s long-fled owner. The stuff of nightmares takes form when the shuffling remains of an almost indescribable terror emerges from the depths of the penthouse, illuminated only by the less than comforting night-vision of the camera.

The sequence is utterly terrifying because of the escalating dread that almost makes us long for a return to the hallway outside - even berserker zombies are less dreadful than the thing inside the pitch-black penthouse. Where our worst dreams find us trying, but failing to escape, the end of [REC] traps us in a confined space with a nearly unimaginable horror.