8. Swim In A Darkened Pool
The iconic swimming pool scene in Cat People is a perfect example of why I could never go swimming in a dark pool. The manipulation of shadows in the black and white cinematography how it captures the ripples of water flowing across the walls, distorting your perception and alternatively blinding you with waves of light and dark masterfully heightens the sense of suspense, and the scene retains its power by ending ambiguously rather than with a sudden shock. The being-stalked-in-a-dark-swimming-pool theme has been copied in films from The Prowler to Soul Survivors (as well as an episode of Buffy), but the swimming pool has also become a more general feature of horror films as a popular location for movie climaxes and final fights: Poltergeist, The Faculty, Swimfan and Let The Right One In all follow this pattern, highlighting the fact that contained bodies of water + scary monsters makes for good horror.