20 TERRIFYING Scenes In Non Horror Movies
17. Eyes Popping Out - Total Recall
Total Recall quite rightly received a Best Visual Effects Oscar for its stunning combination of VFX and more traditional practical prosthetics and animatronics.
And among the many impressive effects-driven sequences in the film, none proves more toe-curlingly revolting than the depiction of people being exposed to the decompressive atmosphere of Mars.
Early in the film we catch a dreamy glimpse of Quaid (Arnold Schwarzenegger) on Mars, where an accident causes his helmet to break, exposing him to the planet's inhospitable atmosphere, at which point his face begins to swell and his eyes bulge out of his sockets.
This is just a nightmarish prelude, though, as at the very end of the movie we see a similar scenario play out for real, as Quaid, Melina (Rachel Ticotin), and villain Cohaagen (Ronny Cox) all end up on the surface of Mars without spacesuits.
In a disturbingly drawn-out scene, Cohagen's eyes pop all the way out of his head as he dies, and though we see the very same thing about to happen to Quaid and Melina, they're ultimately saved in the nick of time as the planet is blanketed in a breathable atmosphere.