20 TERRIFYING Scenes In Non Horror Movies
12. The Closing Montage - Requiem for a Dream
Darren Aronofsky's addiction drama Requiem for a Dream may not be technically classified as a horror film, but it remains one of cinema's all-time great depictions of the soul-destroying perils of addiction.
Aronofsky's film climaxes with an absolutely brutal montage sequence in which the central characters are all shown succumbing to their addictions.
Amphetamine-addicted Sara (Ellen Burstyn) is admitted to a psych ward and left catatonic after undergoing electroconvulsive therapy, her son Harry (Jared Leto) has his arm amputated after heroin use leaves it gangrenous, his girlfriend Marion (Jennifer Connelly) pimps herself out for drugs, and their pal Tyrone (Marlon Wayans) suffers through heroin withdrawal in prison.
In the haunting final images, all four characters are shown curling into the fetal position, before Sara imagines a better life for herself, winning a game show while Harry is happy and successful.
Endings don't get much bleaker than this, and it leaves a more bruising, tough-to-shake impact than most card-carrying horror movies.