Mission Impossible (1996)
Shocking Moment: Going Up! Its not particularly surprising to find shocking violence in a film from
Brian De Palma the man who gave us
Scarface and
Dressed To Kill. It is however shocking to find it in a PG-rated spy adventure starring Tom Cruise. When a routine operation in Prague goes wrong, IMF agent Jack Harmon (Emilo Estevez) finds himself stuck on the top of a moving elevator. With no possible escape route the agent is gruesomely squished by the spikes protruding from the top of the elevator shaft. It's a fleeting and unexpected moment of graphic violence, which sticks out in the movie like a sore thumb.
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)
Shocking Moment: Is the grizzly reaper mowing? The books of
Roald Dahl are filled with dark and eerie moments which are often watered down or even cut out entirely when adapted to the big screen. Even though the 1971 adaptation of
Charlie and The Chocolate Factory has deservedly become a children's classic, the multiple changes made to Dahl's screenplay left him dismissive of both the film itself and future adaptations of his work. But theres one particular moment in the film which is unmistakably Dahl, and couldn't be any scarier than it already is. After the golden ticket winners witness what might be the death of Augustus Gloop, they are taken on a surrealistic boat jouney through a tunnel of disturbing and graphic imaginary. As Wonka recites trippy poetry ("Are the fires of Hell a-glowing ? Is the grisly reaper mowing ?") we see flickering glimpses of a centipede crawling into an open mouth, and even a chicken being beheaded - pretty strong stuff. Theres only one
boat trip in the history of film thats more questionable, but Cuba Gooding Jr is no Gene Wilder.