Oftentimes, a horror movie is nothing but a bunch of cheap jumpscares. You know how it goes, the character is slowly walking into a quiet dim room, then they look at the mirror and bam, a loud, jarring sound blasts from the speakers as a ghost suddenly appears in the reflection. It's an effective technique if you want to spook the audience for a second.
But to truly traumatize them, to plant a nightmarish seed into their mind, filmmakers need to craft a tension that lasts for the entire script, chilling set design, costumes, and make-up as well as plenty of other details. It's difficult and expensive, but every now and then we get such a gem.
Interested in which productions have frightened people the most, actor Elijah Wood recently tweeted a question, asking everyone to share stills from the screen that continue to terrify them long after seeing the credits. Here are some of the replies he has received.
Image credits: elijahwood
This is from Jojo Rabbit. He knows this is his mom by the shoes. She actively resisted the Nazis and this was herpunishment.
I think I cried for 5 hours straight after this scene. Just looking at it my eyes still get wet! The movie : Life is beautiful
This was pretty ewwwy but the part that creeped me the most was her in her nightgown saying to the astronaut 'You're going to die' and then peeing herself
Not bully maguire?!
Watched this age 10. Scared the bejeezuz out of me. watched as an adult. Actually quite funny.
that makes me question every time i watch it, so say you have a bit of skin you peel it off are you really going to carry on and oops my face is in the sink lol
Someone showed me this to distract me from a break up years ago. Suffice to say, that night i went to bed horrified for completely new reasons!
There was one scene in this which made me jump so much, it scared the s**t out of me as a child and I ran upstairs to my room.
FYI: Schindler’s List, in which Oskar Schindler tries to save as many jewish people as he can, by hiring them as “essential workers” in his factory.