6 of 7

Write now Article Tools

Page 3 of 7

and exiting rooms with no alarm. She checks on another room, exitsthen suddenly is tracked by a masked killer preparing to stab her. The scene is beautifully paced and through its simplicity, frighteningly real.

#8 ROSEMARY'S BABY (Roman Polanski, USA, 1968)
When picking this list I kept thinking I'm forgetting great scary moments in film's that aren't very good. It's easy to remember those great films and scenes within them, but it's more difficult to remember those poor movies you've purposely drained from memory. For example, there's some odd moments and a great ending in that Oliver Reed haunted house flick Burnt Offerings but the film isn't up to much. My choice for No. 8 scariest moment is, however, not in that category. Rosemary's Baby is not only one of the best examples of the genre, it's one that stays with you long after the credits have rolled.

Rosemary's Baby is another mood piece. Roman Polanski hides the macabre, chilling undertone under a surface of domestic dysfunction. Mia Farrow is superb in the role of Rosemary and her pregnancy is one of the most iconic in horror cinema. The scene that stands out for me is what can only be termed 'The Devil's Rape'.

In the scene she is on a bed surrounded by her strangely over-protective neighbours. She can't move or escape, and her disorientation caused by poisoning makes it difficult to decipher what is occurring. But she knows she's been raped. It's only when Polanski gives us a single frame image of the rapist's face that we discover it isn't a man or a woman forcing them selves upon her. It's the Devil.

#7 THE OMEN (Richard Donner, USA, 1976)
The Omen was one of those horror films I saw when I was probably too young to watch it. I remember seeing it in my parent's VHS collection and knew instinctively it was out of bounds. Firstly, it had the UK rating of 18, and secondly, it had that horrid image of a boy clad in black with a jackal's shadow. The poster is brilliantly conceived but it's one hell of a scary proposition.

The scene I refer to as my seventh scariest horror movie moment is perhaps the film's most famous. When the father of a child he believes to be the son of the Devil travels to mainland Europe with his photographer friend to investigate the child's mysterious birth, things take a turn for the worse. Director Richard Donner sets up the scene in question perfectly with a haunting sequence in a graveyard where the father discovers the mother of his child was an animal. From here we head back

• << previous page
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• ...
• 7
• next page >>

Add your voice

Know something about The top ten scariest movie scenes ever?
We want to hear your view. Write now!