We’ve covered all things Horror on this site many times before, but until now I have never shared the most memorable morbid moments which have been forever stuck in my skull.

The Thing

Chest Chomp

It’s one of those scenes that works best upon first viewing, with perhaps the greatest gory surprise in horror history. You’re expecting this body to be examined in typical movie fashion, but suddenly the chest caves in and turns into a fucking mouth. Yeah, a fucking chest mouth. This is why John Carpenter is the master.

Jaws

Thats Ben Gardners Boat

While on the subject of scenes nobody saw coming, we can’t forget the classic Ben Gardner scene from Jaws. The potency of this blockbuster film comes from not seeing the monster all throughout the movie. It’s what we don’t see, and what we do see as a result of this monster, that truly injects fear into our bones. When that head pops out and you hear Hooper’s scream through his scuba gear, it’s a perfect recipe for lifting you out of your seat.

Candyman

Helen Gets Some Medical Advice

I remember watching this movie and being more terrified than ever, but once it cut to the scene of Helen speaking with her doctor in the quiet confines of an office during the day, I felt safe enough for a moment to where I could at least breathe a bit. Then she turns to the mirror, calls his name five times, and like clockwork he pops up from behind the chair and just mutilates the doctor. How could you make the scene that much more frightening? Well, he can’t just walk out the office door can he? Nope, he’s got to fly backwards out the fucking window.

The Exorcism of Emily Rose

Demon Party In the Barn

There are stories of this scene being filmed where crew members had to leave the set in order to remind themselves it was just a movie. Jennifer Carpenter deserves all the credit here for her amazing performance, which was originally slated to be mostly computer driven effects, but once the filmmakers saw how terrifying she could be on her own, they made the right decision by sticking with a practical approach.

American Werewolf In London

A Splitting Body Ache

Turning into a werewolf had always seemed like your basic run of the mill magic transformation moment when the body just simply faded into a wolf. At least that was what we all believed up until John Landis decided to show us how painful it actually was. Rick Baker devised a system of mechanics that stretched out the skin, and was able to show the transformation in real time. Add in some gruesome sound effects and painfully honest screams from actor David Naughton, and you’ve got one hell of a teeth grinding, nail biting scene.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Nice to Meat You

As with many scenes in this classic horror movie, they leave you with a bit of psychological damage afterwards. Our first introduction to Leatherface comes swiftly, but with such brutal depiction that it’s impossible not to recognize it’s greatness. The lack of a creeping music score makes this reveal that much more potent. Once you hear the mallet crack upon that skull, you assume the scene has done it’s job. All of the sudden we witness the body start to go into seizure mode on the ground, followed by Leatherface slamming the butcher door shut with fierce intent.

The Ring

The Infamous Closet Scene

I cannot emphasize enough how high people jumped out of their seats when this moment surprised an entire theater of people expecting just another teen slasher type movie. Japanese horror had yet to strangle the American horror market, so we were all relatively new to the game so to speak. This scene happened early on in the movie, and definitely set the tone for things to come.