Baumer's 60 best Holy Bleep moments in horror movie history 3) The Changeling 2) Blair Witch 1) Sleepaway Camp

[Ipickthiswhiterose]

Enjoyable list to read through so far. I have still to this day never watched Exorcist 3 all the way through to my shame - of course I've seen the famous sequence many times but should really get round to viewing it as intended.

 

Seven was a really *have you seen* film in my school. Perhaps to the point where I can't dissociate it from my teenage self when watching it. I would have viewed it for the first three or so times on coaches on my way to rugby matches, which isn't an ideal cinematic environment for a horror movie. Happy days.

 

Zombi I actually have seen all the way through, despite not being a zombie guy. It was on Film4 a lot (UK specialist channel). An enjoyable version of what it is, and yeah the scene there is a rough one.

 

Jaws 2 is a real curio of a film. It isn't incompetent and as you show here there are effective sequences within it despite the stretched concept. I don't like that the film exists, but yeah that scene is rough.

 

Terrifier....I don't know, man. There's *extreme* stuff I find somewhat rough and makes me a bit queasy, but Terrifier doesn't really do it for me. Obviously that is unpleasant, but there are equivalent scenes in other movies that for me are similar and more effective (Bone Tomahawk being a notable example). 

 

The Mist is a downer ending done right. Ive written at length elsewhere about my dislike for the era of morose-by-compulsion telegraphed horror endings in films that were accomplished but had no stakes since the atmosphere was so gloomy, but The Mist manages to sustain tension (with hope a key component) throughout meaning that it really earns its brutal finale.

 

Love what's coming baumer, keep going!

[baumer]

Keep in mind, these aren't necessarily my favourite horror films, they're just films that I've seen that I've had shocking or terrifying or holy shit I didn't see that coming kind of moments.

 

The terrifier was definitely not quite my tempo. But I can't deny how I felt when I watched that scene. I love Tom savini like practical effects and for a film that had an incredibly low budget it was very well done.

[baumer]

I will get this going again in about another hour or so.

[baumer]

Number 54:  Black Cat (1934)

 

 

Starring Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff

 

Directed by:  Edgar J. Ulmer

 

Box office:  N/A

 

My rating:  8/10

 

The story:  Honeymooning in Hungary, Joan and Peter Allison share their train compartment with Dr. Vitus Verdegast, a courtly but tragic man who is returning to the remains of the town he defended before becoming a prisoner of war for fifteen years. When their hotel-bound bus crashes in a mountain storm and Joan is injured, the travellers seek refuge in the home, built fortress-like upon the site of a bloody battlefield, of famed architect Hjalmar Poelzig. There, cat-phobic Verdegast learns his wife's fate, grieves for his lost daughter, and must play a game of chess for Allison's life.

 

The holy shit moment:  Lugosi has Karloff tied and subdued.  He tells him he is going to skin him alive and that he is going to do it slowly and painfully.  We don't see the actual act, but we see it in shadow and we hear the screams.  This was 1934 and there weren't a lot of excoriation scenes.  I saw this film on TV as an 8 year old and that scene has stayed with me.  

 

Trivia:  Universal's biggest hit of 1934

Censors in Italy, Finland and Austria banned the movie outright, while others required cuts of the more gruesome sequences.

 

 

 

[baumer]

Number 53:  The Hitcher (1986)

 

 

 

Starring:  C. Thomas Howell, Rutger Hauer, Jennifer Jason Leigh

 

Directed by:  Robert Harmon

 

Box office:  5.8 million

 

My rating:  8/10

 

The story:  A young man transporting a car to another state is stalked along the road by a cunning and relentless serial killer who eventually frames the driver for a string of murders. Chased by Police and shadowed by the killer, the driver's only help comes from a truck stop waitress.

 

The disturbing scene:  I first got to know Rutger Hauer as an actor in the 80's action film Wanted Dead or Alive. There's something calm and cool about him but also very dark and brooding.  I saw The Hitcher after WDOA and even though he plays a completely different kind of character, it didn't surprise me to see him play a sick and twisted villain.  In this scene, he has Jennifer Jason Leigh tied to a transport truck and and another parked truck.  C. Thomas Howell is being framed for murder by him.  He has a gun on Hauer and all he has to do to stop him from continuing his murderous rampage is pull the trigger.  The problem is, if he kills Hauer, his foot comes off the brake and JJL will be pulled apart.  Howell reluctantly gives him the gun, and with the police looking on, all seems to okay, until Hauer presses down on the gas pedal and Leigh is drawn and quartered, she is torn in two.

 

Trivia:  C. Thomas Howell admitted that he was actually afraid of Rutger Hauer on and off the set because of Hauer's general intensity.

 

In Rutger Hauer's book "All Those Moments", Hauer mentioned how executive producer Edward S. Feldman settled on Sam Elliott for the role of John Ryder, The Hitcher. Hauer states that "Apparently, Elliott was so scary when he came in to audition that Edward S. Feldman was afraid to go out to his car afterward." Sam Elliott had a scheduling conflict and had to back out of the role.

 

 

[baumer]

Number 52:  The Mothman Prophecies (2002)

 

 

Starring:  Richard Gere, Laura Linney, Debra Messing, Will Patton

 

Directed by Mark Pellington

 

Box office:  56.4 mill WW

 

My rating:  10/10

 

The story:  John Klein (Richard Gere) is involved in a car accident with his wife, but while he is unharmed, his wife mentions a moth-shaped creature appearing. After her death, John begins to investigate the secrets behind this mentioned Mothman. It takes him to the small town of Point Pleasant, West Virginia, where he discovers a connection with the same problem. Here he meets Connie Mills (Laura Linney), while he continues to unravel the mystery of what the Mothman really is.

 

The unnerving scene:  I wasn't prepared for what I was about to witness when I stepped into the theater in 2002 to see this constantly unnerving film.  I remember reading a review from Roger Ebert about Aliens and one of his observations about it was that it was relentless, once the action starts, it doesn't stop.  I kind of feel the same way about this film but instead of action, it's suspense and horror and unease.  There's perhaps 10 different scenes in this film that I could talk about here.  One of the most unsettling scenes is when John Kline's wife is in the hospital after her eventual fatal car crash and she whispers to her husband, "You didn't see it did you?"  It gives me chills just writing that sentence.  It's a microcosm of the movie.  There's something just not quite right.  We don't really know what it is and neither do the characters in the film.  We know there is some malevolent force out there, but what does it want?  Why is it here?  What does it look like?  And so on.  

 

The scene that both @Ipickthiswhiterose have gushed over in private messages is the "Chapstick scene".  Describing it to you won't really do it justice.  Seeing the clip will do little else to hammer home the point.  But if you have seen the film and you watch the scene, it just gets inside of you and doesn't let go.  It's truly a goose-bump inducing scene, mostly because of three things:  The acting by Gere, the direction by Pellington and the music by tomandandy.

 

Trivia:  This movie is based on actual events that occurred between November 1966 and December 1967 in Point Pleasant, West Virginia.

And one of my favourite quotes in the movie:

 

John Klein: I think we can assume that these entities are more advanced than us. Why don't they just come right out and tell us what's on their minds?

Alexander Leek: You're more advanced than a cockroach, have you ever tried explaining yourself to one of them?

 

 

[DC Rich]

These have been incredible and a great flashback to several of these scenes for me.  I may even have goosebumps.  Thanks.  I look forward to the rest.   But, 

 

Quote

The 40 that were left on The cutting room floor are still so amazing moments as well. But for the sake of this countdown I will keep it at 60.

 

We demand the Baumer's cut eventually. 

[baumer]

7 minutes ago, DC Rich said:

These have been incredible and a great flashback to several of these scenes for me.  I may even have goosebumps.  Thanks.  I look forward to the rest.   But, 

 

 

We demand the Baumer's cut eventually. 

 

I will put something together at the end of the list.

[baumer]

Number 51:  The Exorcist (1973)

 

 

Starring:  Linda Blair, Ellen Burstyn, Max Von Sydow

 

Directed by:  William Friedkin

 

Box office:  428.4 million WW

 

My rating:  6.5/10

 

The story:  Accompanied by her 12 year-old daughter Regan, actress Chris McNeil relocates to Washington D.C. where she is filming a movie. Mother and daughter have a good relationship but after a time Regan begins to act strangely. She undergoes various neurological tests but doctors can find nothing to explain her behavior. As Regan's situation reaches crisis proportions - she has to be tied to her bed, swears like a sailor and speaks in tongues - Chris turns to Father Karras, a Roman Catholic priest and psychiatrist to see if an exorcism might be the solution to their problem. Karras is incredulous but the church eventually agrees calling in Father Merrin, who has previously conducted an exorcism and come face to face with the devil.

 

The Holy shit scene:  There are a myriad of scenes to choose from here.  But first a bit of perspective on what this did to people.  My ex-wife is convinced that this is a movie that is playing with forces that should never be played with.  She has seen it once and swore to never watch it again. Eli Roth says it's perhaps the most terrifying film he's ever seen.  And Wes Craven said, "the movie made the hair stand up on the back of my neck.  I thought that was just an expression but in this case it's true."  You could pick the crab walk down the stairs, the "your mother sucks cocks in hell" or any number of scenes from this movie but the one that messed everyone up is when Reagan turns her head 180 degrees and then smiles at the priests.  There were people in the theatre who fainted.  There were people who got up and left.  The Devil possessing a young, innocent, beautiful child is not something people were prepared for in 1973 and even now, almost a full half century later, the impact of that film is still felt.  Add in all the bazaar happenings while filming it and all the unexplained mishaps, and The Exorcist is truly one of the most frightening films of all time for many people.  

 

 

[baumer]

Next five:

 

Sometimes dead is better

The dingo stole your baby?

What you can't see can kill you

The Devil gets his freak on

Who played the killer in Friday the 13th?

[baumer]

All right, let's get to the top 50!

 

 

[baumer]

Number 50:  Scream (1996)

 

 

Starring:  Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, Drew Barrymore, Henry Winkler, Skeet Ulrich, Matthew Lilliard

 

Directed by:  Wes Craven

 

Box office:  173M WW

 

My rating:  10/10

 

The Story:  A year after her mother's death, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) and her friends started experiencing some strange phone calls. They later learned the calls were coming from a crazed serial killer, in a white faced mask and a large black robe, looking for revenge. His phone calls usually consist of many questions, the main one being: What's your favorite scary movie? Along with much scary movie trivia, ending with bloody pieces of innocent lives scattered around the small town of Woodsboro.

 

The Holy shit scene:  The entire opening culminating in Drew Barrymore's death:  In 1996 horror was being read it's eulogy.  It was basically on life support.  The 80's slashers were still unsuccessfully trying to squeeze ever last dollar out of an audience, original horror was being ignored and there clearly needed to be a new fresh voice to bring it all back to life.  Enter that bolt of lightening, Kevin Williamson.  He got his script optioned and Miramax hired Wes Craven to direct this fresh and hip and incredibly violent homage to scary movies.  Horror fans were in shock and awe when the opening scene started with a mysterious voice asking Drew Barrymore what her favouirte scary movie was.  And then we all lost our minds when the voice asks, Who is the killer in Friday the 13th?  To which Casey yells triumphantly, "JASON, JASON, IT WAS JASON VOORHEES."  And the voice says wrong, and she replies, "yes it is I saw that movie 20 god-damn times!"  And the voice replies, "then you should know in the original Friday the 13th it was Mrs Voorhees.  Jason didn't show up until the sequel."  And then poor Steve gets gutted, just like another character did in another film coming up in the top 20. 

 

Scream's opening scene was unlike anything I'd seen before.  Creepy, suspenseful, but for me, more importantly, it knew the same things about horror movies that I did.  There's a terrific line where Casey's dad tells his wife, "I want you to go down to the McKenzie's house and call the police."  This is an exact line from Halloween.  Williamson knew what he was doing and in the process, he and Craven revived the horror genre and it has never looked back since. 

 

Trivia:  Matthew Lillard was cast as Stu Macher by chance after accompanying his then-girlfriend to an unrelated audition taking place elsewhere in the same building. Casting director Lisa Beach saw Lillard in the hallway and asked him to audition for the part. He got into the role with "incredible ferocity".

 

Being a favorite of screenwriter Kevin Williamson, Molly Ringwald was offered the role of Sidney Prescott, but turned it down, saying she'd rather not be playing a high school student at the age of twenty-seven.

 

 

[baumer]

Number 49:  The Hills Have Eyes (1977)

 

 

Starring:  Dee Wallace, Robert Houston, John Steadman, Michael Berryman

 

Directed by Wes Craven

 

Box office:  N/A

 

My rating:  8/10

 

The story:  A family going to California accidentally goes through an Air Testing range closed to the public. They crash and are stranded in a desert. They are being stalked by a group of people, who hunger for human flesh.

 

The disturbing scene:  The stealing of the baby and the killing of the two moms:  Movies were different in the 70's especially horror movies.  Maybe it's the grainy look and feel of some of them, maybe it's the subject matter.  This film has that low budget, snuff film kind of documentary look to it and that is one of the reasons this scene is so hard to watch.  If you've only seen the 2006 remake, you are missing out on one of the staples of horror from the 70's.  While films like JAWS and the EXORCIST were making 100's of millions of dollars, films like this one were being buried and playing more at late night drive ins as opposed to mainstream movie houses.  

 

In this scene, the cannibals invade the trailer that the women are in and a struggle ensues. They shoot and kill both mothers and then steal the baby so they can have a feast back at their camp.  It's shocking and disturbing and probably not something you will ever see again in mainstream horror.  

 

Trivia:  The similarities to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) were intentional as Wes Craven was a huge fan of Tobe Hooper's film. He considered his film in part an homage to it.

 

Wes Craven was in part inspired by an episode that happened to him while taking a motorcycle trip with his wife. When they stopped in a small Nevada town, a trio of locals shot an arrow past his head and insulted him. When Craven threatened to sue them, they replied they could easily kill him, leave his corpse in a nearby salt mine, and no one would ever know.

 

 

[Ipickthiswhiterose]

Any waxing lyrical over The Mothman Prophecies will always have my dear appreciation. The entire film is, as described, a relentless ride of unsettledness and it truly is my favourite Gere performance across an increasingly under appreciated career. We've talked about the Chapstick scene in the past and yes, nothing encapsulates paradigm shift like it - it's like the supernatural equivalent of the notorious Salma Hayek scene in Dusk Till Dawn, but without the foreknowledge and notoriety. And it's so horrifyingly intimate.

 

Must settle down and rewatch Black Cat and Hitcher, I've seen both in my teen-age years but couldn't proffer an informed opinion. I'm well aware Black Cat *should* be a movie I'm all over, but I haven't gone back to it.

 

The Exorcist is a movie that, for all its legend - maybe because of it - isn't the film you expect when you actually sit down to watch it for the first time. At least that was my experience. I wasn't anticipating the level of domesticity, which is odd I suppose given it's about a girl in a regular home. And that's what provides the horror, really. The infestation of the home and the internal threats to your loved ones. I the most effective scenes that internal threat becomes externally horrific as well, and I think that's what give is the enormous impact.

 

Scream is a weird one. I waxed lyrical about Scream on the top 100 list more than I usually do for slasher films because I think elements of it - especially how good it is as a standard horror movie - are still weirdly underrated despite its notoriety. The first scene is a little different in that the UK horror scene and the US horror scene aren't entirely the same and maybe perception of horror in the UK and perception of horror in the US aren't necessarily aligned. As such the "It saved horror" narrative that can function for Scream in the US and the "surprise" element of the first scene isn't necessarily the same since Drew Barrymore wasn't/isn't as prominent in the UK as a public figure and horror didn't really "need saving" to the same extent since it was the era of Clive Barker (and increased popularity of Steven King whose flower was still very much alive). Maybe Krissykins has a different perspective. As such that first scene IMO dominates the movie less (if anything I found the garage door scene to hit me harder), nevertheless remains an excellent opening scene of a slasher that holds up as the best of the genre in its own right. 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 19, 2021 by Ipickthiswhiterose

[baumer]

Love your insight into things as always @Ipickthiswhiterose

[baumer]

Looking back at the top 100 films from the years 1994, 1995 and 1996 (Scream came out in 1996 in December), we'll see that in 1994, Wolf, a big budget film starring Jack nicholson and Michelle Pfeiffer was the highest grossing horror movie with 65 million.  The next highest grossing horror films was Mary Shelley's Frankenstein with 22 mill and then the only other film in the top 100 for horror films was Wes Craven's New Nightmare at 18 million.

 

1995 had Seven, which wasn't listed as horror but to me it is, at 84 mill.  Species made 60 mill, Tales from the Crypt and Vampire in Brooklyn both made about 20 million.

 

1996 before Scream, From Dusk till Dawn did 26 mill, The Craft 24 mill and Thinner did 15 mill.

 

Now lets take a look at the three years after Scream:

 

1997:  Scream 2 did 101 mill, I Know What You did last Summer did 75 mill, Anaconda did 65 mill,  The Devil's Advocate 60 mill, Alien Resurrection did 48 mill, The Relic did 34, American Werewolf in Paris, 26.

 

1998:  Halloween H2O did 55 mill, The Faculty did 40 mill, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer 40 mill

 

And then the explosion of 1999 where Sixth Sense made 600 WW, Blair Witch did 250 Mill WW and both finished top ten domestically that year, Sleepy Hollow 100M, The Haunting 91M, Stigmata 50M, 8MM 36M, Lake Placid, 31M, Stir of Echoes 21M

 

Horror definitely experienced a recrudescence post Scream and for the next 25 years, it became hot commodities.  Scream definitely helped usher in a new era of horror interest and profitability.

[Krissykins]

44 minutes ago, Ipickthiswhiterose said:

Any waxing lyrical over The Mothman Prophecies will always have my dear appreciation. The entire film is, as described, a relentless ride of unsettledness and it truly is my favourite Gere performance across an increasingly under appreciated career. We've talked about the Chapstick scene in the past and yes, nothing encapsulates paradigm shift like it - it's like the supernatural equivalent of the notorious Salma Hayek scene in Dusk Till Dawn, but without the foreknowledge and notoriety. And it's so horrifyingly intimate.

 

Must settle down and rewatch Black Cat and Hitcher, I've seen both in my teen-age years but couldn't proffer an informed opinion. I'm well aware Black Cat *should* be a movie I'm all over, but I haven't gone back to it.

 

The Exorcist is a movie that, for all its legend - maybe because of it - isn't the film you expect when you actually sit down to watch it for the first time. At least that was my experience. I wasn't anticipating the level of domesticity, which is odd I suppose given it's about a girl in a regular home. And that's what provides the horror, really. The infestation of the home and the internal threats to your loved ones. I the most effective scenes that internal threat becomes externally horrific as well, and I think that's what give is the enormous impact.

 

Scream is a weird one. I waxed lyrical about Scream on the top 100 list more than I usually do for slasher films because I think elements of it - especially how good it is as a standard horror movie - are still weirdly underrated despite its notoriety. The first scene is a little different in that the UK horror scene and the US horror scene aren't entirely the same and maybe perception of horror in the UK and perception of horror in the US aren't necessarily aligned. As such the "It saved horror" narrative that can function for Scream in the US and the "surprise" element of the first scene isn't necessarily the same since Drew Barrymore wasn't/isn't as prominent in the UK as a public figure and horror didn't really "need saving" to the same extent since it was the era of Clive Barker (and increased popularity of Steven King whose flower was still very much alive). Maybe Krissykins has a different perspective. As such that first scene IMO dominates the movie less (if anything I found the garage door scene to hit me harder), nevertheless remains an excellent opening scene of a slasher that holds up as the best of the genre in its own right. 

 

 

 

 

I was only 10 when Scream came out here in the UK so I wasn’t in tune with what was in cinemas at that time or the few years prior, horror wise anyway. In fact, I was probably watching a vast range of horror from the 80’s for the first time (thanks to my big brother haha), so I was probably inundated with content. 
 

I do remember hearing all about the hype and how big it had been. I think her being front and centre on the posters and cover art also helped create a false sense of security for audiences. So effective. 

[baumer]

Drew Barrymore dying in the first 20 minutes and being billed above the title was a deliberate page out of Psycho.  Williamson was so in tune with horror history.

[Ipickthiswhiterose]

1 hour ago, Krissykins said:

I was only 10 when Scream came out here in the UK so I wasn’t in tune with what was in cinemas at that time or the few years prior, horror wise anyway. In fact, I was probably watching a vast range of horror from the 80’s for the first time (thanks to my big brother haha), so I was probably inundated with content. 
 

I do remember hearing all about the hype and how big it had been. I think her being front and centre on the posters and cover art also helped create a false sense of security for audiences. So effective. 

 

Yeah, baumer definitely has some receipts there. Certainly  1994 and 1996 pre-Scream were down years for horror movies. But I recall Seven and Species as both pretty massive films, and earlier 90s still had the most critically acclaimed horror movie ever (even if I never fully understand why) in Silence of the Lambs. The subsequent years had FFC's Dracula and Candyman, both of which felt massive.

 

Of course, this is all contextual and experiential and through the eyes of a mid-teen based on what the cool kids were watching.

 

I think Scream's context provides opportunity to discuss that dynamic of the slasher and its relationship to horror movies in general. It represents the first critically acclaimed slasher in a while and the first that came out successfully following the era (the mid to late 80s) when it felt as though the slasher had become a monster that had taken the whole of the horror genre for its self and (including it's tendency for critical spurning and revelling in alienating non-horror fans) *become* the entire perception of what horror was....perhaps the main perception of what horror is to this day among many people. By the early 90s slashers had very self evidently burned themselves out and that gave the (false IMO) perception to some that there was a wider slump in horror. Then finally Williamson and Craven figured out a way, using New Nightmare as a R&D version, of making a slasher suited to the more cynical 90s and got the formula that made it seem as though the genre had been rebooted. The horror genre, or the slasher subgenera? I suppose that's the question....with the problem being that they had become conflated to such a massive degree that some people hadn't even considered Seven a horror when it came out and absolutely nobody even discusses Jurassic Park as a horror despite very obvious horror film beats and a structure barely any different to Jaws. As a non-slasher horror lover I'm of course going to be a bit cynical of those dynamics (And, for instance, would always be prone to argue if we're talking *important*/*impactful* horror films of the 90s would place BWP and perhaps even Seven above Scream even if I believe they're all pretty close equivalents in terms of quality), but it's not going to stop me from appreciating Scream as a terrific horror film in its own right. 

[Fancyarcher]

The Black Cat is such an awesome pull. One of those movies I've seen several times, and have always enjoyed, it helps that it's so short. Karloff & Lugosi were a great pairing. That scene you mentioned, genuinely freaked me out the first time I saw it.