10. “Mulholland Drive” (2001)
We’ve had David Lynch on the brain even more than usual recently (here’s yesterday’s retrospective on his feature films) but to be honest our subconscious is only ever a whisper away from “Mulholland Drive” at the best of times. Simply a masterful film that redefines the parameters of psychological horror, surreality and dream-state logic even as it mucks about within them, almost any scene from the film could work here. But we’ll go with the celebrated dumpster “monster,” if only because it’s such a classic Lynchian shock moment — recalling even the first glimpse we got of a crouching Bob in “Twin Peaks.”
9.”Audition” (1999)
The majority of gore and torture porn titles are notably missing from this list — whether because we’ve strong stomachs or are simply desensitized beyond help by now, that school of filmmaking often fails to leave much of a lasting impression, certainly in terms of individual moments. But one title that totally qualifies is Takashi Miike‘s astoundingly weird, profoundly disturbing “Audition,” especially in its extended torture climax. Maybe it’s because it’s the ultimate revenge narrative, and redresses some of the man-on-woman violence we see a lot of elsewhere, or maybe just because of Eihi Shiina‘s girlish joy in her work as she saws through bone with a wire or sticks actual needles into literal eyes, it’s a sequence as compelling as it is unforgettable.
8. “Misery” (1990)
Yes, we prefer creepiness and eeriness to visceral physical horror, but sometimes a scene combines all of those qualities. And so in Rob Reiner‘s great Stephen King adaptation, we get the defining Kathy Bates nutso performance as superfan Annie Wilkes, a late-period genius turn from James Caan as the object of her fandom, and this scene where the extent of Annie’s crazy is revealed. It would be a great horror moment no matter how you shot it, but I remember sneaking in to see this in the theater, and as half the audience clutched at their ankles in agony thinking “I cannot believe they showed the foot.” I still kind of can’t.
7. “The Shining” (1980)
I clearly have a bit of a thing about photographs as the one moment in Stanley Kubrick‘s “The Shining” that for me beats all others for sheer “Oh God, oh God get it out of my head” is the old-timey picture featuring a grinning Jack Nicholson amongst the long-dead patrons of the Overlook. But that’s the payoff to a kind of long-slow-build creepiness, so isn’t quite the kind of visceral moment we’re looking for here. However Nicholson embracing a beautiful naked woman who turns out to be a mouldering, lesion-covered hag will do nicely. See also: flash of dead twins in hallway; every other scene in the film.
6. “Jaws” (1975)
A one-film university course on the art of creating suspense putting anything from Steven Spielberg‘s “Jaws” on this list feels little like shooting a very big fish with a series of barrels (sorry). But it’s an obvious pick for a reason, and while we could have gone for the also iconic head-floating out of the submerged boat moment, we’re keeping it classic with this slice of complete perfection. The misdirection lead-up, the sheer size of the damn thing, its dead, evil eye, Roy Scheider‘s pitch perfect reaction, and the way his crumpled cigarette stays stuck to his lip: this scene is the just the goddamn greatest.
