Unforgerrifying. Sorry, but I've made up a new word. I'm not sure it will catch on. Basically, I wanted to use terrifying, but it all depends on how you define the word when it comes to film. So, instead of compiling separate lists for the best short sharp shocks, scenes of creeping tension, or long, lingering shots of something so wrong that it mentally scars you forever, I decided to throw them all in together, scrap it out, and form thirty of the most shocking and unforgettable moments in world cinema. Here's part one...
The list is contestable (understand that I’m always right),
but that only works if you tell us where I went wrong. I’m quite happy to admit
an oversight or two, so feel free to chip in with a few of your own; we’re always open to more sleepless nights. So, are you sitting
comfortably? Then let us begin with part one. Oh, and what you’re about to read
may contain spoilers. Fortunately, it still won’t prepare you for some very
uncomfortable evenings…
30. Don’t Look Now (1973), Nicolas Roeg
Directed by Nicolas Roeg and starring Julie Christie and
Donald Sutherland as a married couple who travel to Venice following the recent
accidental death of their daughter, Don’t Look Now was adapted from the short
story by Daphne du Maurier. A psychological thriller, the film is best known
for two terrifying moments. One sees John following an elusive figure - who he
thinks is his daughter - to a deserted palazzo, cornering it before an ugly
revelation, but the scene that starts us off actually happens at the very
beginning of this memorable movie; the cheerless drowning of their young child
– truly heart-breaking.
29. Dark Water (2002), Hideo Nakata
Ignore the inferior Hollywood remake, the Japanese original
directed by Hideo Nakata, based on a short story by Koji Suzuki called Floating
Water, follows a divorced mother who moves into a rundown apartment with her
daughter, only to experience supernatural occurrences and a mysterious water
leak from the floor above. Okay, so the last part sounds rubbish but trust me,
this film has its fair share of chills.
The best, and making the top thirty, occurs when mother
Yoshimi (Hitomi Kuroki) intends to escape the chaos with her daughter, rushing
into the elevator, fleeing from the apparition of a missing child called
Mitsuko. But as the elevator door closes she sees that the figure pursuing her
is in fact her own daughter, which begs the question, who the hell is she
carrying?
28. Nosferatu (1922), F.W. Murnau
They couldn’t obtain the rights to the novel Bram Stoker’s
Dracula, forcing name changes (vampire became Nosferatu and Count Dracula
became Count Orlok), but the greatest Dracula film of all time was surprisingly
made way back in 1922. And yes, this is it – how did you guess? Directed by F.
W. Murnau, starring Max Schreck as Count Orlok, ignore the poor acting and
grating score, remember that horror cinema was in its infancy, and imagine
watching the scene when the haunting shadow of Nosferatu, a far cry from the
handsome Christopher Lee, climbs the staircase. Then rush out and proclaim that
Schreck must be a real vampire. He’s lucky he wasn’t hanged.
27. The Ordeal (2004), Fabrice Du Welz
A psychological horror directed by Fabrice Du Welz, starring
Laurent Lucas, Philippe Nahon and Jackie Berroyer, The Ordeal (its original
title is Calvaire) is a strange beast. Not that such a declaration would put
off the locals. Considering that the film boasts scenes of bestiality, rape and
pornography, it’s odd that its most enduring scene involves a bunch of locals
dancing. And yet, throw in an old piano and some polka music and what follows
is one of the craziest, creepiest and most celebrated musical numbers in the
history of horror.
26. Who Can Kill A Child? (1976), Narciso Ibanez Serrador
Also released as Island Of The Damned, but not to be
confused with the laughable Island Of Death (1977), Narciso Ibanez Serrador’s
slow-burner is delightfully nasty and wonderfully tense; a must-see psychological
horror revelling in a couple’s isolation when they find an island inhabited by
maniacal children. Think real-life Chucky’s; an entire army of the little
brats. Apparently they just want to play, but human piñata is not a game most
adults would be willing to participate in. In fact, every other adult has
already been killed by the children.
The most memorable scene, and there are many to choose from,
happens when Evelyn (Prunella Ransome) is trapped in a room after her husband
Tom (Lewis Flander) has reluctantly shot a child. Unknown to her, normal
children can change into sadistic whippersnappers simply by making eye contact
with the local cherubs, or by the art of telepathy, which isn’t ideal when
you’re carrying an unborn child…
25. Ring 0: Birthday (2000), Norio Tsuruta
People seem to have forgotten about this prequel to the
excellent Ringu (1998). When I say people, I mean Hollywood, which isn’t a bad
thing at all. Neither is Tsuruta’s movie, focusing on more reporters struck
down during and after a widely publicised demonstration of parapsychological
power by one Yananura Shizuko. The fiancé of the first man to succumb seeks
answers, determined to find whoever, or whatever, is responsible.
Shedding light over the mysterious video tape from the
original, Ring 0 makes interesting viewing, and just like Hideo Nakata’s first
outing, manages to scare the hell out of us with a masterful scene. At Sadako's
old home the reporter Miyaji (Yoshiko Tanaka) seeks a hiding place as she
protects another girl. Trying to barricade them in, she soon realises that
she’s too late and that they aren’t alone. Forced into a corner, the pair can
barely look, and neither can we, as we wait, and wait, for the brittle Sadako
to reappear and let her hair down.
24. Un Chien Andalou (1929), Luis Buñuel & Salvador
Dalí
You’ll only have to endure this short film for sixteen
minutes, but if you can’t even spare that much time to watch a surreal film
lacking in plot but presenting a series of unrelated scenes, skip to one moment
in particular. A middle-aged man (Buñuel) sharpens his razor at his balcony
door and tests it on his thumb while gazing at the moon that’s about to be
crossed by a cloud. We cut to a close-up of a young woman (Simone Mareuil)
being held by the man but she calmly stares straight ahead. As the moon is
overcome by the cloud the man slits the woman's eye with the razor, and
considering this is 1929, the vital fluid that spills out from it is gloriously
grisly.
23. The Eye (2002), The Pang Brothers
Ignore the inferior Hollywood remake and plump for the far
superior original about a woman called Mun (Angelica Lee), blind since the age
of two, who undergoes an eye cornea transplant after receiving a pair of new
eyes from a donor. If you haven’t yet seen The Eye (good one me) you can
probably guess which direction we’re heading in, but you would be wrong.
Mysterious figures foretelling gruesome deaths in all kinds of creepy ways are
only the start of it; the explosive finale a surprising but welcome respite
from the chills.
That being said, the film’s finest moment arrives when Mun
enters an empty elevator. The presence of another person inside the lift, and a
quick glance over her shoulder confirming it, begins the torment. What follows
is a brilliantly executed scene with close-ups that linger uncomfortably,
alternating between the ascending lighted floor numbers and Mun’s distressed
face, as a blurry figure hovers behind her, turning to reveal his horrifically
scarred face. And then the lift stops at floor thirteen…
22. The Brood (1979), David Cronenberg
Children do the funniest things, don’t they? The Brood is a
1979 horror film written and directed by David Cronenberg, starring Oliver
Reed, Samantha Eggar, and Art Hindle. The plot surrounds a series of murders
committed by what seems at first to be a group of children. But these are no
ordinary sprogs. These are the psychosomatic offspring of a mentally disturbed
woman called Nola. They respond and act on the targets of her rage. Nola
(Eggar) also happens to be legally embattled with her husband Frank (Hindle)
for custody of their five year-old daughter Candice.
Even though Nola might be able to lick her unwanted
offspring in a fair fight, Ruth (Susan Hogan), a primary school teacher in
charge of Candice’s class, sadly cannot. Clad in snow-jackets that hide most of
their deformed features, two dwarf children send Candice away, pick up hammers
and – in front of her horrified class – make sure teacher never gives them
homework ever again.
21. The Vanishing (1988), George Sluizer
An adaptation of the novel The Golden Egg by Tim Krabbé,
directed by George Sluizer and starring Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu, The Vanishing
is about the disappearance of a young Dutch woman and her lover's obsessive
search. Ignore the poorly received remake (how many times will I say that in
this feature) and embrace this gripping thriller as Rex (Gene Bervoets) reaches
all levels of desperation to find out what has happened to his beloved Saskia
(Johanna Ter Steege).
A man called Raymond (Donnadieu), fascinated by Rex's
fanatical compulsion to know what happened to Saskia, confronts him and admits
to kidnapping her. Rex is told that the only way to learn the truth about what
happened is to experience it. Deciding that he has no alternative, Rex drinks
the drugged coffee offered to him. While Raymond relaxes at his country home we
finally find out, along with Rex, what happened to Saskia. Anyone who suffers
from claustrophobia should look away now…
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