Editorials
6 Horrifying Scenes in Non-Horror Movies!
When a horror fan reminisces about the most memorable scares of their life as a moviegoer, they’ll often find that many of them came from the most unexpected places imaginable. While classics like Nightmare on Elm Street and Halloween are obviously terrifying in their own right, it’s usually more unassuming movies like Gremlins that manage to traumatize a generation. And, in a world where horror filmmakers frequently end up producing mainstream studio pictures, it’s easy to see that crafting scares is an extremely hard habit to break.
In fact, several directors make a point of subtly hinting at their horror roots in their films (though others just seem to have fun playing with audience expectations). This results in some unpredictable frights in the most unlikely of movies, which is why I’ve compiled this list of the Top Six Most Horrifying Scenes in Non-Horror movies. Of course, this list is 100% personal opinion, but I’d love to see your own choices in the comments below!
The Matrix – Neo Gets Bugged
There isn’t much that hasn’t been said about the sci-fi action masterpiece that is The Matrix. Widely regarded as the Wachowskis’ best film, it’s also one of the most parodied movies of all time, has managed to stay relevant in popular culture for nearly two decades.
While most moviegoers recall the stylish action sequences and cyberpunk aesthetics, there are actually quite a few moments of extreme terror and even body-horror in The Matrix. The revelation of what the Machines have done to mankind is horrifying in its own right, but the Wachowskis take things a step further with one nightmare-inducing scene in particular.
Having been captured by agents, our iconic protagonist undergoes a twisted form of interrogation as his mouth melts away and he’s quite literally (not to mention painfully) bugged by the antagonists with a living tracking device. This scene is traumatizing enough on its own, but it’s complemented later on as our heroes are forced to remove the “bug” in an equally brutal fashion.
Robocop – Toxic Waste Scene
By now we’re all aware that legendary director Paul Verhoeven doesn’t shy away from violence in his filmography. Robocop is no exception, despite having been a big part of any post-80s childhood. While the movie is brutal enough on its own, there is one particular scene that stands out amidst this violent satire.
During a climactic confrontation at the old steel mill, Robocop faces off against one of the henchmen that originally murdered him. The encounter doesn’t end well for the miscreant, as he crashes into a convenient vat of toxic waste, meeting a gruesome demise as he devolves into a gelatinous mass.
It’s the kind of movie moment that must be seen to be believed.
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom – Heart Surgery
The Indiana Jones franchise is fondly remembered by several generations of moviegoers, containing some of the most iconic imagery in the history of film. While some consider these to be excellent family movies (and they are, for the most part), Spielberg and Lucas often make a point of focusing on some of the darker aspects of Indy’s adventures.
I’m certain that face-melting Nazis were the source of many childhood nightmares since the release of Raiders of the Lost Ark, but it’s Indy’s second adventure that really ventured into horror territory. Supernatural death cults, ritual sacrifice, and child slavery made this the darkest of the Indiana Jones movies despite the PG-13 rating.
In a particularly grueling scene, we’re introduced to High Priest Mola Ram’s Thuggee ritual, where he removes the hearts of his victims with his bare hands, before throwing them into a scenic pit of lava. Why even bother making movies if you’re not going to scar your younger viewers for life, right?
King Kong – Spider Pit Redux
Before he became the visionary behind the Lord of the Rings movie franchise and its prequels, Peter Jackson was a horror nut just like you and me. His love for Merian C. Cooper’s King Kong was partially responsible for his filmmaking career, so it’s only natural that he’d be the one to helm the 2005 remake.
Following in Cooper’s footsteps, he even recreated the infamous Spider Pit sequence that was lost from the original film. However, Jackson’s version manages to be a lot more intense, in part due to Weta Workshop’s phenomenal effects work. Seeing those poor men get devoured by giant insects/arachnids isn’t for the faint of heart. Even fan-favorite Andy Serkis meets a particularly cruel end at the hands (well, mouths) of carnivorous worm-like creatures.
Spider-Man 2 – Birth of Doc Ock
It’s nearly impossible for Sam Raimi to be involved in a production and not leave some of his horror fingerprints behind, and that’s certainly the case with what might very well be the best Marvel movie so far, Spider-Man 2. While the first film boasted Willem Dafoe’s terrifying performance as the Green Goblin, Raimi took things to the next level with the introduction of the sequel’s antagonist.
On paper, Doctor Octopus doesn’t exactly sound like Spider-Man’s most menacing villain, especially when played by an actor as charismatic as Alfred Molina. However, looks can be deceiving, as Raimi pays homage to his own Evil Dead films in one of my favorite sequences in this already spectacular movie.
Having been in a terrible accident, Doctor Otto Octavius lies dormant on an operating table as surgeons prepare to remove his mechanical arms. Unfortunately, the semi-sentient tentacles don’t like the idea of being separated from their creator, and a ruthless massacre ensues. Not even surgical chainsaws can stop these monstrosities, and we’re treated to an unexpectedly thrilling scene.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – That Darth Vader Scene
Star Wars most definitely isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of horrific moments in film, but that’s just a matter of perspective. Anyone on the receiving end of Darth Vader’s lightsaber would probably view him as the space-wizard equivalent of Michael Myers, and Gareth Edwards’ Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is the first film in the franchise to truly deliver on that front.
Regardless of what you thought of the rest of the film, I think we can all agree that the final sequence, featuring Vader plowing through terrified rebel soldiers like Jason Voorhees on vacation, is the closest we’ll ever get to a slasher film set in the Star Wars universe. And boy, were those few minutes worth the wait.
The penultimate season of Tales from the Crypt (1989–1996) aired its first three episodes on October 31, so it’s understandable that at least one of those three stories is set on Halloween.
Sandwiched between “Let the Punishment Fit the Crime” (Russell Mulcahy, Ron Finley) and “Whirlpool” (Mick Garris, A. L. Katz & Gilbert Adler) is the most severe episode of the bunch. Maybe the entire series? William Malone and Dick Beebe’s “Only Skin Deep” traded the show’s typical sense of fun for startling amounts of bleakness and kink.
“Only Skin Deep” is, apart from the Crypt Keeper’s intro and outro, noticeably unfunny. There are no considerable attempts at making the viewer laugh. Come to think of it, if those bookends had been replaced, and there was more of a sci-fi element in the story, HBO could have easily squeezed this tale into that successor anthology, Perversions of Science (1997). In Crypt, though, “Only Skin Deep” is much too grim for an audience that had become accustomed to campiness and levity.
What makes “Only Skin Deep” feel dark, among other things, is its protagonist. Showing up to a Halloween party where he’s not welcome, and where his former girlfriend (Diane DiLasco) is attending, Carl Schlag (Peter Onorati) first comes across as your standard bitter ex. You soon realize it’s much worse than that, once Carl threatens Linda (“You know, silly me, thinking I gave you what you deserved. If I’d have done that, I’d have killed you”). Now, I haven’t forgotten that Tales from the Crypt was teeming with vile men who did women harm. Yet Carl’s brand of misogynistic menace hits differently—it borders on being too realistic for this kind of series.
Mike Vosburg’s EC-style comic cover for “Only Skin Deep”, as seen in the Tales from the Crypt episode.
Despite donning a party mask for much of the episode, Carl can’t ever mask his true nature. The invitation did say “come as you are”, after all. That inability to change and be better, however, is why Carl ends up in such a karmic predicament. His outburst of anger at the party attracts the attention of one loner partygoer named Molly (Sherrie Rose, who was also in Season Four’s “On a Deadman’s Chest”). Her bone-white, featureless “mask” and body-bag costume don’t initially register as too strange, especially on a night like this. But at a party chock-full of colorful, cartoonish, and lighthearted ensembles, it does look out of place.
Darkness attracts darkness as Carl ditches the party and accompanies the mysterious Molly to her place. Which, by the way, should have been an immediate red flag. But perhaps she’s so hot, he doesn’t seem to mind the serial killer aesthetic. Resembling a warehouse that has been converted into living spaces, but never then decorated to remove the cold, industrial look, Molly’s home (or lair) is as gloomy as this whole episode feels. It’s like the set of a grungy music video, albeit a tad cleaner. The environments in a typical Crypt episode tend to be small, overfilled, and broken-in. Warm, regardless of any weird goings-on. All that empty space in Molly’s hovel, on the other hand, elicits a creepy feeling that Carl was unwise to ignore.
Tales from the Crypt featured more sex than it didn’t, but hands down, “Only Skin Deep” boasts the steamiest scene in the show’s history. Pushing it over the line, in addition to Onorati showing bare buns and the camera never turning down one of his pelvic thrusts, is the twisted dirty talk. Carl stays in the moment, whereas Molly unleashes charged lines like “the hurt, the anger, give it to me” and “take it out on my flesh like you want to”. It’s all quite kinky, as well as tied into the story’s theme of pain.
How else “Only Skin Deep” differs from other episodes is its twists. Or rather, its lack thereof. Nothing comes as a great surprise here, particularly because the deuteragonist’s ulterior motives are so obvious. By no means is Molly a wolf in sheep’s clothing; her face is a fright mask, she practically reeks of death, and she lives in what can best be described as a serial killer’s hideout. That last-act revelation of Molly’s mask really being her face is also nothing shocking. Cleverness is certainly not this episode’s strength.
A page from “…Only Skin Deep!”, as seen in EC Comics’ Tales from the Crypt.
While “Only Skin Deep” isn’t the most universally loved episode of Tales from the Crypt, it’s an interesting preview of William Malone’s future as a director. Most notably, he went on to helm House on Haunted Hill (1999) and FeardotCom (2002), the former of which was co-written by Dick Beebe, this episode’s writer. Dark Castle Entertainment, that genre house founded by Crypt producers Joel Silver, Robert Zemeckis, and Gilbert Adler, was instrumental in bringing out Malone’s gruesome, over-the-top vision in House on Haunted Hill. However, FeardotCom and Malone’s Masters of Horror episode, “Fair-Haired Child”, are the most stylistically compatible with “Only Skin Deep”.
As one might guess, this episode is nothing like its source material. The “…Only Skin Deep!” found in the pages of EC Comics is set during Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and save for its last couple of pages, is pretty sweet in nature. There, a man named Herbert is enamored with a woman he met five years prior to the present-day story. Every year, he has come down to Mardi Gras to see Suzanne, who’s always dressed as a hag-faced witch. Well, this time, Herbert plans on popping the question and marrying someone who is, for the most part, a total stranger. Suzanne accepts his proposal, but with one condition: they stay in costume until they’re officially hitched. You can probably see where this is going…
Once they are married, Suzanne remains incognito, even when she and Herbert have consummated their vows. A semi-predictive nightmare then rattles Herbert; he dreamt that Suzanne’s real face was as wizened as her mask. Finally, in his haste to find out the truth, Herbert winds up killing his new wife. Faceless and well on her way to bleeding out, the dying Suzanne manages to say she never wore a mask.
For more traditional EC-style ghastliness, your best bet is reading the comic. It’s wickedly sad. For something less conventional, as far as Tales from the Crypt goes, the role-reversing adaptation is worth watching. It’s not the best this show had to offer, although Malone’s visual style, plus the sexual abandon, does set the episode apart. If nothing else, “Only Skin Deep” leaves an impression that, even years later, shows no signs of fading.
Season Six of Tales from the Crypt can be streamed on Shudder, starting on June 5.
Tales from Tales from the Crypt celebrates the show’s Shudder premiere by singling out one episode from each season. So don’t even think about changing that dial, boys and ghouls. More spot-“frights” are to come.
Carl discovers Molly’s collection of human ‘masks’ in the Tales from the Crypt episode, “Only Skin Deep”.
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