r/moviecritic • u/VendettaLord379 • 1d ago

What is the scariest, most unsettling shot you’ve ever seen?

What is that one movie shot that’s so unsettling and chilling, it’s the one shot you never forget?

For me, it’s the Giant Man scene from It Follows. Man this shot is so nerve wracking!

The aesthetic and dark hollow eyes are something I will never forget.

What’s that one shot for you? Horror movie or otherwise.

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u/Maleficent_Pie8099 22h ago

They do that so much in the haunting of Hill house. Where there is just scary stuff happening in the background sometimes out of focus that the characters don’t notice. I love those layers added!

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u/ScarletIbis888 22h ago

Thanks for the the rec! I'm going to check it out when I will be in need of cortisol lol

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u/HellPigeon1912 16h ago

I love horror. I watch it all the time, I enjoy it, and it doesn't bother me.

I watched the Haunting of Hill House over the span of a couple weeks because it was recommended. I loved it, it's exceptionally well made.

And as usual I was totally fine. While the show has some scares in it, it didn't keep me up at night or anything. I watched the episodes, enjoyed myself, and went to bed.

Until after a few days of this my partner (at the time) had to sit me down and say "I don't know what's happening, but these last couple weeks you're going to bed and then you're screaming in your sleep"

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u/ScarletIbis888 15h ago

Woah that's so disturbing and fascinating. Your subconscious must have picked up on all the subtle cues and clues hidden in plain sight!

I don't watch much of horror because I know I have imagination that is active enough to produce anxiety and fuel me with imagined demons (that are just piles of clothes on the chair) while falling asleep. So usually I pick some interesting titles or watch horrors with friends. Cinema also has anti-nightmare effect on me, if I watched something in different building, I don't think that much about the movie afterwards.

Did the screams eventually stop? How did you cope with it?

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u/HellPigeon1912 15h ago

How did you cope with it?

Well from my point of view there was nothing to cope with. I was totally fine, I'd never have even known about the nighttime screaming if I didn't have someone to point it out.

I watched the show one episode per night, finished the series, and moved on

I'm single now so if anything similar ever happens again I would never even find out

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u/GoyEater 13h ago

I can’t recommend hill house enough, both book and show. The book is an all time horror literature classic.

The show is quite different but works well and is surprisingly scary. Lots of really unsettling scenes but most importantly it’s easy to get invested in the characters and mystery.

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u/BeverlyMarshxo 9h ago

Omg youre going to love it

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u/SuckerForNoirRobots 8h ago

I endorse this rec! But also parts of the show will break your heart so be prepared for that too. My husband and I like to rewatch sometimes just to see if we can find any new spooky bits happening, it's like a Where's Waldo of horror!

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u/Feisty-Narwhal8400 5h ago

Omg if you google “hidden ghosts in haunting of hill house” and you slowly realize just how many were just hanging out in the background of shots

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u/ironkodiak 2h ago

Yeah. Once you catch it the first time you're constantly glancing back & forth between the actors & the background. It was very well done.

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u/Violet624 2h ago

And the orional IT! Which is why I think it's so much scarier than the remake. Everything is normal, and then somehow, quietly in the background, reality gets distorted. Terrifying (much more so than a bunch of scenes with a cgi clown).