The 10 most iconic horror movie scenes of all time
When you think of horror movies, what scene do you think of? Jack Nicholson shouting “Here’s Johnny” in Stanley Kubrick’s iconic adaptation of the Stephen King novel The Shining? The gruesome ‘Chestburster’ scene from Ridley Scott’s influential science fiction classic Alien? Or, maybe even the lawnmower decimation in Peter Jackson’s blood-splattered genre flick Braindead?
The horror genre is packed full of iconic moments that lodge themselves in your brain like a pesky slither of sweetcorn that you can’t seem to twist out of your teeth. Masters of horror recognised this too, with filmmakers from across the history of the genre trying to make memorable horror moments that will haunt, disturb and terrify the viewer for many years to come.
Creating a list of just ten iconic horror movie moments was no easy feat, as we found ourselves forced to omit such classic moments as the ‘Prom Queen’ reveal in Brian De Palma’s Carrie, the ending of Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby, the terrifying walk in Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Kairo, and even the infamous decapitation moment from Ari Aster’s Hereditary. Check out our exclusive list below to see which scenes made the brutal cut.
The ten most iconic horror movie scenes of all time
10. “Do you like scary movies?” – Scream (Wes Craven, 1996)
Wes Craven doffs his cap to the very horror genre he helped to create with Scream, his final masterpiece, heralding in the reign of a brand new genre icon, Ghostface. Satirically twisting the horror genre conventions, Craven would kill off the film’s biggest name, Drew Barrymore, within the first sequence of the film, Hitchcock-style, letting the viewer know that they were in for 110 minutes of pure surprise.
The sequence is as iconic as they come, providing an introductory scene that has gone on to be ripped and copied time and time again. “Do you like scary movies?” yes, Wes, yes, indeed we do.
9. Ash’s insanity – Evil Dead II (Sam Raimi, 1987)
Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead II turns the genre into a sandbox playground, injecting a good dose of manic comedy to create one of horror’s most innovative films. Surviving the horrific onslaught of the previous film, Ash (Bruce Campbell) becomes the leader of another group of strangers hoping to survive against the evil dead, barricading themselves inside a cabin to fight off the flesh-eaters whilst they each become increasingly insane.
No one quite does deranged insanity like Campbell either, with the actor twisting his face in laughter, cackling along with the mounted deer head, bookcase and lamp, each of which appears to be chuckling along with him. It’s all gloriously unhinged.
8. London streets – 28 Days Later (Danny Boyle, 2002)
Danny Boyle’s landmark debut horror movie is a visionary masterpiece. With help from a terrific script from Alex Garland, which not only establishes an apocalyptic London with deft imagination but also manages to contain an excellent, isolated story within the world itself, Boyle creates one of the most iconic zombie/infected human movies of all time. Want proof? Just look at the opening scene.
Waking up from a coma to the windswept tumbleweed of central London, Jim (Cillian Murphy) staggers through the city, searching for survivors and sanctuary along the desolate streets. It was a scene that would inspire countless copy-cats.
7. Leatherface at sunset – The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Tobe Hooper, 1974)
Framed as a true story upon its release in the mid-1970s, despite its near-complete fiction, the film follows two siblings and three of their friends who fall victim to Leatherface and his cannibalistic family after venturing into the baron Texas countryside. Captured on a budget 16mm camera with fine grain, Tobe Hooper’s film manages to acquire a suffocating tone, documenting a living nightmare of raw, brutal authenticity.
It all leads to a strangely beautiful ending, an ode to mindless chaos and destruction, showing the sunset on Leatherface’s swinging chainsaw, but also the sunrise on a new dawn for horror cinema.
6. Transformation scene – An American Werewolf in London (John Landis, 1981)
Teetering the borderline between horror and comedy is no easy feat. Too funny and the horror will be ridiculed, too grisly and the comedy could be seen as sadistic. John Landis’ An American Werewolf in London perfectly tows this line, miraculously producing a film both unforgettably disturbing and joyously camp. Its best scene comes towards the end when the protagonist transforms into the titular American werewolf.
An extraordinary feat of practical effects, the scene stands as an exemplary piece of cinema that demonstrates the true possibilities of body horror. Over 40 years since its release, no transformation scene can better it.
5. Defibrillator – The Thing (John Carpenter, 1982)
John Carpenter’s remake of the 1951 film The Thing from Another World, is a pioneer of cosmic horror storytelling, deftly entwining the terror of man’s paranoid struggle with the inconceivable horror of the unknown. Set within an isolated Antarctic research facility, The Thing follows the activity of a cosmic being that perfectly assimilates its prey, infiltrating the team of scientists and taking them out one-by-one.
The iconic scene comes when one of the crewmembers falls ill and requires a defibrillator. Though, when the doctor goes to shock the patient, the chest of the body opens up, and the arms of the operator are ripped off.
4. Chestburster – Alien (Ridley Scott, 1979)
In a similar vein to the previous entry, Ridley Scott’s Alien features a piece of body horror that would go down in the history of the genre forever. The story follows a mere merchant vessel floating through space in the year 2122 AD, housing the Nostromo crew. Drifting through space, they pick up a distress call from an unknown transmission and become the vulnerable prey of a deadly alien after following it.
Thanks to the visionary art direction from H.R. Giger, Alien features a seriously terrifying villain in the form of the Xenomorph, with one scene showing a baby version of the creature pop out of the chest of Ian Holm’s Ash, blood, guts and all.
3. “Here’s Johnny!” – The Shining (Stanley Kubrick, 1980)
In his astonishing cinematic career, covering several genres, it was Stephen King’s horror novel The Shining that piqued director Stanley Kubrick’s interest—leading him to create one the greatest films of the genre. Starring Jack Nicholson as a struggling writer and temporary landlord of the Overlook Hotel who steadily goes insane, the drama of Kubrick’s classic leads to one moment that has consolidated itself in movie history forever.
“Here’s Johnny!” an insane Nicholson shouts from between the crack in the bathroom door, created by the sharp swing of his axe. Thanks to the performance of Nicholson and co-star Shelley Duvall, as well as the cinematography of Kubrick, the scene is an utter treat.
2. Shower scene – Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
Hitchcock’s classic follows a young man named Norman Bates who, under the strange domination of his mother, runs the everyday functioning of the Bates Motel, a secluded hideaway where a young woman evading the law finds herself trapped. A masterclass in tone and sustained suspense, Hitchcock elevated the, then ‘trashy’, horror genre into what it looks like today.
He did so thanks to one of horror’s most iconic moments when Janet Leigh’s Marion meets her demise from behind the shower curtain, shrieking cold murder from the top of her lungs.
1. Head-twist – The Exorcist (William Friedkin, 1973)
Hitchcock’s shower scene from Psycho may still hold up to this very day, but it’s William Friedkin’s head-twisting terror in The Exorcist that remains as iconic as it is terrifying. Friedkin’s film, based on the novel and screenplay from author William Peter Blatty, is in part a dark tale of a young girl transitioning into adulthood with intense painful trauma, and on the other hand, a satanic possession story about two priests questioning their faith to save the same girl.
Seamlessly blending astonishing special effects with a terrific central performance from Linda Blair, the slow head twist of Regan will live in our minds rent-free for the rest of our lives.
