Sometimes a movie needs a little pep to get people to pay attention, or people just add a little spark to see if everyone’s still awake. These moments that turn out to be scary for some and just odd for others aren’t always expected since in non-horror movies the scariest things usually get wouldn’t phase even the most sensitive moviegoer. But there are those moments in some movies that went to an extreme that, in this day and age are kind of goofy and elicit a funny look, but back in the day were likely to shock the living hell out of people, especially given the fact that the movies they belonged to weren’t supposed to be scary in any way, shape, or form. But the truth is that for as unexpected as they were, these moments were remembered by quite a few people since they stuck out so easily and still make people wonder what in the hell was going on at that moment.
Here are some of the scariest scenes from several non-horror movies.
5. Large Marge in Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure
There are a few other scenes in this movie that could be said to be scary for children, such as the clown scene at the mall or the dream sequence in which Pee-Wee is watching his bike be mangled. But the scene with Large Marge was just too good to pass up since the brief scene was pretty freaky for a lot of kids since it wasn’t expected at all and was beyond anything that had been seen in the movie up to the point. One wouldn’t imagine that this type of movie would have any chills such as this, but obviously the filmmaker wanted to add in a little something that would keep the audience guessing.
4. The face-melting scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark
Seriously, the snake pit couldn’t even match up to this moment since the idea of the Ark of the Covenant even being found was enough to get a few pulses pounding since the fact is that in Christianity this artifact was something that one just didn’t mess with. But the hubris of the Nazis kind of knew no bounds at one point, and one could easily think that in a movie setting that it would only be increased exponentially since they had to be the worst sort of bad guys that anyone had ever seen. That kind of justifies their hideous death scene, but yeah, this was terrifying as a kid.
3. The bear attack in The Revenant
This was horrifying simply because it’s a reality that did happen according to the tale it was pulled from. It’s also something that could happen in this day and age since there are times when people don’t know enough to just leave animals alone. Bears are no joke in the wild since even a black bear could do some damage if they really had the inclination. But a humongous brown bear that’s attacking out of fear or because their cub is near is something that a human being isn’t about to survive unless they have iron skin or the best possible luck in the world. Anything less than that and the average individual won’t be making the trip home.
2. The Wheelers in Return to Oz
Geez, everything in this movie was utterly terrifying since it was kind of like the Wizard of Oz had been dipped in a vat of LSD to see what would happen. Yes, I get it, that might not make sense, but neither did this movie, and the Wheelers were simply terrifying since their look and the manner in which they moved was enough to unnerve just about everybody. It’s not a complaint that someone took a charming story and turned it into a nightmare, it’s more to the point that someone took a charming story and let an entire circus filled with garish nightmares explode all over the scene just to see what the result would be.
1. Tunnel scene in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
What’s really fun about this scene is that Gene Wilder went off script and just started in on his insane ramble, and the others in the boat had no idea what was going on. There are so many trivia points to be found that make this movie so much more interesting than it already was, but this was one of those that was kind of freaky. From the imagery that was flashing behind him to the manic way in which he started talking, this scene freaked out quite a few people, including Gene’s costars, who had no idea what in the hell was going on. Some actors ad-lib and do their own little improv moments, but Wilder was one of those that had to be watched carefully since he was that good at it.
These scenes woke you up, that much is true.
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