by It would be logical to assume, with the amount of movies people watch today, that filmmakers would run out of ways to shock and thrill us. I mean, there are only so many ways to shoot a scene and the variety of ways to maim and kill actors must be limited.
With all the remakes of older movies and the plethora of TV shows adapted to film, you can see how the Hollywood industry is drying up from the lack of new and inventive ideas. But for some unknown reason, this phenomenon hasn’t crossed over into the individual scenes that make up these movies. It hasn’t stopped directors from creating crazy new ways to shock our senses.
So here is a salute to shocking movie scenes and the 10 choices that made the greatest impact on us.
No.10 Dentist Chair Scene
Marathon Man (1976)
When Dustin Hoffman (as Babe Levy) is wrongly suspected by a Nazi diamond smuggler as knowing of the smuggler’s plans, he is captured and interrogated. As Hoffman knows nothing, the smuggler, a dentist, uses the tools of his trade to torture Hoffman into an unforthcoming confession. When the drill is heard penetrating Hoffman’s teeth, you cringe and jump simultaneously.
No.9 Bathroom Scene
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
Vincent D’Onofrio plays Private Pyle, a fat guy who can’t keep up with the other men in his platoon during basic training. After days of abuse he snaps and Private Joker, Matthew Modine, finds him in the barracks’ bathroom with a loaded machine gun. While reciting the creed of his weapon he blows away his drill instructor and then himself.
No.8 Couch Rape Scene
Straw Dogs (1971)
When locals of an English village encroach on the privacy of an American professor’s house, the professor (played by Dustin Hoffman) is seen as a pushover. The locals invade the house when the professor is away and sexually assault his wife. The movie was banned in England for this graphic scene.
No.7 Wood-Chipper Scene
Fargo (1996)
Frances McDormand (as Sheriff Marge Gunderson) hears a strange noise coming from behind a house she is investigating. She finds her suspects as one is finishing the other off by grinding him through a wood chipper. The sounds of human bones taxing the grinder’s teeth give you shivers up the spine.
No.6 Squid Murder Scene
Strange Days (1995)
When the killer (Tom Sizemore) puts the Squid (Super conducting Quantum Interface Device) on his victim (while he is also wearing one), he rapes and murderers her, it was truly mind-screwing (pardon the pun) scene. The Squid is a device that is placed on your head. When you insert a disc, you experience in all facets what the person that recorded the disc (with his Squid) experienced. Therefore, if he committed a robbery, you would experience the robbery firsthand. The victim of Sizemore’s violence, if you are still following, feels she is raping and murdering herself along with feeling the rape and murder originally. James Cameron (who wrote the script) truly has a sick mind to think this shit up.
No.5 Russian Roulette End Scene
The Deer Hunter (1978)
When Michael, Robert De Niro, goes into a gambling house to save Nick, Christopher Walken, and sits at the table and plays that deadly Russian game, it sends electricity down your spine; especially when Walken dies.
No.4 Gay Rape Scene
Pulp Fiction (1994)
When Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames) is brought into the backroom of a pawnshop, the door opens to show him being anally assaulted by a local police officer (Zed). Add in the Gimp (a leather-bound slave kept in a box), who is implied to be the regular recipient of this deed and you get a scene that is truly creepy.
No.3 Needle Scene
Requiem for a Dream (2000)
While traveling in a van, Jared Leto (as Harry Goldfarb) pulls out his blackened, puss-infected arm (due to an untreated infection that is becoming gangrenous) and is so addicted to heroin he doesn’t care and stabs the area with needle to get a hit.
No.2 Masturbation Scene
The Exorcist (1973)
Linda Blair (as Regan MacNeil) is possessed by a demon. When a group, including her mother, enters the bedroom, you see Blair take a cross and start jabbing herself violently in her private area as she says “Let Jesus fuck you!”, and then she grabs her mother’s face and shoves it into the wound.
No.1 The Whole Movie
Cannibal Holocaust (1980)
There are too many scenes to choose just one. If you have seen the movie, you know what I mean. But here is a small list of scenes that could be included: the turtle scene, the monkey skull scene, the ritual beach rape scene, the impaled woman on a stake scene, and the final death scenes. See more Cannibal Holocaust pictures
Honorable Mentions
- Fire Extinguisher Scene, Irréversible (2002)
- Family Execution Scene, Martyrs (2008)
- Squeal Like A Pig Scene, Deliverence (1972)
- Selena Machete Scene, 28 Days Later (2002)
- Chainsaw Scene, Scarface (1983)
- Feces Scene (Circle of Shit), Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975)
If you like this list check out Shocking Movie Scenes: Part 2
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