‘Shining’ scene voted scariest.
British viewers also pick scenes from ‘Exorcist,’ ‘Jaws’ .
LONDON, Oct 27 — Actor Jack Nicholson’s cry of “Here’s Johnny!” as he axes his way through the bathroom door in “The Shining” has been voted the scariest big screen moment by viewers of Britain’s Channel 4 Television.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/985674.asp?cp1=1Other top ten scenes (Source: The Herald Dispatch):
1. "Psycho" -- The Shower Scene (Janet Leigh, 1960): When this movie opened, it’s hard to imagine that many audience members were eager to rush home and take a shower. Oddball motel clerk Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) peeks through a hole in the wall just when comely embezzler Marion Crane (Leigh) is about to step into the shower. Next thing you know, here comes the butcher knife, the noise and the shower curtain rings, popping off one by one. Nobody ever looked at a tub the same way again.
2. "The Shining" -- Here’s Johnny! (Jack Nicholson, 1980): All work and no play make Jack a dull boy, but his blade seems pretty sharp in this adaptation of the Stephen King novel about an unstable author who lands a job as caretaker at a spooky old resort in the dead of winter. After the local ghosts work him over, Jack decides to pay a surprise visit to his wife (Shelley Duvall) -- by hacking through the bathroom door. And she knows it’s not the postman -- he always rings twice.
3. "The Exorcist" -- The Head Spin (Linda Blair, 1973): Either little Regan (Blair) is one heck of a ventriloquist or she’s possessed by demons. Guessing the latter, her mom calls up a local priest, who brings in the title character (Max von Sydow) to do a little housecleaning. We’re already pretty raggedy around the edges when she pulls off the always-difficult spinning-head trick. And she nails the landing!
4. "Poltergeist" -- Mr. Clown gets Frisky (Oliver Robins, 1982): There are plenty of scary moments in this movie -- the evil tree, the face disintegration, the corpse-filled swimming pool -- but for our money, you just can’t beat a doll that comes to life. During filming, the prop doll malfunctioned and actually nearly strangled Robins (who plays Robbie Freeling). The young actor was rescued by director Spielberg.
5. "The Silence of the Lambs" -- Basement Blackout (Jodie Foster, 1991): Man, Agent Clarice Starling (Foster) finally tracks down Buffalo Bill and what does he do? Locks her in the basement and then stalks her with infrared gear. The guy just doesn’t play fair. Unfortunately for him, this particular Starling is equipped with ultrasensitive hearing. Oops.
6. "The Sixth Sense" -- Late Night Visitor (Haley Joel Osment, 1999): Poor Cole Sear just wants to spend the night making a tent, but he keeps getting interrupted by a ghostly girl, who’s just a bit sick to her stomach. Actually, the most frightening part of this sequence is when a ghost passes behind Cole, unseen to him, but visible to the audience. Like, creepy, man.
7. "Alien" -- Severe Indigestion (John Hurt, 1979): Upon repeated viewings, this sequence is more gross than scary, but the first time it happens, you really have no idea what’s happening to the poor guy. You figure maybe he got hold of some bad huevos rancheros. No such luck. If you’re dying to see it again, it’s being re-released for Halloween, with additional scenes and the usual digital cleanup.
8. "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" -- Hello, Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen, 1974): OK, looks just like a regular farmhouse, nice front porch, nobody around -- hmm, what’s this giant metal door here? Aaaaaieeeeeee! The movie spends the first half building suspense, punctuated by the sudden appearance of Leatherface, who turns a nosy guy into, well, tomorrow’s dinner. If you ever visit the family restaurant, one piece of advice -- avoid the sausage.
9. "Jaws" -- Hello, Mr. Head (Richard Dreyfuss, Craig Kingsbury, 1975): Matt Hooper (Dreyfuss) and Chief Brody (Roy Scheider) are on a late-night fishing expedition (sharks, after all, are fish) and come across the wrecked boat of local fisherman Ben Gardner (Kingsbury). Hooper goes scuba diving to check out the boat’s hull, and just when you think he might bump into, say, the shark, Gardner’s head pops out of a hole. I jumped a mile.
10. "Freaks" -- One of Us (Olga Baclanova, 1932): Working in a traveling circus, Cleopatra (Baclanova) performs on the flying trapeze by night and by day romances the midget Hans, while secretly scheming to marry him (and then kill him) to steal his newly acquired fortune. When her plot is discovered by the other performers (many of whom are actual circus "freaks"), she’s dealt some cruel carny justice.
Link:
http://www.herald-dispatch.com/2003/October/26/LFedge1.htm