accessAtlanta

"The exploding head is something that can be seen as attractive, in its way."

— David Cronenberg, 1988

(ENLARGE)
Jack Nicholson in "The Shining."
MOST POPULAR STORIES How and where to have a blast on the Fourth LA police plan for huge crowd at Jackson memorial Sandra Bullock movie takes over Atlanta private school Atlanta's fireworks options sparkle Big. Bang. Boom!
EMAIL THIS PRINT THIS MOST POPULAR
RELATED LINK: Blog: Tell us your favorite scary movie moments

So can a dismembered teen. Or the lawyer en toilette devoured by the T. rex.

But what really gives us the shivers? The classic monsters — Frankenstein, Dracula, the Wolf Man, the Mummy — have become more icons than something to fear. And once they met Abbott and Costello in a string of movies, there was no going back.

Here are an unlucky 13 suggestions each from AJC movie writers Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Bob Longino and Steve Murray of movie moments — not necessarily from horror flicks — guaranteed to send a tingle up your spine. (Most titles are available on DVD and/or video.)

Eleanor Ringel Gillespie's picks

"M" (1931) — Child-killer Peter Lorre's eerie, obsessive whistling of "In the Hall of the Mountain King" as he leads his next victim down a deserted alley ... and then the horrifying silence when the whistling stops.

"Freaks" (1932) — A greedy trapeze artist is stalked on a very dark and stormy night by some vengeance-minded circus freaks.

"Island of Lost Souls" (1933) — Mad doctor Charles Laughton gets a dose of his own, um, medicine from his half-man, half-animal experiments.

"J'accuse!" (1938) — In Abel Gance's anti-war epic, World War I dead rise from their graves and march on the living; scarier still, some real-life horribly disfigured veterans of that war are among them.

"Dead of Night" (1945) — Michael Redgrave's dummy slowly gets up and walks toward him.

"Scream of Fear" (1961) — For Susan Strasberg, living with her evil newly widowed stepmother is bad enough, but wasn't that the body of her dead daddy in the deep end of the pool? (The movie is also known as "Taste of Fear.")

"The Haunting" (1963) — The entire movie is one big chill, from heaving doors to strange noises, but most of all, there's the message "Help Eleanor Come Home" written on the wall by ... whom ... or what?

"Rosemary's Baby" (1968) — Worried she may be carrying the devil's spawn (literally), a frantic Mia Farrow realizes that nice Dr. Sapirstein may not be on her side after all.

"Jaws" (1975) — See, this nubile babe goes for a frisky midnight swim and ... duh duh duh duh.

"The Brood" (1979) — Maternity by way of David Cronenberg, meaning Samantha Eggar has problems birthing babies like nothing you've ever seen.

"The Shining" (1980) — No, it's not Jack and his ax or the elevators gushing blood, but when a trembling Shelley Duvall creeps up to her husband's desk to see what he's been writing all this time.

"Alone in the Dark" (1982) — The most dangerous of some extremely dangerous escaped lunatics is prone to nosebleeds, and, at the frightening climax, what's that dribbling out of one of the "sane" guy's nostrils?

"The Others" (2001) — Looking at an old photo of the dead people who once lived in her house, Nicole Kidman notices they look an awful lot like her new servants.

Bob Longino's picks

"Psycho" (1960) — The infamous shower scene is frightening all by itself, but it also echoes in the mind as Martin Balsam climbs the stairs before facing Mother and her blade.

"To Kill a Mockingbird" (1962) — Sneak a peek into the Radley house from outside on the porch and a menacing shadow of Boo's fingers might loom just above your head.

"The Exorcist" (1973) — As disturbing as it is horrifying, the possessed Regan (little Linda Blair) performs a vulgar act with a crucifix, then belts her mother (Ellen Burstyn) across the face.

"The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" (1974) —It's the film's chilling efficiency: The metal door swiftly opens, Leatherface hammers a victim on the head, drags him into his lair and clangs the door shut, leaving a troubled audience to comprehend what the heck just happened.

"Alien" (1979) — In the middle of a quiet lunch, John Hurt convulses on the table, his chest rips open, blood spurts everywhere (especially on Veronica Cartwright), and the creature is born.

"An American Werewolf in London" (1981) — It's not so much what we see on the foggy marsh, it's the sounds of Griffin Dunne being mutilated by fangs and claws, not to mention his screams.

"Blue Velvet" (1986) — We've already seen the sadomasochistic acts freaky Frank Booth (Dennis Hopper) does after sucking on a gas mask, so when he puts it on in front of captive Kyle MacLachlan, the dread is immobilizing.

"Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer" (1986) — To be honest, I don't know the visuals because I wouldn't look, but the squishing sounds of Michael Rooker cutting up a victim in his tub was enough.

"Spoorloos" (1988) — The Dutch-French film, more devastating than the American remake ("The Vanishing"), spells claustrophobia with a capital "C" in its stupefying ending.

"Twin Peaks" (1990) — Whether it's long-haired Bob in the mirror or Bob in the flesh (the late Frank Silva), David Lynch's personification of evil is the most frightening character ever.

"The Silence of the Lambs" (1991) — Clarice (Jodie Foster) searches in the basement in total darkness as a covetous Buffalo Bill (with his night-vision goggles) reaches toward the back of her luscious locks.

"The Blair Witch Project" (1999) — Psychological terror strikes best in the moment where merely someone standing in a corner can raise the hairs on the back of your neck.

"The Sixth Sense" (1999) — Haley Joel Osment ... in his makeshift hideaway tent ... when the disfigured dead girl shows up.

Steve Murray's picks

"Diabolique" (1955) — The terrified headmaster's wife tiptoes into the bathroom to see what (or who) is in the tub ...

"The Innocents" (1961) — Ghostly Peter Quint leers at the governess through a foggy window after a nail-biting game of hide-and-seek.

"Night of the Living Dead" (1968) — They're coming to get you, Barbara — or, at least, your undead brother Johnny is.

"Don't Look Now" (1973) — Donald Sutherland learns that sometimes, a little girl in a red raincoat isn't what she seems to be ...

"The Wicker Man" (1973) — What's cooking? You are. Skip the remake for the original: weird, wacky, then truly horrifying.

"Suspiria" (1977) — You know it's a bad day when you get stabbed in the heart, noosed around the neck and tossed through a skylight.

"Halloween" (1978) — Laurie frantically tries to turn a clothes hanger into a weapon before Michael breaks down the door.

"Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1978) — One homeless man + one dog + only a single pod for both = ick.

"The Changeling" (1980) — A little girl wakes up to the vision of a dead boy floating beneath her bedroom floor.

"A Nightmare on Elm Street" (1984) — Tina gets dragged out of bed and up the wall, gutted on the ceiling by an invisible slasher.

"Candyman" (1992) — The hook-handed ghost not only murders Virginia Madsen's best friend, he frames her for it.

"Ringu/The Ring" (1998) — The dead girl crawls out of the well and through the screen. If that's what high-definition TV is like, we don't want it.

"Audition" (1999) — She may seem delicate, but the "heroine" of this Japanese shocker has something — or someone — tied up alive in big burlap bag.