loaded question: what’s the scariest scene ever in a movie that isn’t considered horror?

Fire in the Sky

Happy Halloween! Hope you’re having a terrifying day in a totally safe and appropriate way that has nothing to do with all the genuinely horrifying things happening in the world right now.

Movies. Scary movies. They’re kinda safe, right? And so:

What’s the scariest scene ever in a movie that isn’t considered horror?

(Back in early 2009, I asked “What’s the scariest movie you’ve ever seen?” Comments are still open there! Feel free to (re)join that convo. And even if you replied way back then, it’s been almost 15 years — you might have a new scariest-movie-ever.)

My pick: the alien-examination scene in 1993’s UFO-abduction flick Fire in the Sky. This is not a good movie, not least because the supposedly true story it is based on is pretty universally regarded as a hoax, even by the people who usually believe in these sorts of things. That said, the scene in which D.B. Sweeney’s alien abductee is treated by ET doctors like the biological specimen he is to them is beyond nightmarish.

Here it is. But be warned: it will haunt your dreams.

Your turn…

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publichank@comcast.net
publichank@comcast.net
moviegoer
Tue, Oct 31, 2023 2:52pm

SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER

For me, the fate of the protagonist in the film THE VANISHING. For some reason, it gripped my imagination in a very unpleasant way, and has stayed with me from the day I saw it (in 1988) to today.

Beowulf
Beowulf
patron
movie lover
reply to  publichank@comcast.net
Sat, Nov 04, 2023 1:40pm

I agree. The ending makes you emotionally devastated. I was useless for days. And, of course, the Hollywood remake gave it a happy ending — Hey, Old Yeller is alive!