What's the most genuinely shocking moment in a film?

[thebluebus]

What moment do you reckon is the most shocking thing you've seen in a film?

Can be anything that's affected you, whatever made your blood run cold. From E.T. dying, to axe murders in Friday the 13th, to the finale of Don't Look Now - just as long as it left a lasting impression on you.

I'll start off, with the moment in 'Pan's Labyrinth' when the Captain kills the son of the man who's been hunting rabbits.
I couldn't believe the needless brutality of what I was seeing. Thought of my own son and just felt sick.

let's keep it 'proper' films though, so no nasty porn or anything

[thebluebus]

Derek Smalls said:

The end of Se7en has always stuck in my mind.

Absolutely agree - the whole tone of the film has built up to that moment; you're already terrified at the thought of how it could all end according to John Doe's plan.

And then it does. Shudder.

[thebluebus]

SlowMo said:

The rape scene in [url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0290673/]irreversible[/url].

The only film I've ever watched that made me feel uncomfortable. It's brutal, realistic and never cuts away from the act for several minutes.

I've avoided watching Irreversible so far, for that very reason. But you've reminded me of another scene:

La Haine - the policeman at the end of the film actually pulling the trigger.

[thebluebus]

The twist at the end of Fight Club.
I usually have an inkling when there's a twist coming, but I have never been more WTF'ed by a film than that.

[thebluebus]

ChrisJG said:

Whilst I agree with many of the films mentioned already, the most shocking moment in a film I've seen recently was when Leonardo DiCaprio walks out of the lift with Matt Damon as his prisoner towards teh end of 'The Departed'. That was a truly unexpected WTF moment.

Didn't mention the specifics in case anyone hasn't yet seen it.

Now I wish I'd seen it when it was on Sky Movies the other week

[thebluebus]

What about Begbie glassing the poor bloke in the pub in Trainspotting.

Too close to real for me!

[thebluebus]

toastboy said:

Empire Strikes Back - Luke, I am your father. OK I must have been about 10 but I remember thinking 'Nooooooooo!!!'

Yup, that is a good one. I remember seeing that at the cinema when I was small (what was it, 1982 or something?); I was so stunned by that, I couldn't even process the information with my young mind

[thebluebus]

An astonishing Italian thriller called Tenebrae.
The policeman bends over to pick up a piece of paper from the floor, in the aftermath of a houseful of severe axe-muderings, only to reveal the killer is standing directly behind him, obscured from our vision.

Yikes!

[thebluebus]

Father Ted said:

edited to add : the Scene in Saving Private Ryan where one of the soldiers goes hand to hand combat with the enemy ......loses and it's just visually shocking as the German soldier puts his finger to his lips (Shush!) as he pushes his knife into the American soldiers heart.

Horrifying

[thebluebus]

wiffmaster said:

The 'curb scene' in American History X is up there, as is the scene in Hotel Rwanda where they find the road littered with bodies. I guess they affected me most because they're either close to real life, or true.

The sickest scene ever has to be the 'turtle scene' in [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannibal_Holocaust]Cannibal Holocaust[/url] (wiki link). There's a damn good reason that we can only get the edited version in the UK.

I kind of agree and disagree with you there. I think the worst scene in that film is where natives forcibly remove the pregnant woman's baby, before they stone her to death.

I know what you mean about the 'mondo' stuff though. No need.

[thebluebus]

Bob Hoskins stabbing Charlie-from-Casualty with a broken bottle in 'The Long Good Friday'.

And the end credits of the remake of 'Dawn of the Dead', which totally change the ending of the film from what you think happened.

[thebluebus]

"Serenity"

When Wash has crash-landed the ship;
"I'm a leaf on the wind, watch me soar".

[thebluebus]

Don said:

JonRB said:

thebluebus said:

"Serenity"

When Wash has crash-landed the ship;
"I'm a leaf on the wind, watch me soar".

True. It was kind of "WTF did they have to do that for?". Quite gratuitous really, especially if you'd watched the series (which I still haven't got round to doing yet, but I can imagine what it would be like for those who have).

Its a great series, Jon. Really. You simply MUST get the DVD set and watch it. And it was a WTF moment, alright.

I so, so wish someone would fund a second series. Its Whedon's finest work without a doubt. Characterisation is superb and the cast, the cast! Possibly the best TV I've seen in years...

100% with you there Don.
I had watched the series, dvd box set, several times through before seeing the film. I had real tears at that moment.

And Zoe's line just after, so stoic; "Wash ain't coming".

:lump in throat:

[thebluebus]

Paulle said:

2girls1cup

Let's keep the unpleasant pron out of this one - it was going so well

[thebluebus]

peterpeter said:

for something graphic, at the end of 30 Days of Night, there is a beheading that is so close up and done with clever cgi that made it so realistic, it was bloody horrible.

I was pretty stunned by the garage owner's suicide in the new 'Hills Have Eyes'. Clever CGI in there too, my jaw just hit the floor.

as did his

[thebluebus]

britten_mark said:

Strawman said:

Strange Japanese film, one of those you wish you'd never seen, where the protaganist gets tied up and then the pscho wife sticks pins in his eyes and removes his feet using a cheese wire, I thought it was called the audition but couldn't find it on IMDB

Thanks for that, I had forgotten the title and been waiting for it to be mentioned again. It's referenced all over the net, don't know why IMDB ignores it.

It's here - strangely, the very first result if you type "Audition" into the search box

But I think the bag suddenly moving, in that same film, is a right shocker!

[thebluebus]

And another Jap-film shock moment;

"Kairo", now sadly victim of an American remake. Woman walks down a darkened corridor towards something(?) in the shadows. Unbearable tension, and then sudden silence - and the whispered words "help me".

shit the bed!

[thebluebus]

chrisbr68 said:

Also, the rape scene in Scum - not really pleasant

The greenhouse rape is bad, but the matter-of-fact "where's your tool?" is worse.

[thebluebus]

BERGS2 said:

surprised no one has mentioned come and see

utterly gripping realism

the cow scene is oddly haunting...

Heard of it, but never seen it.

Another film I'd almost forgotten is an old Martin Sheen movie, 'The Believers'.
Two scenes remain in my mind; his wife spilling milk at breakfast and being electrocuted by the toaster.
And the woman with a zit on her cheek, that bursts and is full of spiders.

[thebluebus]

The end of the Korean film The Host.

I actually thought I'd misunderstood it, because I couldn't believe what had happened. I guess I'm too used to Western, Hollywood-style endings.

Won't spoil it if you haven't seen it. I f you have, you'll know what I mean