Haunting Movie Scenes and Images…
Don’t ask me why, but recently I started thinking about all of the movie scenes or images that have stayed with me over the years. I’m not talking about Freddy Krueger, slasher images, so don’t even go there. I’m talking about a scene that was so memorable, for it’s emotional impact, that you were never able to shake it. I’ve come up with a some that fit this description, at least for me. Do you have a scene from a movie that sticks with you, not because it’s a classic like, “Here’s looking at you kid,” but because it’s haunting in a way…
Here are some of my personal favorites.
- The scene in A Perfect Storm where Mark Wahlberg emerges from the sinking ship, alone – the camera zooms out and we see him as a speck, bobbing around in the stormy Atlantic Ocean.
- Thelma and Louise – The women grab hands and drive their car over the cliff. (Just a little sidebar… Recently I found out that Susan Sarandon and I share the same DNA. I guess she’s 2% Neanderthal, too?) For my new readers, I’m referencing an older post – so this might not make sense to you. Not to worry. Much of what I write makes no sense.
- Platoon – The scene where Willem Dafoe is left in the jungle of VietNam. His group lifts off in a helicopter and we see him drop to his knees, both hands up, knowing his fate, knowing that Tom Berenger just left him there to die.
- Evelyn Waugh’s A Handful of Dust – Tony Last (James Wilby), is found delirious by savages in the jungles of Brazil and brought back to their village. He’s nursed back to health and then is forced to read Charles Dickens to Mr. Todd (Alec Guinness) forever, with no means of escape.
- Whatever Happened to Baby Jane – The scene where Jane (Bette Davis) dances around on the beach, while her sister, Blanche (Joan Crawford), lies starving and dying, wrapped in a blanket. Bette Davis is AMAZING in this. Very creepy.
- The Shawshank Redemption – “Andy crawled to freedom through five hundred yards of shit smelling foulness I can’t even imagine, or maybe I just don’t want to. Five hundred yards… that’s the length of five football fields, just shy of half a mile.” We see Andy Dufresne emerge from the tunnel and throw both hands up to the heavens while the rain comes pouring down. Talk about cleansing. Talk about a re-birth… No wonder this movie is in my top 5 of all time. Every scene is memorable and loaded with profound truth.
Do you have a movie scene that you’ve never been able to shake?
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That shot of Elizabeth Taylor perched on top of that huge sphinx as it enters the Roman Forum in “Cleopatra”. An Iconic moment that defined her star power and signaled the end of an era in movies.
I was hoping you’d share a great image, and of course you did. Yeah, that had significance on and off the screen, I agree. Good one.
The last scene of Castaway – Tom Hanks stands at a 4 way intersection in the middle of nowhere. Looks in each direction, then looks at the camera and gives a half smile.
Shwshank Redemption – the very end, from Red’s monologue to when Andy is working on his boat, then looks up to see Red coming.
There are others, but those two came to mind first.
Great scenes. I like so much of Shawshank, it was hard to choose, but the scene at the end, with Red walking on the beach toward Andy is amazing. The Castaway scene is great because it’s so symbolic. Both films have leads that go on amazing life journeys – it’s powerful when you see where they end up. Nice choices.
The kiss scene in “A Whole Wide World”. I bought this at a WalMart for $5 because Vincent was in the film (and, I remember Renee mentioning it when she won her Oscar). It’s a very sad little film, and this scene makes it memorable.
Okay, why have I never seen this movie??? That kiss is soooo romantic. I don’t even know the characters and I’m swept away. Thanks, Addie. I’m putting this on my list.
Just have a box of tissues handy, that’s all I’m saying.
What Every Happened to Baby Jane? was one of my favorite movies! I walked around singing “Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte” for weeks afterwards!
I enjoyed this post…. have a couple of movies I want to see now…
Some scenes are hard to shake. “What ever Happened to Baby Jane” has always been a favorite since I was a kid. It has a real creepy element to it, right? haha! Singing “Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte” LOL!
Glad you liked this post.
As a true movie junky, there are so many. Scene when John Dunbar earns his name, in Dances with wolves. That whole movie stirs me throughout! The music and scenes from The Piano gives me chills. The scene when the little girl is found in the toilet in Schindler’s list…. oh, the list is so very long!
“The Piano” is like a work of art. I totally agree – just seeing the image of it on the beach or watching them hoist it through the jungle is surreal. Love that film.
“Dances with Wolves” – I loved that movie. I haven’t seen it in a long time. I’ll have to refresh my memory of that one scene.
“Schindler’s List” was haunting from start to finish. The girl found in the toilet – yes. The little girl with the red coat in the middle of this black and white film – genius.
Some movie scenes are hard to shake. I think they have to have both a cinematic feature but also an emotional charge to them, right? Nice choices.
Great scenes!!! Some I haven’t seen. Poor Mark Whalberg. That movie was unexpectedly amazing. Andy Duframe….awe.
I agree. The movie was good but that scene and the fact that it was true made it especially memorable. I pictured myself as him but also as Diane lane. How sad 😦
I kept replaying the events/ choices – why didn’t they get out of there while the gettin’ was good?
Andy… yeah, also a great movie to put our lives in perspective.
I watched a show once about rouge waves…in history channel or something…pretty incredible. I love Marky Mark.
Me too! I LOVE HIM. I get all swoony when he’s using his full on, blue collar, south Boston accent. Too cute.
Those waves freak me out. One reason I’ll never be on a cruise ship. haha!
The first thing that pops into my mind is the scene from Pan’s Labrynth when the little girl enters the Pale Man’s lair and him gasping for air when she takes fruit from his table. So, so freaky and haunting.
Oh my gosh! I LOVE that movie. An adult fairy tale of sorts. I went back to see it, like 3 times! haha! Great choice, Emily.
The Terms of Endearment hospital scene – makes me cry every time.
I knew there was one I was forgetting!!! Yes, this would be on my list for sure. I cry like a baby every time, too. How could you not? This would be a mother’s worst moment – saying goodbye to your children, but trying to make them feel good at the same time…. Putting your immense sadness aside and trying to smile through the tears. This was so well done. It felt so real. GREAT choice!!!
Oh yes..Those images that stay with us for years and years.. For me it’s Meryl Streep in “Out of Africa” as she delivers the eulogy to her just deceased lover, Denis. her reading of “To an athlete dying young” Gets me everytime:
Wow. That was so moving… I remember. She plays everything so perfectly – never more than what’s needed to convey the emotion. What a great choice.
A lot of your haunting scenes seem to be someone being left behind. It’s very Twilight Zone. Those were some of my favorite ones that I would read in Roald Dahl’s book. Also, most of your scenes come at the very end of the movie so the movie makers are probably happy that those scenes stayed with you!
I can’t really think of any scenes that haunted me per se. But I know there are some out there. I will think about it for a while. Good post!
Yeah, that fact wasn’t lost on me either. I keep wondering why these particular scenes are haunting to me… Who do we identify with? Is their some deeper issue that gets triggered? I was thinking that could be a good follow-up post?
Thanks, Lil.
For me it will ALWAYS be Thelma and Louise holding hands! I’ve always said that if I were to go on my own terms, that’s the way to do it! The Grand Canyon is something else (its on my bucket list). Entertaining post! Thanks!
Something about that scene is really hard to shake. It’s so tragic, isn’t it? And yet it’s empowering – neither woman would be taken down. I can conjure up that feeling today as if I had just seen it.
Thanks, Yaz!
I’ve seen Whatever Happened to Baby Jane — love it — Shawshank Redemption and Thelma and Louise and agree with those chilling/haunting moments. After reading your description of the chilling scene I want to see A Handful of Dust. I gotta say it sounds a bit like a parody, a character forced to read Dickens over and over with no way of escaping.
Yeah, the ending of “A Handful of Dust” is the best part. I couldn’t wrap my head around his fate. It was like a Twilight Zone episode. Freaky.
just goofing off at work.. thought I would say hello. I am not a movie person too much but one of my favorites is Son of The Bride, a foreign film..the father loves his wife sooo much, at the end, when he looks at her– just melts your heart.
That sounds like a good one. If ‘a look’ can be memorable then I’m guessing the movie is pretty good. I’ll have to check it out.
the father wants to renew his wedding vows — his wife is in the middle stages of Alzheimers. I love foreign films because they are more about the dialogue/landscape than the action.. It is not that memorable– just to me. 🙂
I’m sure it’s good. I love foreign films, too. Sometimes I’m too lazy to watch them if they have sub-titles. haha! But some of the best ones do. I think I’d like this one – it sounds sad and romantic.
Oh I’ve gotten a real nice list from this post, Lisa, of movies I either need to watch for the first time or ones I want to watch again! I guess a scene that I found memorable was the final scene from Carrie — which scared the heck out of me so much so that I was afraid to walk into the bedroom after it was over. (Where the hand reaches out from the grave.) I love the scene at the end of the 1945 movie, The Heiress, where Katherine (Olivia de Havilland) locks the doors on Morris (Montgomery Clift!) A most satisfying ending!! Much better than the new version Washington Square. But I loved that movie too!
One of my very favorite scenes is from The Bad Seed where Hortense Daigle is drunk and visits Rhoda’s mom and wants the penmanship medal.
I loved Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, it was very eerie and scarey. And the part where Bette Davis sings “I’m writing a letter to daddy” has always stuck with me too.
I saw “The Heiress” but it was a long time ago – I’ll need to refresh my memory on that one. I’ve never seen “The Bad Seed” but it sounds like a good one (My husband probably has – he’s a walking encyclopedia of movies.) And Carrie… that scene in particular was super scary. I don’t think anyone can erase those moments – even if they want to. haha!
When she sang, “I’m writing a letter To Daddy” she was so far out there in her character – it was both mesmerizing and frightening. Every time someone came to the house – the music teacher or the maid, etc. I was like, Oh No! Run for your life!!! haha!
It was so chilling! And it was really the perfect role for Bette Davis. She really played a psycho well! Just sane enough to suck you in and then . . . Yikes! Are you going to see the new Alfred Hitchcock movie? I think I will because I love Anthony Hopkins though I can’t imagine him as Alfred Hitchock. I just have to see it. I hope it’s good.
If you haven’t seen The Bad Seed, you need to. It’s wonderfully scarey and eerie! I think the mother overacts a bit, but still very worth seeing. I saw it for the first time when I was a little girl and after that I was kind of afraid of little kids! (And some of them still scare me! HA!)
Okay, I’m putting The Bad Seed on my list. Sounds like a good one.
I love Anthony Hopkins, too, (what a surprise that we should both like him!) so yes, I’m going to see him play Alfred Hitchcock. I guess if anyone can do it, he can.
I think I saw Baby Jane or a bit of it on TV when I was a kid before cable and it freaked me out so badly that I have never seen it. I’ll watch it.
The first movie that popped into my head is Suddenly Last Summer when Montgomery Clift is swarmed and the audience realizes what has happened. Love Liz Taylor and that’s a great movie.
Ooh, good one. I’ve only seen that once and it was a long time ago. I’m gonna put it on my list. Liz taylor was great in most everything she did.
Yeah, rent “What ever Happened to Baby Jane?” It’s a creeper.
Not even a non sequitur here–am I correct in what I’m gathering in Lily’s post about baby books that you sold the house?? Dare I whoop it up??
Don’t whoop yet. We’re under contract but it’s really touch and go. It feels like thin ice to me or maybe like building a house of cards – whichever you prefer. I’m packing as if it’s going to happen because if I don’t I’ll be completely overwhelmed. I’m a slow and steady wins the race sort of gal when it comes to stuff like this. Everyday I work from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm packing away the years of my life and getting rid of unnecessary “stuff” that’s been weighing me down. I feel lighter already. 🙂
Thanks for your enthusiasm, love and support, Addie. It may not be until mid December that we can whoop it up. I’ll certainly keep you posted.
I hope you’re doing well and that things are happy and getting better each day. I think of my blogging buddies daily. Please know I send positive thoughts and love your way. 🙂
Who– I’ll fill in the rest of the word when you give me the go-ahead!!
Packing is the worst, especially after you’ve been somewhere for ages, all those thoughts and memories and not knowing where you are going to put stuff in the new place, if you have one chosen, etc. I found myself (when I downsized to here) especially caught up in the children’s things–smelling them, touching them, recounting the story in my head. Then, I’d cry. I was a mess. At the same time, getting rid of somethings (my divorce papers) made me light and happy.
I wish I were closer, I’d be there to help you out, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart.
I know you do. And I’d definitely call on you for help. Thanks, Addie. 🙂
I know I said it to someone somewhere before but I used to always think the scene from Shawshank was a scene from Rainman when I was younger. It made sense in my young mind. There was a man and there was rain.
Anything from Taxi Driver sticks out in my head because it’s one of if not my favorite movie. I guess the only thing from that I could fit into others you mentioned would be the first reveal of his mohawk. I can describe example how the camera moves in that scene too. I used the same shot in school for a project.
If you want straight up Haunting as in scary the new movie Sinister. The first shot is terrifying and I never say that about a film. It’s a family with hoods on their heads and nooses around their necks tied to a tree. It’s also filmed on Super 8 footage. Very creepy.
Super 8 makes everything creepier. That does sound really disturbing, I’ll give you that.
Taxi Driver is also deeply disturbing. Robert Deniro is amazing. Yeah, the Mohawk reveal is scary.
I usually won’t go to scary movies so I don’t have haunting images stuck in my head. I never get scared at home by myself or going down into the dark basement – I think it’s because I don’t have any reference for frightening things.
So many but one that sticks is the final shoot out in a Few Dollars More – the music, the editing the poor lip synching…..Genius
A Few Dollars More, eh? Hmmm… I’ll have to check it out. I’ve never heard of it. Poor lip synching is something my son would delight in. 🙂
The scenes from A Perfect Storm, Thelma and Louise and Platoon are all captivating (I remember each one) but what about the last scene from the classic North by Northwest where Cary Grant pulls Eva Marie Saint by her fingertips from the face of Mount Rushmore into his arms? It’s haunting as well because Alfred Hitchcock composes the scene in such a way that it makes you wonder if they succeeded or not.
The scene you mentioned from Shawshank Redemption of Andy crawling “through five hundred yards of shit smelling foulness” reminded me of the even more disgusting scene from Trainspotting where our anti-hero crawls face-first down a truly foul toilet to retrieve a capsule of heroin.
Alfred Hitchcock… The master. I agree, that’s a perfect scene. It is haunting.
I’ve never seen Trainspotting but I’ve always wanted to. It sounds pretty disturbing. Right up my alley. 🙂 I’ll put it on my list.
Nothing sticks in my mind more than one of the final scenes of Cool Hand Luke, when Paul Newman is inside a church after making another attempt to escape. He moves to a window and repeats the famous line uttered earlier in the movie by Strother Martin – ‘What we have here is failure to communicate’ – and is then shot in the neck by a prison guard. Newman is then seen being hauled off to the prison hospital, which is too far away to get to in time to save him. Very memorable
I love that movie. There’s a rebellious part of me that understands his character, that need to keep trying, even in the face of incredible opposition. It’s so sad in a way, because you can see that he’s a good soul – just a little troubled. I think the way the other prisoners root for him shows you that he’s likable, providing them with hope.
Great choice!!
Shawshank was so good! Saw it for the first time last year. And I wanted to throw a scene out there that stuck with me through all of childhood, although I think for a very different reason than your examples. I loved when Daryl Hanna in Splash was sitting in the bathtub going full mermaid. I used to pretend to do that all the time…I recently re-watched Splash right at the end of the pregnancy and it was just as delicious as the first time. Although I don’t remember all the doing it that was done, thank goodness.
I LOVE Splash. That was a great scene. I also like the very end when he dives in the water and you see her take him to the underworld of mermaids. The credits start rolling but I keep watching because it’s so cool. When I was little I always pretended to be a mermaid.
I can see with your morphing body sitting in the tub and reenacting that scene! Haha!
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Specific scenes don’t often stay with me. I suppose that scene where River Tam beats everyone up in Serenity is a memorable scene. She always played this quiet, innocent crazy girl on Firefly that wouldn’t hurt anyone. So see this was pretty epic.
haha! I’m pretty sure that when my adrenaline kicks in that I have those same sweet fighting skills. I especially like when she throws her leg back and kicks people in the head. Epic, indeed.
Lol! I could totally see you doing that, I tried doing one of those back leg kicks but I ended up pulled a hamstring 😀
Where the Red Fern Grows. The fight to the death and the ending at the graves. Haunting. Great book. Good movie. You actually made me think of it with your Red Balloon. HF
I wept like a baby at the end of the book, ‘Where the Red Fern Grows.’ I’ve never seen the movie… I’ll have to rent it.
Thanks, HF.