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Top 10 Disturbing Movie Scenes Where the Reaction is REAL
WatchMojo
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9/7/2024
There's nothing like the real thing! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for times actors gave genuine reactions during unsettling and disturbing movie scenes.
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00:00
Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for times actors gave genuine
00:14
reactions during unsettling and disturbing movie scenes.
00:21
Number 10.
00:22
Chrissy's shark attack, Jaws.
00:24
As it turns out, actress Susan Bacalini's screams of terror in the iconic opening sequence
00:28
of Jaws are completely genuine.
00:32
For the scene, which sees Bacalini's Chrissy go for a late-night swim, director Steven
00:36
Spielberg rigged the actress to be forcefully yanked around in the water.
00:39
However, to get an authentic reaction, Spielberg did not tell her exactly when it would happen.
00:50
The result is an unforgettably terrifying moment where Chrissy thrashes around while
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being dragged underwater.
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Thanks to the actress's real screams and frantic movements, movie audiences were given
00:59
a taste of the waterlogged horrors to come.
01:04
Number 9.
01:05
The tunnel of fear, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
01:11
While 1971's Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is not a horror film, there are several
01:15
disturbing moments in the movie.
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In fact, a particular scene is made all the more unsettling thanks to some genuine reactions
01:25
from the cast.
01:26
When the eccentric Wonka takes Charlie and his fellow Golden Ticket winners on a boat
01:29
ride through a dark tunnel, their journey takes an eerie turn with flashing lights,
01:33
creepy imagery and unsettling sounds.
01:43
The reactions from the actors are real at this moment, however, it's not from the
01:52
psychedelic sights, but rather Gene Wilder's performance as they were all unaware of how
01:56
he was going to act in the scene.
01:58
Number 8.
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Killer phone calls, Scream.
02:15
There's a reason audiences get uneasy every time a phone rings in the Scream films.
02:19
It's because there's a good chance Ghostface is on the other end looking to play some twisted
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mind games.
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Well, it's been revealed that the phone calls in Scream were legitimately disturbing for
02:38
the actors.
02:42
This was thanks to director Wes Craven having the voice of Ghostface, Roger L. Jackson,
02:46
actually call the actors.
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He also had Jackson completely separated from the cast on set, this to ensure the reactions
02:52
of unease were authentic.
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To them, it wasn't just Roger on the other line, it was of an unknown madman.
03:05
Number 7.
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Diane in the pool, Poltergeist.
03:07
In this classic horror film, a suburban family is plagued by malevolent spirits, and in one
03:12
particular scene, Diane Freeling slips into the family's unfinished pool only for corpses
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to rise up.
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As it turns out, the skeletons were real, but actress Jo Beth Williams was only made
03:25
aware of this following the shoot.
03:27
What the actress was truly terrified of in the moment, however, was the thought of electrical
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equipment falling in the water.
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She was so scared that Steven Spielberg himself jumped into the muddy pool with her to show
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that it was safe.
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Or as he reportedly said, now if a light falls in, we'll both fry.
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Number 6.
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Projectile Surprise, The Exorcist.
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William Friedkin's The Exorcist actually features a number of very real reactions from
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the cast.
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There's of course the scene where Regan is thrashing around on her bed.
04:06
Here the harness that rigged actress Linda Blair featured lacing that came loose, causing
04:10
Blair to injure her lower spine.
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Ellen Burstyn also suffered an on-set back injury thanks to an extra forceful yank from
04:24
the crew.
04:28
As for Jason Miller, he got a surprise during the infamous vomit scene.
04:38
According to father Karras, Miller was told the vomit would hit his chest, but it unexpectedly
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struck his face.
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Yep, that repulsed reaction is indeed real.
04:50
Number 5.
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Almost Everything, The Blair Witch Project.
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There's a reason The Blair Witch Project popularized found footage horror films.
04:57
Everything just felt so darn real.
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Heck, many viewers at the time were adamant that the terrifying tale was 100% legitimate.
05:08
Well, for the actors, it kinda was.
05:11
You see, filming featured the acting trio wandering the woods and capturing their own
05:14
footage while directors Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez followed behind.
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Daniel and Eduardo would sneak in elements to rattle the cast, like adding scary rocks
05:22
and twigs when they weren't looking.
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And with genuine exhaustion afoot, every eerie encounter the actress faced, made for all
05:35
two real reactions.
05:42
Number 4.
05:43
The Sloth Victim, 7.
05:46
David Fincher's crime thriller, 7, features a series of gruesome murders inspired by each
05:50
of the seven deadly sins.
05:52
It also features one of cinema's most chilling jump scares.
05:54
Upon discovering that the Sloth Victim is still alive, genuine horror and shock can
05:58
be seen on actor John C. McGinley's face.
06:06
This was thanks to the fact that he was truly shook when the emaciated actor moved in the
06:10
scene.
06:11
Yes, it was a real person, not a mannequin.
06:13
His horrified response, reportedly captured on the first take, completely mirrored the
06:16
audience's reaction to the disturbing revelation.
06:22
Number 3.
06:23
Pennywise Projections, It.
06:33
The 2017 adaptation of Stephen King's It brought the petrifying clown Pennywise to
06:38
the big screen in a big way.
06:46
In a truly haunting portrayal, Bill Skarsgård became the stuff of nightmares, and to make
06:50
the killer clown's child Targus that much more afraid of him, director Andy Muschietti
06:54
didn't let the young actor see Skarsgård in his full Pennywise makeup until they filmed
06:58
a particular scene.
07:04
When Pennywise appears on a projector screen during a slideshow, the Losers Club kid's
07:08
sincere screams and terrified reactions can be seen.
07:11
Looks like it was fear at first sight.
07:19
Number 2.
07:20
Wendy Wielding the Bat, The Shining.
07:24
To say Shelley Duvall went to hell and back during the filming of The Shining is no exaggeration.
07:29
Taking well over an entire year to shoot, the movie was said to have caused plenty of
07:32
stress to everyone involved.
07:48
In particular, Shelley Duvall experienced on-set antagonizing while fighting repeated
07:52
illnesses.
07:53
Director Stanley Kubrick chastised the actress endlessly on set, this to get her in the proper
07:57
headspace.
07:58
That likely went too far though, given he had Shelley do 127 takes for the baseball
08:02
bat scene alone.
08:07
It's no wonder that the sequence is as raw and unnerving as it is, it was a real horrifying
08:21
situation for Shelley.
08:50
Number 1.
08:51
Chestburster, Alien.
08:52
Talk about a well-executed scare.
09:03
The chestburster scene in Ridley Scott's sci-fi horror classic, Alien, is the stuff
09:07
of cinema legend.
09:08
In it, John Hurt's character, Kane, falls victim to an alien creature that, you guessed
09:12
it, bursts out of his chest.
09:13
It's a sudden and unexpected eruption of blood and gore.
09:20
Even if the other actors look shocked at the sight of the alien birth, it's because
09:23
they really were.
09:24
Thanks to some special effects wizardry that the cast was unaware of, the result was a
09:27
genuinely disturbing surprise.
09:33
This is especially true for actress Veronica Cartwright, who was reportedly very shaken
09:37
up over it.
09:38
Which unsettling movie scene shocked you the most?
09:40
Share the disturbed reactions in the comments below.
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