Most shocking/surprising movies you've seen?

[Midpack]

Inspired by the other thread by some bozo.

2 The Exorcist. Went with my Catholic girl friend in college. I had never heard of exorcism/exorcists - so it was pretty wild and unexpected. I sat there thinking "huh!" the whole time. Just to add to it, we went to matinee and it was sunny when we went in. When we came out it about 4pm it was very dark, cloudy and windy - and tornados had been sighted!

1 Jaws. Me and a buddy snuck in in college the night it opened, I had no idea what it was, just assumed it was a National Geographic like documentary on sharks. You know how it opens, I just about jumped out of my skin. Holy smokes what a 2 hours that was!

 

[Ally]

Jaws, went in with similar expectations on the first day it was out. I was five months pregnant and jumping out of my seat. I loved it though. The funny thing is that my son has an irrational fear of sharks and can hardly make himself swim in deep water in a pool without having to get out. He is the baby I had a few months later.

The other one was Deliverence. I hated it. I still do. It's so disturbing, and I thought it was going to be a straight adventure flick.

 

[MuirWannabe]

Alien. Think about it every time I eat pasta. Loved it though.

 

[Purron]

Just a few that come to mind:

Blue Velvet
A Clockwork Orange
Night of the Living Dead
The Silence of the Lambs
Compliance (new entry, very creepy)
The Deer Hunter
Lolita
Rosemary's Baby
Midnight Cowboy
28 Days Later
Psycho
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
The Thing

 

[Lcountz]

Original "Last House on the Left"....now when I see it it is SO cheesy but when I was 17-18 and very naive it was awful....

Also "Texas Chainsaw"..."Hills Have Eyes" ( ORIGINALS only) Really creeped me out.

 

[bbbamI]

Ahhhh..Jaws. I went with a friend of mine...the theater was packed. Kept me on the edge of my seat all the way through. In one underwater shot, a head/skull floated by. I jerked so hard, the soda I was holding in my hands went straight up. Coke and ice cubes rained down on me, the people in front, beside and behind me.

No one complained. I don't think they felt it.

Edit to add...

I was 18 years old when I saw that movie. Dang, that was a long time ago.

 

[Gatordoc50]

I'd say Pulp Fiction. Extremely distasteful.

 

[detroitbabu]

A few that surprised me

1. Silence of the lambs
2. Sixth Sense

3. Jurassic Park - It was not scary but I was shocked when I saw the dinosaur. I had not read anything about the movie and not read the book. I had not even heard from anyone what that movie was about. It was a nice jolt.

 

[growing_older]

Knowing. Narrative goes where you don't expect.
Carrie. Surprise scene.

 

[donheff]

In late high school or early college I saw Night of the Living Dead in a Saturday afternoon double feature with some cowboy movie. There were loads of kids in the audience and they were shocked, some crying. IIRC there were editorials in the Chicago Tribune demanding that complaining that the it was marketed as a routine horror movie and coupled with a kid's western.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Terms of Endearment billed as a comedy was a shock. And My Girl, a young and cute Macauley Culkin movie, also shocked our kids to tears.

And that boat crash in Titanic....

 

[Cato]

Unthinkable with Samuel Jackson and the film asks the question as to whether torture is ever acceptable and uses the "Ticking bomb scenario" as a baseline plot. One cannot avoid being pulled in and making a judgement call.

 

[Brett_Cameron]

1. The Exorcist - last movie that gave me nightmares
2. Sixth Sense creepy scenes

 

[Donzo]

Pulp fiction. I had not heard anything about it other than John Travolta was in it - I was expecting Grease not that incredible rollercoaster of a movie! They pack more "holy cr*p" moments in that movie.....

 

[drb391]

couple mentions of Sixth Sense; ending surprised the heck outta me. friend I was with said he expected it cuz it was from somewhere else; either another movie or something in literature

 

[Bestwifeever]

couple mentions of Sixth Sense; ending surprised the heck outta me. friend I was with said he expected it cuz it was from somewhere else; either another movie or something in literature

Yeah. I had to hear only that "there's a twist" and I immediately knew what it was. But still a good movie, maybe even more fun to see, as the setups worked even better.

 

[Midpack]

couple mentions of Sixth Sense; ending surprised the heck outta me. friend I was with said he expected it cuz it was from somewhere else; either another movie or something in literature

Surprising, but in a good way. One of my all time favorite movies, though you can only watch it once. Kinda pointless after that.

 

[Ally]

I pretty much hate anything with graphic torture or rape in it, and have been unpleasantly surprised with many movies in the past few years for these reasons. I also hate animal cruelty and can't watch that either.

 

[W2R]

I pretty much hate anything with graphic torture or rape in it, and have been unpleasantly surprised with many movies in the past few years for these reasons. I also hate animal cruelty and can't watch that either.

+1000

Also, if more than 1-2 people are killed (especially in gruesome ways), I don't like it. Seems like most movies have to have about a dozen people an hour or more bite the dust.

Maybe I just do not have enough repressed fury and hostility to enjoy most movies these days. To me, watching people slaughter other people as though their lives were completely valueless is not one bit relaxing. I do not watch many movies on TV or DVD, although F takes me to the movies sometimes and he tries to choose ones that I would like.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Surprising, but in a good way. One of my all time favorite movies, though you can only watch it once. Kinda pointless after that.

But you should watch Sixth Sense again if you liked it the first time. It is amazing to see how the other actors talk past him, etc., and the spookiness really builds on a new level.

 

[Purron]

I pretty much hate anything with graphic torture or rape in it, and have been unpleasantly surprised with many movies in the past few years for these reasons. I also hate animal cruelty and can't watch that either.

While I like a good scary movie I also hate torture movies. One of the worst was Hostel. Nasty stuff. Wished I'd never seen it. Very different from something like Alien which is gross, but not real so it's different, at least to me.

Animal cruelty is something I can't tolerate either. To me, cruelty to any helpless living being - a child, a disabled person, an elderly person, or an animal - is the most evil thing on our planet.

 

[Midpack]

But you should watch Sixth Sense again if you liked it the first time. It is amazing to see how the other actors talk past him, etc., and the spookiness really builds on a new level.

You know what, you're right. It came on TV a while ago, and I watched for 10-15 minutes and just decided it couldn't be the same so quit. I will watch it again next chance I get (free).

I absolutely loved it the first time, it's literally on my top 10 list of all time favorite movies. http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f27/favorite-movies-34640.html

 

[obgyn65]

This one : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Clockwork_Orange_(film)