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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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for times actors gave genuine
00:14reactions during unsettling and disturbing movie scenes.
00:21Number 10.
00:22Chrissy's shark attack, Jaws.
00:24As it turns out, actress Susan Bacalini's screams of terror in the iconic opening sequence
00:28of Jaws are completely genuine.
00:32For the scene, which sees Bacalini's Chrissy go for a late-night swim, director Steven
00:36Spielberg rigged the actress to be forcefully yanked around in the water.
00:39However, to get an authentic reaction, Spielberg did not tell her exactly when it would happen.
00:50The result is an unforgettably terrifying moment where Chrissy thrashes around while
00:54being dragged underwater.
00:55Thanks to the actress's real screams and frantic movements, movie audiences were given
00:59a taste of the waterlogged horrors to come.
01:04Number 9.
01:05The tunnel of fear, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
01:11While 1971's Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is not a horror film, there are several
01:15disturbing moments in the movie.
01:21In fact, a particular scene is made all the more unsettling thanks to some genuine reactions
01:25from the cast.
01:26When the eccentric Wonka takes Charlie and his fellow Golden Ticket winners on a boat
01:29ride through a dark tunnel, their journey takes an eerie turn with flashing lights,
01:33creepy imagery and unsettling sounds.
01:43The reactions from the actors are real at this moment, however, it's not from the
01:52psychedelic sights, but rather Gene Wilder's performance as they were all unaware of how
01:56he was going to act in the scene.
01:58Number 8.
01:59Killer phone calls, Scream.
02:15There's a reason audiences get uneasy every time a phone rings in the Scream films.
02:19It's because there's a good chance Ghostface is on the other end looking to play some twisted
02:23mind games.
02:26Well, it's been revealed that the phone calls in Scream were legitimately disturbing for
02:38the actors.
02:42This was thanks to director Wes Craven having the voice of Ghostface, Roger L. Jackson,
02:46actually call the actors.
02:48He also had Jackson completely separated from the cast on set, this to ensure the reactions
02:52of unease were authentic.
02:54To them, it wasn't just Roger on the other line, it was of an unknown madman.
03:05Number 7.
03:06Diane in the pool, Poltergeist.
03:07In this classic horror film, a suburban family is plagued by malevolent spirits, and in one
03:12particular scene, Diane Freeling slips into the family's unfinished pool only for corpses
03:16to rise up.
03:22As it turns out, the skeletons were real, but actress Jo Beth Williams was only made
03:25aware of this following the shoot.
03:27What the actress was truly terrified of in the moment, however, was the thought of electrical
03:31equipment falling in the water.
03:38She was so scared that Steven Spielberg himself jumped into the muddy pool with her to show
03:42that it was safe.
03:43Or as he reportedly said, now if a light falls in, we'll both fry.
03:50Number 6.
03:51Projectile Surprise, The Exorcist.
03:54William Friedkin's The Exorcist actually features a number of very real reactions from
03:57the cast.
03:58There's of course the scene where Regan is thrashing around on her bed.
04:06Here the harness that rigged actress Linda Blair featured lacing that came loose, causing
04:10Blair to injure her lower spine.
04:20Ellen Burstyn also suffered an on-set back injury thanks to an extra forceful yank from
04:24the crew.
04:28As for Jason Miller, he got a surprise during the infamous vomit scene.
04:38According to father Karras, Miller was told the vomit would hit his chest, but it unexpectedly
04:42struck his face.
04:45Yep, that repulsed reaction is indeed real.
04:50Number 5.
04:51Almost Everything, The Blair Witch Project.
04:53There's a reason The Blair Witch Project popularized found footage horror films.
04:57Everything just felt so darn real.
05:05Heck, many viewers at the time were adamant that the terrifying tale was 100% legitimate.
05:08Well, for the actors, it kinda was.
05:11You see, filming featured the acting trio wandering the woods and capturing their own
05:14footage while directors Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez followed behind.
05:18Daniel and Eduardo would sneak in elements to rattle the cast, like adding scary rocks
05:22and twigs when they weren't looking.
05:31And with genuine exhaustion afoot, every eerie encounter the actress faced, made for all
05:35two real reactions.
05:42Number 4.
05:43The Sloth Victim, 7.
05:46David Fincher's crime thriller, 7, features a series of gruesome murders inspired by each
05:50of the seven deadly sins.
05:52It also features one of cinema's most chilling jump scares.
05:54Upon discovering that the Sloth Victim is still alive, genuine horror and shock can
05:58be seen on actor John C. McGinley's face.
06:06This was thanks to the fact that he was truly shook when the emaciated actor moved in the
06:10scene.
06:11Yes, it was a real person, not a mannequin.
06:13His horrified response, reportedly captured on the first take, completely mirrored the
06:16audience's reaction to the disturbing revelation.
06:22Number 3.
06:23Pennywise Projections, It.
06:33The 2017 adaptation of Stephen King's It brought the petrifying clown Pennywise to
06:38the big screen in a big way.
06:46In a truly haunting portrayal, Bill Skarsgård became the stuff of nightmares, and to make
06:50the killer clown's child Targus that much more afraid of him, director Andy Muschietti
06:54didn't let the young actor see Skarsgård in his full Pennywise makeup until they filmed
06:58a particular scene.
07:04When Pennywise appears on a projector screen during a slideshow, the Losers Club kid's
07:08sincere screams and terrified reactions can be seen.
07:11Looks like it was fear at first sight.
07:19Number 2.
07:20Wendy Wielding the Bat, The Shining.
07:24To say Shelley Duvall went to hell and back during the filming of The Shining is no exaggeration.
07:29Taking well over an entire year to shoot, the movie was said to have caused plenty of
07:32stress to everyone involved.
07:48In particular, Shelley Duvall experienced on-set antagonizing while fighting repeated
07:52illnesses.
07:53Director Stanley Kubrick chastised the actress endlessly on set, this to get her in the proper
07:57headspace.
07:58That likely went too far though, given he had Shelley do 127 takes for the baseball
08:02bat scene alone.
08:07It's no wonder that the sequence is as raw and unnerving as it is, it was a real horrifying
08:21situation for Shelley.
08:50Number 1.
08:51Chestburster, Alien.
08:52Talk about a well-executed scare.
09:03The chestburster scene in Ridley Scott's sci-fi horror classic, Alien, is the stuff
09:07of cinema legend.
09:08In it, John Hurt's character, Kane, falls victim to an alien creature that, you guessed
09:12it, bursts out of his chest.
09:13It's a sudden and unexpected eruption of blood and gore.
09:20Even if the other actors look shocked at the sight of the alien birth, it's because
09:23they really were.
09:24Thanks to some special effects wizardry that the cast was unaware of, the result was a
09:27genuinely disturbing surprise.
09:33This is especially true for actress Veronica Cartwright, who was reportedly very shaken
09:37up over it.
09:38Which unsettling movie scene shocked you the most?
09:40Share the disturbed reactions in the comments below.