People Break Down The Creepiest Movies And Television Episodes They've Ever Seen
Reddit user juliacorco asked: 'What is the creepiest tv episode or movie you’ve ever seen?'
Back in the 1980s the threat of nuclear war was pervasive in daily life.
That fear and paranoia made the TV films Threads and The Day After particularly effective. People were genuinely terrified or traumatized.
Both told the story of an atomic apocalypse, with Threads set in the UK and The Day After in the United States. I wasn’t familiar with Threads until about 5 years ago, but The Day After was a TV event everyone seemed to be talking about in the USA.
But fear inducing isn't quite the same as creepy.
For creepy, you need something like The Twilight Zone, Creepshow or Night Gallery.
Reddit user juliacorco asked:
"What is the creepiest tv episode or movie you’ve ever seen?"
Haunting of Hill House
"Haunting of Hill House on Netflix."
"Scary as hell."
"Bent Neck Lady makes the hair on my neck stand up on end every time."
"Same with the ghost looking for his hat. Or whatever was down in the cellar."
~ Pretend-Cucumber-711
GiphyHereditary
"Hereditary"
"That one scene near the end in the dark bedroom…is essentially a reverse jump scare. Something is there the entire time and it’s just a matter of when you notice."
"Sent chills up my spine."
"That movie stuck with me for days."
~ Plus-Statistician80
Doctor Who/Torchwood
"I have two contenders, from the Doctor Who universe..."
"'Blink' from Doctor Who."
"'Children of the Earth' from Torchwood (all 5 episodes)."
"Both are the stuff of nightmares, but in very different ways."
"'Blink' will make you not sleep at night, while 'Children of the Earth' will deeply disturb you."
~ Common_Sense_Dudd
Giphy"The first few seconds I was exposed to the Weeping Angels in 'Blink' I thought it was a dumb, silly conceit."
"By the end of that episode I knew I would have nightmares for months."
~ codyish
"'Children of Earth' was amazing. There was so much complexity to it, and the way they solved it was downright horrifying."
"The 456 just felt so real with their motives, and were really dark compared to other Who-niverse villains."
"It wasn't that they were trying to build a galactic highway, or were trying to save the universe. Just that (SPOILERS) they were drug dealers/addicts and would kill millions if the didn't get their supply of children."
~ NinjaBreadManOO
Paranormal Activity
"Paranormal Activity."
"I was not prepared and only 12 years old."
"Traumatized for years!"
~ Sudden-Star-7190
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
"Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode 'Hush'."
~ Malk_McJorma
"The gentlemen were some of the best villains."
~ Sudden-Star-7190
Room 1408
"Room 1408 creeped me out."
"I usually don't find hauntings or ghosts scary, but this one was something else."
"Left me really uneasy when trying to sleep after."
"I had to keep a light on. I'm 46."
~ hartschale666
The Twilight Zone
"I find the The Twilight Zone episode titled 'Living Doll' to be particularly creepy."
~ Ill_Fisherman5547
"Talky Tina was so creepy."
~ peachesfordinner
"The Twilight Zone episode—'Mirror Image'—with the woman at the bus station who has a doppelganger still creeps the sh*t out of me."
~ BurningSlash88
Ghost Ship
"Opening scene from Ghost Ship."
~ teslatinkering
"This movie is 21 years old, I’ve only watched it once and I still remember this scene vividly."
"Props to the creators because I can’t say that about many movies."
~ PainfulPoo411
X-Files
"The X-Files."
"Episodes 'Home'—inbred family in Pennsylvania—and 'The Host'—the Flukeman."
~ True-Mousse4957
"I was going to say season 3, episode 12—'War of the Coprophages'."
"Only due to one little thing."
"Mulder is in a lab with some scientist looking at the weird cockroaches. They're just chatting away when a cockroach walks across 'your' TV screen."
"It's made to look like it's an actual cockroach walking across your in real life screen. We don't even have cockroaches like that in my region of the world, but it still freaked me out for a second."
~ STROKER_FOR_C64
The Blair Witch Project
"Not gonna lie."
"I saw The Blair Witch Project in the theatre after watching some MTV documentary on it the day before."
"I thought it was real and I was afraid to walk to my car."
~ heavymetalsculpture
Are You Afraid of the Dark
"There's an episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark—'The Tale of the Dead Man's Float'."
"It's about a school that was built on an old cemetary and there is some sort of creature thing thant comes into the pool while some kids are swimming."
"I still think about that episode every so often."
~ streetsoulja31
"There’s that one episode—'The Tale of the Frozen Ghost'—where a kid froze to death at some point and the ghost kid just appears and says 'I’m cold' in such a weird inflection…."
"It still creeps me out now. And whenever I am cold, that’s the only way I can say it in my head."
"Man that series had no business being that scary!!"
~ mistresssweetjuice
GiphyFor me, children in horror can always produce the creepiness factor.
Who doesn't feel unsettled after seeing the twins in The Shining?
So what movies or TV episodes creeped you out?
All it takes to ruin what could've been the perfect TV show or movie is one character.
There could be several reasons for this.
One, it could be because audience members are unable to separate the indiscretions of an actor off-camera who was maybe embroiled in a drawn-out court case.
Or, it might be due to a horribly written character that either makes zero contributions to the over-arching plot or has distracting idiosyncrasies.
It turns out there are plenty of characters audiences could've done without.
Redditor Goingdown_in321 asked:
"Who is the most annoying character in a TV show or movie?"
Some less-than-desired characters are heavily despised through no fault of the actor.
The Problem With Perfection
"Joffrey in Game of Thrones. Incredibly well acted and written, I've never felt more active desire to beat the sh*t out of any other fictional character."
– shoeless255
Precociousness
"Any precocious child character that is wiser than the adults and has to teach them the error of their ways with sass."
– Fawqueue
He's Just Doing This Job
"Boom mic guy from The Office."
– Dinosalad88
We love to hate them.
The Bully
"Buzz from Home Alone. He was a jerk to Kevin in both movies and got away with it."
"He purposely ate Kevin's pizza, Kevin reacts and gets sent to bed."
"He teases/humiliates Kevin during the Christmas concert, Kevin reacts and his family makes him look like the bad guy."
– bre34
Religious Nut
"Mrs. Carmody from the movie 'the Mist'. Just evil."
"Marcia Gay Harden was amazing in that role!"
– anon
British Ministry Of Magic's Most Hated
"Professor Umbridge"
– satirevaitneics
"She wasn’t horrible enough in the movies compared to the book. One of the most vile characters in any series hands down."
– Deus_Ex_Dramond
They meant well, but were not among audiences' favorite.
"Did I Do That?"
"This is very old school, but back in the day, Steve Urkel from Family Matters. It was a polarising character. You either loved him or absolutely hated him."
– trunks176
"We recently rewatched the series and his inability to accept Laura's constant "no" to his advances is not funny."
– 5pens
Tritagonist Late Wife
"Lori Grimes from the walking dead. I just cannot stand her. She is the reason I cannot be bothered to finish the show and it's a shame because I really like it and all the characters but damn I cannot stand that woman."
– Waste-Ad-6298
"Bro, if she’s the reason you can’t be bothered to finish the show, I’ve got good news and I’ve got bad news."
– LadnavIV
Hopeless City Romantic
"Also Carrie Bradshaw. Main character and definitely the 'main character' in her mind at all times. Irksome."
– makebelievegenius
"Ya Carrie bugged the Hell out of me too. But I was obsessed with the show anyway. It's not the same without Samantha. She was my fav."
– Successful-Side8902
At Least She Was Pretty
"Rory gilmore. Cannot stand her at all."
– Other_Whereas2766
"For such a smart person she sure made a lot of stupid decisions."
– Deadpoolgoesboop
I think Jar Jar Binks was definitely the most annoying character that failed to connect with audiences.
The wacky Gungan outcast is one of several reasons why the prequel Star Wars trilogy is not my favorite.
The addition of his character as an attempt to inject some levity was so forced, and many viewers couldn't help but notice he was a racist caricature," pointing out similarities between his look and accent and the style and dialects spoken in the West Indies."
All this popularity of fan fiction and fan theory.
Fans have continued to add to their favorite cinematic and television universe through different theories and fiction writing.
Some fill in gaps and major plotholes, and some make you look at some of your favorite classics with entirely new eyes.
Redditor phantom_avenger wanted to discuss what fan fiction may not need to be made, so they asked:
"What's a dark and disturbing fan theory from a kid's movie or show that you believe is 100% true?"
Fan theories freak me out.
Where do people come up with some of this stuff?
Donkey boys
Good Morning Smile GIF by DreamWorks AnimationGiphy"That donkey from Shrek is one of the talking donkey boys from Pinocchio."
Psychological_Put395
"I didn’t know who the 'donkey boys' were, but I looked it up and it’s horrifying on its own… to see one of those boys grown up and still a Donkey seems pretty dark to me!"
spolite
She's a Help
"The trolls in Frozen manipulated everything to get Christoph on the throne beside Anna, including making Hans go crazy, all the way back to their parent's deaths."
PicnutIn
"Frozen 2, guess who happens to show up in 2 mins after Elsa ‘activates’ the four elemental spirits to ‘help out’ the citizens of Arendelle."
"Guess who tells the queen and her only heir ‘we’ll look after the capital while you go the enchanted forest that no-one is able to escape from’. Guess who tells Elsa she needs to undercover the truth about her past which in the end makes her dive too deep and get frozen solid in Ahtohallen. Grand Pabbie is a villain confirmed."
Cryptand_Bismol
Crazy/Cracked
"Casper is the ghost of Richie Rich."
Apprehensive_Goal811
"I read a Casper 'parody' comic strip in 'Crazy' magazine when I was a kid that was a bit like this. 'Cracked' was a low-rent terrible shadow of MAD magazine, but 'Crazy' was the next tier down, just nasty."
"In the story, the kid's dad throws him head first into a TV (CRT type), killing him, and his spirit is left floating around: Casper the ghost."
"It made me so upset and worried as a kid and made me feel yucky inside. I wish I had never read it. It still comes to mind even today, and the sour feeling with it."
The_One-Armed_Badger
Thins them out...
"Peter Pan kills the Lost Boys when they become adults. The pirates are Lost Boys who ran away and formed a conclave to protect themselves from Peter."
"The book technically says that when Lost Boys grow up Peter 'thins them out' which could be killing or could be kicking them out of Neverland. But if he kicks them out, where do the pirates come from?"
Lord_Mikal
"Peter Pan is definitely killing the Lost Boys that start to grow up, and the ones who dare to rebel against him, the ones who get tired of playing with him too. Those who survive then become pirates."
Rare_Hovercraft_6673
And Piggy?
Press Conference Kermit GIFGiphy"Kermit the frog caused 9/11."
"In lt's a very merry muppet Christmas movie, they edit out the twin towers, however, they forget to do it in the 'what would life be like if I didn't exist bit.'"
"Meaning canonically, kermit the frog caused 9/11."
kg123xyz
Now that one is wild.
Torn
beauty and the beast smile GIF by DisneyGiphy"That the Beast from 'Beauty and the Beast' killed some of his servants because of a brief scene revealing torn apart furniture and several other inanimate objects."
Kandy_669
Science
"The Telly Tubbies are human scientists on a terraforming mission in the far future. They crash landed while still in hypersleep, trapped inside their bio- encounter suits, their minds reduced to those of children. The world they live in is the result of the attempts of the ship AI (sunbaby) to simultaneously complete the mission and rehabilitate the crew."
WittyNomDePlume
Yo home to Bel-AIr
"That Will Smith died during the fight on the playground and being sent to his family in Bel-Air was actually heaven. That’s why his parents would only see him on his birthday/other holidays, because they were visiting his grave."
G8585
"Would also make sense as to why he and the fiancé just randomly called off their wedding at the altar. Entangling someone else wouldn't match with whatever purgatorial state he was in."
"Then the parents bizarrely getting married instead let him know his loved ones were going to be ok without him. Kinda sweet in a way. Still, I never understood that storyline."
Dangercakes13
The Dark King
"Prior to the events of Lion King 2 Simba and Nala had another child (this is the cub seen at the end of the first movie), however that cub was murdered by Zira resulting in the banishment of the Outsiders.
"Hence why Zazu refers to them as 'murderous' outsiders and why Simba is so overprotective of Kiara. Also, while not in itself 'evidence' the movie does make a quick reference to Kopa from the Lion King books. At the start of the song We Are One Simba pushes Kiara off a rock and her tail lands on her head."
"The way the tail floor is positioned makes it look like she has the same mane as Kopa did in the book (so even if this theory may not have been intentionally part of the story it is possible Kopa still served as a partial inspiration for some of the writers and animators)."
"And yes, IK Kopa survived in the books, but I prefer the idea of him dying or at the very least never returning. Since if that isn't the case it'd mean he's the 'true' king and that'd undercut Kiara's story."
Theher0not
Interesting
Flying George Jetson GIFGiphy"The Flintstones and Jetsons take place at the same time, reflecting the widening divide between the wealthiest and poorest of society."
FalseAlarmEveryone
Now that is a show I'd watch.
Do you have any other theories? Let us know in the comment below.
Since silent films began, we have been inundated with love story after love story, where happily ever afters are easily doled out.
Pop culture has molded the idea of romance and pleasure for everyone... just around the riverbend, it seems.
And guess what?
It's all a lie.
Sorry, that came off as bitter.
Actually, I'm not sorry. I am bitter.
Damn you, Julia Roberts, for the unrealistic expectations you've passed on to us through all your movies.
Redditor dwightanddilbert wanted to discuss and dig into the truth about how we've been duped on matters of the heart and lust, so they asked:
"What’s the biggest lie pop culture taught us about sex and romance?"
I learned long ago to give up on the movie love dream. But they're still fun to watch.
Being Real
bad romance....Giphy"That love is easy and relationships will have romance just fall into your lap if it's meant to be. Real life is not a movie and it gives people a very wrong image of what a healthy relationship looks like."
trevmc1
Happily Now...
"That there is a point you reach where you get your Happily Ever After. Then you just get to coast. That's not how relationships work - it's not the moment he tells you at the NYE party how he loves that you get cold when it's 71 degrees out or when you get married in a big ballgown."
"It's all the little moments, the everyday caring, the small affections and the avoidances of trust pitfalls. They add up to a Happily Now. But there's not a point you can hang your hat up and say, 'Okay. I got this marriage thing sorted out. Now I get to do whatever I want.'"
Carl__Gordon_Jenkins
“What about sleep?!?!”
"That we’re supposed to have long sex sessions. Honestly a good 15-20 mins is pretty good for me."
ItsMeThereHair
"When I was 20ish I was in a car with a few coworkers. A couple of them got to talking about longest active session. The girl was 18 hours and the guy said 24 hours."
"All I could think was 'what about sleep?!?!' ( I’ve always loved sleeping). At the time I was with my now hubby and back then we were more the under 5 minute get the job done types. Now we appreciate longer sessions but I’m ready to tap out at 20 minutes. If we get to 45, he’s out of luck."
Environmental-Car481
Know the Difference
"Persistence usually isn't romantic. It's usually creepy."
Pissed_Off_Pacifist
"Yep, thanks for mentioning it. I wasted many, many years pursuing that one guy I thought was the one. His friends liked me. He made compliments on my looks and on my skills. Everything seemed promising, so why didn't it turn out the way I wanted?"
"Well, surprisingly, some people just aren't romantically interested in you, no matter how much work you put into it. So easy to understand, but so hard to accept. Neither my stubbornness nor a miracle could turn the friendship we had into a relationship. Plus, I must've seemed desperate, which is unattractive as hell."
"It's okay to take your time, but it's also necessary to know when move on. Really just better for everyone."
OneGhastlyGhoul
Shut Up!
Disney Wedding GIFGiphy"For the love of God, DO NOT interrupt a wedding. It will not go how you think it will."
dcbluestar
"As a joke at our friend's wedding some girl stood up and said wait. Literally every head turned around so fast and although it was known to the bride and groom as a joke I think everyone was thinking wtf and she was about as red as a tomato."
Kyell
The drama queen in me knows it would be wrong, but who wouldn't love to witness a wedding interruption?!?!
Magic
Anne Hathaway Actors On Actors GIF by PBS SoCalGiphy"If you just take off your glasses and put your hair down, you'll be Anne Hathaway."
Poorly-Drawn-Beagle
Gross Truth
"That there's no such thing as clean up afterwards. Everyone just has a slight, post-coital, glisten and that's about as far as it goes. No awkward wet waddle. No wet spot on the mattress that gets cold way too quickly so you both bend your bodies around it so you can still snuggle without touching it."
"No sex towel that probably should've been washed about two weeks ago and is getting to the point where it might make a worthy substitute for a crowbar with how stiff it is."
"Oh, and if you do it in a horror movie, you're 100% gonna die."
ACalcifiedHeart
Calm Down
"That sex always has to be very serious and profound. And I don't mean serious as in commitment, but as in how we behave. Some of the best sex I have ever had has involved cracking jokes."
Needydadthrowaway
"Or sleepy sex where the nights too late but you both just want to crank it out and sleep."
hogtiedcantalope
It can work...
"Opposites attract."
chingudo
"This is actually really untrue. While it is possible, and also, in my opinion, really rare for opposites to attract, they definitely do not a majority of the time. We tend to fall for people who are like-minded to us. People who have similar values, morals, thoughts, etc... to us."
AwesomeKitty6842
"So I married an opposite. Has not been easy but I think has been really good for both of us overall. That being said if it ever fell apart I would 100% look for someone more like me. Everything, and I mean everything, is a lot of work and requires so much communication between us."
notgreatnotbadsoso
Get a Chance
Brendon Urie Flirt GIF by Panic! At The DiscoGiphy"Two extremes:"
"1- If you're a stalker, they'll eventually give you a chance."
"2- If you're the nice guy/the best friend, they'll eventually give you a chance."
"#2 messed me up for a very long time."
plasma_dan
Lesson learned. Never trust the love stories in pop culture.
And fairytales lie!!
Define the "worst?"
Are they the worst comically or truly horrendous?
Do we root for their crazy antics and snappy dialogue?
And do we still love them no matter what they seem to do?
Reddit was here to share their thoguhts.
Redditor 3GR3552H3LL wanted to discuss what TV characters are just truly heinous, so they asked:
"Which sitcom character was the worst human being EVER?"
Stefano DiMera, from 'Days of Our Lives.'
A true villain.
And genius. Look him up.
Cartman
south park cartman GIFGiphy"I can't think of anybody worse than Eric Cartman."
KermitTheArgonian
"The fact when Scott tells Cartman that they are siblings and Cartman killed his own dad, Cartman cried. But not because he fed his dad to his half-brother, but because he's half ginger. Evil."
eatflapjacks
"I mean he still helped cats that one time and saved Kyle from death to maintain his ego. A lot of serial killers are on sitcoms."
ButterscotchFuzzy460
Bad People
"Frank or Dennis on Always Sunny. I love the characters, but they are worst in a group of terrible people."
yeahwellokay
"I'm currently watching this show for the first time (in season 6), and all 5 of them are just the worst people ever. They all have their moments of being particularly horrendous, but I think Dennis slightly tops the group."
Migit78
"Currently I'd agree with that order. Might change as I see more of the show."
"I do think Charlie will always be at the bottom of the list though, he really is just an idiot that hangs out with a bunch of truly awful people, I think he'd be a better person if he'd fallen in with better people, that's hard to say about the others."
Migit78
Daddy Issues
"Jay's dad from The Inbetweeners."
LiquidShaman
"I think he particularly resonates in a British context, because, just like how everyone knew a Will and a Jay when they were growing up, everyone knew a Jay's Dad too."
spacebatangeldragon8
"He plays the exact same character in The Office, warehouse foreman Glen (Taffy). He does have one of the best lines in the series, when told to stop smoking near a pregnant woman, telling her he won't stop."
"'Just because you let some useless tosser blow his beans up your muff.'"
mankytoes
That's the Point!
"Bojack Horseman is a grade A a**hole, but that’s kinda the point."
_FreshVegetable_
"That show and this character made me so conflicted. I had no idea whether I should consider him a depraved sack of sh*t, or a terribly confused man trying to find meaning."
Siriuswot111
"He’s definitely an a**hole, the story followed him throughout drug and alcohol addiction so as you said it was kinda the point. he was struggling to live with himself and he took it out on others (usually) as people with drug and alcohol addiction do, they took realism into the show and i think they did an amazing job."
L-A-privvv
Bad Guy
family guy dancing GIFGiphy"Peter Griffin is genuinely a terrible person, and I'm convinced his exploits are supported by Lois' parents secretly giving them sh**loads of money."
waffleirondeluxe
Straight Up Horror
Cocktail Martini GIF by ArcherGiphy"Malory Archer. She was a terrible mother, and straight up horrible boss. Not to mention greedy as f**k and self-centered.
"Nobody in the show is a good person... lol. But I think she's the worst."
AdditionKooky122
a malignant narcissist...
"Marie in Everyone Loves Raymond. I've always said that with a few small cuts, a musical change here and there and the complete removal of the laugh track and you could turn that show into a terrifyingly accurate psychological horror story about what it's like living in a family ruled by a malignant narcissist. I've enjoyed hating characters in shows before but sweet Jesus that character makes my skin crawl."
like-stars
It's all Him!
"Malcolm from Malcolm in the Middle. Dude tried to go one week without being an a**hole, and it went so against his nature he started coughing blood. I loved that little sh*t."
No_Improvement7573
"I find many of the stories are about Malcolm being brought down by his pride. He can't admit anyone else is smarter than him and acts out when he isn't the centre of attention."
MagicBandAid
"I feel like they even had an episode about this where he tried to get into music and was genuinely angry that Dewey was better than him at it."
ToxicBanana69
Best of the Worst
"I mean, George Costanza is a crap bag of a human, but he’s supposed to be — and he is somehow both one of the best and worst characters in sitcom history because of that."
chronicpainprincess
"George is a 'short, stocky, slow-witted, bald man' but he still dates women who are way out of his league. Despite this, he always finds the tiniest flaw with them and dumps them. Jerry does this too but at least he's not quite as miserable and obviously does pretty decently I come-wise as a comedian. George is just a pit of despair with no redeeming qualities. He's lucky any woman would even look at him let alone date him."
DaperDandle
She Admits It
Arrested Development Flirt GIFGiphy"Lucille Bluth from Arrested Development. She's great."
princessbizz
"Every character on Arrested Development is a horrible person, some bother to try to hide it, though. Lucille does not."
superlion1985
Bless Cloris
"Lois’s mother from Malcolm in the Middle. Cloris Leachman nailed that role."
chicagoaussie
These are some legendary characters that have graced the small screen.
Who are some of your favorite characters that could be described as the worst?