Category Archives: Scenes I Love

Scenes That I Love: The Candidate

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

(SPOILER WARNING)

It’s election day!  Today is the day that American citizens select the person that they’ll be angry with for the next four years.  Have you voted yet?  I did and, after I turned in my ballot, this guy at the polling place told me that I was the prettiest voter that he had seen all day.  Awwwwww!

Today’s scene that I love is particularly appropriate for Election Day.  In The Candidate (1972), Bill McKay (played by Robert Redford) runs for the U.S. Senate.  Directed in a documentary fashion by Michael Ritchie, The Candidate features excellent supporting performances from Melvyn Douglas and Peter Boyle and it’s one of the best films ever made about the American political system.

The scene below takes place at the end of the film, after the votes have been counted.  And, of course, the entire scene is a spoiler so don’t watch it if you haven’t seen The Candidate.

Horror Scenes I Love: Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer

Posted on by Arleigh

Last night we saw the return of Michael Rooker as Merle Dixon in season 3 of AMC’s The Walking Dead. He’s been one of those actors who has made a living in genre film and projects and for this he has gained quite a loyal and zealous fan-base which includes myself. Not many people actually know that he starred in one of the most disturbing piece of filmmaking in the last quarter-century. Many people will throw the word “most disturbing” all the time, but with the film I’m taking the latest “Scenes I Love” entry it’s been a consensus amongst genre fans and just film-lovers in general that it’s a film that deserves all the praise thrown it’s way.

It’s not a film that’s really enjoyable. In fact, it’s a film that’s made to elicit a reaction that ranges from disgust to plain creepiness. The film I’m talking about is John McNaughton’s classic horror film simply titled Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer.

The film has so many sequences that has become etched in the minds of those who have seen the film. Whether it’s the opening of the film where we see Henry going about his business like some average joe interspersed with scenes of violence and degradation left behind. Another infamous scene that many has decried the film for being tasteless and is the home invasion scene. Even the final scene of the film is disturbing for the fact that we don’t see the redemption we thought the end of the film was going for, but instead just another start in a new cycle of violence and death for the title character.

The one scene I picked and saying I love this scene is pushing it. Let’s just say that this is the scene that really solidified the film to me as a horror classic. It’s a scene between Henry and his old pal Otis on a double date and it’s a date that horrible goes awry. The horror of Henry killing people is enough for some, but the reaction afterwards of both Henry and Otis just shows that these events do happen in real-life and that the banality of evil in everyday life is more horrifying and disturbing than any horror fiction people can come up with.

Horror Scenes I Love: La Horde

Posted on by Arleigh

[spoilers]

I know, I know. Another zombie-related post. Well, if you’ve been visiting the site enough these past three years or so then you’d realize by now that this site loves it’s zombies. Well, not love in that way, but in the “what would I do if put in the middle of the zombie apocalypse” type deal. Call it the American trait of self-reliance and stubbornness in the face of overwhelming odds. Also, this love for the zombie apocalypse seem to stem for the fact that as a society we Americans seem to be very apocalypse-obsessed.

Well, enough of that and time to get on the latest horror-themed “Scenes I Love” entry. This time around it comes courtesy of the very awesome French zombie film La Horde from 2008. This particular scene arrives very close to the end of the film so it’s going to be spoiler-heavy. So, being warned now to either watch the clip and be spoiled by the fate of a certain character or watch the film first and relive just how awesome this scene is the second time around.

The scene is just something that we as fans of the zombie apocalypse hope to go out doing if the end is near. No crying in the corner pleading at something that has no emotions. No cowardly act killing oneself before the shambling (or in the case of this film they’re sprinting like Usain Bolt) gets to them. This is the scene that shouts to the Gods in their heavenly thrones to watch how a true warrior dies. Not with a cry and whimper but with a shout of defiance and scream of bloodlust and frenzy to rival those trying to kill you.

As the video’s title succinctly proclaims: “Going out like a BOSS!”

Horror Scenes I Love: A Man Chooses… A Slave Obeys

Posted on by Semtex Skittle

Video games have scenes to love, too! And I’ll be your guide through some of the finest in this space.

If you have never played BioShock, stop right now, go buy the game, and play it. Wait, it came out six years ago and you can’t be bothered? Oh well. If you’re even considering playing Bioshock, you may not want to spoil this clip for yourself. On the other hand, it might inspire you to actually play the game – something I readily encourage. In either case, would you kindly join me in enjoying what earnestly could be the greatest scene in any video game ever made?

Would you kindly. A powerful phrase.

Horror Scenes I Love: Scanners (by David Cronenberg)

Posted on by Arleigh

[SPOILERS!!!!]

I’ve already shared a favorite scene from David Cronenberg’s landmark scifi/horror film Scanners over a year ago that saw a head explode. For October’s horror-themed month I picked another great scene from this film that always stuck with me long after I’ve finished watching the film each and every time.

The scene I’m talking about is the climactic showdown between Good Scanner Cameron and Evil Scanner Revok. This scene was filmed before the advent of CGI-effects and Cronenberg never had the sort of big-budgets to hire the top FX make-up artists to work on his films. Yet, Cronenberg ended up creating one of the best scenes ever put on film about two people fighting each other using their minds. We never see their mental abilities shooting off psychic blasts at each other but the performance by both Michael Ironside as Revok and Stephen Lack as Cameron was so believable that it made the scene work when it could’ve turned so cheesy and disastrous in the hands of a different filmmaker and other actors.

The battle ends but we’re left to believe the good guy lost and evil triumphs. This feeling pretty much plays out right up to the final scene before fade to black and even then we’re not sure if the final reveal is true or not. Either way there’s no better way to bookend the exploding head intro than with two psychic beings duking it out mentally with blood, spontaneous combustion and creepy white eyes added in for style.

Horror Scenes I Love: Misery

Posted on by Arleigh

Our next horror-themed “Scenes I Love” entry comes courtesy of Rob Reiner’s film adaptation of the Stephen King novel to celebrity stalkers everywhere.

Misery was one of those novels that was actually much better when adapted to the film screen. Maybe it was the performances of the small cast with Kathy Bates’ star-turning role as Annie Wilkes who happens to be Paul Sheldon’s (James Caan) Number 1 fan. I’m not a huge Rob Reiner fan, but he hits on all cylinders with this adaptation and the scene which cements this film as one of my favorite horror films is the one many have simply called “The Hobbling”.

The scene itself was actually much more graphic in the novel since Annie uses an axe instead of the sledgehammer in the film. Yet, the lack of blood and chopped flesh and bone didn’t keep the scene from being wince-inducing. In fact, the use of the sledgehammer and the wooden block and the slow build-up to the money shot made the entire sequence almost hard to stomach and bear. I think I’m not the only one who ended up having phantom pains as soon the Annie went to town on Paul’s legs.

Horror Scenes That I Love: The Conquistador Scene From Lucio Fulci’s Zombi 2

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Both Arleigh and I have devoted a lot of time on the site to talking about our mutual admiration for the films of Italian horror director Lucio Fulci.  While Fulci will always have as many detractors as defenders, the fact of the matter is that Fulci has been a major and often unacknowledged influence on the direction of horror cinema.  To cite just one prominent example, the disturbing and graphic body horror of The Walking Dead has less to do with Romero and everything to do with Fulci.

Fulci remains a controversial figure and that’s not surprising.  For every Fulci lover, there’s a detractor.  For every good horror film that he made between 1979 and 1982, there’s a terrible one that he made in the years leading up to his   mysterious death.  But what everyone seems to agree on is that his 1979 epic Zombi 2 is one of the best (and most important) of the post-Romero Zombie films.  Zombi 2 may have been produced to take advantage of the popularity of Romero’s Dawn of the Dead but Fulci created a film that transcended its origins.

(Personally, I prefer Fulci’s film to Romero’s but that’s a discussion for another day.)

Zombi 2 is a film that’s provided us with a few scenes that we love here at the Shattered Lens.  Whether it’s the scene where a zombie wrestles with a shark or the very first Fulci’s signature eyeball impaling, Zombi 2 is a film that is full of memorable scenes.  Tonight, I want to highlight another moment from Zombi 2 — the conquistador scene.

As this scene begins, the film’s star are already fleeing from an army of zombies when they discover that it’s not just the recently deceased that they have to fear.  This is a scene that manages to be shameless, silly, and disturbingly effective at the same time.  In other words, it’s pure Fulci.

Horror Scenes I Love: Christine

Posted on by Arleigh

Here we are again ghouls and ghoulettes. Time for another one of my favorite horror scenes. Some might say that the film I chose my latest favorite scene from is not truly a horror film but more a thriller are so definitely wrong. Both in it’s original novel form and in Carpenter’s film adaptation, Christine is definitely a horror film that eschews overt scenes of gore and violence and goes about it’s scares in a more round-a-bout way. It’s a horror film of a Boy-meets-Girl gone wrong. My own review of the film over a year ago show’s my positive take on this 80’s classic.

One of my favorite scenes from Christine happens midway through the film that also serves as the final clue that something may just be a tad different with Archie’s car named Christine. While the scene itself is not one of horror it does show the supernatural side of this film’s plot (a bit more simplified than the original novel’s but still keeping the theme of possessed inanimate objects giving life to itself). The combination of Christine showing Archie just what she’s capable of and Carpenter’s electronic film score as it segues into a seductive tune adds to the awesomeness of this scene.

Once this scene is over the audience now knows that Archie is fully gone over to Christine’s side and that the story will end not in a very happy note, but until that happens we see just how much this particular Boy seem to have finally met his ideal Girl.

Horror Scenes I Love: The Prophecy (dir. by Gregory Widen)

Posted on by Arleigh

What is it about stories of angels and demons that makes people gravitate towards them. One doesn’t even have to be religious to feel a sense of curiosity towards such stories. Is it because deep down we put some sort of faith that we’re being watched over by the One who created us. I’m not religious, but I always found stories about angels and their rebellion against God quite interesting. It’s the age-old tale of love, betrayal and redemption on a cosmic and divine scale. It’s from one such story that I find the latest “Scenes I Love”.

The film The Prophecy was one I had already reviewed a while back and whenever I come across it on cable I tend to drop whatever I’m doing and watch it. I go into much more detail why I enjoy this film very much in my review of it. This time I like to share one scene from the film that hints at just how much more epic this film could’ve been if it was a full-blown novel. It helps that the performance by Viggo Mortensen as Lucifer shows that even in 1995 he was already a great actor who hasn’t been discovered yet. While it’s deserving to say that Christopher Walken owned this film with his work in it I’d say Mortensen’s portrayal of The First Angel, The Morningstar and God’s Most Favored was something I wish a film could be made around.