20 Details In Horror Movies That Chilled Me To The Bone

Looking back on these films, you realize how scary they really are.

While many great horror movies have achieved great scares that are placed front and center, many times, they can have the same effect with details not noticed at first glance.

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After watching these films and learning exactly what they're about, watching them a second time can sometimes make you find some pretty shocking details strategically placed by the filmmakers. If you're looking for some of these scary details, here's the list for the Top 20 Shocking Details Found in Horror Movies.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!

20. The bear skull in Annihilation

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The most memorable scene from this Alex Garland film is when that mutant bear attacks Lena and her crew. We eventually learn that the Shimmer allowed the bear to absorb the mind of Cass, one of Lena's teammates and one of the bear's prior victims. Though it's pretty dark, you can see this blend of bear and human DNA in the human skull embedded in the bear's head.

19. That death scene in Halloween Kills

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Audiences were left surprised by Michael's killing of Laurie's daughter, Karen. But this shocking scene actually acts as a perfect tribute to Jamie Lee Curtis's mother, Janet Leigh, who starred as unfortunate murder victim Marion Crane in Psycho. Karen's murder and Crane's iconic shower murder are executed in a similar fashion, and they both left audiences reeling from what they just watched.

18. Andre's hat in Get Out

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In Jordan Peele's first horror flick, we learn that the Armitage family has been secretly kidnapping Black people so they can place their rich friends' minds into their bodies. Once this truth is revealed, we can eventually see the Armitages' Black servants with scars on their foreheads, which they hid with hats or wigs. If you go back and see Andre Hayworth, another one of the family's victims, you will realize that he also wears a hat when he visits the Armitage household as Logan King to hide his own scar. 

17. Pennywise in the mural in It: Chapter One

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The alien entity known as Pennywise the Dancing Clown has fully engrained itself in the town of Derry, becoming a significant part of its history. This fact is perfectly embodied in the alleyway mural depicting the Bradley Gang shootout from the 1930s. While the Loser's Club stands in front of it, we can see the evil clown staring at them from inside the painting. 

16. The characters' names in Evil Dead

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In this remake of Sam Raimi's horror classic, five friends go to a secluded cabin in the woods, where one of them foolishly awakens an ancient demon from a cursed book. The demon tries to sacrifice all five of them to achieve its true form. This fact is indicated by how the first letters of these five characters' names spell the word "DEMON."

15. Promethean fate in The Lighthouse

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In this recent masterpiece from Robert Eggers and A24, we see Willem Dafoe's character, Thomas, curse his apprentice, Winslow, to be eaten by seagulls after not complimenting his lobster (I know, it's ridiculous). But at the end of the film, after Winslow falls from the lighthouse after gazing at its lantern, we see him being eaten alive by a flock of seagulls (which also references the Greek myth of Prometheus and how he was cursed to have his liver repeatedly eaten by an eagle for giving fire to humanity). And so, for murdering his master and seeking this heavenly light, he was cursed to an agonizing torment as punishment for his crimes.

14. The carpet changes in The Shining

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Cinephiles are familiar with the iconic carpet in the Overlook Hotel, but there's something about it you might have missed. When Danny is playing with his toy trucks, he sees a ball roll toward him from Room 237. Before he gets up to investigate, the carpet beneath him inexplicably changes direction. Fans of Stanley Kubrick are quite aware of his obsessive attention to detail, so they understandably figured this was the director trying to subtly scare the audience.

13. The Norwegian's warning in The Thing

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In the opening of John Carpenter's horror masterpiece, we see a Norwegian scientist hunting down a snow dog that is eventually revealed to be a shapeshifting alien. However, the Norwegian actually warned MacReady and his research team about the alien when it arrived, but they couldn't understand him. Translated to English, he said, "Get the hell away! It's not a dog! It's imitating a dog! It's not real! Get away, idiots!" While his warning was still a bit vague, a simple understanding of his language could've prevented the alien from killing everyone.

12. Black Phillip's song in The Witch

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Another entry from Robert Eggers' filmography, his directorial debut features a Puritan family living in the woods and facing a Satanic threat, taking the form of their goat, Black Phillip. At one point, the family's twin children chase the demonic goat around their farm, singing a song about it. If you listen closely, you can hear that these lyrics reference the goat's true nature as the Devil in disguise.

11. The falling object in Cloverfield

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At the end of this modern monster movie, after Rob and Beth meet their ends after the government bombs the invading creature, the film cuts back to the couple's trip to Coney Island. In the distance, you can see an unknown object falling into the ocean. While this is implied to be the monster arriving on Earth, the film's special features revealed this to be part of a satellite belonging to a corporation related to the creature. Did the satellite awaken the creature in the ocean? Was it really all a cover-up? Whatever it was, it's still an object of interest.

10. Hannibal Lecter's painting in The Silence of the Lambs

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When Clarice Starling tries to capture serial killer Buffalo Bill, she seeks help from notorious cannibal Hannibal Lecter. In her famous first meeting with Lecter, she notices one of his drawings, which he says is "the Duomo as seen from the Belvedere." This actually foreshadows the fact that Buffalo Bill was secretly living in Belvedere, Ohio. Perhaps Lecter knew where he was all along, and he was trying to hint Clarice about it.

9. Regan mimics Pazuzu's statue in The Exorcist

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When 12-year-old Regan McNeil is possessed by the demon Pazuzu, the girl is hypnotized by a doctor trying to help her. While hypnotized, the girl sits in a weird position in her chair as she explains the evil presence inside her, which she calls "Captain Howdy." This strange pose actually mimics that of the statue of Pazuzu that Father Merrin sees at the beginning of the film, indicating that this demon and Captain Howdy are one and the same.

8. No chips please in A Quiet Place

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In this surprise horror hit, powerful aliens that navigate through sound invade Earth and kill anyone they can hear. A family of survivors is first seen carefully gathering supplies at an abandoned supermarket. There, you may notice that there's an entire shelf filled with bags of potato chips. Since the aliens are sensitive to sound, eating chips would understandably be a big no-no in this post-apocalyptic world.

7. Face in the trees in Midsommar

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Ari Aster's second film is filled with hidden images, and this one is probably the most haunting. As protagonist Dani is carried off by the villagers she visits as their new May Queen, audiences can see what looks like a face with a tube extending from its mouth in the trees. This is actually the face of Dani's sister, who killed herself by inhaling carbon monoxide from her car with a tube.

6. Michael Jackson's "Thriller" in Us

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Before she is kidnapped and replaced by her doppelgänger, a young Adelaide is seen wearing a T-shirt of Michael Jackson's famous "Thriller" music video. This shirt might have actually influenced her in her quest for revenge, as the Tethered's red jumpsuits look similar to the one Jackson wore in his video. "Thriller" itself actually foreshadows the film's twist, as the final shot of Jackson revealing his werewolf eyes is similar to the revelation that Adelaide was an evil clone all along.

5. The Xenomorph hanging in Alien

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Everyone remembers how the Xenomorph hid in Ripley's escape pod at the end of this classic film. However, this isn't the only time the creature pulled this trick off. When Brett looks for the crew's cat, Jones, we can see the alien hanging from the ceiling alongside numerous chains, successfully blending in with its surroundings. Truly a frightening predator.

4. A not-so-nice Chianti in The Silence of the Lambs

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The most iconic line uttered by Hannibal Lecter is when he recounts how he ate a census taker "with some fava beans and a nice Chianti." However, there is another dark implication in this line. Since he's staying in a psychiatric hospital, Lecter might be given drugs called monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs), and three things you shouldn't have with them are liver, beans, and wine. And so, Lecter indicates that he isn't taking his meds, showing just how cunning and unhinged he truly is.

3. The face of the demon inThe Exorcist

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While the demon Pazuzu acts as this film's antagonist, we never really see a lot of the beast in the flesh. However, there are some glimpses of Zuzu's ghoulish face hidden throughout the film. There are a few subliminal flash cuts of his face inserted throughout the film to unnerve the audience (and there are more in the director's cut). You really have to watch out for his face, but when you do see it, you're probably going to wish you hadn't.

2. The number 42 in The Shining

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Another strange detail in The Shining is how much the number 42 appears in the film. Danny wears a shirt with the number on it, Dick's rental car has the number on its license plate, and a news anchor mentions a "$42 million spending bill." Also, when multiplied, the digits on Room 237 equal 42, and the number 21, which is half of 42, appears in the final photo saying 1921.

This just might be Kubrick subtly frightening the audience with a recurring symbol. However, I'm being completely serious when I say that some people theorize that this number is meant to reference the Holocaust, since Hitler's Final Solution took place in 1942. I know that all sounds like a conspiracy theorist's wet dream, but bear in mind, Jack actually uses an Adler typewriter used by the Nazis.

1. Mother's face in Psycho

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After the murderer Norman Bates is finally apprehended by the authorities, he sits alone in the police station and menacingly stares at the screen. As he does, we can see his mother's mummified corpse superimposed on his face as it fades to the final shot. This clever trick emphasizes how his alternate "Mother" personality has completely taken over his mind, making for one of the greatest horror movie endings of all time.

Do you agree with this list? Were there any other hidden horror movie details that were missed? Please let me know in the comments section below.