What I love the most about horror movies are the scenes that stay with you long after you’ve turned the TV off or left the cinema. Those scenes creep back into your mind later on when you’re going about your business, and continue to give you the fear for a long time to come.
For me, the horror scenes which do this best are based in a specific location, as whenever you find yourself in a similar place, all those scary moments start flooding through your head. This may be why I never quite feel safe when I’m alone in the bathroom. Serial killers can sneak up on you in the shower, monsters could be lurking in public loos, and who knows what could be sneaking up your toilet.
Horror movies love a bathroom scene, and so do I. Sure, I could probably do with being able to close my eyes in the shower without fearing for my life, but some of my favourite horror scenes take place in the bathroom. So let’s celebrate the best terrifying toilet, blood-curdling bath, and skin-crawling sink scenes that horror has to offer.
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Whenever I take a bath, I think of Nancy’s mother telling her not to fall asleep in the tub in case she slips under the water and drowns. And while that should be threat enough to keep you awake while bathing, the real threat is the thought of Freddy lurking under the bathwater.
As Nancy starts to fall asleep, Freddy’s claw breaks the surface of the bathwater, and once she finally falls asleep it pulls her under into a watery dream world. Luckily, Nancy manages to break free and wake up, but it proves that Freddy is always waiting, wherever you decide to drift off.
A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989)
We’ve had a bath, so let’s see what happens now when Freddy starts messing with your shower! In the fifth entry in theA Nightmare on Elm Streetseries, Alice is our final girl, and she’s about to discover that showering in your dreams isn’t a relaxing experience.
First, the shower drain starts to gurgle brown water, before the taps break and water starts to leak from everywhere at an alarming pace. Soon Alice is completely submerged in the shower cubicle, with the door refusing to budge. Eventually, the door does give way, throwing Alice into a corridor as a metal door shuts in place of the shower. This is a dream, after all, it doesn’t have to make sense!
A Quiet Place (2018)
We’ve all been there. You can’t make any noise because killer, sound-sensitive aliens have taken over the planet, then you stand on a nail with your bare foot and end up going into labour. Well, that’s exactly the situation Evelyn finds herself in while the rest of her family are otherwise disposed.
Looking to find a place to easily give birth and contain the associated mess, Evelyn heads to the bath. In the midst of a very fast labour with her fourth child, Evelyn hopes that her family will be able to offer her some assistance, as the creature sneaks up the stairs behind her. Luckily, her husband Lee is able to set off distracting fireworks before Evelyn finally screams.
Arachnophobia (1990)
I’vetalked about this scenea few times before, but I am incapable of having a shower without this scene going through my mind. Becky is taking a nice, relaxing shower when a spider (a very real and huge spider, because all the soldier spiders inArachnophobiaare real) jumps onto her face from the shower curtain, runs down her face with the shower water, and then swirls around her feet in the bath. Becky is one of the few to encounter a spider and not die, but she does notice it at her feet and freaks out.
Bonus points forArachnophobiahaving more than one bathroom scene, including the nightmare-inducing scene in the finale when spiders overflow out of the sink.
Before I Wake (2016)
Before I Wakefocuses on the grief of couple Jessie and Mark after they lose their young son when he accidentally drowns in the bath. The couple fosters Cody to try and help them recover, but Cody’s dreams have a habit of coming to life which can either be beautiful (butterflies) or terrifying (the Canker Man).
When Cody is taken away to an orphanage and tranquillised to help him get some sleep, his bad dreams take over the building. In one room, Jessie finds a bath full of dark water and a horrifying version of her son with blacked-out eyes. She is forced to watch a recreation of his drowning, knowing that there is nothing she can do to save him.
Candyman (1992)
Nothing says foreplay like telling the urban legend of a murdered artist and then trying to raise his spirit from the grave, but that’s exactly what Claire decides to do when she finally gets the man of her dreams, Billy, all to herself. After taking her shirt off, Claire convinces Billy to say Candyman’s name in the mirror with her, but he stops after four times.
Once alone, Claire says his name the final time, and as she turns out the light, Candyman appears behind her in the mirror. While we don’t see what happens to Claire, we do see the blood pouring through the ceiling onto Billy in the living room below.
Darkness Falls (2003)
The wonderfulDarkness Fallshits cinemas in 2003, and the opening is one of my favourite openings in horror history. The legend is the Tooth Fairy (Matilda Dixon) will visit any child in the town of Darkness Falls when they lose their last baby tooth. Kyle knows he’s not meant to peek at the Tooth Fairy, but he can’t help himself, and that means he’s on her hit list.
Kyle retreats to the safety of the bathroom light, but his mum goes to his room to prove there’s nothing there. Always a bad move in horror movies, and she ends up as Matilda’s latest victim. Kyle hides in the bathtub, knowing he has to stay in the light to stay safe, while Matilda’s ghostly form lurks above the door frame, hiding from the light the bathroom door is casting into the hall.
Deep Blue Sea 2 (2018)
Deep Blue Sea 2follows much the same story as its predecessor, except this time the main threat is baby sharks who feed like piranhas. This means the crew aboard the underwater research facility have fewer places to hide, as those baby sharks can basically get everywhere.
This is bad news for Josh, who decides to hide in a shower cubicle when the shark babies swarm one of the sleeping quarters. The water level rises rapidly, and soon Josh finds himself trapped as the water engulfs him and the baby sharks eat him alive.
Evil Dead (2013)
In the wonderfulEvil Deadremake, siblings Mia and David’s family cabin is the site of a lot of gruesome deaths and injuries, more than a few of which take place in the cabin’s bathroom. First of all, Mia is taking a shower after her encounter in the woods, but in her possessed state, she turns the water temperature up as far as it will go, scalding herself and causing her skin to bubble.
Later, when Olivia also becomes possessed, Eric finds her slicing her face apart with a shard of mirror. She then attacks Eric, stabbing him in the chest with the glass, and then in the face multiple times with a needle. Eventually, Eric manages to hit her over the head with the lid of the toilet’s cistern and kills her.
Fatal Attraction (1987)
There are many reasons why you shouldn’t cheat on your wife, but one reason is it’s not really fair on the other woman either, especially when she develops deep feelings for you that you’re unwilling to follow through on. After an intense fling, Daniel decides to cut off contact with his mistress Alex, after she gets too intense, which Alex doesn’t take very well.
The climax of the movie sees Alex attack Daniel’s wife, Beth, in the bathroom as she’s running a bath for herself. It takes Daniel ages to come to Beth’s rescue because he can’t hear the fight over the running water. However, he seemingly drowns Alex in the bath and saves the day. Alex pops up for one final scare, before Beth shoots her, finally ending their ordeal.
Final Destination (2000)
Poor Tod. He’s the first person to die in theFinal Destinationfranchise by Death’s hand, rather than as part of the initial disaster. Tod has already lost his brother in the Flight 180 crash, so the last thing he needs is Death lurking in his bathroom.
There’s a lot of stages involved in Tod’s death, including a leaking pipe, spilt conditioner in the bath, and a wire washing line at neck height. Tod ends up dying from asphyxia, and in an extra sly move which isn’t seen in the later movies, the water is sucked back into the toilet pipe so it looks like Tod died by suicide. Pretty sneaky, Death.
Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985)
If you had to choose where you were going to die, chances are you wouldn’t pick an outhouse, but that’s exactly where poor Demon finds himself after a run-in with some dodgy enchiladas. To begin with, his girlfriend Anita tries to scare him from outside by shaking the walls, but when Demon finds Anita dead (and unfortunately blocking the toilet door), he realises he’s in trouble.
Jason repeatedly stabs a metal pole through the walls of the outhouse as Demon tries to avoid him like a deranged game of KerPlunk. Even with his best efforts, Demon gets spiked through the leg and then through the middle.
Grave Encounters (2011)
InGrave Encounters, it’s hard to trust your eyes, as the ghosts at play in the abandoned asylum are constantly changing reality in order to prevent escape. The ghost-hunting TV crew investigating the asylum get stuck after the door boards itself shut, and soon members of their team start disappearing, including surveillance operator Matt.
The crew later find Matt, dressed as a patient, and hanging out next to a bath full of blood. When T.C. goes to investigate, a figure jumps out of the bath and pulls T.C under, where he disappears.
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)
Roadside toilets always give me a creepy vibe in general, and this scene fromHalloween H20: 20 Years Laterdoes nothing to get rid of this fear. Michael Myers is making his way across the country to track down his long-lost sister when his car breaks down. When a mother, Claudia, and her daughter rock up to use the toilet, Michael steals Claudia’s handbag so he can get her car keys and get back on the road.
This is one of the few times in the franchise, no matter what timeline you follow, that Michael chooses not to murder someone. However, the scene is still terrifying because Claudia has to watch Michael snatch her bag, and then see his terrifying costume through the gap in the stall, hoping that he won’t discover her young daughter in the stall next door.
Halloween (2018)
It’s a new timeline in theHalloween(1978) franchise, however, Michael still loves terrorising people in publish bathrooms. This time, however, Dana isn’t so lucky. Dana and her podcasting partner, Aaron, are stopped at a gas station when Dana heads to the bathroom. Michael enters the bathroom behind her and drops a handful of teeth over the stall door, which he has just claimed from the gas station owner.
Aaron comes to Dana’s aid, but it quickly dispatched while Dana tries to make her escape under the stall dividers. However, when Michael is done with Aaron, he comes back for Dana and chokes her to death.
Howl (2015)
Using the bathroom on a train is never a pleasant experience, and it’s probably a hundred times worse when that train is under attack from a group of werewolves. Paul is experiencing a dodgy stomach, and so keeps running off the use to the toilet despite the fact it is out of order.
Eventually, Paul comes to regret his decision when a werewolf breaks through the roof of the train and enters the toilet cubicle. Paul is unable to escape because the door is malfunctioning, and so becomes a midnight snack for the train’s newest passenger.
IT (1990)
InIT, every member of the Losers Club has to face off against Pennywise and his ability to twist himself into your worst fear. For Beverly, she starts to hear noises in the bathroom sink that sounds a lot like the children who have been going missing in Derry. Then a balloon filled with blood bursts in the sink, covering Beverly and the bathroom in blood.
Beverly’s father cannot see the blood, and it keeps returning no matter how much she cleans it. However, when the rest of the Losers help her get rid of it, it finally stays gone forever, showing how strong their bond is.
Mirrors (2008)
There are some scenes that never leave your brain, even if you’ve only seen a movie once, and Angie’s death fromMirrorsis seared into my eyeballs. InMirrors, people’s reflections can act independently from them, meaning they can make them do things that have deadly consequences in the real world.
For Angie, her death comes when she decides to take a bath, and her reflection rips her face in half. Reflection Angie jams her hands in her mouth and rips her jaw off, as real Angie lies in the bath, confused as it what is happening as her face is forced open.
Night of the Creeps (1986)
J.C. is one of the best friends a person could ask for, but it’s his desire to be a good friend by leaving Chris alone with the girl he like, Cynthia, that sees him alone in his college bathroom. J.C. and Chris are unaware that their college campus has been taken over by alien slugs, and J.C. only realises the direness of the situation once he’s trapped in a stall.
Shortly before he dies, J.C. does manage to figure out that fire kills the slugs instantly. This means once he has been taken over by the brain-controlling slugs, he still has time to pass the life-saving information to Chris before he kills himself to avoid being taken over completely.
Poltergeist (1982)
The haunting at the Freeling family home may start off as playful enough, with moving kitchen furniture and Carol Anne talking to the TV, but it soon escalates into something more sinister when it becomes clear that the evil force in the house wants to steal Carol Anne and keep her at any costs.
When a team of parapsychologists come to the house to try and aid the Freeling family, they soon find themselves mixed up in the hauntings as well. One of the team, Marty, heads to the bathroom for a breather from the ghostly activities. However, he gets more than he bargains for when he sees his face falling off in meaty lumps into the bathroom sink. Luckily, it’ll all an illusion, but it’s enough to strike fear into Marty.
Predator 2 (1990)
Predator 2sees the Predator in a more urban setting, as he finds himself in the middle of a gang war and a massive police investigation. After a chase with Lieutenant Mike Harrigan, Predator finds himself missing an arm after trying to set off his self-destruct mechanism. He ends up crashing into the bathroom of an older couple’s apartment, where he attempts to heal himself before making his escape.
He uses smashed up mirror, tiles, and some bits from his Predator bag of tricks to cauterise his wound and heal himself before smashing his way out of the apartment. Luckily, he doesn’t kill the couple living inside during his escape. Predators do have a moral code after all.
Psycho (1960)
Middle-of-nowhere motels aren’t really a thing in Scotland, but if they were, films likePsychowould be enough to have me heading for the nearest Premier Inn.Psychostarts off as more of a crime caper when Marion Crane steals a large amount of money from her boss and ends up stopping at the Bates Motel on her drive across the country.
While Norman Bates seems a little strange, and the house on the hill sure is spooky, we don’t expect Marion to get brutally murdered while she showers. One of the original slasher scenes, and still the best, I dare you not to wince as Marion get repeatedly stabbed.
Saw (2004)
This may be a bit of a cheat because most ofSaw’smain action takes place in a very dirty and very abandoned bathroom. Adam and Dr Gordon wake up and find themselves chained up in a bathroom full of clues, tiny tapes, and a dead body.
It’s a race against time to try and figure out to free themselves and save Dr Gordon’s family before they end up stuck in the bathroom forever. The best bathroom scene in the movie is probably the ending though when Dr Gordon takes a saw to his ankle to free himself and Jigsaw reveals he was hiding in plain sight the whole time.
Scream (1996)
Poor Sidney. Once Ghostface makes it clear that he intends to terrorise and then kill her, there’s no escape for her. Even in the middle of the day, while taking a quick toilet break, Sidney needs to be on constant lookout. Once she’s alone in the bathroom, Sidney thinks she hears a noise and sees someone step down off the toilet in one of the stalls, before lowering the ragged hem of their Ghostface costume.
Now, I’ve seen debate online as to whether this version of Ghostface is one of the many imposters roaming the school rather than Billy or Stu, but either way, it’s terrifying for poor Sidney who believes she is fighting for her life. And of course, on first watch, before you know who the killers are, it seems likely that this is a real deadly encounter for Sidney.
Scream 2 (1997)
TheScreammovies are famous for their amazing openings, and whileScream 2had a tall order to fill after Casey Becker’s amazing death scene in the first movie, it manages something equally impressive. Couple Phil and Maureen head to the cinema for a sneak preview of the newStabmovie. While Maureen isn’t into the over-the-top horror at all, Phil is having a great time, until he ducks out to go to the bathroom.
Thinking he hears a couple having sex in the next stall, Phil presses his ear against the wall to get a better listen. However, Phil is rewarded for his gross behaviour with a knife in the ear, and the killer takes Phil’s place before returning to sit next to Maureen.
Silent Hill (2006)
Every monster inSilent Hillis nightmare fuel, but there’s something about the Janitor that’s just terrifying. When Rose discovers him bound up in the bathroom stall, you just know that he’s going to come to life, but you hope Rose can escape before he does.
Soon after her discovery, the creepy siren sounds, and Silent Hill turns into a living hell. This is when the Janitor drags himself along the floor, still bound by barbed wire. Luckily, the bathroom walls shift enough to let Rose escape before the Janitor can reach her.
Slither (2006)
Women in baths cannot catch a break in horror movies, and it’s no different for Kylie inSlither. It’s maybe not the best idea to take a bath with headphones on while alien slugs are attacking your town, because it means Kylie doesn’t realise she’s in danger until the last minute.
Luckily, Kylie opens are eyes just in time and manages to fight off the worm before it shoves itself down her throat. She then throws it against the bathroom wall, and finishes it off with her curling tongs.
The Dead Zone (1983)
After a car accident, school teacher Johnny Smith acquires the power to see psychic visions when he touches a person. After being enlisted by the local police to help solve a series of murder, Johnny sees that the killer is sheriff’s deputy Frank Dodd, who flees the scene.
Frank decides to die at home before he can be brought to justice for his crimes. He wedges a pair of hairdressing scissors at the edge of his bath, and falls onto them, jamming them into his face and throat. While we don’t see the act, seeing Frank lining up his fall is grotesque enough.
The Fly (1986)
The Flyis simultaneously one of the most amazing and grossest movies out there, and as Seth starts to make his full transformation into the Brundlefly, his body begins to lose its more human qualities. As Seth stands in front of his bathroom mirror, he finds hairs growing out of his face, and his oozing fingers are shedding their nails.
At this stage Seth isn’t sure what is happening to him, thinking he might be dying, but it’s only the start of the severe changes his body will make in the coming days.
The Grudge (2004)
Remakes often get a hard time for not being as scary as the original, but there’s no denying how creepyThe Grudgeremake was when it came out in 2004. Anyone who enters the cursed house inThe Grudgealso finds themselves on the cursed list, meaning the hauntings follow the victims home.
One such scene is when Karen is taking a shower and washing her hair. The audience sees a set of fingers scuttle out of Karen’s hair, which she feels as she rinses herself. However, it all happens so fast, Karen isn’t entirely sure what has happened, only that she isn’t completely alone.
The Midnight Man (2016)
The Midnight Manis a case of teenagers discovering a cursed game in the attic, and deciding to ignore all the attached warning about death and danger, and just play the game anyway. After starting the game, Alex goes to check on her Nana, but unfortunately leaves the candle which is protecting her in the bedroom as she goes to check the bathroom.
When her Nana blows the candle out, the Midnight Man attacks, discovering that Alex’s biggest fear is blood. It’s blood-filled bath time again, which is unfortunate for Alex, as she emerges from under the surface and flops onto the bathroom floor. She soon starts vomiting large amounts of blood before her friend Miles comes to her rescue.
The Orphanage (2007)
30 years after attending an orphanage herself, Laura and her family have returned to renovate the place and reopen it as a home for disabled children. However, soon after they arrive, her son, Simón, claims to have made a new friend called Tomás who wears a sack on his head.
Laura tries to ignore Simón’s strange behaviour, but when he finds out he is adopted, the pair fall out. At the opening party for the orphanage, Laura tries to find Simón after their fight but ends up getting locked in the bathroom by a small child in a sack mask. After slamming her hand in the door, what appears to be Tomás taunts her with the key from the other side of the door before leaving her locked inside.
The Shining (1980)
Don’t go into Room 237. Just don’t do it. Danny wishes he’d listened to this advice, and so does Jack, because neither liked what they found in there. Danny is lured to the room by the ghosts of the Overlook Hotel, despite knowing that he’s not going to like what he finds inside.
While we don’t see what happens to Danny in the room, when Jack goes to investigate, he finds a naked woman in the bathtub. She exits the bath and kisses Jack, only to transform into a rotting old woman when he catches her reflection in the mirror.
Valentine (2001)
It’s no secret thatValentineis one of my favourite slasher movies, and while a lot of the violence in the movie is unseen or not super graphic, Ruthie’s death is brutal and her chase scene never fails to freak me out. Ruthie heads to Dorothy’s house during the Valentine’s Day party to snoop around on her ex-boyfriend but instead stumbles across the murderer fresh from the kill.
Ruthie hides under a bench in the sauna as the killer peeks through the window, but eventually, he leaves without finding Ruthie. However, when she tries to make a break for it he jumps out at her and throws her through the glass of the shower. He then shoves Ruthie’s head down onto the broken glass, killing her.
What Lies Beneath (2000)
What Lies Beneathseems like a simple ghost story in the beginning, but after a little digging, Claire finds out that her husband, Norman, murdered his mistress in a bid to keep their affair secret. It seems that Norman is willing to do whatever it takes to keep his crime covered, and decides to murder Claire as well.
Norman paralyses Claire with a drug and leaves her in the slowly-filling bath to make the scene look like suicide. As the bath fills, Claire starts to regain some movement in her feet. It’s a tense scene as we watch her try to wiggle her toe enough to pull to plug out and prevent herself from drowning.
What bathroom scenes leave you stressed out in the shower or terrified on the toilet? Let me know in the comments below!