Casey Chong presents a selection of terrifying bath scenes from horror movies…
Taking a bath is supposed to be a relaxing me-time moment. But in the world of horror films, this might come across as a confined situation for all things morbid. An unfortunate character could end up drowning in a bathtub filled with bubbly water over the malevolent presence of something sinister, or perhaps find themselves stabbed while enjoying a nice, warm shower. Here is our list of ten terrifying bath scenes in horror movies…
Psycho (1960)
Anyone who watches Psycho will remember the iconic shower scene the most. The scene in question begins with Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) taking a shower in her room at Bates Motel before she ends up getting stabbed to death by someone with a kitchen knife. Psycho may have been over half a century ago, but the way Alfred Hitchcock directed the scene still resonates today. He emphasizes the use of sound, editing and deliberate camera placements, reportedly requiring 78 different setups and 52 cuts.
This remarkable trivia is later told in Alexandre O. Philippe’s 2017 documentary 78/52, detailing the movie’s shower scene. Each cut is meticulously put together to help dramatize and heighten the tension as we see the helpless Marion screaming in agony while the stabbing continues, complete with the sound of the knife piercing through the flesh, and Bernard Herrmann’s shrieking violin score accentuates the scene. And to add the intrigue further, we never get to see who’s stabbing her, other than a brief glimpse of a shadowy figure raising a knife.
What Lies Beneath (2000)
Robert Zemeckis scored big-time in What Lies Beneath, a slow-burn chiller that combines supernatural horror and psychological thriller. It boasts the memorable pairing of Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer, playing a married couple who live in a tranquil lakeside home in Vermont. The movie’s most unforgettable moment arrives in the third act as Norman (Ford) sedates his wife, Claire, which leaves her temporarily paralyzed. He carries Claire into the bathroom before placing her in the bathtub and turns on the tap water to drown her.
Zemeckis takes a cue from Hitchcockian style of direction, evoking a sense of ominous dread with the sparing use of music score. Then comes a well-placed jump scare, sneaking out of nowhere when you are least expecting it. And it works so well because Zemeckis keeps us hooked with Norman’s meticulous plan of wanting his wife’s death to look like a suicide without telegraphing the jump scare. But the bathroom scene doesn’t end there as the tension-filled momentum remains intact until the climactic finale, showcasing a masterclass of sustained thrills that Zemeckis is known for during his heyday.
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Nancy (Heather Langenkamp) should have listened to her mom (Ronee Blakley) not to fall asleep in the bathtub because she might slip and drown in A Nightmare on Elm Street. Well, she does it anyway, resulting in one of the most terrifying moments in Wes Craven’s 1984 seminal genre classic. We see Freddy Krueger’s gloved hand with protruding metal claws slowly emerge from the bubbly water between her legs as Nancy makes a mistake for falling asleep, before pulling her violently under the water into a seemingly deep, dark abyss.
What makes this scene work is the way Craven insists on not showing Freddy entirely, just enough to bring out the dread-inducing tension, proving that less is more can be just as scary. Interestingly, this wasn’t the first time Craven utilized the same concept, as he did it three years earlier in the little-seen Deadly Blessing, even though the metal-clawed, gloved hand was replaced by a snake slipping into the bathwater.
A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989)
Before Stephen Hopkins went on to direct big-budget movies like Predator 2 and Blown Away, one of his earlier works was A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child. An accomplished visual stylist, thanks to his stint directing music videos, Hopkins demonstrates his flair right from the get-go with an unforgettable opening scene. Here, we see Alice (Lisa Wilcox) is having a shower in the cubicle, where the drain gurgling with unsightly brown water.
And it gets weirder when the water pressure from the shower starts gushing before it fills up the cubicle, leaving Alice struggling inside and is about to drown before finding herself thrown into another location. This elaborate set-piece, which turns out to be Alice’s nightmare, effectively combines escalating suspense and disturbing imagery, despite this fifth movie itself ranked as one of the worst entries in the franchise.
Arachnophobia (1990)
The thought of creepy-crawlies can give people the heebie-jeebies. Now, imagine a spider gets into the bathroom while you are showering, before this eight-legged crawler drops on your forehead. That’s exactly what happens to Becky, played by Cori Wellins. She is massaging her hair when the spider lands on her forehead and makes its way down her wet, naked body – in a suggestive angle since it’s PG-13 anyway — before she finally realizes its presence. She ends up freaking out, but by then, the spider has already crawled into the drain.
Kudos to Frank Marshall, making his directorial debut here, for tapping into one of humans’ worst fears while bringing a palpable sense of verisimilitude that it can happen to anyone. The whole movie itself isn’t exactly the best work from Marshall, unlike the one seen in his superior follow-up, Alive.
Mirrors (2008)
An English-language remake of the 2003 South Korean horror Into the Mirror, Alexandre Aja’s mean-spirited version features plenty of gory details. There’s something supernatural about the mirrors found in the closed-down Mayflower department store due to a fire incident. Kiefer Sutherland, who plays Ben Carson, is a newly-hired security guard working on a night shift at the aforementioned store, and he’s not the only one experiencing sinister occurrences.
This extends to Angie (Amy Smart), who happens to be Ben’s sister, where her fate meets a grisly end. It all begins with her taking a bath in the tub, but what she doesn’t realize here is that there’s a mirror image of her standing there ripping off her jaw wide open. Her doppelganger causes the real Angie in the bathtub to suffer from the same horror while remaining helpless. It is one of the movie’s most shockingly graphic scenes in Mirrors, combining a seamless blend of practical and lifelike CGI effects.
The Tingler (1959)
The title in William Castle’s 1959 black-and-white horror film refers to the parasite that feeds on human fear. The most memorable moment comes from the scene where Martha (Judith Evelyn), a deaf-mute woman who can’t stand the sight of blood. At one point, the increasingly nervous Martha enters the bathroom before she is shocked to discover the taps from the sink are flowing with blood.
What makes the scene particularly unique is the use of the bright-red colour against the predominantly monochrome film. Castle raises the tension by showing a bloodied hand extending out of the bathtub filled with the same gore, further heightening a sense of immersion that comes across as both surreal and creepy. Besides, Castle is no stranger to coming up with different kinds of cinematic immersions, famously dubbed the king of gimmicks for his other works, such as House on Haunted Hill and 13 Ghosts.
Slither (2006)
Sometimes you just want a moment of peace lying in the bathtub while listening to music on a pair of earphones. But not for Kylie, played by Tania Saulnier, whose otherwise relaxing bubble bath turns into a surreal nightmare after a crimson, slug-like creature slithers into the tub. James Gunn embraces the B-horror wholeheartedly by going for the jugular – the slug quickly gets onto Kylie’s body as she begins to panic before entering her mouth, causing her to see things.
It’s as gross-out as it gets, culminating in a scene where Kylie quickly reaches for the curling iron and burns the slug to death. The bathtub scene is even used as a primary image for the Slither film poster. Interestingly, Slither marks the feature-length directorial debut of Gunn, who would go on to direct big-budget studio pictures, notably the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy and, of course, the Superman reboot.
The Shining (1980)
Accepting a job as a hotel caretaker isn’t for the faint-hearted. Jack Torrance is the best example here in The Shining, as Jack Nicholson’s character suffers on the verge of losing his insanity while taking care of the Overlook Hotel in the snowy Colorado Rocky Mountains. He eventually reaches his breaking point, but before that, there’s a scene where Jack wanders around and enters the forbidden Room 237. As we watch his hand slowly opens the door, Jack’s POV gradually reveals the predominantly mint green wall with cream orange accents.
The first thing that he and the audience see is the bathtub at the far end in the middle, with the transparent white curtain half-closed. What happens next is the sight of a young and beautiful woman, all stark naked, climbing out of the tub to greet Jack. Here, Stanley Kubrick combines a lingering sense of erotic imagery as the woman embraces him. But from the moment Jack looks at the mirror, the scene springs into a mix of jump scare and visceral shock, perfectly contrasting with the deliberate buildup earlier.
Final Destination (2000)
In the world of Final Destination, it’s hard to cheat death once his or her time is up. This makes it an ingenious setup for the filmmaker, in this case, James Wong, to play around with the concept. The opening sequence may have flipped the script by altering Death’s plan, thanks to Devon Sawa’s Alex Browning for his premonition of a mid-air flight explosion shortly after take-off. He has unwittingly saved a few of the passengers, leaving the others to die in the explosion, just like what he had seen in his vision.
But death always has a backup plan, and the first death begins with Alex’s best friend, Tod (Chad E. Donella). The latter’s death in the bathroom is one of the most brutal scenes ever seen in the Final Destination franchise, as Wong’s direction builds up the suspense deliberately: a puddle of water from a leaky pipe flowing across the floor, Tod cuts himself shaving, trimming his nose hair with a pair of small scissors, and a brief electrical spark from the wall outlet after turning on the radio.
Wong emphasizes every detail of Tod’s otherwise mundane action as if one of them can lead to his potential death, drawing an escalating sense of intrigue and tension. We see Tod is always aware of his surroundings, but Death never fails to improvise. The scene ends with Tod accidentally slipping, causing the clothesline to snap out of the wall before wrapping around his neck violently. It’s hard not to feel pity for Tod as we watch him struggling for his life, but the wire just gets tighter, to the point he dies of suffocation.
What are your favourite bathroom scenes from horror movies? Let us know on our social channels @FlickeringMyth…
Casey Chong
