the most bone chilling moment in film

Well..

There is one scene that, in my opinion, surpasses the scene of the bus crash. One of the most emotional scenes I've ever seen was the flashback of Ian Holm's character, as he tells the incident of almost losing his daughter when she was only three years old. The scene shows baby Zoe's face, seen from her father's eyes. Her eyes are full of sadness, and next to her face is her father's hand holding a knife, ready to perform manual intubation in case she starts suffocating. Whew! This is the scene that always comes first to my mind when I think of this movie.

A similar scene from a completely different context and movie:

Ralph Fiennes in "Spider", with a hammer and a screwdriver, hovering over the face of Mrs. Wilkinson, the keeper of the asylum (or whatever).. freaked me out.

Back to the Sweet Hereafter: somehow seeing the actual bus crash happen brought more a sense of completion than tore my guts out. Not to say that it wasn't horrible, yes it was. But I think it's because Egoyan didn't loiter with the scene. The accident happens, and before you know it, it's over. No un-stylish calculated "Titanic"-imagery, but an event in life as it is, very realistic in the true meaning of the word. Anyway, this is the best movie I've seen lately.

"Ich weiss jetzt was kein Engel weiss."

well I think the one that always freaks me out the most is in trainspotting when renton is in bed and the drugs are wearing off and he sees the dead baby crawling on the ceiling and then turning it's neck over to look at him....I love the movie but everytime I watch it I know it's coming and have to fast forward it through that scene....hands down most chilling

I can't think of the most chilling moment in film, but I agree that the bus crash was one of them. I agree with The Elephant Man, but I thought the scene where he is cornered in public and screams "I AM A MAN!" was effective if not chilling. I guess chilling may not be the word to describe that. And although I laughed at it the first time I saw it, the scene in the Exorcist where Reagan climbs down the staircase bend backward on her hands and knees still haunts me a bit.











Only My Opinion Matters But That's Not My Opinion.

I think it's hard to say what movie moment chilled me the most. There is a lot of moment of that kind. As examples:

Damage: When Jeremy Irons (playing Stephen Flemming) is holding is dead son.

Zorba the Greek: The scene where the widow is murdered by the angry father.

Taxi Driver: The scene where Robert de Niro (playing Travis Bickle) end up lying on the couch, covered with blood.

Life is Beautiful: Roberto Benigni (playing Guido) who's walking to his death but still making jokes for is hidden kid.

Fargo: Geez, where to begin... ;)

etc.

I'll probably think of some others, I'll add them if I remember.

The movie Los Olvidados by Luis Bunuel.
It uncovered emotions that I never felt before!
It really is that good.

the school bus scene is Sweet Hereafter
the first 2/3rds of Irreversible
the film Repulsion
Shelly Duvall's performance in anything (especially The Shining)
requiem for a Dream, the shot of Ellen Burstyn in the hospital being force fed. actually, the entire film, i suppose

"Ah, ya's fancy pants, alla ya's"

Horror flicks usually don't bother me in the least but there were a couple moments in the Shining that kind of freak me out. One is when Shelly Duval goes over to the typewritter and turns over the large stack of Nicholson's completed manuscript and every page says over and over again "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." And the other scene from that movie is when he chops through the bathroom door ans says "here's Johnny."
In the movie FREEWAY when Reese Witherspoon goes to her grandmothers trailer and when she turns granny around it's Kiefer Sutherland dressed up as Granny.
In PULP FICTION when Travolta has to jam the needle into the dope addict chicks arm to bring her back around.

And there are so many others I just can't think of off the top of my head. Good topic by the way. ANd TSH was a truly magnificent film - totally unique.

I absolutely agree with the bus crash scene in "The Sweet Hereafter", but I can think of two other scenes in the film and a few other films that deserves some credit in being "heart-breaking":

Seeing Mitchell tell Nicole: " You make a great poker player, kid." and the look on Mitchell's face when he hears from his daughter and finds out that she has AIDS.

In "The Elephant Man", Treves tells Merrick: " We can care for you, but we can't cure you."

At the end of Sean Penn's directorial debut "The Indian Runner", the deeply sad and heartbroken look on Joe's face as Frank drives away in his wife's car.

In the live action version of the "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, the reactions of the members have after they leave the bridge and can't believe that Gandalf is gone especially Frodo and Aragorn.

In "Robocop": Murphy tells Lewis, " You may not like what you're going to see." Murphy takes off the steel helmet (or veil) and looks in the mirror to see what's left of him.