SHOCK lays out the Top Ten scariest scenes from the STAR WARS film franchise.
With STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS approaching faster than the Falcon doing the Kessel run, we, the devoted horror flock at SHOCK are also part of the collective STAR WARS enthusiasm and needed to find a point of entry to pipe in. With that, we are attacking this phenomenon from a much darker perspective, digging deep into the guts of the first six STAR WARS flicks and delivering what we believe are the most frightening, disturbing and graphic sequences from the STAR WARS saga.
Enjoy and please feel free to tell us YOUR favorite moments of horror from the STAR WARS films in the comments section below!
The Horror of STAR WARS
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10. A NEW HOPE (The Death of Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru)
Want to kick off a hero's journey properly and need some motivation? Why not murder some family members, that should work! Luke Skywalker discovers that his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru have been scorched by Imperial Stormtroopers. The sight of Luke's aunt and uncle's smouldering skeletal remains at the front door of his home across the sun baked plains of Tatooine is truly one of the saga's most disturbing sequences.
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9. ATTACK OF THE CLONES (Slaughter of the Tuskin Raiders)
Anakin rescues his mother from a band of Tuskin Raiders a little too late and she dies in his arms. A thirst for revenge immediately takes hold and Anakin completely loses it. He massacres the entire tribe, including the women and children, an act that immediately echoes throughout the force and spurs his inevitable journey towards the dark side.
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8. A NEW HOPE (Cantina Arm Slash)
For maximum gross-out, the Cantina scene where Luke inadvertently gets into a space bar brawl and requires an Obi-Wan light-saber intervention resulting in poor Ponda Baba getting a limb lopped off, is tops. Pure gory fun...
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7. RETURN OF THE JEDI (The Rancor Monster)
Luke's face-to-face showdown with Jabba the Hutt's precious pet is awe inspiring and completely thrilling. Watching a pathetic Gamorrean Guard get chomped down bit-by-bit is gruesome...
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6. THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (Han Solo's Torture in Cloud City)
EMPIRE is truly of one of the darkest flicks in the saga - to confirm that, just re-watch Solo's torture scene before Skywalker's arrival. Lord Vader and a handful of Stormtroopers rig Solo to this steampunk-looking chair that literally fries him. They simply torture him mercilessly, proving to everyone that the Empire doesn't mess around.
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5. REVENGE OF THE SITH (The Execution of Order-66)
Palpatine instructs his army to execute the pre-programmed "Order-66" while simultaneously sending Anakin (at this point, Lord Vader) on his own private extreme prejudice assignment: the slaughtering of younglings (Jedi children in training). There is even a terrifying shot when a young Jedi boy asks Anakin for help, as Lord Vader ignites his lightsaber for murder.
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4. THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (Special Edition Wampa Sequence)
The Special Editions weren't exactly fan favorites, especially with all the changes and additional footage; however, the partially re-shot Wampa scene on Hoth was an improvement. It is an incredibly intense, graphic and scary re-imagining.The new Wampa design is actually very scary instead of clumsy looking, and the whole scene even has new tauntaun intestines, wampa drool and new and nasty sound effects.
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3. RETURN OF THE JEDI (The Emperor Unleashes The Dark Side)
When Luke rejects Emperor Palpatine's forceful invitation to join the dark side, it's time for a good old fashioned electric Jedi execution. When Luke realizes that he's about to die, he then understands the true nature of the dark side. This is one of the saga's most horrifying moments.
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2. THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (Darth Vader's Revelation to Luke)
This sequence could have easily been ranked at number one for its totally shocking (at the time) dénouement; Vader's revelation to Luke about being his father was a worldwide jaw-dropping moment that blind-sided everyone.
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1. THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (Luke's Failure in the Cave)
While this sequence could arguably be swapped out with our number two choice, it still clinches our number one spot entirely on the strength of its nightmarish foreshadowing. The scene is set in a cave that Luke literally has to crawl into. It is dank with slime, creatures, a thick fog, a dreary John Williams score and a menacing Darth Vader emerging from the darkness to confront Luke... Luke squares off against Vader in what proves to be a test of fear, faith and a quick demonstration of the dark side's power and influence. The foreshadowing alone is a heavy dose of brutal reality that may affect Luke's destiny.Truly haunting.
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Bonus Horror: REVENGE OF THE SITH (Vader's Birth)
An honorable mention goes out to the intense sequence in EPISODE III that riffs on FRANKENSTEIN with its graphic resurrection of Anakin as Darth Vader.
