Alert, Alert!: Disturbing TV Moments

[spaceytraci1208]

I have quite a few, but one that sticks out in my head is the beating/stabbing scene from A Cry for Help: The Tracey Thurman Story, a TV movie starring Nancy McKeon.

Does anyone else know what I'm talking about?

OMG, yes! I posted about this in the "Disturbing Movie Moments" thread awhile back. I think I was like 9 when I saw it, and it's still very haunting to me. I had an aversion to Dale Midkiff for a little while after this movie, much like I had to Danny Glover after I saw The Color Purple

[mansonlamps]

Don't forget he was literally stomping on her head while she was lying in the street during the beating. God that was a truly disturbing scene.

[DollEyes]

Bumping it up with two disturbing scenes, both involving children, from Empire Fox's new hip-hop based prime-time soap. The first was when Lucius saw his little son Jamal playing dress-up in high heels and was so outraged that he put the boy in a trashcan while the other featured Cookie, Jamal's mother, beating her other son Hakeem with a broom for calling her a bitch-although given the circumstances of the latter, I didn't blame her. Re the former, that it's based on an incident from Empire's creator/director Lee Daniels' own childhood makes it even scarier.

Edited January 13, 2015 by DollEyes

[Jipijapa]

The first five minutes of Fringe.  (Melting plane passengers)  This has to be the most disgusting primetime TV moment of the decade.  I still can't watch it again, and I rewatch most of the whole show once a year.   (Distant runner-up on Fringe was the disintegrating hand in Season 4.  I laugh about "The Hand" though because right before that scene, I was thinking, "Gee, Fringe has really sort of slacked off in the good old grossout stuff--- OH JESUS! GACK!!" )

 

Ironically, both those scenes involve my most cringe-inducing, disturbing scenario... which is where something horrible is happening to you and you are trapped in an enclosed space and can't get out.  Along those lines, there was another scene in Season 4 that wasn't visually horrific, but was still pretty bad - the guy being slowly desiccated to death so Crazy Perfume Guy could steal his bodily fluids.

Edited January 11, 2015 by Jipijapa

[Jipijapa]

 

Ah, yes, The Day After. I was too young to watch it (like, 2!) when it initially aired, but I caught it many years later on cable (can't remember which channel--perhaps the History Channel?), and holy fuck! Disturbing as hell!

 

Ever see the UK's version of this, "Threads"?  Actually I think it pre-dated The Day After.  This was all part of the "Let's Scare Today's Kids to Death via Fake Nuclear Holocaust" trend, it's a wonder my generation didn't emerge from adolescence completely nihilistic and scarred for life.  Anyhow, "Threads" didn't really horrify with the explosion stuff, but rather with the utter sense of breakdown and futility that unfolded afterward.  Like, "Ha ha, you think a nuclear war is survivable?  You think your generation even has a future?? DESPAIR AND DIE!!!!"  The last scene of Threads has a 13-year-old girl, who was born just after the nuclear holocaust, giving birth to her own baby... and we never actually see the (obviously horribly malformed) baby... just the girl's horrified face as she starts to scream, which we never hear either because... freeze-frame.

 

Oh btw, everyone had to watch The Day After in school.  There was no escaping it.  Also, everyone had to watch WW2-films of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki aftermath.  (My biology teacher fainted during one of these screenings.)

Edited January 11, 2015 by Jipijapa

[redlaces]

Most of what people find creepy is my bread and butter. X-Files usually made me  laugh, and the theme to Tales from the Darkside is my ringtone, and growing up I had a huge poster of a knife wielding clown wearing a bloody apron, so there you go. Now, turn on The Duggars or Kardashians and I will run screaming from the room. Toddlers and Tiaras.. Stuff like that. That is some purely disturbing shit right there. 

[Linderhill]

 

Still traumatized by what happened to Opie on Sons of Anarchy.  Damn you, Kurt Sutter.

Me too and I wasnt even that fond of him.  It was that episode that finally got me to quit watching.  

 

A truly disturbing scene for me was in the first season of Sleepy Hollow when Moloch is emerging from the the clearing in the forest.  Something about it gave me major creeps.

 

The character of Toombs and Donnie Pfaster on Xfiles freaked me out for years.  And speaking of Toombs, the actor that played him played a stalker on CSI.  One of the creepiest things that I ever saw was a scene where he came sliding out of the attic trap door behind George Eads' Nick.

[Misslindsey]

I have a fear of garden gnomes. I love The Amazing Race, but I hate the constant Travelocity Gnome product placement. Also, a cartoon from when I was a kid David the Gnome freaked me out.

[Princess Sparkle]

The scene in the most recent episode of The Americans where we see how Phillip learned how to seduce/be a honeypot was one of the most unsettling things I've seen on tv in quite some time.

Edited March 2, 2015 by Princess Sparkle

[Chaos Theory]

The Americans is usually good for a disturbing moment or two each episode. See DIY dentistry and how to pack you suitcase like a professional.

[SmithW6079]

The character of Toombs and Donnie Pfaster on Xfiles freaked me out for years.

Those are definitely two of the creepiest characters on "X-Files" (especially when we see Donnie in his demon form), but one of the most disturbing "X-Files" is the episode with the Peacocks -- the one with the inbred hillbillies.

Another old creepy scene was in "Knot's Landing" -- one of the characters had her throat cut by her ex-husband.

[ParadoxLost]

I have a fear of garden gnomes. I love The Amazing Race, but I hate the constant Travelocity Gnome product placement. Also, a cartoon from when I was a kid David the Gnome freaked me out.

 

While we're admitting kind of odd things that freak us out...I'm not disturbed by horror and stuff like that.  Grossed out some times, but not disturbed.  But they used to do a lot of these pseudo documentary fluff entertainment tv shows about haunted houses at Halloween.  I found that actors walking up stairs in period costumes (no special effects) while the narrator explained how they were a ghost that haunted the house scary.  Meanwhile, not freaked by Ghost Hunters.  Not freaked by Downton Abbey.  Not freaked by any documentary that  Ken Burns narrates.  I do think that Ken Burns narrating an episode of Downton Abbey about the dead characters that still haunt the place would be terrifying.

[bmoore4026]

I'm sure this scared the fuck out of many a child back in 1985: https://youtu.be/lhXNgdlpegA?t=1h30m37s

 

Still makes me a little tense thirty years later.

 

Also this: https://youtu.be/cufnyyEXX9g?t=37m59s

 

Sleep tight, everyone!  Or Carol Channing will get you!

[Princess Sparkle]

It's a different type of disturbing, but in my Sopranos rewatch, I got to "Employee of the Month" (the episode where Melfi is raped), and I forgot just how brutal the rape scene is.  Out of all the violence and brutality on that show, that is still the most disturbing thing to me.   

[DollEyes]

  Speaking of rape, there are disturbing things in every L&O: SVU episode, but one of the most disturbing was "Undercover," the one where Liv posed as an inmate in a women's prison to catch the guard who raped/murdered an inmate and raped her daughter. Especially chilling was the scene when the guard had beaten and almost raped Liv when she was rescued. Mariska Hargitay deserved her Emmy nomination that year for that episode alone.

[ChromaKelly]

On Deadwood, when Tolliver had clocked Kristen Bell's character in the head and she was clearly damaged from it, trying to reach for the necklace. Having her POV made it even worse.

[funkopop]

I remember as a kid watching No One Would Tell, the Lifetime movie starring Candace Cameron and Fred Savage, with my mom. The whole movie was about domestic violence and hard to watch but the scene when Fred's character locks her in a trunk and pushes it into the river haunted me for a while.  

Edited April 22, 2015 by funkopop

[bmoore4026]

Surprised this topic hasn't yet been flooded by Shireen's death on Game of Thrones.

[cpcathy]

I don't even watch that show and I'm checking the recaps to find out what happened!

[DollEyes]

 

Surprised this topic hasn't yet been flooded by Shireen's death on Game Of Thrones.

 

  Nor about Sansa's rape, for that matter.

 

  Even worse, re Shireen's death was that

she was killed by her own father! As far as I'm concerned, any person who's so obsessed with power that they're willing to kill their own kids in cold blood to get it is not only not a parent, whatever suffering they'll get after that, they'll deserve

. 

Edited June 12, 2015 by DollEyes

[FormerMod-a1]

I'm surprised Hannibal doesn't dominate this thread.  Follow link at your own risk.  Warning, the first item isn't that bad, so it may lull you into a false sense of security.  Also, I freakin' love this show, despite the gore.

[Kromm]

Comedy Central is streaming the first post 9-11 episode of The Daily Show right now, at this URL:

http://www.cc.com/events/month-of-zen/live.html

And I mean right now. July 3rd, at 11:23am EST. If you're seeing this later it's already happened. But the next few hours if you tune in will be all of the super-serious post 9-11 Daily Show episodes in order.

EDIT - Okay, other than Stewart's opening speech, the September 20 2001 episode seems to be just clips "to make people smile at this bad time" (although introduced live by Stewart). The next show, September 24, seems to be the first real stab at a full show. That comes on around 11:47am EST.

Edited July 3, 2015 by Kromm

[cynicat]

But the next few hours if you tune in will be all of the super-serious post 9-11 Daily Show episodes in order.

 

Nearly 14 years later and I don't think I can watch.  

[Kromm]

Nearly 14 years later and I don't think I can watch.  

They're already up to October 10.  It's now more about the infancy of the war in Afghanistan.

[DollEyes]

  Disturbing doesn't even begin to describe the cold-blooded, on-camera murders of WDBJ news anchor Alison Parker and her cameraman Adam Ward, by a deranged former colleague, which happened in my home state of Virginia. The killer, a gay, Black man whose name I won't mention, was recently fired by the station, which he not only blamed on racism and homophobia, he accused Ms. Parker of being responsible. Worse, before killing himself, the killer posted the killings on his Twitter feed and even sent a long, rambling post to ABC News justifying his crimes, including allegedly expressing admiration for the killers at Columbine and VA Tech and wanting to continue the so-called "race war" the Charleston, SC assassin-another name whom I won't dignify by mentioning- claims to have started. This monster even allegedly carved the initials of the Charleston massacre victims on some on his bullets. That bastard was a disgrace to the Black community, the LGBT community, to journalism and the human race.

 

  This story is also heartbreaking, for several reasons. Besides the murders themselves, Ms. Parker and Mr. Ward were killed at some of the happiest times in their lives-Ms. Parker had just moved in with her longtime boyfriend, fellow news anchor Chris Hurst while Ward had just gotten engaged to one of the producers and they were planning to move to North Carolina together. My deepest condolences to the Parker and Ward families and those who loved them.

 

RIP, Andrea and Adam.

Edited September 1, 2015 by DollEyes

[DollEyes]

 As if there aren't enough disturbing scenes in American Horror Story: Hotel, the first episode has a rape scene with a so-called  "drill-do"  that's grotesque, to say the least.

Edited October 14, 2015 by DollEyes

[bmoore4026]

What the people from The Today Show went for Halloween this year is fucked up beyond measure:

 

http://www.today.com/news/today-goes-nuts-halloween-peanuts-see-our-charlie-brown-gang-t53131

[MaryMitch]

Aw, I think they're cute!

[DollEyes]

Bumping it up with the scene from the "#FindKaylaWeber" episode of Major Crimes, about the case of a baseball player's missing 5-year-old daughter, in which the team searched a suspect's apartment until they got to the kitchen and found the refrigerator, which had a large box inside-which, unfortunately, contained the little girl's body.

[BooksRule]

I've been haunted by the memory of a 'Tales from the Darkside' episode for years (actually decades), ever since the first time I saw it.  Most of time, that show didn't scare me, but this one episode creeped me out big time (and I'm saying this as someone who saw the episode as a full-grown adult, not as a kid).  It was one called 'Hush', where a little kid invented a machine out of canister vacuum cleaner that 'ate sound' (he called it the 'Eater').  It turned out that it also ate the life force from living things as well as sound, and when the remote control to it got smashed, the kid and his babysitter were forced to hide while it roamed around the house attacking things (from innocent things like the ringing from the telephone, the motor from the fridge, but then also pets and people).  To make it worse, the kid had a bad cough, and their hiding place was exposed by his coughing.  The way that thing rolled around, making 'breathing' noises (there was a kind of bellows on one side), with the vacuum hose (which looked like a fat elephant trunk with a 'mouth' that looked like a lamprey fish) moving around seeking out sound was big time creepy.  It would raise it up and turn toward sound like it could almost see.  It could also move really fast and made a kind of nails-on-a-chalkboard sound as it 'ate'.

 

I had actually forgotten a lot of the details (luckily), but my cable company recently added the Chiller Channel to the line-up and I saw that it was being shown the other day.  And, of course, I had to watch it.  It was just as scary as the first time I watched it.

Edited April 17, 2016 by BooksRule

[DollEyes]

Bumping it to say that to call the scene from the "Home" episode of Game Of Thrones where Ramsey had his stepmom and his newborn baby brother  murdered by a pack of wild dogs in cold blood disturbing would be an understatement.

[Snow Apple]

The mention of Tales from the Darkside reminded me of an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents called "Final Escape." I saw the 80's version as a teen. (SPOILER) A woman prisoner planned an escape with the help of the prison maintenance worker. The next time someone died, she will sneak into the coffin and he will dig her up later. So that happened and she's waiting and waiting. She finally lit a match only to see the dead body is the maintenance worker! She starts screaming! The last shot is of a peaceful silent cemetery because of course nobody can hear her scream from six feet below.

I had never forgotten that episode and hunted years and years for the title. Bless the invention of the internet. 

[Fable]

3 hours ago, Snow Apple said:

The mention of Tales from the Darkside reminded me of an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents called "Final Escape." I saw the 80's version as a teen. (SPOILER) A woman prisoner planned an escape with the help of the prison maintenance worker. The next time someone died, she will sneak into the coffin and he will dig her up later. So that happened and she's waiting and waiting. She finally lit a match only to see the dead body is the maintenance worker! She starts screaming! The last shot is of a peaceful silent cemetery because of course nobody can hear her scream from six feet below.

I had never forgotten that episode and hunted years and years for the title. Bless the invention of the internet. 

I remember watching that episode and being completely creeped out by it.  It still haunts me every time I think of it.  

[anna0852]

How did she not notice it was the maintenance worker when she crawled into the casket? That's a heck of a spot check to fail.

Edited May 9, 2016 by anna0852

[Chaos Theory]

The Americans had basically the worlds most disturbing episode.  Between a highlight reel of "The Morning After" and  Elizabeth  destructing her one real friendship . IT was a fun episode.

[Sandman87]

An X-Files episode that gives me the willies: "Theef." That scene with the voodoo doll and the microwave...

[Just Here]

On 5/8/2016 at 3:02 PM, Snow Apple said:

The mention of Tales from the Darkside reminded me of an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents called "Final Escape." I saw the 80's version as a teen. (SPOILER) A woman prisoner planned an escape with the help of the prison maintenance worker. The next time someone died, she will sneak into the coffin and he will dig her up later. So that happened and she's waiting and waiting. She finally lit a match only to see the dead body is the maintenance worker! She starts screaming! The last shot is of a peaceful silent cemetery because of course nobody can hear her scream from six feet below.

I had never forgotten that episode and hunted years and years for the title. Bless the invention of the internet. 

Thanks for finding the title.  I always thought it was one of the 1980s Twilight Zone episodes.

[Spartan Girl]

The season finale of Bates Motel 

with Norman digging up Norma's corpse and supergluing her eyes open

.  Nightmares forever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[topanga]

Last night's episode of The Americans had a scene that creeped some people out. A character gets impaled in the leg with a piece of glass, and over the course of the scene, the camera periodically cuts to his face and his steadily bleeding thigh. And the scene continues even after he dies. It didn't bother me, but I'm less squeamish than most.

[BatmanBeatles]

On 5/17/2016 at 10:36 AM, Spartan Girl said:

The season finale of Bates Motel 

  Reveal hidden contents

with Norman digging up Norma's corpse and supergluing her eyes open

.  Nightmares forever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I yelled "No! No! No!" the whole time.

[DollEyes]

Bumping it up to add the terrorist attack on the U.S. Capital building during the State Of the Union address in the premiere of Designated Survivor, which killed the President, the Cabinet and the entire Congress except for one person who's supposed to stay behind, played by Keifer Sutherland, who becomes the new President, hence the show's title. 

[Shannon L.]

3 hours ago, DollEyes said:

Bumping it up to add the terrorist attack on the U.S. Capital building during the State Of the Union address in the premiere of Designated Survivor, which killed the President, the Cabinet and the entire Congress except for one person who's supposed to stay behind, played by Keifer Sutherland, who becomes the new President, hence the show's title. 

I recorded the show and watched it the next night, so I'll admit to reading this in the forum and thinking "It's just a show, guys", but when I saw it, I said out loud "Boy, that really does kind of get to you."  It's not even like it was really well done or really explicit (it was shown from a distance).  Just the visual, with the thought of it happening and 9/11 always in the back of minds.  Yeah.....it was disturbing, all right.

[Spartan Girl]

Last night's season premiere of The Walking Dead. Both Abraham and Glenn getting their brains bashed in by Lucille were both equally horribly graphic, but the sight of the still-alive Glenn with his skull caved in and his eyeball popped out, trying to speak to Maggie almost made me throw up. 

[DollEyes]

Bumping it up to say that I saw "Charlottesville: Race & Terror," the VICE news special on the Charlottesville tragedy & it's one of the most disturbing & thought-provoking shows I've ever seen in my life, for better & for worse. It's replaying several times, is On Demand on HBO & on YouTube. 

[ChromaKelly]

The first episode of Black Mirror. It was so disturbing, it's the only episode I ever watched. It haunts me.

[Cupcake04]

The Handmaids Tale. ALL of it. The most disturbing thing I have ever seen. I watched first 2 eps Sunday and I just cannot get it out of my head. I want to watch the rest of the eps but I can't get the courage up. I have never had anything effect me so deeply, and after reading the forum here I see I am not alone. I think the current circumstances make it seem all too possible and thats what makes it even more disturbing.

[DollEyes]

After seeing Surviving R. Kelly, I don't know which is more disturbing: the stories of the survivors themselves or the excuses of the so-called "adults" who, for whatever reasons, didn't even try to protect them. 

[Dr.OO7]

On 11/28/2014 at 4:35 PM, mansonlamps said:

Don't forget he was literally stomping on her head while she was lying in the street during the beating. God that was a truly disturbing scene.

And STILL trying to get at her even as she was loaded into the ambulance!

Anyone else still haunted by Marty's gang rape on "One Life To Live"?

[andromeda331]

13 hours ago, Camille said:

And STILL trying to get at her even as she was loaded into the ambulance!

Anyone else still haunted by Marty's gang rape on "One Life To Live"?

Yes, and still throwing up at her testifying for Todd years later when he was on trial for raping Blair. I'm sorry you don't have a rape victim testifying for her rapist.

[AntiBeeSpray]

The whole arc of Cold Case, Mind Hunters and The Woods (George Marks). Very creepy and disturbing.

 

Edited January 13, 2019 by AntiBeeSpray