When you mention the words "dream sequence" in horror films, you immediately think of a frequent screenwriter's lazy resource of submitting characters to strange situations that don't make any sense at all, and don't add anything to the story. They're just filling sequences that, when they end, you can hear a worldwide breath of relief because "it was just a dream".
However, sometimes they do mean something. And usually, when they do, they're beautifully shot as short films inside a feature. When they're well done, dream sequences can help a lot in communicating something to the audience that's relevant. Or they can also scare the hell out of you. In the case of the latter, their existence makes for the scare that you usually seek in horror cinema.
But don't be fooled. They're not easy to make. There are actual techniques to help you create the perfect dream sequence. And in the case of the following films, we can imagine that they took a lot of effort by the horror visionaries that directed them. These are the most terrifying dream sequences in horror history.
10 Drag Me to Hell (2009)
In Sam Raimi's Drag Me to Hell, Christine Brown proves to her boss that she can be tough and decides to deny a mortgage extension to an old lady. In return, the lady curses her, making her go through a harrowing journey where Hell seems to be the destination. One night, as she comfortably sleeps in bed with her boyfriend Clay, flies start entering the room (one even lands on the camera! Raimi's wink to the audience). They fly around Christine's face, they enter her nostrils, and then her mouth. She wakes up distressed, but she thinks it was just a dream. As she lies back, the scary old lady is by her side, instead of her boyfriend.
The lady starts barking at Christine, trying to bite her. But then the worst happens: Thousands of wiggling worms spray out the lady's mouth into Christine's face and wide-open mouth. Sure, it ends quick, but it's a horrific sequence, involving real insects, by the way.
9 A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
A Nightmare on Elm Street could seem like an obvious pick for the list. In fact, all films of the franchise involve scary dream sequences, as it's the only way Freddy Krueger may attack and kill you. But in the first film, as Nancy starts falling asleep in her class, something very unsettling takes place.
She's traumatized by her friend Tina's brutal death in the hands of an invisible Freddy Krueger. Of course, she hasn't slept for a while, and she falls asleep in class. As she does, she hears someone calling her name. Outside, Tina's bloody corpse is covered by the transparent body bag, and she's the one calling Nancy. Nobody else in the class sees this. A student creepily recites something in the front of the class. Nancy goes outside the classroom to see what left the giant puddle of blood.
In the hallway, the bloodied body bag is dragged by an unseen force. When Nancy runs to see who took the bag, she runs into another student who asks for a hall pass. Seconds later, the student has Freddy's glove, letting Nancy realize she's trapped in a realm she can't comprehend.
8 Eraserhead (1977)
Picking a dream sequence in David Lynch's Eraserhead is symbolic. The whole film feels like a nightmare gone wrong, thoroughly designed by the master of nightmare realms. However, Eraserhead does have a specific dream sequence, and it starts when Henry's head pops from his body and a phallic organ takes its place. Of course, his deformed baby's head grows between his shoulders. Henry's head lies in a pool of blood, where it suddenly sinks, and it actually falls on the street. Henry's skull is now open, and a kid approaches and takes the head to a pencil factory, where he will be paid for providing material (Henry's brains) for making erasers. Don't try to make sense of it.
7 Aliens (1986)
In James Cameron's Aliens, Ellen Ripley has been rescued after the events of the first movie. When Weyland-Yutani representative Carter tries to explain that 57 years have passed since she escaped the alien, her mouth drops. Ripley is bewildered and can't understand how so much time has passed. At her side, Jonesy the cat snarls. Ripley doesn't feel well. Something hurts. The cat hides, and in terror, Ripley realizes something. She will suffer the same fate as Kane, her partner in the Nostromo, from whose chest a creature came out. Carter calls for help, but it's too late. Ripley pulls up her gown in terror, and from her stomach something arises.
6 The Exorcist (1973)
One of The Exorcist's main characters is Father Damien Karras. His mother has recently passed, and as he's grieving, he can't get over the guilt he feels because he wasn't with her during her last moments. Father Karras dreams, and the dream involves his own feelings plus the impending encounter with something evil.
Ridden with symbolism, and an eerie sound design, the scene shows a religious falling to the ground, a black dog running, and Karras' mother staring in disbelief. His raspy breathing can be heard as he watches his mother emerge from the subway entrance from a distance. He calls out to her, but she's shown exclaiming "Dimmy, Dimmy", just like she always did when she was alive. Before Karras starts running to his mother, a demonic face is shown in the screen in a split second, shocking the audience with the unexpected face. Karras quickly runs, but his mother returns to the subway, showing how he once again failed at listening to her cry for help.
5 Jacob’s Ladder (1990)
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It's hard to pick one of Jacob's Ladder dream scenes, given that we're still not sure if the film shows facts, or if it's just a compilation of Jacob's thoughts. However, in one of the film's most noteworthy scenes, Jacob is shown attending a party where there are people dancing. The shy Jacob accepts the invitation to stay by his girlfriend Jezzie and eventually joins the party. Quickly, things get a bit too steamy and disturbing for poor Jacob. Birds start flying around, and bloody creatures try to bite him. Jacob tries desperately to leave, but ends up evidencing an unsettling dance by Jezzie and a demonic creature whose tail seems to penetrate her.
It could be a hallucination, but Adrian Lyne's film is heavily ridden with these scenes that really make you wonder if Jacob is actually here in our world, or in some dark and corrupted corner of his own mind.
4 Carrie (1976)
When Carrie ends, everything's over for Sue. Her boyfriend, her friends - everyone, has perished during Carrie's rampage during prom night. Her mother is by her side, and later she lets a friend know Sue's getting better. But the girl's sleeping too much. Sure, she's young and will likely forget, but what's going on in her head?
Sue dreams of visiting Carrie's resting place. She just wants to put some flowers in what's definitely not a regular grave. Still traumatized by the violence of the recent events (that somehow she may have caused with her naive plans), Sue kneels down to put the flowers in the rubble, but then Brian De Palma decides otherwise and provides one of the first jump scares in horror: Carrie's bloody hand arises from the rocks and grabs Sue as she screams hysterically and wakes up. The scene's been subject to interpretation for its symbolic representation of revenge.
3 The Fly (1986)
The dream sequence in The Fly is absolute bliss for the fans of its director, David Cronenberg. The scene takes place right after Ronnie realizes she's pregnant with Seth Brundle's baby, and Seth's more of a monster than human now. Ronnie dreams of having her baby delivered, and you can tell from the start that this birth is far from joyful. Ronnie's already traumatized by the idea of having a little monster in the oven. But then the doctor tells her to push. Ronnie refuses in panic, but then a squishy sound is heard. She didn't even have to push. Something came out, and it's a huge maggot that squirms in excitement in the doctor's hands for having been delivered.
2 Pet Sematary (1989)
With the presence of Carrie above, we can confirm Stephen King adaptations are good for displaying the darkness of the psyche by horrific dream sequences. In the 1989 version of Pet Sematary, a family's in shock after young Gage is run over by an 18-wheeler in the front of their new home. When the father, Louis, attempts to revive the body of his son, his wife, Rachel, senses there's something he's not sharing with her. Dealing with her demons from her past, she takes a plane, where she has a horrific nightmare.
Rachel's childhood was traumatizing because of her sister's illness. Zelda suffered from spinal meningitis, and this deformed her body beyond recognition. She shows up in Rachel's nightmare as a crawling demonic creature that's set on delivering justice because of her sister's fear and contempt. Great makeup and performance, and an unnerving stare into the camera by Zelda, make this sequence blood-curdling.
1 Friday the 13th (1980)
Sean Cunningham's 1980 version of Friday the 13th has one of the best jump scares in cinema history, and it all takes place in a dream sequence. Alice has made it through the night. She managed to decapitate Mrs. Pamela Voorhees after she discovered Voorhees was doing all the killing in Camp Crystal Lake. She's fallen asleep on a boat to seemingly waits until help arrives.
Just when it does, a deformed and rotten body emerges from the water and pulls Alice to the water, as she screams in absolute terror. She wakes up in the hospital and asks the police about Jason, and they tell her there was no sign of the boy.
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