What was the scariest movie you ever saw?

[dekeguy]

As a rule, movies don't really scare me but sometimes one surprises me.
The one that I thought had the most unexpected ending was a German made version of Dracula shot back in the 1960s which featured all of the old Hammer Films stars like Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee but was shot in German language. I saw this in Germany when I was on Army duty there inbetween undergrad and Law School. In this version you have the old Priest visiting on a short vacation from Rome to his native village where he stays at his brothers inn. His neice, predictably, is Dracula's target. The story line follows the attempts by Dracula to get to the neice, and the old priest's efforts to stop him. The impact of the ending pretty much assumes that the audience is Catholic in order to get the full understanding of what happens and why the reaction is so intense. As the film approaches its culmination Dracula decides that he needs to get rid of the priest so he can get to the neice. You see the usual mist slipping under the door of the priest's room and then Dracula materializes to confront him. The old priest is reading his Breviary (book of daily prayers and commentary on which to meditate) when he realizes who has just shown up. Dracula asks him, "you know who I am?" "Yes", he answers. "And you are not afraid", says Dracula with a sneer. "No, not really" the priest answers. "Then you must be very brave or very foolish" The priest closes and puts down his book, rises and looks directly at Dracula and says, "my dear count, I know who and what you are, but it is obvious that you have no idea who I am". Again sneeringly Dracula says, "and who are you little priest?" Almost pityingly the priest says quietly but firmly, "I am the Father General of the Jesuits!" Dracula recoils in terror, staggers back and the picture fades and rolls to credits. If you are Catholic you realize that just about the last person on earth Dracula would want to confront is the one he unknowingly chose to take on. The audience, an obviously Catholic crowd in Bavaria, went wild laughing and cheering. Not at all the ending I was expecting but great fun.