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IMDb Polls

Tense Movie Moments

pere-25366
Alfred Hitchcock once explained perfectly the difference between surprise and suspense. When a bomb under a table goes off, that's surprise. When we know the bomb is under the table but not when it will go off, that is suspense.

For these moments in film, we found ourselves in a state of sheer tense and anticipation, as we relentlessly bit our nails nervous of what may ensue. The culmination of the event was overshadowed by its uneasy build up to it. There are quite a few, so this list has been narrowed down mostly by having some of our users here at IMDb pick their favorites.

Which of these memorably tense moments in a film had you holding your breath the most?

After voting, you may discuss the poll here.

Vote

Recent poll activity

Brad Pitt, Til Schweiger, Daniel Brühl, Mélanie Laurent, Eli Roth, Christoph Waltz, and Diane Kruger in Inglourious Basterds (2009)
nelucas-07258 voted for Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Misery (1990)
oficialdeantaylor voted for Misery (1990)
Jodie Foster in The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
KoenWellins voted for The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Susan Backlinie and Bruce in Jaws (1975)
eugenius28 voted for Jaws (1975)
Forest Whitaker, Katie Holmes, Colin Farrell, and Radha Mitchell in Phone Booth (2002)
insertusernamehere-1996 voted for Phone Booth (2002)
Susan Backlinie and Bruce in Jaws (1975)
obi_wan_cow_nobi voted for Jaws (1975)
Jodie Foster in The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
stephensdelicia-95654 voted for The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Sissy Spacek in Carrie (1976)
DrPhibes1964 voted for Carrie (1976)
Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman in Se7en (1995)
LordPeres2517 voted for Se7en (1995)
Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin in No Country for Old Men (2007)
kgnsvl voted for No Country for Old Men (2007)

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