IMDb Polls

Poll: Tense Movie Moments

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.

Results of 3,249 votes:

  1. 1.

    The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

     
    Night vision with Bill - suggested by pere-25366
  2. 2.

    Se7en (1995)

     
    "What's in the box?" suggested by pere-25366
  3. 3.

    Jaws (1975)

     
    Shark attack out on the beach - suggested by pere-25366

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