9 Moments From 'The Sixth Sense' That Still Make Us Jump
20 years later, M. Night Shyamalan's Oscar-nominated horror film about a little boy (Haley Joel Osment,) who sees dead people not only stands up, but it still gives us all the chills.
The movie is so much more than cheap jump scares, but here are some of "The Sixth Sense" scenes that still get to us. SPOILERS, obviously, if you haven't seen it.
1. The man in the bathroom
The discovery that former patient Vincent Gray (an unrecognizably emaciated Donnie Wahlberg) has broken into Dr. Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis)'s house starts the film on a deeply unnerving note. He's clearly unstable and Malcolm is trying to talk him down when Vincent turns, calmly grabs a gun and shoots him. And then, as the camera pans away, he puts the gun to his own head and pulls the trigger.
2. The open cabinets
Cole's mom Lynn (Toni Collette) gets a shock when she returns to the kitchen after a moment and finds every cabinet and drawer wide open. There's no way Cole, who hasn't moved from the breakfast table, could have done this on his own.
3. The vanishing palm print
Right after the cabinet incident, and after Cole has left for school, Lynn sees the imprint of a hand on the table. It quickly vanishes, but she, and we, are unsettled.
4. "I'll show you where my Dad keeps his gun."
One of the most chilling ghosts (we're getting goosebumps right now!) is a boy, dressed as if from the '70s. He tells Cole, "I'll show you where my Dad keeps his gun." He then turns and you see the back off his head has been blown off. (Note: If you've ever seen the airplane edit, this scene ends before the ghost turns around.)
5. The vomiting girl ghost
As a panicky Cole hides in his tent with his favorite toys, we watch in horror along with him as one by one, the clothespins are undone and someone comes in... it's the ghost of a little girl (a pre- "O.C." Mischa Barton), and she won't stop vomiting. Truly, truly disturbing. Especially when we find out how and why she died.
6. The angry suicide
Cole is understandably nervous about going to the bathroom in the middle of the night. He doesn't see the figure walking past him (but we jump a mile). But he does notice the room getting colder and colder and the noises from the kitchen. He goes in and sees a woman in a pink bathrobe facing the corner and tentatively asks, "Mama?" No, it's a bruised angry ghost, who says (seemingly to her dead, abusive husband), "No, dinner is not ready," and thrusts her slashed wrists at him, shouting, "Look what you made me do."
8. The hanging ghosts
Turns out even Cole's school is haunted. The reveal of three hanging Revolutionary-era ghosts -- one of them a little boy -- is horrific, if a bit in-your-face for this otherwise subtle film.
8. Malcolm hears a ghost on the tape of an old session with Vincent
Malcolm pulls out a tape from an old session with Vincent. The tape kept running as Malcolm walked out to take a phone call. First, he hears nothing but Vincent panting, then a frightened man begins speaking in Spanish, begging, "I don't want to die." Maybe more of a deep chill than a jump here, but we're still spooked.
9. The dead cyclist, "Standing next to my window"
Near the film's end, as they're struck in traffic after an accident up ahead, Cole tells his mother he's ready to "communicate" with her. He tells her a lady died in the accident. "You can see her?" his mom asks. "Where is she"? "Standing next to my window," he says quietly. Lynn can't see her, but now, we, the audience can. All the chills.