Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death and injury in the United States, so when we see them on the big screen, it hits close to home. Here we list Hollywood’s scariest car accident movie scenes according to our team at Benton Accident & Injury Lawyers.
Disclaimer: Some of these clips are graphic in nature and contain mature content or language. Use your discretion before viewing.
1. Final Destination 2
Though the franchise has its eye-roll inducing moments, the opening car crash scene has us watching through the gaps in our fingers. Like all horror movie franchises, we wanted to yell, “No, do not do it!” but all you can do is sit back and watch the fiery wreckage claim its first victim.
2. Carrie
After the infamous blood-soaked Carrie leaves her senior prom, she is confronted by her bullies in their vintage Pontiac. Using telekinesis, Carrie swiftly brings the car to an abrupt halt, killing the driver. She sends the remaining passenger headfirst through the windshield. It may not be a metal-on-metal collision, but it is enough to keep us up at night.
3. Death Proof
Kurt Russell plays a sadistic stuntman who repeatedly smashes his victims with his 1971 Chevy Nova. In one scene, he lashes out at a group of unsuspecting young women jamming out in their cars. The result is terrifying.
4. Christine
Stephen King sure knows how to make us lose sleep. While the spirit of a homicidal maniac trapped in the body of a car may seem like a snooze fest, the king of horror teaches why kindness is always the best option. When antagonist Moochie Welch tries to destroy Christine, she retaliates in swift and gory fashion.
5. Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
It does not take a prophet to deduce that this movie is full of cringe-worthy moments and stomach-dropping scenes. In the opening act, a car chase takes out a cow and wreaks some serious roll-over havoc, delivering the panicked victims straight into the arms of the vicious killer.
6. Vanilla Sky
One of the worst moments in movie-watching is realizing what’s going to happen before the main character does and being powerless to stop it. Enter Cameron Diaz in Vanilla Sky, where the unhinged girlfriend takes her unsuspecting beau (Tom Cruise) for a wild ride. We realize her intentions to commit murder/suicide long before the passenger, and all we can do is watch it happen.
7. Casino Royale
We love that Bond’s first real outing as 007 has him destroying his shiny Aston Martin before we can even see its fancy ejector seats. His love interest lying in the middle of the pavement made us all gasp and watch what happened next through squeezed eyelids.
8. Premonition
In this pseudo-thriller starring Sandra Bullock, the protagonist awakens to discover that her husband was killed in a car accident the day before. Shortly after, however, she returns home to find him alive and well. Bullock then gets caught in a time loop where she has to relive the experience over and over, like a worst-fears take on Groundhog Day.
9. Adaptation
We know it is coming, and somehow that makes it even harder to watch. Known for its simplicity and realism, Adaptation shows us how life can change in just a few seconds.
10. Transformers 3
Any Michael Bay movie featuring battling robots is sure to set some budget-breaking explosive car crash records. In the third installment’s most popular scene, a robot fight makes us never want to take the highway again.
Hollywood may spend millions making car crash movie magic, but we know that a car accident is no fairy tale. If you or a loved one has been involved in an accident, feel free to contact us.