The Terminator franchise has been terrifying moviegoers for the longest time, way before Terminator Genisys came into the picture. Just the thought of Skynet is enough to send any rational human being into fits. So these moments from the history of the series are some of the scariest and unsettling we could think of. Before you head out to see Emilia Clarke totally rock her role as a young Sarah Connor, pore over this list first. And try to have pleasant dreams. Warning! Spoilers ahead.
1. When the Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) performs self-surgery on his body, including that of his eye, it looked shockingly real, and quite horrifying. Those practical effects? Totally insane, but believable.
2. Watching the T-1000 shapeshift in and out of everyday items, particularly in Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Liquid metal is super creepy, and you can’t deny that.
3. Having your first proper glimpse at the future under Skynet in Terminator 2: Judgment Day, where humanity and machines are at war. Rather, humanity has been forced into hiding by evil machines. This is what nightmares are made of.
4. The ending of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, where the real Judgment Day is occurring all over the world as nuclear missiles are launched across the globe. The eerily uplifting music doesn’t help, either.
5. The end of the world could have also looked something like Sarah Connor’s nightmare seen in Terminator 2: Judgment Day too, where people melt and Sarah screams bloody murder as everything around her is destroyed in a nuclear apocalypse.
6. The T-1000 was blown into this terrifying, formless abomination and it looked like all the creatures we made in The Sims who totally glitched out. Yeah, no sleep here.
7. When audiences (and John Connor himself) realized just how futile the attempts to thwart Skynet were in Terminator Salvation. There’s a special kind of fear here that you can’t replicate easily with gore or even violent scenes.
8. This thousand-yard stare was enough to send viewers cowering under their blankets or beside their friends or family in the theater. And it’s probably chilling enough to send you to turn some of the lights on around the house as this list comes to a close. Right? You’re among friends here. We’ll understand.
