The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise may very well be a family-friendly one created by Disney based on a theme park attraction, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t scary moments. In a world where pirates roam the seas, Kraken’s lurk beneath the ocean and dead men really do tell tales, there is plenty to be afraid of. While the franchise has tons of uplifting and comedic moments throughout, they only serve to make the occasional terrifying scenes even scarier.
The movies are by no means horror or even overly scary, but every now and then the franchise throws in a scene or two to keep the film as thrilling as possible. So, within this list, we will be looking at those moments, ranking the 10 most terrifying scenes from the franchise.
Part Of The Crew, Part Of The Ship
We kickstart this list with a scene from At Worlds End which was truly terrifying as the movie comes to its end. This is a huge moment for the franchise where Will Turner ends up becoming the new captain of the Flying Dutchman, becoming part of the ship.
The emotions around it are tough as Elizabeth knows she is losing him while Will’s father does everything in his power to try and exact revenge. But it is the moment all the members of the crew come out in their forms chanting, “part of the crew, part of the ship” that is truly very terrifying.
Fork Eye
This is the perfect scene, to sum up exactly what Pirates of the Caribbean is like. It can provide sheer terror one moment, but comedy just seconds later. This particular scene is a scary one, simply because of the visual that is provided, which is horrid to see.
Everyone knows the feeling when something touches your eye, and that is why this is so horrible to see. Ragetti is a very gormless character and that is how he ends up with a fork stuck in his eye. Of course, it was horrible to look at, but because of the character it happened to, it quickly turned into a funny moment just after.
The Kraken Destruction
The Kraken is a legendary monster that has been written about in countless stories in relation to pirates, which is why it was crucial to add the beast into this popular franchise. The beast was brought in for Dead Mans Chest and immediately made an impact, becoming an incredibly scary monster.
When the Kraken is finally unleashed onto the Black Pearl the monster shows its true horrors. No matter what the crew does, how many weapons they try to use, nothing can stop the Kraken. It is a truly terrifying scene as its various tentacles pop up out of nowhere, causing pure destruction as it drags the ship down.
Cut Of The Hand
In a similar way to how the fork in the eye was a disgusting scene to look at, Pirates of the Caribbean provided a similar type of visual when Captain Barbosa finally found the chest. Believing that Elizabeth Swan is the person they need, he slices her hand open to drop the blood into the chest.
The film doesn’t hold back in showing that scene either, which is quite a disgusting one. It is one of those scenes that simply makes a person cringe as you feel the pain shudder through your own hand, understanding the pain that they suffered.
Hanging
The first scene of At Worlds End just so happens to be one of the scariest in the history of the franchise, kicking the movie off in a big way. It shows the tide is turning for the pirates as they all line up to be hung, as the British embassy and government start to take control.
The pirates end up joining together in a song, despite the fact they know they’re about to die. It is a very emotional and striking moment that kickstarts the movie with a bang but equally makes the movie start in a very scary manner.
Piano Man
There is just something about seeing Davy Jones playing the piano with his own tentacles that is extremely unsettling. This scene is an incredible one as it slowly pans behind Davy as he goes wild on the ivories, showing his talent.
While it is quite impressive to see, it does also feel very scary at the same time. It somehow makes him feel slightly more human and relatable, which isn’t always a good thing for the main villain, which is the case with this moment.
Salazar’s Introduction
Throughout the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, the movies have done a great job of creating some truly fantastic villains. One of those was Salazar who was an incredibly well-detailed character and one that, visually, was incredibly scary.
His introduction scene was one of the scariest in the history of the franchise. Walking in as terror takes place around him, the cinematography is incredibly well done, giving subtle glimpses of him until the full appearance is shown, which is a very scary scene.
Calypso’s Rise
Calypso is one of the strangest characters in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. A lot of fans didn’t love the way this character went because it was fairly ridiculous, but her transformation into a giant tied to a ship is one of the scariest moments from the franchise.
Hearing her voice boom out as she grew was a very odd sight to see and it certainly got people inside the cinema. The whole moment absolutely came out of nowhere and it was more of a shock than fear, but it certainly was a terrifying scene from the movie.
Mr Mercer’s Death
Death scenes can quite often be terrifying moments in movies, mainly because of the nature of them, but Ian Mercer’s death in At Worlds End is particularly scary. While most of the deaths in this franchise are through swords, this one is very different.
Mercer ends up face to face with Davy Jones and he is the person who kills him. However, he doesn’t use his sword, instead, Jones sticks his tentacles all over Mercer’s face, through his mouth and out of his nose in what is a very scary scene, despite Mercer being a villain in the franchise.
Skeletons Arrive
The scariest moment from the entire Pirates of the Caribbean franchise comes from the original movie, where we first learn that the crew are actually skeletons. It is something that you simply do not see coming until it happens, and it certainly is scary.
With the skeletons just popping up out of different places, all having equally vile appearances, it quickly becomes clear they’re impossible to kill at that point. Elizabeth Swan runs around the ship looking for an escape, but each time she turns another skeleton pops up in what is a truly terrifying scene.
