Jurassic Park/Nightmare Fuel

It's a series of dinosaur movies, two of which are directed by Steven Spielberg, with video games and huge toy lines. Sounds perfectly kid-friendly, right? Well, not entirely. As many young dinosaur fans found out the hard way, Jurassic Park is frightening in the dark.

This page is for all terrifying things in Jurassic Park -- the books, the movies, the video games, you name it.

Hold on to your butts...

The Movies

• You think the T-Rex was bad? Think about The Big One for a moment: A hyper intelligent velociraptor that is The Chessmaster incarnate. She uses one of her pack members to lure Muldoon out into the open, pops up right next to him, and start tearing him apart a few seconds later. Not to mention the fact that they surprise attacked Grant, Ellie, and the kids and would have killed them had the T-Rex not intervened.
  • Nedry's death in the movie. The fucking screaming.
• "Anybody hear that? It's an... It's an impact tremor, that's what it is... I'm fairly alarmed here."
• From the second movie, to rekindle your fear of velociraptors: the grass scene. You know it, the one where the scared survivors are fleeing from the T. rex in the forest by running through the grass. Particularly that birds-eye shot where they're charging through the grass, being loud, carving a big track and the little trails snaking silently through the grass behind them...
  • There was a deleted scene where Tembo's friend (the one who shouted to them to stay out of the long grass) realised that outrunning the raptors was futile, and simply opted for a death of quiet dignity, kneeling down as they jumped him.
• Jurassic Park III has the death of Udesky, who is horribly used as living bait by the Velociraptors. They pretty much paralyze him (but don't kill him... yet), wait for one of the other humans to try and help him, and spring out when Amanda does. However, the humans escape, and the raptors leave... but not before one of them snaps Udesky's neck, putting him out of his misery. The scene is a less extreme version of Howard King's death in the The Lost World novel. If you thought that just getting your neck snapped was bad enough, King is chased down and torn apart by the raptors and then eaten, all while the main characters helplessly watch on. There's even a graphic description of the raptor chewing through his neck instead of breaking it...
• The Spinosaurus, it killed the T. rex with ease and is very persistent, chasing the protagonists across most of the island and surviving being rammed by a plane.
• Arnold dying in that first movie, that scene with Dr. Sattler in the shed trying to turn on the power and suddenly being attacked by a raptor then having Arnold's severed arm fall onto her shoulder.
• Third movie when the sound of the phone is still ringing in the Spinosaurus' belly... It could give one chills, when it's discovered standing behind them when they realized their mistake
• This little exchange:

Muldoon: I think this was Gennaro.

Ellie: I think this was too...

• In the Lost World the scene where the heroes are holding off the stalking raptors in the shed. They board up one door to keep one raptor out, only for a second raptor to show up in the same hole that they were digging to get out.
• In the Lost World, the scene where the Tyrannosaur shoves its head into the tent where Kelly and Sarah are, sniffing the blood from within the tent.
• In the third movie Billy has a machine build the resonating chamber of a raptor, and blows into it to demonstrate. The look on Grant's face is priceless; it's clear that he has nightmares about that sound and it's enough to make your teeth curl.

The Video Games

• The Genesis games SEGA screen. It's basically the T. rex sprite (we only ever see one from the shoulders up) in front of a black background with the SEGA logo above him, and he roars "SEGA!!!".
  • The actual game as Grant. Limited ammo. Dinosaurs at every turn, who 9 times out of 10 want to eat you. Velociraptors who, in addition to being pretty deadly and agile, actually learn from your playing style and can actually duck to avoid your shots. And let's not forget the T. rex, who always appears poking her head out of a hole in the wall and fiercely snaps her jaws in your direction, and can kill you with a single chomp (not to mention she has one of the most impressive dinosaur roars ever made). Her introduction in the Power Station is easily her scariest appearance, as you don't actually see her at first; just some cracks in the wall and a foreboding stomping sound. Get close (which you have to do to exit the level), and CRASH. HUUURAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!!!
  • When you're playing through the Visitor's Center (the last level) as Grant, you come across an elevator. Splattered in blood. Sure, it's pretty tame compared to a lot of today's games, but it's still pretty unsettling, especially since the rest of the game is blood-free. The worst part is that you can only imagine some poor terrified guy trying to escape via the elevator as a raptor closes in on him, only for the elevator to be too slow...
• In Rampage Edition, the last level. It starts with Grant on a boat in a river, with nothing else in sight. If you've read the manual, you know the T-Rex is waiting for you. If you haven't... well... you're not going to enjoy what comes next.
• Even scarier is the Sega CD version. (Sort of) free roaming, very limited ammo, a time limit (in the form of a plane piloted by a living Nightmare Fuel), and really, very spooky ambiance. Including the ground physically shaking as a T. Rex approaches from god-knows-where for a tasty snack. And it's all in first-person view, so you see exactly what your character is seeing when said T. rex devours him.
• The SNES version had First Person parts inside the buildings.. Where random dino growls were to unnerve you even if the rooms were empty! Not to mention that outside that Raptors could jump out from ANYWHERE from bushes and thickets and the T. Rex was an Implacable Dino! Okay, so you're walking around on top of a building (for example, the Visitor's Center). There might be some compies and a dilo or two, but at least you don't have to deal with any rapto-holy fuck they can jump up on the roof!
• Again from the SNES version: Don't forget the blackened rooms inside the Visitor's Center/Utility Shed. Unless you have located the night vision goggles, one step inside the room, and some unseen dino swipes at you, killing you and emitting a roar.
• The 3DO version is just a minigame collection--nothing scary there, right? Oh wait, there's one game where you're wandering around a nearly pitch-black series of hallways, trying to activate some fuses. You're being chased by Velociraptors; should you run into one, you get a few seconds to contemplate your fate, and then the fucker abruptly flies right into the screen whilst shrieking. Oh yeah, and if that wasn't enough, your character lets out a horrified, blood-curdling scream. Better luck next time...
• Jurassic Park III Dino Defender wasn't that bad.... until you die. Then you get treated to a horrifying image of the dinosaur charging you in first-person. THE MUSIC DOES NOT HELP.
  • In the same game, the level that starts with you being chased by a Tyrannosaurus is terrifying. It's also hard to beat because you can get eaten or fall off bridge!
• The most recent game from Telltale Games is full of nightmare fuel. Perhaps the most horror themed out of any of the Jurassic Park media. Keep in mind, this is the first Telltale-created game where you can actually die. Some of the dinosaur-related deaths are horrific and awesome.
  • From the first episode alone, the game starts off with a main character being chased by new dinosaur, the Troodons and, we the players, are only able to their glowing eyes getting ever closer. As the episode progresses, two characters find themselves being stalked, and in one's case being eaten by Dilophosaurs (more than one), but not before being treated to glimpses of Nedry still being eaten by one. To top it off, you find yourself having to deal with the Tyrannosaur in the visitor center and there is a moment where it is actually stomping up the stairs after you. Again, keep in mind this is just the first episode.
  • In the case of Nedry, there's buildup. As you approach the vehicle, you can hear the sounds of bones crunching and flesh being ripped before you ever open the door.
• The troodons are so terrifying that even the dilophosaurs are scared of them and retreat. And even the raptors are afraid of them.
  • The troodons lay their eggs inside of their victims, while they're still alive
  • The mosasaur, which takes its tactics directly from Jaws.
  • The chase sequence with the troodons in the maintainence tunnels is a nightmare. You have seconds to decide which way to go. If you take too long or choose a dead end, you hear more than see the characters be torn apart by the troodons. The fact that that the sequence starts with an out-of-focus first-person shot does not help matters.
• The 1997 game, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, which allows you to play both as humans and dinosaurs, have a very frightening intro for the Velociraptor section of the game. You are treated to about thirty seconds of footage from the viewpoint of a human being chased, and eventually captured, by raptors. He can't see them, but the players are treated to a graphical interface displaying their location, which shows not only the raptors gradually getting closer, but also more of them being revealed the closer they get. In addition to that, the fleeing human is communicating with someone over radio, and the fear in his voice is very evident. It is very unsettling trying to put yourself in his shoes.
• People may have considered Trespasser to be a crap game, and with good reason. But it could pull some genuinely terrifying moments sometimes. Raptors could sneak up on you and kill you from behind. Even if you do see them, the goofy controls meant it was difficult to aim and kill them. Running is often your best bet. And there are also scripted moments, like in level 4's Diner where a dinosaur could spawn in behind you or push open a door. And finally, the T-rex. There is no fighting the T-rex. There is only sneaking by it, or distracting it. Unless you get a good head start, you will not outrun it.
• A somewhat obscure, rather mediocre Jurassic Park game called Jurassic Park: Warpath was a fighting game that allowed you to play as several movie and non-movie dinosaurs (including the then-unseen spinosaurus). These being dinosaurs, their attacks could be especially brutal. Among the most brutal were those of the triceratops and styracosaurus, who would impale their enemies during their throw attacks, leaving the enemy dinosaur squirming on the ends of their horns until they were thrown to the ground. Every attack also left some pretty nasty wounds, including some which would do things like leave bones exposed to the open air. Finally, the way to regenerate health would be to catch little running creatures and kill them (carnivores...well, I am sure you can guess. Herbivores would just leave them impaled on a horn and then stomp them to death), but you did not not have to kill them right away. Until you hit an attack button, you could leave a squirming compy, dog or human being in the jaws of a giant carnivore or impaled on the spike of an equally huge herbivore until it was finally swallowed whole or stomped to death.