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1%% Image restored per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1492272577081427000
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4[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/toht_8064.jpg]]
5[[caption-width-right:350:[[Podcast/RiffTrax This is why you need a sunscreen with a proper [=SPF=]]].]]
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7* Indiana Jones' traitorous companion Satipo having several tarantulas on his back, which Jones casually pushes off his body, at least for the severely arachnophobic. Doubly so with Creator/AlfredMolina's description of filming the scene. He was covered with actual tarantulas, but to Spielberg's frustration they wouldn't move and looked fake. Then someone realized they were all male and added a female one, instantly causing all hell to break loose all over his body. And keep in mind this was his ''first'' movie role.
8* When Indy triggers one of the traps in the cave, spikes suddenly emerge carrying the [[PeekABooCorpse decaying body]] of one of his older competitors. Most disturbing is the way its head fell into Indy's direction.
9-->'''Indy:''' Forrestal.
10* Later, Satipo gets impaled upon the booby trap Indy and he managed to escape from earlier. His horrified expression makes it even more unnerving.
11-->'''Indy:''' ''(grabs the idol)'' Adios, Satipo.
12* Major Toht threatening to burn Marion with a poker in The Raven bar. Heck, everything with Toht is terrifying due to the Gestapo RealitySubtext that surrounds him, and the actor's extremely creepy performance.
13-->'''Toht''': Fraulein Ravenwood, let me show you what I am used to...
14* Toht having the medallion's side burned right onto his hand after his unsuccessful attempt to grab it during the bar fight earlier. [[MoodWhiplash Though his screams and painful whimpering when he cools his hand in the snow can be quite amusing.]]
15* The unsettling shot of the dead monkey after she ate the poisoned date palm fruits. And a second before that, something about Indy tossing the poisoned date up into the air, complete with slow-motion, shadow on the wall... and then Sallah suddenly grabbing it, face stricken. The dim lighting of the room doesn't help.
16-->'''Sallah:''' "...Bad dates."
17* When Indy and Sallah finally uncover the Well of Souls, [[JumpScare lightning flashes revealing a snarling statue of Anubis]], it's enough to catch the viewer off guard
18* The Well of Souls is this trope both for the audience and Indy. ''Unbelievable'' numbers of snakes. And mummies. And snakes slithering out of the mummies. '''GAH.''' Imagine falling down into the SnakePit and landing directly near your worst fears and it is ready to attack you along with the other snakes all around you. This was enough to [[BreakTheBadass cause Indy to panic]]. "WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes" indeed. And it's not just blind phobia (though Indy certainly has that, too). At least some of those snakes are cobras or asps (“Very dangerous.”), and probably others are venomous enough to be a very real lethal danger to a healthy adult human.
19* After Indy and Marion found a way to escape from being trapped in the Well of Souls, they are met with an awful surprise when they stumble into a room filled with decaying corpses. The corpses seem to be screeching at Marion and whenever she knocks down the corpses they fall in such a way that makes it look like they are trying to grab her.
20* The GiantMook Indy fights on the airstrip is chopped up by one of the plane's propellers and while it happens off-screen, the copious amounts of blood on-screen are jarring, considering the Ark scene aside, the film is rather light on blood. It's never made clear, but in the long shot of the plane shortly before it explodes, a large smear across the sand with some chunky bits is seen near the plane...
21* While the Ark is being transported, it makes an eerie hum before it burns the ''Hakenkreuz'' swastika on the box it's being held in. The buildup of that moment showed several mice wandering in the ship's hold. Just before the ''Hakenkreuz'' is burned away, one of the mice rolls over and starts hyperventilating (or possibly ''bowing'' to an unseen presence), strongly implying that ''something'' had actually come down into the ship's hold for a visit.
22** Ben Burtt, who ironically used more “organic” sounds for Franchise/StarWars, used a synthesizer for the otherworldly hum in this scene.
23** To top it off, this is the first unambiguously supernatural event to take place. The power of God is not something to be taken lightly.
24* The (in)famous "opening of the Ark" sequence from the finale is [[SurprisinglyCreepyMoment incredibly jarring for a viewer who has thus far enjoyed a relatively lighthearted action/adventure movie]]. The shot of Dietrich's head imploding on itself, followed by Toht's [[ImMelting melting face]] - quickly followed by Belloq's [[YourHeadAsplode ''exploding head'']] - would have been enough to give plenty of theatre-goers nightmares. The shot of Belloq’s head exploding was originally unobscured by the flames until the MPAA stepped in.
25** The moment the spirits that emerge from the Ark turn hostile is utterly nightmarish. At first, they're serene - even beautiful, as Belloq declares - and then they suddenly start to shift into [[NightmareFace skull-faced terrors]], snarling at those daring to look upon the open Ark. [[DescentIntoDarknessSong The shift in the music at this point is also rather frightening, and Toht's ear-piercing scream when the spirits change add extra punctuation to the sheer horror.]]
26** On top of the visual horror, the sound of Dietrich's head imploding. You can hear his brain matter turn to goop and his bones crunching! To further add to the nightmare fuel, there's the horrific hissing sound Toht's boiling blood makes, coupled with his screams getting muffled by the gurgling of his mouth filling with blood. ''And those screams continue as he becomes skeletonized.'' Even worse, when Belloq's head explodes, you can see ''his eyeballs'' fly out of the remains of his skull and brain! Sweet dreams...
27*** Shutting one’s eyes while still ''hearing '' the flesh melting is quite terrifying.
28** Not to mention the rest of the Nazis dying by the lightning bolt ''going straight through them''. Some going into their ''[[EyeScream eyes]]''!
29** Even before then, several of the Ark's spirits single out certain Nazi mooks for "special treatment." One is hovered off the ground as the spirit tortures him while another cowers in fear as the spirit appears to sink ''into'' the man's body and head, possibly giving him a taste of MindRape before he dies.
30** The most shocking bit? ''[[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids The movie is still rated PG.]]'' (Granted, the PG-13 rating hadn't been developed yet--and this film is likely one of the reasons it ''was'' developed.)
31*** The FX crew had to superimpose fire on the shot of Belloq’s head exploding in order to avoid an R rating.
32** Probably the thing most overlooked is that it's more or less a confirmation that within the ''Indiana Jones'' world, {{God}} exists. And we get to see firsthand what happens when He encounters a group of people who not only opened the Ark and looked inside of it, but whose agenda involved exterminating [[UsefulNotes/{{Judaism}} His believers]].
33** Indy warning Marion to close her eyes and keep them shut. Whether out of reverence to God, because he knows what they might see would traumatize them for the rest of their lives… ''or because he doesn't want himself or Marion to watch as the spirits kill both of them,'' it obvious that he's terrified of what's happening.
34** Belloq's death in the novelization was far more brutal than in the film. His eyes would burn out of their sockets alongside his body decaying before being ReducedToDust.

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