History NightmareFuel / TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey

* The famous "Beyond the Infinite" [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbLRzabppus sequence]] is more [[SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome awe-inspiring]] than scary, but when it's intercut with images of Dave [[GoMadFromTheRevelation FREAKING OUT]] (as shown above), it gets really creepy. Moreover, there's a momentary sequence where Dave, wide-eyed in awe (to the point that his eyes are bulging out of his sockets) slowly starts to recoil from the intensity of the environment. The lighting and warping that continuously gets brighter and becomes increasingly distorted transforms Dave into this blue-ish, monstrous, yet somehow still human alien-thing.

** On top of all that, it's been said that no other scene in cinema history captures the existential horror of realizing [[InsignificantLittleBluePlanet just how small and insignificant humanity truly is in the grand scheme of the universe]] as thoroughly as Dave's journey "beyond the infinite". The images of bizarre cosmological phenomena and the strange alien landscape full of unusual colors make the whole thing come across like something out of a particularly bad LSD trip.

'''HAL''': I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that.

** The film [[AvertedTrope averts]] the {{Flatline}} trope (a single, sustained beep to indicate death) by simply showing the the [[QuieterThanSilence totally silent]] message "LIFE FUNCTIONS TERMINATED". This is one of the least gory but most affecting multiple killings ever depicted in a film.

** The way he says "I'm afraid." As he's saying it, you naturally assume (given the way he's been talking so far) that he's saying something condescending like "I'm afraid this won't work", or "I'm afraid you're overreacting, Dave," but instead he catches you off-guard by saying ''only'' those two words. A simple and piteous expression of fear. From a machine. The effect is nothing short of spine-chilling, on several levels.
** "I'm afraid. My mind is going. I can feel it. [[BrokenRecord I can feel it. I can feel it...]]"
** ''[[IronicNurseryTune Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do]]...''

->''"I'm afraid."''

* HAL is generally creepy all throughout the film, but the sequence where he murders Frank Poole by ramming him with a space pod, severing his oxygen tube, is outright ''terrifying'', not least because [[NothingIsScarier it occurs both offscreen and in complete silence.]] Not to mention the [[StaggeredZoom extremely quick series of jump cuts]] into the lens of HAL's camera before Dave sees Frank go flying past the screen.

* The famous "Beyond the Infinite" [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbLRzabppus sequence]] is more [[SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome awe-inspiring]] than scary, but when it's intercut with images of Dave [[GoMadFromTheRevelation FREAKING OUT]] (as shown above), it gets really creepy. It gets even creepier before that. There is a momentary sequence where Dave, wide-eyed in awe (to the point that his eyes are bulging out of his sockets) slowly starts to recoil from the intensity of the environment. The lighting and warping that continuously gets brighter and becomes increasingly distorted transforms Dave into this blue-ish, monstrous, yet somehow still human alien-thing.

* Right before Bowman and Poole destroy HAL, there's a brief moment as the two work out their plan outside the base, cutting off all audio from the inside so HAL won't hear. You think it'd work, but, then, [[HellIsThatNoise a low, eerie hum is heard, and picks up in tempo.]] Then there's repeat, increasingly tight shots between HAL's camera lens and Bowman and Poole talking animatedly, finally settling on two extreme closeups of HAL's camera and Bowman and Poole's lips moving animatedly. Then it sinks in. '''''[[FridgeHorror HAL, A COMPUTER, CAN READ LIPS.]]''''' [[{{Cliffhanger}} Cue the intermission.]]

** The film [[AvertedTrope averts]] the {{Flatline}} trope (a single, sustained beep to indicate death) by simply showing the the [[QuieterThanSilence totally silent]] message "LIFE FUNCTIONS TERMINATED". This is one of the least gory but affecting multiple killings ever depicted in a film.
** The astronauts seem blissfully unaware that their life support systems being are cut one by one; then you see one of the astronauts' central nervous system readings -- his last active line -- ''flare up erratically'' just before going silent for good. [[FridgeHorror Don't think too hard about that one]].

* The scene where the leopard kills the monkey. It happens without any warning at all, and the thing's eyes glow so fiercely in the darkness that it practically looks demonic. The next scene, where we hear the leopard growling in the background as the apes cower in terror in their cave, sets the tone of the opening scene perfectly. We see how chilling it can really be to live on the bottom rung of the evolutionary ladder, always just one drought away from being wiped from existence for all eternity. A ''[[{{Squick}} disturbing]]'' scene in the novel version describes the ape-men [[AttackTheTail ripping the leopard's tail off by the root]].
* For some, the man-apes in general are pretty damn unsettling. They're ''juuuuuust'' barely human enough that we can clearly see the roots of ourselves in them, but they're so hopelessly devoid of reason, restraint or empathy that they wind up invoking the UncannyValley in the most terrifying way possible. The two clashes between the rival ape tribes are especially chilling, even before they discover the wonders of weaponry and learn how to '''club their enemies to death with bones'''. That inhuman screeching and hooting will stay with you for weeks.

* HAL is generally creepy all throughout the film, but the sequence where he murders Frank Poole by ramming him with a space pod, severing his oxygen tube is outright ''terrifying'', not least because [[NothingIsScarier it occurs both offscreen and in complete silence.]] Not to mention the [[StaggeredZoom extremely quick series of jump cuts]] into the lens of HAL's camera before Dave sees Frank go flying past the screen.

** The scene in the movie isn't much better. After the aforementioned series of jump cuts, we see Frank tumbling through space, ''frantically trying to reattach his severed air hose.'' We quickly cut to Discovery where Dave is rushing out to the pod bay, and when we go back to Frank he's barely even moving...
** Related to this, some viewers noticed during HAL's game of chess with Poole, that HAL is cheating, announcing a wrong turn and even declaring victory when not in a position to do so. The computer they are trusting their lives on is able to lie! Possibly a foreshadowing that something's not right with HAL.

* Right before Bowman and Poole destroy HAL, there's a brief moment as the two work out their plan outside the base, cutting off all audio from the inside so HAL won't hear. You think it'd work, but, then, [[HellIsThatNoise a low, eerie hum is heard, and picks up in tempo.]] Then there's repeat, increasingly tight shots between HAL's camera lens and Bowman and Poole talking animatedly, finally settling on two extreme closeups of HAL's camera and Bowman and Poole's lips moving animatedly. Then it sinks in. '''''[[FridgeHorror HAL, A COMPUTER, CAN READ LIPS.]]''''' [[CliffHanger Cue the intermission.]]
* "Open the pod bay doors, HAL."\\
"I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that."
* ''[[IronicNurseryTune Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do]]...''
* ''I'm afraid. My mind is going. I can feel it. [[BrokenRecord I can feel it. I can feel it...]]'' What really sells this is the way he says "I'm afraid". As he's saying it, you naturally assume (given the way he's been talking so far) that he's saying something condescending like "I'm afraid this won't work", or "I'm afraid you're overreacting, Dave", but instead he catches you off-guard by saying ''only'' those two words. A simple and piteous expression of fear. From a machine. The effect is nothing short of spine-chilling, on several levels.
* His nearly silent, ruthless murder of the three hibernating crew members also definitely counts. "'''LIFE FUNCTIONS TERMINATED'''" will haunt your dreams.

''2001'' has well-earned its reputation as one of cinema's definitive {{Mind Screw}}s, not only through its enigmatic presentation but its thorough [[NothingIsScarier "less is more"]] approach in illustrating the dread and horrors of space, pretty much being [[UrExample the first movie]] to do so (not counting '50s {{B Movie}}s), 11 years before ''Film/{{Alien}}''.

This movie thoroughly endorses the trope NothingIsScarier and is pretty much [[UrExample the first movie]] to exploit the horrors of space (not counting '50s {{B Movie}}s), 11 years before ''Film/{{Alien}}''.

[[caption-width-right:350:"[[GoMadFromTheRevelation My God, it's full of stars!]]"]]

->"I'm afraid."
-->--HAL 9000

* The scene where the leopard kills the monkey. It happens without any warning at all, and the thing's eyes glow so fiercely in the darkness that it practically looks demonic. The next scene, where we hear the leopard growling in the background as the apes cower in terror in their cave, sets the tone of the opening scene perfectly. We see how chilling it can really be to live on the bottom rung of the evolutionary ladder, always just one drought away from being wiped from existence for all eternity.

[[BeamMeUpScotty "I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that."]]

* Right before Bowman and Poole destroy HAL, there's a brief moment as the two work out their plan outside the base, cutting off all audio from the inside so HAL won't hear. You think it'd work, but, then, [[HellIsThatNoise a low, eerie hum is heard, and picks up in tempo.]] Then there's repeat, increasingly tight shots between HAL's camera lens and Bowman and Poole talking animatedly, finally settling on two extreme closeups of HAL's camera and Bowman and Poole's lips moving animatedly. Then it sinks in. '''''[[FridgeHorror HAL, A ROBOT, CAN READ LIPS.]]''''' [[CliffHanger Cue the intermission.]]
* -->"Open the pod bay doors, HAL."\\

* [[BeamMeUpScotty "I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't let you do that."]]

** And then there's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpJ6anurfuw this]]. Thanks a lot, Portsmouth Sinfonia.

** Though the book does mention that Dave was able to make contact and is waiting for Mission Control to answer back. As the last sentence of that chapter said:

** The astronauts seem blissfully unaware of their vital functions going critical one by one as they continue sleeping - then right before their life functions are terminated, you see one of the astronauts' central nervous system readings ''jump up and then flatline'' as he goes into brain death. [[FridgeHorror Don't think too hard about that one]].

* Right before Bowman and Poole destroy HAL, there's a brief moment as the two work out their plan outside the base, cutting off all audio from the inside so HAL won't hear. You think it'd work, but, then, [[HellIsThatNoise a low, eerie hum is heard, and picks up in tempo.]] Then there's repeat, increasingly tight shots between HAL's camera lens and Bowman and Poole talking animatedly, finally settling on two extreme closeups of HAL's camera and Bowman and Poole's lips moving animatedly. Then it sinks in. '''''[[FridgeHorror HAL, A ROBOT, CAN READ LIPS.]]''''' [[Main/CliffHanger Cue the intermission.]]

* The famous "Beyond the Infinite" [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbLRzabppus sequence]] is more [[VisualEffectsOfAwesome awe-inspiring]] than scary, but when it's intercut with images of Dave [[GoMadFromTheRevelation FREAKING OUT]] (as shown above), it gets really creepy. It gets even creepier before that. There is a momentary sequence where Dave, wide-eyed in awe (to the point that his eyes are bulging out of his sockets) slowly starts to recoil from the intensity of the environment. The lighting and warping that continuously gets brighter and becomes increasingly distorted transforms Dave into this blue-ish, monstrous, yet somehow still human alien-thing.