"Now I know what it feels like to be God!"Frankenstein (1931; scr: John L. Balderston)
Most people would go with "It's alive!" of course, but for me, this line epitomizes the daring of this horror milestone. Spoken by Dr. Frankenstein right after that other line, it was removed from most prints of the movie in subsequent releases, but thankfully restored on DVD.
"Leave the charnel house and follow the lead of nature--or of God, if you like your Bible stories."
Bride of Frankenstein (1935; scr: William Hurlbut)
Dr. Pretorius' borderline blasphemous aside was actually an amended version of the original line, which read "if you like your fairy stories." If anything, the edited version may be even more subversive.
"Your mother sucks cocks in hell!"The Exorcist (1973; scr: William Peter Blatty)
The fall of the Hays Code really changed things, didn't it? Can you imagine the shock of an audience listening to a little girl saying something like this, when a mere eight years earlier they were listening to Julie Andrews singing about whiskers on kittens?
"It's not my fault if Christ and the saints are out fashion."
The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue (1974; scr: Sandro Continenza & Marcello Coscia)
A fantastic line from a criminally overlooked horror film. Has the drastic shift in the genre (hell, in culture) during the 1960s and '70s ever been so succinctly expressed?
"I see you, chocolate man!"Dawn of the Dead (1978; scr: George A. Romero)
How well written is a flick like Dawn of the Dead, when even the throwaway lines are this classic? DOTD is chock full of goodies like "We got this by the ass!" and of course, "When there's no more room in hell..." But there's just something about the matter-of-fact racism of Tom Savini's Blades that makes this line so unforgettable.
"I...corrected her."
The Shining (1980; scr: Stanley Kubrick)
You want to talk chilling? It just doesn't get any chillier than Philip Stone's speech to Jack Nicholson in the men's room at the Overlook Hotel. Plus all that garish red paneling. Damn, Kubrick was a bizarre individual. And brilliant for it.
"You mean the movie lied?!"The Return of the Living Dead (1985; scr: Dan O'Bannon)
The brilliance of O'Bannon's script is that a line like this, delivered with such wide-eyed innocence by Thom "Freddy" Matthews, can perfectly cut the grim horror of a scene involving zombie dismemberment. A microcosm of what make the movie such a classic.
"Give me the amulet, you bitch!"
The Monster Squad (1987; scr: Shane Black & Fred Dekker)
Yeah, I know everybody quotes that line about the Wolf Man ad nauseum, but how shocking was it to hear Dracula scream this to a little girl? Pretty harsh stuff for a relatively family friendly flick--still not sure if the line really fits the movie. Ah, the '80s--what a perplexing era!
"Jesus wept!"Hellraiser (1987; scr: Clive Barker)
As a kid of 12 in Brooklyn, I had never even heard this expression before, so it was just some real creepy weirdness to me, in a movie full of real creepy weirdness. Now that I know it's a common--if somewhat archaic--blasphemy, it only adds to my appreciation of Barker's layered use of religious themes.
"Take it! Take the fucking elephant!"
Darkman (1990; scr: Chuck Pfarrer & Sam Raimi)
This one's just such a perverse favorite of mine, I had to include it. When I think of the countless hours my friends I spent quoting and laughing our asses off at this immortally ludicrous line--spoken by a man who would star three years later in Schindler's List, no less!
I'm still not sure if I actually prefer the "edited for TV" version of the line--"Take the fuzzy elephant!"