After a tiring day, there might be no better relief than relaxing in a soothing bubble bath. Maybe throw in some Epsom salts and light a few scented candles too. However, in the following movies or TV shows, no one is dipping in for a calming soak.
If Psycho gave you a phobia of showers, you will find monster attacks, seductive ghosts, and homicidal husbands on this list transforming an ordinary tub into a trap that not everyone will escape.
From Stranger Things to A Nightmare on Elm Street, these are the eight scariest bathtub scenes put on-screen.
Les Diaboliques (1955)
‘Les Diaboliques’ (1955)Credit: Cinédis
Two women attempt to kill Michel (Paul Meurisse), who has been abusing them. His mistress, Nicole (Simone Signoret), is the mastermind who needs his wife, Christina (Véra Clouzot), as her accomplice.
The women carry Michel’s unconscious body into the full tub and let his body sink. Their plan should work if they stay loyal to one another — and if the body doesn’t go missing. Which it does.
Les Diaboliques makes the tub the scene of the crime in this black-and-white French thriller. The sound of rushing water out of the spout is like a jump scare. Michel’s lifeless, milky white eyes are creepy. The real shock is when Christina sees the body stand up, resulting in the actual crime that was plotted by Nicole and a still-alive Michel: frightening Christina to death.
The Shining (1980)
‘The Shining’ (1980)Credit: Warner Bros.
Almost one hour in, the Overlook Hotel becomes dangerous to little Danny (Danny Lloyd). Jack (Jack Nicholson) goes to investigate his son’s apparent attack by a woman in Room 237, and there he meets one of the hotel’s spirits.
An unsettling wide shot shows the sickly green walls, the white tiles, and a tall, slender woman sitting in the tub who slowly pulls the curtain away to stare at Jack. She then entices Jack into a sexual encounter, which only ends when Jack notices the woman he is kissing has turned into an older, rotting corpse.
The whole scene is unnerving, including the shots of a look-alike rotting woman rising from the bath water. There are bad vibes everywhere as the supernatural and psychological horror intensify at the Overlook.
The Changeling (1980)
“That house is not fit to live in. No one’s been able to live in it. It doesn’t want people.”
‘The Changeling’ (1980)Credit: Pan-Canadian Film Distributors
John Russell (George C. Scott) moves into an old mansion with the hope of restarting his life after the tragic deaths of his wife and daughter. The Changeling is about what is left behind after death. John struggles with his grief, but he’s not alone in the mansion. Sudden banging noises are heard in the early morning.
He’s living with an angry spirit who forces John to learn the awful truth of how they died. A young boy was killed in a tub in one of the rooms, his legs held by his father, and the boy’s hands pounding on the sides are what those banging noises are that have awakened John.
This haunted house movie has the classic items for a ghost to play with. There is a wheelchair that moves on its own and a ball that shouldn’t be bouncing, but the use of the tub is the scariest of them all.
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ (1984)Credit: New Line Cinema
To start this popular horror franchise, A Nightmare on Elm Street has slasher villain Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) terrorizing the dreams of Nancy (Heather Langenkamp) and her friends whenever and wherever they fall asleep.
Such as when Nancy dozes off in the tub and the iconic shot where Freddy’s clawed glove rises out of the water, reaching toward her. She wakes up, only to find out she’s still dreaming and gets dragged into the darkness of a seemingly bottomless tub.
To film it, the 2010 doc Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy explained how the crew used a tank to build a special tub that allowed mechanical special effects designer Jim Doyle to be submerged and wear Freddy’s claw. A pool was then used for the shots when Nancy gets pulled under. It’s an effective, double whammy of a scare.
Jacob’s Ladder (1990)
‘Jacob’s Ladder’ (1990)Credit: Tri-Star Pictures
War veteran Jacob (Tim Robbins) sees demonic figures around New York City in the subway and within an apartment party, but in one distressing sequence, there are no demons.
When Jake gets a high fever that can kill him, he’s forced into a frigid bath to lower his temperature, with bags of ice thrown in, ending with his red, swollen eyes staring out as his body finally cools down.
There are many scary visuals in the strange and hallucinatory Jacob’s Ladder, yet this scene doesn’t need any demons to freak you out. The frenzied rush to get Jacob into the cold bath, the painful reaction in Robbins’ performance, and the disquieting calm in the aftermath once again depict how a bathtub can quickly turn into something terrible.
What Lies Beneath (2000)
‘What Lies Beneath’ (2000)Credit: DreamWorks Pictures
Claire (Michelle Pfeiffer) is a lonely wife and mother who is trying to cope with empty nest syndrome when she begins to believe her house is haunted. And that leads Claire to realize dark truths about her husband, Norman (Harrison Ford).
What Lies Beneath is not a great movie, but the finale has a truly masterful suspense set piece where Claire discovers how corrupt Norman is, and to cover up his crimes, he plans to kill her.
Claire is drugged, leaving her temporarily paralyzed when Norman places her in the bathtub. The close-ups on Pfeiffer’s face as the waterline reaches her eyes are anxiety-inducing, and not just for audiences. Pfeiffer said that she had a phobia of water and needed to overcome it for the filming.
Slither (2006)
‘Slither’ (2006)Credit: Universal Pictures
A quiet town gets an unwelcome visitor when the citizens get infected by an alien parasite in the horror-comedy Slither.
After alien babies are hatched, the slug-like creatures invade a family’s home. Kylie (Tania Saulnier) gets some alone time from her parents and siblings by listening to music in a bubble bath, which means she doesn’t notice one of the squirming parasites enter and travel up and over the tub.
The entire scenario is a scarefest, from the squeaking noises the creature makes as it slides to how brightly lit the scene is. Surely there are moviegoers who gained an irrational fear of bathtubs due to Slither.
Stranger Things, Season 5 (2025)
‘Stranger Things’ (2025)Credit: Netflix
The Netflix mega-hit series nearly kills off a major supporting character early in the fifth and final season when a Demogorgon hunts down a young girl in her home, and her mother Karen (Cara Buono) has to find somewhere to hide them when they get stuck in the bathroom.
Before the Demogorgon bursts in, Karen takes her daughter into the filled tub, and the two hold their breath to avoid being found underneath the bubble foam. The camera lets you see how close the two are to the prowling Demogorgon, all the while ABBA’s “Fernando” plays from a radio that Karen was planning to listen to, monster-free.
Although the final season was a weaker chapter of the series (fans even believed there could be a secret finale), the stakes were raised high with how sci-fi horror crashed into suburban life. Getting caught by the Demogorgon or possibly drowning are not great options.
Do any of these scenes make you afraid of a bathtub?
