Halloween is right around the corner, so we thought the timing was just right to take a look at some of our favorite scary pool scenes from Hollywood’s silver screen. But first, we’d like to discuss the psychological impact that swimming pools play on the pscyhe and why they remain a constant source of inspiration for setting the backdrop for the perfect scary movie.
Why does Hollywood keep coming back to the pool?
Swimming pools have a powerful impact in horror films because they subvert familiar spaces associated with fun and relaxation, transforming them into settings of dread. As outlined by Night Swim director Bryce McGuire, filmmakers often take environments typically viewed as safe and twist them into sources of terror, exploiting the unsettling contrast between serenity and danger.
Pools evoke fear through isolation and helplessness. Characters trapped within a pool’s confined space experience limited escape routes, making them particularly vulnerable to danger. The water’s reflective surface also adds suspense, creating visual distortions that keep both characters and viewers on edge—unsure of what lurks beneath.
Additionally, swimming pools symbolize the thin boundary between life and death. Horror films capitalize on this by framing pools as metaphors for repressed anxieties and hidden threats, intensifying the psychological tension. The inherent fear of drowning taps into our subconscious, making the pool an ideal setting for fear-driven storytelling.
Finally, the aesthetic appeal of a pool amplifies the horror. The clean, controlled environment contrasts sharply with chaotic or supernatural events that unfold, such as attacks or drownings. The vivid visual of blood dispersing in water further deepens the horror, using both symbolism and shock to make scenes unforgettable.
For some great examples of how pools have been used in horror films, listen in on the conversation we had on the subject of Scary Pools Scenes in the Movies with pool pro, podcaster, and horror film associate producer Rudy Stankowitz, on the Pool Magazine podcast.
We asked Rudy to help us pick some of the best Scariest Pool Scenes. Below, you’ll find his top picks as well as recommendations from the staff here at Pool Magazine.
Top 20 Scary Pool Scenes
Rudy’s Picks – Scary Pool Scenes
1. Let the Right One In (2008)
Director: Tomas Alfredson
Main Actors: Kåre Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson
Pool Involvement:
Set in a bleak Stockholm suburb, the film explores themes of loneliness and vengeance. Oskar, a bullied 12-year-old, befriends Eli, an enigmatic girl who is secretly a vampire. The climax unfolds in a pool, where Oskar is attacked by his tormentors. Eli intervenes in a shocking display of violence, slaughtering the bullies in the water, leaving Oskar emotionally bonded to his only friend. The tranquil pool becomes a site of gore and transformation.
2. It Follows (2014)
Director: David Robert Mitchell
Main Actors: Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, Daniel Zovatto
Pool Involvement:
The scary pool scene in It Follows (2014), redefines the supernatural horror genre, with a cursed entity relentlessly pursuing its victims. The characters set a trap in a public pool, planning to electrocute the entity. The water, typically representing safety, becomes a battleground for survival as the creature appears invisible to everyone except the protagonist, Jay. As tension escalates, everyday poolside objects are weaponized, transforming the scene into a surreal fight against the unknown.
3. Day Shift (2022)
Director: J.J. Perry
Main Actors: Jamie Foxx, Dave Franco, Natasha Liu Bordizzo
Pool Involvement:
In the 2022 horror film Day Shift, Foxx stars as a pool cleaner with a twist—he moonlights as a vampire hunter. Pools, typically tranquil, become chaotic battlegrounds where Foxx’s character faces bloodthirsty creatures. The film mixes humor with action as vampire battles play out around swimming pools. The juxtaposition of sunlit leisure areas with grisly combat adds to the film’s charm, making pools a memorable backdrop.
4. Poltergeist (1982)
Director: Tobe Hooper
Main Actors: JoBeth Williams, Craig T. Nelson, Heather O’Rourke
Pool Involvement:
The 1982 classic Poltergeist sees an unfinished pool become a portal for the undead. When heavy rains flood the backyard, coffins and skeletal remains surface from the water, escalating the paranormal terror already gripping the family. The pool symbolizes disturbed ground, a haunting reminder of the dark past buried beneath their home.
5. Final Destination 4 (2009) – The Final Destination
Director: David R. Ellis
Main Actors: Bobby Campo, Shantel VanSanten, Nick Zano
Pool Involvement:
When looking at swimming pools in the movies, the chilling scene in Final Destination 4 captures the terror of being unable to escape fate. A character is gruesomely killed after being sucked into the pool’s drain, his body violently torn apart. This sequence exemplifies the franchise’s theme of unavoidable death, making even a public swimming pool a site of carnage.
6. The Pool (2018)
Director: Ping Lumpraploeng
Main Actors: Theeradej Wongpuapan, Ratnamon Ratchiratham
Pool Involvement:
In the tense survival thriller – The Pool, a couple finds themselves trapped in a drained pool with a crocodile. As hunger and exhaustion set in, the pool transforms from a harmless structure to a deadly trap. The film pushes the limits of survival, with the characters fighting not only the crocodile but also the unforgiving environment.
7. A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985)
Director: Jack Sholder
Main Actors: Robert Englund, Mark Patton
Pool Involvement: In 1985’s campy horror classic A Nightmare on Elm Street 2, Freddy Krueger terrorizes partygoers by turning an innocent pool party into a massacre. Using his supernatural abilities, Freddy ignites the water and slashes his way through the crowd, transforming a lighthearted game into a bloodbath.
8. Night Swim (2024)
Director: Bryce McGuire
Main Actors: Wyatt Russell, Kerry Condon
Pool Involvement:
The film Night Swim revolves around a haunted backyard pool. As a malevolent presence makes itself known, the family becomes trapped in a nightmare that disrupts the serenity of suburban life. The pool serves as a focal point of terror, demonstrating that even the most familiar spaces can hide darkness.
9. 12 Feet Deep (2017)
Director: Matt Eskandari
Main Actors: Nora-Jane Noone, Alexandra Park
Pool Involvement:
The scariest pool movie of 2017 would have to be 12 Feet Deep, where two sisters become trapped beneath a fiberglass pool cover in this claustrophobic thriller. With limited air and no escape in sight, the characters are forced to confront their fears and secrets. The pool, a place of leisure, becomes a suffocating prison in a film that emphasizes psychological tension.
10. Swimming Pool (2001)
Director: Boris von Sychowski
Main Actors: Kristen Miller, Isla Fisher
Pool Involvement:
A group of students sneak into an indoor pool for a night of fun, only to find themselves targeted by a killer. The water becomes an inescapable trap, turning the pool into a site of terror as the students fight for survival against an unknown assailant.
Staff Picks
11. The Faculty (1998)
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Main Actors: Elijah Wood, Josh Hartnett, Clea DuVall
Pool Involvement: Robert Rodriguez used the swimming pool to great effect in his film The Faculty. One thrilling pool scene unfolds as an alien, capable of moving swiftly through the water, chases a student. Resembling a tentacled leviathan, the alien uses the water to its advantage, turning the school pool into a scene of high tension and terror.
12. Deep End (2016) – Horror Short Film
Director: Matt Anthony Sellitti
Main Actors: Cardin Benjamin, Joe Pease
Pool Involvement: In the eerie short film Deep End, a boy sneaks into a neighbor’s pool for a swim, only to find himself trapped by a malevolent force that wants to drag him down the depths from whence it came.
13. The Legacy (1978)
Director: Richard Marquand
Main Actors: Katharine Ross, Sam Elliott
Pool Involvement: A swimmer finds herself trapped beneath an invisible pool cover, struggling for air as supernatural forces keep her submerged in the 1978 cult classic, The Legacy. As the character sinks, unable to break the surface, the scene builds a sense of helplessness and dread, portraying the pool as a deadly trap.
14. Cat People (1942)
Director: Jacques Tourneur
Main Actors: Simone Simon, Jane Randolph
Pool Involvement:
This psychological thriller builds fear through atmosphere rather than gore. In one iconic scene, a woman swims alone in a dimly lit indoor pool. She becomes increasingly paranoid, sensing a predatory presence stalking her. Because it was 1942 and special effects weren’t really a thing yet, Cat People relies on shadow play and sound design to evoke terror, exemplifying psychological horror at its finest.
15. AquaSlash (2019)
Director: Renaud Gauthier
Main Actors: Nicolas Fontaine, Brittany Drisdelle
Pool Involvement: In 2019’s low-budget swimming pool slasher – AquaSlash, a waterpark with a rigged waterslide becomes a deadly trap as hidden blades dismember riders. This gruesome scene transforms a day of fun into a nightmare, blending slasher horror with shocking violence.
16. Wednesday (2022)
Director: Tim Burton
Main Actors: Jenna Ortega, Catherine Zeta-Jones
Pool Involvement: The only entry on our list that’s part of a TV series but certainly worth mentioning is the popular Netflix show, Wednesday. In a darkly humorous scene, Wednesday Addams unleashes piranhas into a school pool to exact revenge on a group of bullies. Chaos ensues as the swimmers try to escape the flesh-eating fish, bringing a macabre twist to the swim meet.
17. Alligator (1980)
Director: Lewis Teague
Main Actors: Robert Forster, Robin Riker
Pool Involvement: In 1980’s Alligator, a suburban pool becomes the hunting ground for a deadly alligator. A prank turns horrifying as a young girl is pushed into the water, only to be attacked by the lurking predator. This scene plays on the fear of hidden dangers in seemingly safe spaces.
18. Jurassic World (2015)
Director: Colin Trevorrow
Main Actors: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard
Pool Involvement: In Jurassic World, the 4th installment in the hit Jurrasic Park franchise, The Mosasaurus, a massive aquatic dinosaur, lives in the park’s lagoon. In a jaw-dropping scene, the creature leaps from the water to devour a great white shark, displaying its terrifying power and transforming the pool into a stage for prehistoric horror.
19. The Strangers: Prey at Night (2018)
Director: Johannes Roberts
Main Actors: Bailee Madison, Christina Hendricks
Pool Involvement: A serene pool scene turns into a harrowing fight for survival when a masked killer attacks in The Strangers: Prey at Night. The pool becomes a battleground, as the water reflects both beauty and brutality in this gripping scene of life-or-death struggle.
20. Passengers (2016)
Director: Morten Tyldum
Main Actors: Jennifer Lawrence, Chris Pratt
Pool Involvement: During a space voyage in 2016’s oscar-nominated sci-fi hit Passengers, the loss of gravity transforms a tranquil swim into a deadly ordeal. As the water floats mid-air, the swimmer becomes trapped inside, struggling to escape the suffocating sphere. The tension rises until gravity is restored, releasing the water—and the swimmer—from their peril.
Swimming pools in horror films have a unique power to evoke a blend of serenity and terror. These chilling moments tap into universal fears—of drowning, entrapment, or the unknown lurking just beneath the surface. By turning familiar, everyday spaces like pools into terrifying environments, filmmakers disrupt expectations, making their scares even more potent. From surreal supernatural events to grotesque slasher scenes, horror’s use of pools taps into primal anxieties. It leaves us questioning whether the next swim might just be our last—or worse, if the pool itself is watching, waiting for its moment.
If we missed any of your favorite pool scenes, let us know in the comments! Whether it’s a suspenseful moment from an indie film or a cult classic we overlooked, we’d love to hear your recommendations. Pools are fascinating backdrops for thrillers and horrors, and there’s always room for more hidden gems to explore.
