Ommetaphobia For the Masses

**** What is Ommetaphobia?

Ommetaphobia is also known as Ommatophobia and is the fear of eyes. Ommetaphobia develops when someone has a bad situation or traumatic event occur in their life involving eyes (i.e., seeing an eye pop out of the socket, getting hit in the eye, going blind in an eye, etc.). Ommetaphobia is considered a social phobia because it involves social situations (i.e., looking into someone’s eyes, touching your eyes, things getting into your eyes, etc.). However, I would imagine it could also be considered a specific phobia. For example, someone seeing eyes floating in a jar could send them into a panic. You can find more information about social and specific phobias on the home page.

Ah, the fear of eyeball trauma, honestly it's a pretty common fear, or aversion. I love seeing eyeball stuff in horror because it's just one of those areas of the body you don't want disturbed. So this article is mainly for people like me, getting a bunch of great eyeball scenes at once, but also for the opposite. Step inside, conquer your fears, and let's see some eyeballs getting destroyed in no particular order.

Un Chien Andalou

Year - 1929

Director – Luis Bunuel

Let's start with an old one which was actually a collaboration between the director and Salvador Dali, creating what is arguably the first surrealist movie, very horrific and features a gnarly eyeball scene. Good FX, right? Well that's because it's a real eyeball being sliced open. From a dead cow though, not the actress.

28 Days Later

Year – 2002

Director – Danny Boyle

Such a great movie, but one overlooked scene seems to be the lead digging out some dude's eyeballs with his fingers. Which is a sensible scene given that this is an extremely hostile post apocalyptic scenario where anything goes and anything must be done to survive. Visceral to say the least, I could actually feel my fingers going into this guy's eye sockets.

Final Destination 5

Year – 2011

Director – Steven Quayle

This entry into the franchise was good but the standout death scene for me was of course the eyeball laser scene. It really stands out because it's eyeball torture we haven't seen before. And while not as gross as some of the others, in a way it's even gnarlier because the burning just looks awesome and I could swear I could smell it through the screen.

Hostel

Year – 2005

Director – Eli Roth

Sure, this may start out as more burning, but this time we're talking torch, not laser, which is a bit more brutal. But it's what happens after the torture that causes some eye popping that really makes for a memorable. Just a little snip and you'll be just fine. Maybe not, I'm sure you know what happens after the fact if you saw the movie.

The Beyond

Year – 1981

Director – Lucio Fulci

Probably my favorite Fulci movie, kudos to the Lovecraftian tone, and also has some incredible death scenes. This is one of my favorites because it's just so brutal, so violent. And it looks incredibly painful, you know, having your eye popped out like you're some cartoon character. I imagine that would hurt. Just a tad.

Opera

Year – 1987

Director – Dario Argento

And sometimes the worst eyeball torture is the less overt one, like here. Needles taped to her eyelids force her to keep her eyes open and witness horrible murders. If she blinks, she's in for a world of trouble. To be honest though, how long could you keep your eyes open? Something to think about.

From Beyond

Year – 1986

Director – Stuart Gordon

This is an intense scene. Our mutated lead needs those precious pineal fluids so he grabs the doctor, bites her eyeball out of her head and then proceeds to suck her pineal gland through the socket. Brilliant. Apparently the MPAA had a shit fit over this because not only was the scene brutal, but the director zoomed in during the brain sucking. Thank goodness for director's cuts.

Zombie

Year – 1979

Director – Lucio Fulci

This one is an absolute classic. The slow draw, the possibility of maybe she'll escape and then no, not even remotely. The insertion, the slow drift into the eyeball, the brilliant puncturing, the screaming. Such a standout scene, well choreographed and executed. Many memorable scenes in this movie but this one really sticks in the brain. Pun intended.

Splatter: Naked Blood

Year – 1996

Director – Hisayasu Sato

What happens when a scientist develops a serum that turns pain into pleasure? Well, the women who are guinea pigs turn quite masochistic. This movie is chock full of gory scenes but the eyeball being plucked out is just so damn good. Leave it to Japan to make such a strange and incredibly memorable film.

The New York Ripper

Year – 1982

Director – Lucio Fulci

Fulci had a bit of an eyeball fetish, didn't he? I'm glad to be honest. This one might be the gnarliest of them all because it's just so vicious. And let's be honest, he slices up a hell of lot more than an eyeball in this incredible giallo. Hold onto those nipples, ladies. This is honestly just a must see regardless.

So there's a bunch of eyeball torment out there, these are just some of my favorites. So whether this sickened or excited you, I hope you enjoyed and until next time, good night and keep your eyelids tight.

Author and poet currently residing in Tucson, AZ. Ever since he was a child, Eric Myford has had an obsession with horror. Fortunately, his parents never took issue with his genre of choice and allowed him to watch and read what he wanted.

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