Scenes in bathrooms shouldn’t be scoffed at, as they can be as crucial as any other set on a train; skyscraper; or volcano.
The bathroom, toilet, or wash closet is a place of solitude. A moment to collect thoughts and do the necessary. Film, however, has taught us that the shower is the ideal spot to cry in, or that expectant mothers (and their snoopy partners) will almost inevitably stumble across a pregnancy test in the trash. Animated mice, meanwhile, are prone to falling down the toilet entirely.
Other examples have shown us that the white tile is the ideal war zone, clean and intimate, with a quick 180 to become gross again (and that the toilet lid will always make a good weapon in a pinch). Horror is particularly fond of the lavatory for its open and closed spaces all at once, as cubicles can conceal the downright mean (schoolgirls mostly) to the most brutal of killers. Below, we rank our Best Bathrooms.
10 Scream (1996)
There’s something about horror and bathroom cubicles that just go together so well. In Scream, as bitchy girls talk about Sydney (Neve Campbell) from the cubicles, she hides herself away. While the other women snipe and assume, their words add even more depth to the mystery of the whodunit.
They leave, but there is a new threat in there with her as an on edge Sydney inspects under the cubicle doors, dark black boots lower… and then sees the tail end of a distinctive black cloak, showing that this girl is not safe at her home or her school.
9 Casino Royale (2006)
In moody black and white, and with a brand-new Bond at its center, the opening to Casino Royale introduced their 007 as a no nonsense, bloody fisted killer – and would wash away the hangover of any invisible cars. With this scene, as Bond and the grunt physically smash through a row of toilet cubicles alongside the first epic parkour chase, this was a movie that set out to make this new James Bond a unit that could both hit and take a hit. And, having drowned the goon in the sink, when asked how he died over a quip or a zinger this Bond says simply, coldly: “Not well.” Not only does the lack of color act as a flashback, but also shows how Bond’s thinking and duty is that: black and white. It’s simply one of the best Bond cold opens.
8 Jackass 3 (2010)
Revisiting an early stunt from the series, Jackass 3D utilized the bigger budget and then assaulted its audience with poop as it crossed over dimensions. Having Steve-O seated inside a port-a-potty filled with dog crap, then shot high into the air and bungeed back down lets gravity do the heavy lifting. Watch as actual chunks of crap are suspended in midair by the speed and angles, against a disgusted Steve-O backdrop. Jackass has always been at its best with the simplest ideas taken to their extreme, and in arguably the Jackass teams’ finest hour even among so many killer skits, stunts and pranks, The Poo Cocktail Supreme is up there with some of the best. Talking to Thrillest on the skit’s 10th anniversary, Steve-O said:
I remember [Johnny] Knoxville too, because I was screaming the whole time going up, I’m screaming my fucking head off because I hate roller coasters, and I’m like, “Ahh!” So when the shit comes out, I’ve got my fucking mouth wide open. It’s hilarious because I put on a nose plug, I had goggles, ear plugs, and it’s like, “What’s the fucking point?”
7 Jurassic Park (1993)
Jurassic Park taught us that when you gotta go, you gotta go. As the sniveling lawyer sprints for the safety of the outhouse and away from the hungry tyrannosaur, Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) and Alan Grant (Sam Neill) do what they can to distract the monster from the vehicle containing the kids. As Malcolm leads the dinosaur away it crashes in on the man with his pants down and scoops him up in his mouth, killing him instantly.
6 True Lies (1994)
With a proven previous relationship with Arnold himself, director James Cameron had more than assured that he could craft an action scene. Ambushed while going for a pee in the urinal, goons attack agent Harry Tasker (Schwarzenegger) first with a knife in a hand-to-hand brawl that really shows the actor’s size in the film True Lies.
Besting the first henchman, another storms in with a machine gun and mows down the cubicles. As the pristine bathroom is smashed to pieces, the scene only gets better as Tasker dives out in to a pool of water in slow motion for his gun. Interestingly, 2018’s Mission Impossible: Fallout did something very similar, but without all the gunfire.
5 Dumb and Dumber (1994)
As the Farrelly Brothers quickly made their name as the new voice of the gross out comedy, Dumb and Dumber quickly took its place as one of the best comedies of the 1990s. With star turns by the red-hot Jim Carrey (in 1994, Carrey starred in Ace Ventura, The Mask, and this, making him the biggest comedy star on the planet at the time), and an electric chemistry from straight man, Jeff Daniels, a sabotage by way of laxatives maroons moron Harry (Daniels) on the toilet with all manner of intriguing fart sound effects. The result? One of the most over-the-top moments of toilet humor magic ever gifted to screen.
4 Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
As Nancy’s mother warns her of not falling asleep in the tub and drowning, there’s a much bigger threat lurking underneath the water in A Nightmare on Elm Street… In a series with so much iconography, so willing to play with its characters and its audience, the clawed hand approaching the young girl’s legs from a protective sea of bubbles is one of the series’ most memorable shots and really displayed how inventive director Wes Craven and company were with their slasher.
3 Trainspotting (1996)
Meanwhile in the Worst Toilet in Scotland, Renton spools through a bowl of muck after his suppositories in Trainspotting. Showing the quite literal depths that this junkie is willing to plunge for drugs, Trainspotting sees Ewan McGregor on his knees in the muck. With no music or dialogue, the scene sets itself as being entirely dire and unsanitary and as Renton descends in to a blue ocean beneath, we are made to question this young man’s grasp on his own reality.
2 The Shining (1980)
As a curious Jack (Jack Nicholson) goes exploring in Room 237, he stumbles across a beautiful woman bathing in The Shining. Although Jack and his family are the only ones in The Overlook hotel, she is most definitely there and with Wendy having been so irritating recently… As Jack begins to make out with the beautiful naked woman, another angle reveals a grotesque and bloated body of a ghoul and a sign of things to come.
1 Psycho (1960)
Sometimes considered to be the first movie to show a toilet on screen and actually flush it (which is only true of American cinema in particular), how could Psycho not be our top spot? In this ultra sleek kill or be killed horror from the master of suspense, a woman has stolen a heap of cash from her employer and fled the city now finding sanctuary in an old motel. Having met the odd, but otherwise pleasant, owner Marion (Janet Leigh) takes a shower and is stabbed repeatedly by an unseen killer beyond the curtain. An assault of music and incredible editing results in a blood splattered display of intimate shock.
