Published Nov 4, 2026, 9:00 AM EST
Josh is a film critic and journalist with over nine years of experience in the entertainment industry. Entering the field at just 17 years old, Josh went on to make his own website, The HoloFiles, and social media brand Star Wars Holocron, the most followed Star Wars fan account on Twitter/X.
A member of both the Chicago Indie Critics and the Hollywood Critics Alliance, Josh has covered major industry events including Star Wars Celebration and, most recently, CinemaCon for ScreenRant. His work has appeared in outlets such as Game Rant and Comic Book Resources (CBR), and he has been featured in publications including the BBC and The New York Times.
Star Wars is one of the most popular and longest running franchises in movie history. The series, first created by George Lucas in the 1970s, is approaching its fiftieth anniversary next year, and is set to celebrate the occasion with the release of Star Wars: Starfighter, which stars Ryan Gosling in his franchise debut.
Insiders have noted that Starfighter, which was directed by Shawn Levy (Stranger Things, Deadpool & Wolverine), will tap back into what made Star Wars so special in the first place. The film is said to have a lighter tone, with a story focused on action and adventure rather than intense lore building.
The detail about a lighter tone is especially interesting, as the Star Wars franchise has gone in some interesting directions in this area in recent years. The sequel trilogy, for example, had a family-friendly tone, but the films had plenty of dark and serious moments, especially Episode VIII - The Last Jedi.
Other Star Wars projects on Disney+ have done some interesting things with tonal variety, mainly Andor, which plays as a political thriller first and a Star Wars show second. This mirrors some of the stories in Star Wars Legends books, which were centered in a variety of unique genres, including adventure, sci-fi, and horror.
Even though no live action Star Wars project has committed to full-fledged horror. Yet, even as that’s the case, there are still many scare-inducing moments in Star Wars, whether they be in theaters, on Disney+, or in animation.
5 Emperor Palpatine’s Return Revealed (Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise Of Skywalker)
The final film in the Skywalker Saga (for now) was Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker. The film pivoted massively from the events of its predecessor, The Last Jedi, which attempted to take the Star Wars franchise in bold new directions. The Skywalker bloodline, for example, was de-emphasized in Episode VIII.
The Rise of Skywalker was ultimately criticized for moving back in the direction that The Last Jedi attempted to move away from. The final installment of the sequel trilogy was also critiqued for what some believed to be a relatively unambitious story, one that once again puts Emperor Palpatine at the forefront of the story.
Yet, that criticism largely ignores some of the boldness regarding Palpatine’s resurrection. The scene in which the Emperor is revealed to be alive (the first sequence in the film, in fact) is one of the scariest in Star Wars history.
This sequence features Kylo Ren landing on the dark side planet of Exegol, which has lightning galore in the sky. That alone is enough to make this scene horror movie-esque, but what makes it even scarier is when Adam Driver’s character enters Palpatine’s lair. The latter’s voice booms out, echoing through the vast empty hallways of the base. Then, when Ren finally reaches him, Palpatine is revealed to be scarred and deformed, with a design akin to a horror movie monster.
4 Anakin Skywalker’s Final Transformation Into Darth Vader (Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge Of The Sith)
Along with The Rise of Skywalker, Revenge of the Sith is arguably the Star Wars movie with the most horror elements in it. George Lucas blended plenty of genres for the final film in the prequel trilogy, bringing in elements of romance with Anakin and Padme’s tragic love story, while also including Star Wars’ classic adventure feel, and even some scares, too.
The latter is perhaps best defined by one of the final scenes in Revenge of the Sith, which takes place after Anakin Skywalker is defeated by his former Master Obi-Wan Kenobi in lightsaber combat on the volcano planet of Mustafar. Kenobi leaves Anakin to die, and presumes that he’s dead (something that he later learns isn’t true in the Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi).
Palpatine immediately senses that his new apprentice is in danger and, as such, travels to Mustafar to rescue him. Palpatine takes Anakin back to Coruscant, where he’s operated on gruesomely by droids. Anakin is screaming in pain, which adds to the horror feel of the scene, and this is matched by some violent visuals, too. Anakin’s wounds are shown close up, highlighting the damage that the lava did to his body. It’s a scene that exists within the Star Wars galaxy, but one that would also fit right into a body horror movie as well.
3 Darth Vader’s Hallway Sequence (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story)
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story doesn’t have a ton of horror movie scary moments in its two-hour fifteen-minute runtime. Instead, the movie leans more into what’s seen in the first Star Wars movie, of which Rogue One is a direct prequel to. The Gareth Edwards-directed epic is full of action and adventure, and plays a lot like an Indiana Jones movie at the same time.
Yet, there is one huge exception to this, and it comes right at the end of the film (and has since gone down as one of the most iconic scenes in Star Wars movie history). The scene comes when the Rebels are on the verge of sending the Death Star plans to Princess Leia, but Darth Vader makes one final attempt to stop them.
What occurs is nothing more than a massacre, with Darth Vader chopping down each and every single Rebel soldier, all of whom are screaming for their lives. At the same time, the hallway that the sequence takes place in is dimly lit with red lighting, and an ominous alarm sound can be heard throughout as well. It may take place within a film that is family friendly, but this scene in Rogue One definitely pushes the limits of the movie’s PG-13 rating.
2 Emperor Palpatine Uses The Power Of The Dyad (Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise Of Skywalker)
Another scare-inducing scene in The Rise of Skywalker takes place, once again, on the planet Exegol. This time, however, it happens in the third act of the film and, crucially, Kylo Ren is no more, and in his place is Ben Solo. Solo joins Rey in their fight against Palpatine, and the two stand-off against him.
Palpatine uses his lightning against them, however, and it’s at this point that he realizes the two are a dyad in the Force. What happens next is another monster movie moment featuring Palpatine, as the villain rejuvenates himself using the bond between Rey and Ben. The imagery of Palpatine’s face turning back into what it was during the original trilogy, including his glowing yellow eyes, lives long in the memory for its resemblance to similar scenes in horror movies.
1 Order 66 Sequence (Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge Of The Sith)
Image via Disney+Another scary sequence in Revenge of the Sith is the Order 66 sequence, which takes place around two thirds of the way through the Star Wars film. George Lucas doesn’t hold back here, showing Jedi after Jedi being gunned down by the Clone Troopers. What makes this scene scary isn’t just the imagery of the fallen Jedi, but the music as well, as composer John Williams crafted a score similar to the one he did for Jaws, for example.
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