By popular demand, I bring you the most requested list since I started doing these things for BD almost a year ago. We all love a good creative kill, and these are—in my opinion—the best of the best. I include the “opinion” caveat as a preemptive response to the inevitable stream of “Hey dude, you forgot to include [BLANK]” comments that is sure to follow. So enjoy, discuss, debate, and don’t forget to visit The Vault of Horror for more of my opinionated commentary!
Perhaps the greatest opening to an entirely unremarkable horror flick ever. A bunch of old-timey party-goers get abruptly vivisected by an improbably taut cable that comes loose aboard a luxury liner. There goes the conga-line.
If you’re a serial killer, and your prey is attempting to escape down a really long apartment building stairwell, you really can’t go wrong by dropping a running chainsaw down on them. You’re bound to hit something vital, just like Huey Lewis-lover Patrick Bateman does.
11. There Will Be Blood…and Ligaments, and Bone Shards…: Saw III (2006)
Despite its reputation for grimness, the original Saw really didn’t have a lot of graphic violence to speak of. The third flick in the series changed all that, heading decidedly into torture porn territory with that poor chap who gets the Stretch Armstrong treatment courtesy of a mechanized rack. Snap, crackle and pop ain’t just for breakfast anymore! (scene at the 3:30 mark)
When it comes to horror deaths, you have to love the good old exploding head. And the most memorable by far would have to be the classic scene from Cronenberg’s masterpiece, in which that cold-blooded bastard Michael Ironside causes some poor telepath’s cranium to go Hiroshima. This is why I felt no pity when Arnold ripped his arms off in Total Recall. “See you at the party, Richter!”
This is a tough one for any guy to watch, but you can’t say the scumbag didn’t deserve it. Our empowered protagonist hunts down the mastermind of her vicious group rape and slices off his twig and berries, allowing the newly gelded gentleman to bleed out slowly over the course of a few hours. That’s what you get for gangbanging Buster Keaton’s granddaughter.
Jason has racked up some pretty cool kills over his past 3 trillion movies, but this one is rivaled in coolness only by the liquid nitrogen scene in Jason X. Mr. Voorhees gives this poor horny ditz a wack against a tree like he’s dusting off an Oriental rug. Ouch! (scene at 1:20 mark)
Code blue quickly becomes code red in this mind-bending scene in which the doctor has his forearms bitten off when a giant gaping maw suddenly opens up in the chest cavity of his former colleague. I’ve heard of eyes in the back of your head, but never a mouth in the front of your torso.
It doesn’t get any more direct than a knife driven straight into an exposed heart. Let alone about 47 times. And then the nutjob hangs the broad too, for good measure. Talk about overkill…
To call Dr. Chanard’s methods unorthodox would be an understatement: In this scene, he hands a scalpel to a mental patient who’s convinced bugs are crawling all over him. The result? The desperate looney shreds himself as the doctor looks on. Come on now, doc, that’s just lazy!
4. Father Knows Best: City of the Living Dead (1980)
As far as overprotective dads go, this guy takes the cake. When he finds young Bob smokin’ a jay with his precious little girl, he proceeds to perforate his cerebellum with a massive drill, in that slow and agonizing way only Fulci does. Actually, now that I’m the father of a girl, I can’t say I don’t kind of relate…
Before he was Capt. Jack Sparrow, Johnny Depp was a bloody stain on the ceiling, courtesy of one Fred Krueger. This is possibly the most famous of all horror movie kills. Is there really that much blood in the human body? Do we really care?
Of all horror movie baddies, nobody had it coming to him as much as Capt. Rhodes. When a gaggle of hungry pus-bags descend on the megalomaniacal captain for a raucous feeding frenzy, you can’t help but let out a satisfied chuckle. On the menu this evening—fillet of douchebag.
It’s back to Fulci for this nearly unwatchable ocular impalement scene. What can I say, the maestro just has a talent for realizing the most excruciatingly painful ways to die. And this one is a doozy—who among us isn’t squeamish when it comes to the eyes? And there’s just no let-up either—we watch in agonizingly slow detail as the wooden splinter passes through the eyeball and into the brain. No cutaway here, pansies!
For more news and opinions on the world of horror, including the story of a real-life Dexter copycat, a remembrance of Michael Crichton, and a look at the 50 greatest horror movies of all time, check out Brian’s daily blog, The Vault of Horror.
Best deaths ever have to include the handstand machete in friday 13th 3d and the opening car ramming from dead heat. Also kudos to midnight meat trains hammer attack and the arrow to the eye of wrong turn.
Thing is with all the horror movies out there it would be quite hard to narrow it down to a definative list but this group is pretty good. Glad that Johnnys death from NOES made it , everybody seems to remember that one.
The stabbing and being hung through the plate glass window is one of Argento's best and most beautifuly shot scenes, i agree with deathtiger about the sleeping bag scene..fucking crazy. It was so dumb when he did it again in jason x even though it was VR or some bullshit
Two Thousand Maniacs. The scene with the wooden beer keg where the force the guy in and they hold his hands and feet so he cant get out, and the they hammer nails into finally they roll it down hill. That shit should be on this list. The most simple disturbing creative creepy kill ever...
These are good, from a purely gore standpoint. But what about the death of Marion Crane in PSYCHO, perhaps the most memorable death scene in movie history period?
Yep, I knew someone was gonna bring up Psycho. Undoubtedly the most famous kill ever. But for this list I was mainly thinking memorable in the sense of creative or unusual. And while the shower scene is definitely creatively SHOT, when you get down to it, its just someone getting stabbed in the shower.
WHERE THE FUCK is the death of Quint in the film "Jaws"? One of the greatest kills in horror. To not have it at or near the top is blasphemous!!!! Being eaten alive has got to be one of the worst ways to exit this world. Think about it from Quint's POV. The terror in his eyes as he's reaching for Brody's hand. Sliding helplessly toward those snapping jaws, & staring your mortality right into it's fathomless black eyes. Hearing your bones & flesh cracking & tearing as the beast bites into you. The immense pain, & feeling your life slowly ebbing from your body. Even if you were still clinging to life, you're done for sure when the shark drags you into the abyss. I can't think of many situations much worse than that one. I am a little biased, because "Jaws" is my all-time favorite horror film. Just my two-cents!!!!
Good list. Glad to see City of the LIving Dead made the list. Think I wouldve included The lawnmower scene from dead alive but I understand why its not included.
Another one is in the film Abominable. The scene where the creature bites the guy's face off in one bite. Funny & gory at the same time!!! Jack's death in An American Werewolf in London is pretty good too!!!! "Hey, ass-monkey, eat this"----Abominable.
one that comes to mind at the top of my head is tom savini's death in maniac. when i saw that movie i thought this is one of the best death scenes in a horror movie ever.
The "drill" scene and the "viscera vomit" scene from City of the Living Dead tie for the same slot in my opinion. Speaking of head explosions...I'd also like to have seen the one from The Beyond where the little girl takes a bullet to the skull and her brains go chucking out. That was ridiculous.
There are so many good ones it would be hard to pick. But I would have loved to have seen Kevin Bacon get it through the throat from under the bunk (Friday the 13)I remember when I first saw that I was freaked out for weeks and shoved things under my bed...so no one could hide there lol
Great list, agree about the jaws one, absolutely terrifying. Yeah difficult to list but very well done. I also like the mallet on head in TCSMassacre and some of the kills in the James Bond movie's (obviously not horror) but death by Cocaine Grinder, Oil Drilling pipeline, Snow plough...lovely. Final Destinations have some quite outlandish ones, death by coach anyone?
Emmanuelle Chriqui's death in WRONG TURN is one to remember...getting pinned to a tree with an axe right between the teeth...then everything from the lower-jaw down falls to the ground.
Oh, and I also have to agree with thedvdmonster on the Handstand-Machete kill from FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 3. I'll remember that one before the sleeping bag incident any day.
Please don't forget the birth scene that ends Humanoids From The Deep, or my favorite recent one, where the obnoxious kid gets pummelled by the plate glass in Final Destination 2.
Don't know if I entirely agree with the handstand machette bit needing to be on the list. Honestly, I think this is a great representation of the broad spectrum of horror-style deaths out there.
But if you ever make a top 13 *most hilarious* death scenes in horror movie history, you GOTTA have the one from Jason Goes to Manhattan, with the kickboxer. Funniest punch-decapitation ever put on film.
okay...I've thought about this list for a while and here's MY 2 cents...
1. my #5 doesn't include the death described, but I haven't seen II for some odd reason
2. I've never seen City of the Living Dead but if that scene was a phenomenmal endorsement
3. I completely agree with the Ghost Ship opnening scene...I watched this movie because one of my favorite bands was on the soundtrack & was ecstatic about the opening scene...just tothen be livid about the smoking pile of crap that followed
4. Own & adore American Psycho, I do think the homeless man & dog death scene was way more disturbing...due to the dialogue..and the poor dead dog...but it was off camera so I understand the selection
5. In a list of my own I would have included Paris Hilton's pole through the head scene from the House of Wax remake...but that's just because I wanted her to die so badly...hopefully when I get to watch Repo my opinion of her will have changed
6. I absolutely would also have included Ted Raimi's eye popping hammer to the head scene from Midnight Meat Train...fucking awesome
7. Lastly...Scanners fucking rocks...(way too) enough said
P.S. Rock On Solomon!!! I get so excited when I see a new list up...forgot to congratulate an awesome list...although I don't always agree I can't stand the comments that dissect and degrade the WHOLE DAMN THING
P.P.S. If Rose Madder was ever made into a movie I would love to see the part where the husband finds his wife's friend & the fight between them end in her accidentally being hung on a coat hook by the eye...that sounds unbearable to watch but I still wanna see it
Not necessarily gory but two recent scenes that come to mind are the death scene of the mother in Inside (pretty gory actually) and the incredibly beautiful creative shot of the deaths of the bullies from below the surface of the pool in Let the Right One In. Very gald to see Suspiria here, my personal favorite, but I have to agree that Tenebre should be there. To narrow it down to 15 is impossible but fun. Most horrific death scene off camera that I've scene is the death of the heroine in the bathroom by the parents of the bully who put her through hell while he stares in in mirror in Eden Lake and come to think about it what about Ketchum's The Lost?
anyone see Uwe Boll's Seed. You missed some good shit if you haven't seen it. One scene in particular, Seed rams a sheriffs head through the bars of his prison cell. An obvious rip off of Haute Tension, but executed much more beautifully. Mr. Bolls only good movie.
An ALRIGHT list. Maybe now you can do a
TOP 10 CATCHY HORROR MOVIE OPENING'S OF ALL TIME.
meaning movies that had the best, catchiest movie openings, Like Ghost Ship, Or 28 Weeks Later, Or Scream!
That would be a cool list.
I think these are great but I think franklins death in texas cainsaw 1 definetly sould have been in the top 5 as well as marion crane in psycho or
bobs getting stuck to a door in halloween.
Its impossible to shortlist scenes like this but come on: the puppet scene from Dream Warriors must surely be up there? It's one of the most creative death scenes ever!
The death of Bob from the original Halloween is missing, so is Kevin Bacon's death in Friday The 13th. Lucio Fulci's death sequences were okay but they weren't memorable. Oh and I nearly forgot the opening scene from Scream with Drew Barrymore being stabbed, gutted and hung. Now that was an excellent scene. In fact, alot of the death's on this list are rather forgetable I find. But, hey, it's not my list.
There's an old movie that I saw once or twice...I think it's called "The Prowler". Anyway, there is a scene where this guy gets snuck up upon and gets a rather long bayonette through his head, from top to bottom...the cool part is that you see part of the blade through the guys mouth as he bleeds copiously and does a great job of trying to swallow the blade, even though it's impossible. That was a really wonderful death scene...I'm going to go see if I can find it again...lol...Great List.
Frontiers where the kid was locked in the steam room and his skin just started to ooze. Inside had that scene where the crazy chick castrates the old man with some big scissors.
Doesn't really make sense to call it Top 3 kills when they are a clips of
several death scenes from a movie???
I agree. The hand stand machete kill is classic!
Good list, but I would have went with Tina getting dragged all over the ceiling than Johnny Depp's infamous bloody bed. Also, would have gone with Jason putting the axe into the paralyzed guys head and knocking him wheelchair and all down the stairs from part 2 than the sleeping bag, although that is an inspired choice.
Great list. Hard to narrow down, but all of the choices made are great. One I don't think anyone has mentioned yet that I like is the falling pane of glass from Final Destination 2.
Another good un' is Paul getting it in the nuts with the spear gun in Friday the 13th part IV, or the sheriff getting snapped in half in part VI. Sissy getting her head twisted off like a bottle cap in part VI, deserves an honorable mention. "We're going to play a game, it's called Camp Blood"----Friday the 13th part VI.
There are SO many awesome deaths in horror films but you have to have 2 lists IMO. One for CGI kills and one for Make-Up kills.
Some of the best deaths IMO
1. Guy gets faced skinned off in Dagon
2. Guy gets cut in half by glass doors in 13 Ghosts
3. Barbed Wire death in Final Destination 2
4. Kid gets knife in head in Inside
5. The deaths in The Blob (1988) are all great
6. The Wire Board death in Cube
7. The guy gets gutted in Candyman 2
8. First death of Farmer in Children of the Corn 4
9. Acid Melt death in Deep Rising
10. Circular Saw to the chest in Haute Tension
11. Ripped in half by two trucks in The Hitcher remake
How about Stripe's death near the end of "Gremlins". Watching him melt into a green omelette was pretty good. Or Fitzroyce getting crushed whole in the shark's mouth in "Jaws III". Not really horror, but what about the Wicked Witch of the West in "The Wizard of Oz." Rutger's death at the end of "Nighthawks" was pretty good, with Stallone surprising him in the wig, & shooting him multiple times. Eastwood shooting Hackman in the face in "Unforgiven" was a good one too. Not horror of course, but still memorable. "I'll see you in hell William Munny"-----Unforgiven.
No scenes from Cannibal Holocaust? What about the savage adultress getting fucked to death with a big stone dildo? Not a human death, but the turtle scene is one of the most intense, almost unwatchable scenes i have ever seen. Another good but not human death is the cat being eaten by rats in Men Behind The Sun. So disturbing, I love it. And I'm a cat lover.
there are so many kill scenes u could put on this list.. but i think its not a bad list at all.. i love all those deaths, and although there are other awezome deaths u could put on the list.. i still think this list is really good..
I love the sleeping bag scene, but would have voted for the wheelchair kill in Part II because I love the sleeping bag kill in Prophecy, which came out much earlier. Go to YouTube and search for Prophecy and sleeping bag!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCi-OUHwaY0
The curling iron death in Sleepaway Camp. Marcy getting the ax in her face in Friday the 13th. The guy getting the top of his head sawed off in Texas Chainsaw Massacre II. Just a few more to ponder!!!
Raft scene from the Burning should be there. Final death scene from Inside. High Tension: father's head through staircase. Death Proof sucked, but that car accident was awesome. Sheet glass decapitation in the original Omen. Quint being eaten alive in Jaws. Hellraiser: Frank saying "Jesus wept" before being ripped apart by chains. Jason's death in part 4 by Tommy Jarvis, machete in head, falls to ground, head slides down blade. I wouldn't consider it best, but I chuckle when Cronenberg gets speared in part 10.
Great list! Personally, I would have to add the basketball death scene from Craven's Deadly Friend. The movie blew, but watching Anne Ramsey's head blow up was classic!!
Have you not seen Hatchet? That movie has some of the greatest kills of all time... Not to mention the cameos of some of the greats. Also, I thought the eye gouge was from Zombi 1 not 2. I could be wrong....
So many deaths. Definite favorites are the wheelchair kid and the upside down walking jock from the Friday the 13th series. Also have a love for Quint gettin chewed up by Jaws (true true Clint's Machete). Im happy with the list - but Rhodes getting ripped apart is my #1 on this list by far. Savini was god.
I concur with babagloom. Jason's demise in part IV was quite good. Thanks for the props JohnMarrone, you are a kindred Jaws spirit like me. The death of Lyla Loomis (stabbed in the mouth) in Psycho II was a decent kill shot. Who can forget the guy getting decapitated in the opening of Silver Bullet, with the head flying slowly in mid-air. In Pet Sematary II, the bully getting his face chewed up by the motorcycle wheel (I'm just fuckin' with ya' scene). So many deaths, so little time. "No brain, no pain, think about it"----Pet Sematary II.
The death of Judith Myers in the original "Halloween". The Shape's first kill after all !!! The death of doomed skinny-dipper, Chrissy Watkins in "Jaws". Voted #1 Scariest movie moment a few years back too!!!!
When I saw the title for this article, one of the firsts deaths to pop in my mind was the sheet glass beheading in the original Omen.
This list has a definite few limp wristed entries. Almost looks like something Variety would have done.
No Dead/Alive at all!! Wicked list (especially #2, just watched day of the dead again the other day blu-ray and man there are some kickass deaths in that) -- hadent seen #1 before either -- ouch. But yeah... the lawnmower scene in Dead/Alive should be up there. Looove that movie.
I got to say while it was not the best kill in slasher history, and not even the best movie, but the oral sex based decapitation in Dark Ride was pretty sweet.
Needs less Fulci, the guy was a hack in my opinion. Why not something out of Braindead or Halloween with Bob's impaling, that was the most amazing death I had seen in a slasher film.
The splinter-in-the-eye scene from Zombi 2 still makes me cringe like no other. Especially looking at today's horror, there's so much of a tendency for quick cuts, flashy film techniques and such... Watching her as she's slowly pulled towards the splinter, the horror on her face... and the splinter sinking in, deeper and deeper... no quick cuts, no rock music, no flashy crap... It's fantastic. Good to see the drill scene from City of the Living Dead to. The gut-puking was actually a bit boring and disappointing to me for some reason, but the drill to the head really got me....
How about in Halloween when Michael Myers kills his sister. It wasn't that creative, but it was the first in a series of gruesome deaths. If this is a list of Horror Movie Kills, that one should be there somewhere.
what about the zombie who got the top of his head ripped of by a helicopter propeller in the original dawn of the dead? anything from hatchet? not a horrible list. the thing should be number 1
...huh, good list(some of the deaths made me wince)but shouldn't that freaky as hell death from...i think it's from 'city of the damned' or something to that effect where the girl pukes up these entrails
Great list but i disagree about number one. The death that deserves number one is Kanes death from Alien. Classic. My top 3 would look like this:
3. Omen: Photographer looses his head.
2. Day of the dead. Rhodes Death.
1. Alien: Chestburster.
The machete between the legs kill from 'The Pool' is ACE.
Really this list needs to be redone over a period of about a year then released in 2010 to mark the end of another decade.
I WANT A TOP 100 LIST!
what about halloween 4 where michael kills the doc with his thump and smacks his head up against the truck. what about the scene in nightmare on elm street dream worriors where freddy uses one one of the dudes as a puput by rippin his cords out. and what about braindead where lionel comes in and kills every fukin thing with a lawn mower. there a few of my faverite death scenes.
How about Scream- the death by hanging from your own guts, as happened to Drew Barrymore? How about Ray Liotta's head cap in Hannibal, as given to him by Hannibal Lector? Or the maintenance man getting eaten by the thing in the Crate, from Creepshow?
How about these scenes? In "Friday the 13th Part 3" when the dude walking on his hands gets killed by Jason. In "Final Destination 3" when the dude lifting weights gets killed and the roller coaster crash scene. And in "Ju-on 2" the hospital scene when the woman gives birth to the ghost girl, covered in blood, and the ghost girl kills everyone in the delivery room.
And also bigs ups to Hatchet when Victor Crowley ripped dudes head off from his jaw.
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