Best Horror Movie Death Scenes
A Seriously Random List VII / Dustin Rowles
Seriously Random Lists | October 27, 2008 | Comments (65)
Honorary Mentions
House of Wax
Scanners:
The Top Five
5. Final Destination 3
4. Nightmare on Elm Street
3. The Blob (Remake)
2. Deep Blue Sea
1. Jason X
See also: Pajiba’s Seriously Random Lists
Posted by: BarbadoSlim at October 27, 2008 1:05 PM
Jason Voorhees' triple-decapitation of company paintball players in Friday the 13th Part VI.
Also: the "sleeping bag kill" of Part VII.
Also some more: the "boxing match" of Part VIII.
Posted by: Phillip at October 27, 2008 1:06 PM
What about Meet Joe Black? Not a horror movie, you say?
I beg to fucking differ.
Otherwise, spot-on. Although, any of the Final Destinations win. Additional honorable mention should go to Johnny Depp's death from Nightmare on Elm Street, though.
Posted by: TK at October 27, 2008 1:06 PM
I'm too chickenshit to watch any of these. Something (???) happened to me - I used to love horror movies - now I cover my eyes and peek through my hands.
I'm so ashamed.
Posted by: Cindy at October 27, 2008 1:12 PM
Additional honorable mention should go to Johnny Depp's death from Nightmare on Elm Street, though.
Posted by: TK at October 27, 2008 1:06 PM
------------------------------------------------
Oh yes, definitely, fountain of blood and gore has to be ranked right up there.
Still holds up as genuinely chilling and not in a comical way.
Posted by: BarbadoSlim at October 27, 2008 1:13 PM
Great list , the blob scared the shit out of me when i was a kid and went t see it with my step dad. Never wanted to go near a clogged sink ever again
Posted by: GILP at October 27, 2008 1:14 PM
How about an honourable mention to the Kevin Bacon arrow-through-the-neck scene in Friday the 13th?
Posted by: kushiro at October 27, 2008 1:19 PM
UGH! For some reason I can't get any of the videos to play. Now I'll have to wait til I get home to see what I'm sure is the face-smashing in Jason X. I do enjoy that one. And I have to agree about the Final Destinations having some awesome death scenes. And, oh! The Blob. My parents loved that movie when I was little, so I've always loved it too.
Here's what I learned from Suspiria: Don't have glass roofs. People fall through them all the time onto marble floors and get all sorts of broken. Also, don't have a room full of barbed wire and glass shards that people might fall into and get ripped to shreds as they try to climb out of there. What a mess to clean up!
Posted by: Anna von Beaverplatz at October 27, 2008 1:23 PM
I was always partial to the guy getting bisected by the pane of glass in Thirteen Ghosts.
Posted by: insertclevernamehere at October 27, 2008 1:24 PM
I was ready to be all "Whatever, Pajiba. You don't know me. Shit, you ain't even done know horror films well enough to pick the good kill scenes." And then you pull this list on me.
Well played. I have to support the Suspiria love. I'd go with the stained glass room death, as well.
Posted by: Robert at October 27, 2008 1:29 PM
Is that Drama in "The Blob" scene? bc thats just pure fantastic.
Posted by: sara at October 27, 2008 1:29 PM
Any of the possessions in The Thing. Ick.
Posted by: Admin11 at October 27, 2008 1:30 PM
Looking at Rowles' honorables again I'm left wondering:
Are the Final Destination movies really horror...? You know what I mean?
eeeeeh...
Posted by: BarbadoSlim at October 27, 2008 1:32 PM
I'm a fan of the ridiculous deaths in the Final Destination series, but my favorite has to be from the second movie, when the kid gets crushed by a falling window pane.
Posted by: Melissa at October 27, 2008 1:33 PM
Oh common. Best death scene ever . . . Frankenfurter in "The Rocky Horror Picture Show."
Posted by: BWeaves at October 27, 2008 1:40 PM
Oh come on. Best death scene ever . . . Frankenfurter in "The Rocky Horror Picture Show."
Posted by: BWeaves at October 27, 2008 1:40 PM
How about the Abominable Dr. Phibes? I secretly harbor a hope that my official cause of death will be Impalement By Brass Unicorn Head from Long Range.
Posted by: Cat at October 27, 2008 1:42 PM
BWeaves, I read your post and for some reason thought of Frankenhooker. The lawnmower incident and the exploding hookers were pretty awesome.
Posted by: Anna von Beaverplatz at October 27, 2008 1:48 PM
As soon as a I saw the title my mind immediately went to Deep Blue Sea. That's seriously the WORST way to die.
Posted by: TO at October 27, 2008 1:51 PM
I'll submit the chick being pulled apart by the semi in The Hitcher and Gage slicing the old man's achilles tendon/face in Pet Sematary.
Posted by: Mattfactor at October 27, 2008 1:53 PM
Say it with me people...The Omen. Three awesome deaths (spoiler alert):
1. The nanny hanging herself out the window.
2. The priest being pierced in the chest.
And saving the best for last..drum roll please...
3. The reporter's decapitation.
Posted by: kootenay girl at October 27, 2008 1:55 PM
Kathy Bates' nekkid hot tub scene in About Schmidt. You mock my pain...I DIED THAT DAY!!!!!!
Posted by: Rubble44 at October 27, 2008 2:01 PM
paul reubens in buffy the vampire slayer
enough said
Posted by: courtney at October 27, 2008 2:05 PM
This maybe kinda sorta disqualified, but hear me out...The British MiniSeries Jekyll had a particularly bad-assed kill. Spoilers for those of you playing at home...
Mr. Hyde gets to kill Benjamin, the pain in the assed American operative of the (as of episode 3) unknown organization hunting him down...and all he has to do is every so subtly slash his neck.
Why is it badassed?
1.) The blade isn't that big, and Ben's neck doesn't start bleeding until seconds after Hyde slices him.
2.) It has one of the funniest, scariest, most batshit insane exchanges ever:
Mr. Hyde: Ever killed anyone, Benjamin?
Benjamin: Not personally. I have people.
Mr. Hyde: You're missing out. It's like sex. Only there's a winner.
Posted by: Mike R. at October 27, 2008 2:05 PM
OK, seriously, the coolest death scene I saw in a horror movie was in Frankenhooker when the whores all blew up from the supercrack. Then their parts all came alive in the freezer and killed Zorro the pimp. I hope I'm not ruining anything.
Posted by: Rubble44 at October 27, 2008 2:09 PM
I don't know why I can no longer see clips on this site! It's making me angry!
Posted by: Kolby at October 27, 2008 2:17 PM
The Jason X cryo-freeze kill always gets big props on every list, but I really feel like it's kind of over-rated. I agree that the triple decapitation of Friday the 13th part VI was better (its up for free on demand on comcast in my area right now- i did a double feature of that and pumpkinhead with the roommate the other night...it was fucking amazing). I would also like to submit the Backwards fold in the bed from Freddy vs. Jason, Jesse Ventura getting his chest blown the F out in Predator, and Day of the Dead's graphic zombie dismemberment at the climax. Beat those hotshots.
Posted by: Rorny at October 27, 2008 2:18 PM
YESSS!!! Jason X never gets the credit it deserves. I think Jason stuffing to the two computer generated topless chicks into sleeping bags and slamming them together (and then against a tree) should have made the list too.
Posted by: Handel at October 27, 2008 2:24 PM
As a Horror connoisseur, I can agree with your idea for the list and even some of the films on them...but definitely not the ones chosen.
1. What about the original SHOCK death in Final Destination 1 with the bus????
2. Jason X - The giant auger death.
3. Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors - "Welcome to primetime, bitch!"
4. Dead Alive - Lawnmower Massacre
5. Day of the Dead - Capt. Rhodes getting his torso ripped open. (I have a REALLY good story about on-set reactions)
6. Alien - John Hurt and the original Chest Popper scene.
7. John Carpenter's The Thing - Toss up between the Double Kill when Norris's chest opening up and then eating Dr. Copper's arms or when Palmer get his blood test and then he eats Windows.
Posted by: PissBoy at October 27, 2008 2:28 PM
OO!! And though I didn't care too much for the film as a whole...Texas Chainsaw remake...when the chick pulls the gun out of virginia and eats a bullet.
Posted by: PissBoy at October 27, 2008 2:29 PM
Scream I.
Girl stuck in garage's dog door.
My friends and I applauded that scene.
Posted by: Sofía at October 27, 2008 2:29 PM
Final Destination 1 shower scene god that is such an awful way to die!
Posted by: blacksred at October 27, 2008 2:38 PM
Any of the Final Destination movies have GREAT death scenes that are comical as well as rather scary because you realize you can totally die anywhere, anytime due to freaky weird accidents.
Beside that, I am so glad I didn't pay money to see House of Wax. One of my friends was trying to convince me to do so and I told her to shove it, I'll watch Paris die on YouTube.
Posted by: NotBlonde at October 27, 2008 3:00 PM
I second courtney for Paul Reubens in buffy the vampire slayer.
This is the best I could find.
Skip to 2:54
Posted by: bradm at October 27, 2008 3:26 PM
I'm sorry, but this list kinda sucks. You don't give many parameters other than Best Horror Movie Death Scenes. I think it should encompass more than gore. Here's a quick listing, though we could add more:
1) The Thing in the dog cage
2) Ripley ejecting the queen alien in Aliens
3) Another vote for the bathroom scene in Final Destination, that was some intense shit, kinda can't watch it
4) The dad/zombie mom/zombie baby scene in Dawn of the Dead
5) Cillian Murphy gouging that soldier's eyes out at the end of 28 Days Later
6) Sarah Connor crushing the Terminator in a hydraulic press in the first movie
7) Just about any of the deaths in Shaun of the Dead, highly entertaining
8) When Jeff Goldblum goes through the portal thing one last time in The Fly
9) The chick in the garage door in Scream, can't believe she thought her big boobs would fit through that tiny dog door
10) End of American Werewolf in London
Posted by: Slash at October 27, 2008 3:31 PM
In "Nightmare on Elm St. III; the Dream Child", the teenaged guy obsessed with fitness gets his arms ripped off on a weight bench and turns into a giant roach. Wes Craven is my hero for thinking of that messed up shit.
Posted by: RhymesWithSilver at October 27, 2008 3:42 PM
I seem to remember a pretty terrifying 'scene from troll 2' on youtube. Look it up, you'll agree.
Posted by: becks at October 27, 2008 3:44 PM
While maybe not the best, I feel that the guy getting sliced into chunks by a separated laser beam in the first Resident Evil was pretty cool. And props to you for including a good death from a Final Destination show - about as deep as Sarah Palin's foreign experience, but so seriously awesome in the creatively contrived death scenarios - it's like Rube Goldberg meets the original and delightfully macabre Brothers' Grimm. Now this is the way to start the week!
Posted by: lordhelmet at October 27, 2008 3:46 PM
I agree, the laser room of death in Resident Evil was pretty badass.
Posted by: Slash at October 27, 2008 3:49 PM
RhymesWithSilver: Good grab, but that would be Nightmare on Elmstreet 4: The Dream Master. And it was a girl in that scene, Brooke Theiss from the awful sitcom Just the 10 of Us. It was only watchable for the hot girls on it.
Posted by: TylerDFC at October 27, 2008 5:37 PM
1. Witchboard. I can still see that weird psychic lady getting impaled on the fence, many years later.
2. Carrie. Her Mom bit it in SUCH an awesome, Jesus-y way, getting crucified by the kitchen knives.
3. Halloween III: Season of the Witch. Am I the only one who was a little giddy to watch the kid get it when the mask turned into a rotting, snake-filled pumpkin?
And finally, though it's a TV show...
Buffy the Vampire Slayer. When Willow skins and fries Warren, I actually find great pleasure (I loved Tara). It was so gory and so graphic for a television series at the time, yet so NOT gratuitous, given the nature of his crimes.
Posted by: The Pink Hulk at October 27, 2008 5:50 PM
As I sit here reading all of these wonderful entries a tiny tear flows down my cheek.
I love you guys! And no, I'm not drunk (yet...).
Posted by: Becky Tri-Tip Goddess at October 27, 2008 6:48 PM
Oh, I had to add the scene from Psycho when the cop plunges down the stairs to his death. Not bloody, but really cool in that you're falling with him. Much better appreciated on the big screen.
Posted by: Anna von Beaverplatz at October 27, 2008 6:49 PM
Your #1 is my #1, assuming we're going for the laugh-out-loud ridiculous death scenes (which you seem to be, perhaps with the exception of Scanners). Will there be a list like this every day until Halloween? Because that would be awesome.
Posted by: Lannie at October 27, 2008 7:22 PM
Phillip>> That boxing match was the first thing that came to mind for me, and I'm not even a Friday the 13th fan. A great morbidly comedic moment.
Any Creepshow fans around here? The original has a couple good deaths - Hal Holbrook luring Adrienne Barbeau to the creature in "The Crate" is a good one, as is that cockroach death at the end.
Also, someone mentioned Creepshow 2 last week and that segment "The Raft." That had a great death scene when the guy starts feeling up the girl only to realize she's covered in the deadly carnivorous goop.
There was this terrible movie called Firecracker - really cheesy 80s martial arts movie. Anyway, the final death when the woman pokes her bo sticks through the bad guy's eyes always stuck with me.
And here's a really obscure one. Terrible movie, as well: Carnosaur. The creature grabs Clint Howard from above and tears his head off.
I'm sure I could come up many more of these. I grew up watching a lot of bad, bloody movies.
Posted by: DarthCorleone at October 27, 2008 7:30 PM
Slash nailed it...that moment when all those lasers went threw that military guy ,rifle and all was amazing and original!
Posted by: pasadenamike at October 27, 2008 7:44 PM
When Julia Roberts dies in Steel Magnolia.
What a bloody mess.
Posted by: Sushi at October 27, 2008 8:29 PM
The intestines-rotisserie thingy, from The Cell was pretty awesome. Although, that guy was alive, and didn't die, so I guess that doesn't count.
I do really like that movie.
Posted by: Nadha at October 27, 2008 9:28 PM
Word. Deep Blue Sea. Word.
Posted by: Gee at October 27, 2008 9:48 PM
Pissboy, gotta love the "Welcome to primetime, bitch!" death.
From the Final Destination series, I always prefer the big accident scenes that start things off for sheer "Oomph" - the road crash from 2 is probably the best of those. For individual deaths, though, nothing can beat the airbag death from 2.
And my own personal nomination: from the original "Cube", the guy who gets grated at the start. Mostly for the "...WTF?" factor the first time you watch it.
Posted by: Shay at October 27, 2008 9:49 PM
Most of you won't remember an old horror movie
called Frogs. There is a fantastic scene in this movie in which a man is slowly entombed, alive,
in a cocoon of spiderwebs by dozens of tarantulas. The goosebump factor is immense.
If you're an arachnophobe, you'll have a case of the willies that will last for a whole day.
Posted by: Tony at October 27, 2008 10:47 PM
Hey, RhymesWith Silver, the scene your talking about happened in NOES:The Dream Master. There was a girl who hated bugs for whatever reason and when she was working out Freddy turned her into one and she got stuck in a roach motel. Sadly, that is the NOES where Freddy kills Kincaid.
Nadha, I really like The Cell too. I always watch it whenever it's on tv. Usually on the USA network.
I was trying to think of a good death. I watch Peeping Tom for the first time on TCM the other night. When he is taking pictures or filming the girl and he is getting closer to her about to impale her with the leg of the tripod. I think he put her in a trunk after he killed her. That creeped me out.
Posted by: B. at October 27, 2008 11:49 PM
The chest buster scene HAS to be mentioned. Also the sleeping bag kill from Friday the 13th is particularly nasty. I am also pretty fond of Jack putting the axe in the guy's chest from The Shining.
Posted by: schrome at October 27, 2008 11:59 PM
Forgot to mention that Sam Jackson's death scene belongs on an unintentionally funny death scenes list. I remember almost pissing myself when that big cartoon looking shark bites him in half.
Posted by: schrome at October 28, 2008 12:03 AM
Agree about the Sam Jackson death scene. Maybe have it lead off a new category for "Best End to a Monologue".
Posted by: hugeinjapan at October 28, 2008 7:32 AM
DarthCorleone...The Raft was all me last week. That was my first onscreen tit-shot i can remember from being a kid. The feel-up scene was a good kill but, the first death when Deke gets pulled through and his leg folds up at the hip and touches his face...that was a nice one.
Posted by: PissBoy at October 28, 2008 7:47 AM
ARRGGGHHH! I AM FUCKING PISSED THAT YOU DIDN'T CALL ME FOR THIS! This is my area, this is what I love, and you, you can't do me the courtesy of asking my opinion on these matters? I have extensive horror movie knowledge, vast experience- from the time I was eight- and I could have complied a better list then. Fine. That's how you want it? Fine.
I need to take my meds now.
Posted by: TWoP Fan at October 28, 2008 12:34 PM
I'm still partial to half-melting toxic waste victim in Robocop who literally gets splatted by a moving car like a giant bug hitting a windshield.
Posted by: Vince at October 28, 2008 12:49 PM
Vince>> "Toxic Waste Man" as we called him in junior high. That's the one - can't believe I forgot it!
PissBoy>> "The Raft" wasn't my first tit-shot, but I was definitely at a point when I was extremely hormonally charged and got excited by the prospects of breasts in a scene. (Actually, my hormones aren't markedly different today.) I think I found that death particularly traumatic because it was a cruel switcheroo - the concept of things going so terribly wrong with this hot, half-naked woman was very jarring. Whenever there's a scene in a movie in which a guy basically gets lured to his doom by overtly sexual feminine wiles, it always freaks me out, because I know I would be equally powerless (and dead).
Posted by: DarthCorleone at October 28, 2008 1:15 PM
Opening scene from Suspiria, for sures. It's got everything to make a jarring impression: saturated color and sound, a hot chick, an unseen killer, a bizarre death.
Runner up: The gut vomiting scene in City of the Living Dead. Gross.
Posted by: Amanda H. at October 28, 2008 3:17 PM
Thank for that honorable mention to House of Wax....god help me, I love that movie.
Posted by: Mike at October 29, 2008 3:32 AM
The top three horror movie death scenes could all very well be from the original cut of the original alien.
C'mon There was Kane's death, which had Yappet Kotto peeing in his pants from fright. There was Ash's "death", which took the entire movie in a completely unexpected direction. And Dallas's death was particularly ballsy (we're talking the death in the original version here, not his death scene in the re-cut abortion that came out a few years ago). Has anyone ever been that freaked out by a movie death that occurred entirely off camera?
Posted by: Laughner at October 29, 2008 2:39 PM
Laughner>> I recently caught a double feature of Alien and Aliens on the big screen. Packed theater. Lots of fans and some first-time viewers. Without a doubt the biggest jump moment was Dallas' death. It was cool to experience that having not been old enough to see it with an audience back in 1979.
Posted by: DarthCorleone at October 29, 2008 4:09 PM
hey wat about on halloween:h20 where michael myers gets his head decapitated. That was cool
Posted by: locococo201 at November 1, 2008 4:51 AM
Tossup between Halle Berry getting it in Last boyscout and Jordana Brewster in Texas chainsaw massacre the beginning.
Posted by: mark at November 28, 2008 9:40 AM
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Friday the 13th (part Whatever) death by harpoon in the eye: "Bobby is that you? C'mon stop playin' SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSFPLOP!