Horror movies are very diverse as a genre, encompassing all kinds of terror and dread. However, a common element to most films in the genre is the body count, often in a darker way than in other films. Where other movies can make people die quickly or with dignity, deaths in horror movies are often long and painful.
Whether mundane or supernatural, some horror movies have their reputations based entirely on gruesome murders. Scenes that stick with audiences forever and are usually at the forefront of any discussion, some of the deaths are so vivid and unpleasant that they disturb audiences long after the film is over.
ten The Death of Georgie Denbrough (IT: Chapter One)
The death of a child is always disturbing because it goes against people’s natural instincts to protect them. The opening scene of IT: Chapter 1 spends a lot of time preparing for Georgie Denbrough’s death, causing him to come face-to-face with Pennywise. When it actually happens, it’s surprisingly quick but still disturbing.
Tricked into talking to the clown to get his toy boat back, the conversation slowly becomes more sinister for Georgie and the audience. Pennywise then suddenly rips off Georgie’s arm before letting him crawl a few feet and drag him into the sewers. It’s a shocking scene that plays on the anxieties surrounding children in the suburbs and is a key moment in the film.
9 Mercy Kills by David Drayton (The Mist)
Rarely is a horror movie murder more disturbing due to its impact on the killer, not the victim. However, in the infamous end of Mist, This is exactly what is happening. The situation slowly deteriorates over the course of the film until protagonist David Drayton and his companions find themselves stranded, out of gas, and easy prey for monsters.
David decides to show mercy and shoot the others, including his son, Billy. Moments later, the US military charges through the area to rescue the survivors, rendering mercy killings entirely unnecessary. David’s horrified reaction is the last thing Mist shows, and it was the image that stuck with most moviegoers.
8 The Murder of Casey Becker (Scream)
The opening scene of Scream is iconic for its self-aware nature, slowly creeping terror, and downright unpleasant ending. Casey Becker is home alone when she receives a call from a stranger, who becomes threatening and forces her to answer some horror movie trivia. When she gets a question wrong, the stranger promises to kill her.
The whole scene is weird and disturbing, but things take things to another level when Casey fails to escape. Not only is she killed, but she is also disemboweled and her corpse is left for her parents to see. It’s disturbing from start to finish, and that’s part of the reason the film is so beloved.
seven Nash being torn apart (The Hitcher)
Not particularly suspenseful or well done as classic horror movies do, The HitcherThe main claim to fame is his most notorious kill. After spending the film being quite menacing, villain John Ryder captures main character Nash and uses him in his standoff with the police. Rather than hold her hostage, he straps her between two vehicles and starts the engine of one of them.
Things go wrong and Ryder does exactly what he promises by speeding up his vehicle. Nash is painfully torn between the two, with the film making him as unpleasant to watch as possible. The Hitcher is hated by critics but has some fan appreciation. These opinions are generally based on differing views of the film’s grotesque violence.
6 The Beheading of Annie Graham (Hereditary)
Hereditary is designed to be disturbing and unpleasant throughout, bombarding the viewer with the death of a child, the breakdown of a family, and grotesque supernatural imagery. However, the horror culminates after Annie Graham throws the diary into the fire, ready to banish the demon Paimon at the cost of her own life.
Instead, Annie’s husband burns to death and she is possessed. Paimon then uses his body to torment his son, Peter, chasing him around the house and into the attic. After several nightmarish minutes, Annie rises into the air and begins pulling piano wire across her own neck, slowly decapitating herself. The scene is tense, disgusting, and incredibly well done, capping off a gruesome setting.
5 The Chestburster escaping from Kane (alien)
The most disturbing scene of Extraterrestrial has a good claim to be horror cinema’s most iconic death. The scene begins with Kane apparently having recovered from the facehugger attack, and the crew are simply enjoying dinner together. Kane suddenly falls ill and begins to have violent spasms before a monster bursts from his chest.
The reason the scene is so disturbing isn’t just the effects and the gore, but also John Hurt’s acting. Hurt perfectly sells Kane’s terror and agony as the Chestburster tears him apart from the inside out, carrying the stage for over a minute just with his performance. The erupting alien only continues the horror.
4 Ripped Frank Cotton (Hellraiser)
The hellraiser The franchise has many disturbing deaths, as a result of creatures that have lost the ability to distinguish pleasure from pain and live to inflict agony on others. However, the franchise is yet to surpass the breakthrough record of the first hellraiser movie when the Cenobites return to claim Frank Cotton.
After being the villain for most of the film, Cotton is eclipsed in moments as the Cenobites surround him, punishing him for escaping them. They drive hook after hook into his flesh, leaving him helpless and maimed. They then tear him apart, having pushed him to the brink with the pain inflicted.
3 Neil Howie’s date with The Wicker Man (The Wicker Man)
The original from 1973 The wicker man has a very well-known ending, as protagonist Neil Howie’s good works crumble and he finds himself in the clutches of Lord Summerisle and the villagers. Nonetheless, knowing the ending doesn’t prevent his fate from being more disturbing when he actually watches the movie.
Having been drawn into a trap while trying to rescue a young girl, Howie is captured and dragged to the titular wicker man. The villagers force it inside and then light it while performing rituals outside. Even aside from Howie’s obvious terror and the agonizing way he dies, the way the villagers happily sing and dance outside adds to the surreal and gruesome nature of the scene.
2 Ashley and Ashlyn’s Tanning Bed Deaths (Final Destination 3)
Dead in the Final destination movies revels in finding unlikely and gruesome ways for its victims to die, resulting in a disturbingly large number of deaths. In the entire franchise, however, few have impacted audiences more than the deaths of Ashley and Ashlynn in Final Destination 3the first kills of the movie.
Ashley and Ashlynn are trapped in malfunctioning tanning beds, desperately trying to escape as the beds get hotter and hotter, frying them alive. The deaths are excruciating and horrifying even to think about. Even though Final Destination 3 is considered a mediocre sequel overall, this particular scene is well known and loved.
1 Timothy Young’s Cog Trap (Saw III)
The Seen the films are infamous for their level of gore and escalating brutality, with some critics decrying them as “torture” films rather than true horror films. As a result, they have some of the most disturbing deaths in recent cinema, one of the most notorious being the Rack trap that appears at the end of Saw III.
Trapped in it is Timothy Young, a drunk driver who killed protagonist David Dutton’s child. Dutton must take a bullet to free Young, while the trap twists his body parts one by one. Viewers are forced to watch Young be physically destroyed, screaming in pain as his body is transformed in ways the human form should never be.
