The Top 10 Best Horror Movie Kills

Top 10 Horror Movie Kills

I know I said I was going to do this every Saturday, but tomorrow will be a busy day, so I’ll just get this one out there here and now.

This particular top 10 list is for all the gorehounds out there that love watching blood spew and heads roll just as much as I do. Cinema is a visual art, and those who enjoy movies enjoy being able to see the action firsthand. For all the different genres of film, there are different kinds of action. In an action movie, its seeing one man single handedly take out a bunch of bad guys all at once. In a comedy, it’s a visual gag that makes us laugh. In a slasher film (and many other kinds of horror films), it's watching a bunch of teenagers get skewered with farm equipment.

It is these eye pleasing moments that we will be focusing on today. I have left YouTube links for every one of the kills so that you can experience the carnage firsthand (sorry for less than perfect quality of some youtube videos).

Also, spoiler alert (obviously).

For the first spot on this list, we must go to an iconic classic that is remembered today as one of the best horror films of all time, I am of course speaking of Halloween.

10. Impalement of Bob (Halloween)

When one of the characters, named bob, goes to get a beer for his girlfriend, things don’t quite go as planned. By this, I mean Michael literally picks him up and stabs his knife all the way through his body and into the back of the wall. Bobs dying movements serve to remind us how painful this death would actually be.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGJXpLjytgc

9. Arrow through the throat (Friday the 13th)

The Friday the 13th series as a whole is riddled with excellent, gory deaths, and, while I’m tempted to go with Jason’s double lover spearkill from part 2, this one beats it out by just a hair. While Kevin Bacon’s character decides to enjoy a smoke in bed, he is suddenly hit with a drop of blood from the dead counselors above him. After that, the killer under the bed grabs his forehead and shoves an arrow all the way through his neck. Tom Savini’s special effects make this one very memorable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1Pdui9eluk

8. Raft Massacre (The Burning)

A lot of people accuse this movie of being a ripoff of the Friday series, which isn’t really fair, considering the script for this film was written first and Friday the 13th just beat it to the box office. Anyway, for this spot on the list, I’ve chosen the scene in which Cropsy (the killer) disposes of an entire batch of teenagers with a single pair of gardening shears. There’s plenty of blood and plenty of screaming, all of which makes this the best part of the movie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lekxSn2RpnM

7. The Defibrillator (The Thing)

The practical effects in this movie are amazing, and were considered a milestone in cinematic history. This is never more evident than in one scene in which a doctor arms are bitten off by a supposedly “dead” crew member when he tries to resurrect him with a defibrillator. This effect was achieved by having an actor who didn’t actually have arms… the ones you saw were only prosthetic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjIXwkX1e48

6. Decapitation (Sleepy Hallow)

This list simply would never be complete without a decapitation, although there have been many throughout cinematic history as a whole, one of the ones in sleepy hollow particularly strikes a chord, Mostly because it’s pretty over the top and gory. I’m talking about a man being impaled, dragged out a window and through a fence before being decapitated. It’s awesome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFee6bs9OkI

5. Final Salute (Day of the Dead)

For this pick on the list, I chose George Romero’s serious and isolated masterpiece. Near the end, a domesticated zombie who was in the military see’s that his master was shot down by Colonel Rhodes. He doesn’t take to this very well and ends his master’s life by shooting several times and then feeding him to his fellow zombies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjikkKdnyck

4. Shower Scene (Psycho)

You knew that this scene was going to make the list, and you also probably knew it was going to make the top 5. This single scene is near cinematic perfection, the music is perfect and all the shots are perfect, as is the shock itself. You can thank psycho for every movie on this list, because without it, what was considered acceptable (in terms of violence) would’ve never been pushed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WtDmbr9xyY

3. Head Explosion (scanners)

I was originally going to go with the head explosion in Halloween 6: The return of Michael Myers, but after thinking it over, I’ve decided that the one in scanners is just a tad better, maybe it’s the bright colors that makes the red pop, or maybe it’s the subtle buildup that leads up to the satisfying conclusion of screams and gore. Either way, this kill will forever be a favorite of horror fans everywhere.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YI3NoBeNwfk

2. Xenomorph birth (Alien)

I was having trouble deciding which was better for the number two spot on this list, between this and the head explosion, but there’s a special sort of fear in thinking that the thing that is going to kill you is actually inside you. In this famous scene from Ripley’s horror classic, John Hurt gives birth to an Alien through his chest. This is made very realistic by the fact that Ripley didn’t tell his actors what was going to happen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRX2ntm2rXQ

And the number one spot is….

1. Into the bed (A Nightmare on Elm Street)

Wes Craven is without a doubt a very creative man, even if some of his newer films don’t quite live up to his old works, you can’t deny that he has given the horror genre more than one memorable movie, whether it be scream, the hills have eyes, the last house on the left, or this 80’s masterpiece known as “A Nightmare On Elm Street”. This movie is fantastic. Most hardcore horror fans have seen it, and if you haven’t, then you should. As soon as possible, and this scene is proof of why. Freddy Krueger drags a victim (played by Johnny Depp in his first ever movie roll) down into the dream world before expelling him upwards in a geyser of blood. Wes craven had this effect done by having a revolving set that turned upside down to give the image of several gallons of blood defying gravity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-frM2Lf8KE

Thank you for checking out this list, if you want to suggest a top 10 list for the future, or promote one, then leave a comment below. You can find an additional list of future top 10 lists on my profile.