This week sees the release of Final Destination: Bloodlines, the latest in a horror franchise known for its creative kills. So we’re discussing some of our own favorite horror kills! Let us know yours @SiftPop!
Fede Álvarez had a high bar to clear when it was announced that he would be helming the first non-Sam Raimi directed Evil Dead film in 2013. This remake, while a clear departure from Raimi’s style in its darker and more edgy tone, remains filled with some of the most hardcore horror moments one could ever hope to find. Ratcheting up the tension from beginning to end, it is difficult to imagine a more metal sequence of carnage and bloodshed than the finale of Álvarez’s Evil Dead remake. If you are a fellow horror sicko, by the time Mia goes full force with her chainsaw set to the backdrop of raining blood, you will want to stand up and cheer for the sheer audacity of such a scene. (Foster Harlfinger)
How do you shake up a film franchise that has been going for 20 years? A change of setting would certainly do wonders. It’s hard for horror franchises to avoid just rehashing the same story. To combat this, Friday the 13th took its famous slasher killer Jason Voorhees into… SPACE. Not only does Jason trade in his setting, but he gets a whole new arsenal of potential weapons to play around with. One of the gnarliest kills in all of horror happens thanks to this new setting with futuristic technology. When Jason comes to life in a laboratory, there is a tub of liquid nitrogen just waiting to be used. Then we witness a woman’s face being frozen and smashed into bits. The laboratory might look like it was made for two cents, but a cheesy, low-budget set can’t take away from a kill as unexpected and gnarly as this one. Jason X is not a good movie, but it is a fresh and different take on its tiring genre, and still gets the bragging rights of having one of the most creative and brutal kills. (Shane Conto)
I can say without any hesitation that Freddy Krueger’s “Marionette Kill” from Dream Warriors is my single favorite horror movie kill of all time. It’s completely disgusting, of course, but it’s the kind of gnarly, creative imagery you dream for as a horror movie fan — not to mention the terrific practical effects which haven’t aged a day. The film itself remains one of the highlights of the Nightmare on Elm Street Franchise, which has become known for its uniquely dream-infused sequences of horror. Watching as Phillip, a sleepwalker patient, has his tendons ripped from his arms and legs as he is puppeteered around the hospital by Freddy remains not just a highlight of the franchise, but one of the most haunting and inventive horror sequences ever put to film. (Foster Harlfinger)
Perhaps one of the more infamous death traps, the angel trap from Saw III is one of the most diabolical traps of the entire series — and that’s saying something. Kerry, a detective investigating the Jigsaw murders, awakes to find herself strapped in a harness hooked under her ribs. Told she can escape if she dips her hand in acid to unlock the harness, Kerry does so, only to find she never had any hope of escape. With the one-two punch of the acid and the rib rip, it’s truly one of the most brutally executed kills of the entire franchise. The image it leaves us on even draws parallels to another classic horror kill in Silence of the Lambs. Its gruesomeness is why it’s memorable. (Jake Bourgeois)
There’s no shortage of terrifying, screwed-up visuals in David Fincher’s crime/horror classic Se7en, where a serial killer murders his victims based off the seven deadly sins. However, there’s only one death that’s so twisted and horrific that the film doesn’t even show you the aftermath. In the film, a sex worker is murdered by a client at gunpoint utilizing an… appendage with a wicked blade on the end of it. The audience really only needs to see the instrument to understand the result, and boy, is it gruesome. Every death in the film is beyond sadistic in its own way, with this being the best example. It’s truly a case where letting the audience’s mind do the work makes the kill even more horrifying. (Jake Bourgeois)
Perhaps no modern franchise has resonated so well with the hardcore horror sickos as Damien Leone’s Terrifier, and the sequel perfectly illustrates why. Allie (Casey Hartnett) is a friend of our protagonist, and finds herself dispatched in perhaps the most gruesome kill scene ever put to screen, as she’s chased around her room, with each grievous injury being more dastardly than the last. As a villain, Art the Clown (David Howard Thorton) doesn’t need words to speak volumes, and the way he bounces back and forth between menacing and gleeful makes him even more, well, terrifying. It’s a true case of a kill’s creativity being in just how extra it is. Just know what you’re getting into. It’s not for the easily (or even not so easily) squeamish. (Jake Bourgeois)
Tucker and Dale vs. Evil explores creativity in perspective, concept, and method of death. Anyone who was able to go into this movie dark on the genre twist behind it must have really enjoyed the reveal. I desperately want someone to cut together an edit reframing the perspective to delay the reveal until after much of the action. The trope of college kids camping in the woods and getting picked off by murderous hillbillies is a tale as old as time. But what if the hillbillies are actually the kindest souls, and the teens accidentally pick themselves off one by one in their attempt to survive? It’s the ultimate case of mistaken identity. There are multiple unintentional impalements and explosions which are all contenders, but the most creative death goes to Mike, as he dives head first into a wood chipper. Poor Tucker (Alan Tudyk) is shocked after his misguided attempt to pull Mike out, and one of the funniest moments of the movie is when he wipes a profuse amount of blood from his eyes and asks, “Are you okay?” An even funnier moment immediately follows when Tucker and Dale (Tyler Labine) are caught red handed by the sheriff while dragging half of Mike, and they attempt to honestly explain away their “doozy of a day.” (Jason Mack)