A good kill goes hand-in-hand with a good horror movie. Horror movie kill scenes can provoke, or be funny. They can push ideas about race or class, as well as be genuinely disturbing. I defy anyone to watch Ruggero Deodato’s Cannibal Holocaust and not think about turning it off at a few points in the film.
Horror movie kills have been committed by anyone you can think of, from the angelic two-year-old run down in the road and resurrected, to the devil him/herself. Objects, from the trusty axe or butcher’s knife, to an overheated jacuzzi have been used as murder implements.
Some horror movie deaths are iconic, some funny, some more gory than shocking but all speak to that deep, primal fear we all share. So, here is my list of ten absolutely unforgettable horror movie kill scenes. And it should probably go without saying but, AHEAD BE SPOILERS!
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10. The Exorcist III – The Shears
We start with a good ol’ jump scare. These seem to have fallen out favor, as many lesser horror films rely on them for a cheap thrill instead of building up real suspense.
Having said that, in the right hands it works as a brilliant misdirection. And in the hands of director William Peter Blatty (also author of The Exorcist and Legion, on which this is based), boy does it work.
The setup is simplicity itself: A quiet night in a hospital and a single nurse is doing her rounds. Hearing a strange noise, she enters a room to investigate it. It’s just ice melting in a glass. She wakes a doctor who scares the nurse. This works as a jump scare on its own, but Blatty is just luring us into a false sense of security. A few minutes later, the nurse is continuing on her rounds quietly. The killer then emerges behind her holding giant shears.
We see and hear nothing of the nurses death and we don’t need to. At this point you’ll be cowering behind the couch praying to several deities to slow your heart rate.
Where to watch The Exorcist III (the Shears kill scene starts at 1hr;19min):
9. The Shining – Dick Halloran
Poor, old Dick Halloran, head chef at the cursed Overlook Hotel has the Shining, along with Jack Torrance’s son Danny.
After leaving the Overlook and resting in sunny Florida, Danny telepathically communicates with Dick that something has gone terribly wrong at the Overlook. So, he makes the trip to snowbound Colorado, back to the Hotel.
For a moment, we feel the tension lessen as help for Wendy and Danny has arrived. And then Dick takes the sharp end of Jack’s axe straight to the chest. Dick Halloran’s death — the only one we actually see occur on-screen —happens when he is still psychically connected to Danny, sending deep shock waves through the young boy.
Director Stanley Kubrick cuts between Dick Halloran screaming, Danny Torrance screaming, and Jack’s crazed, eager face, adding weight to a genuinely shocking death. We feel the hope for Wendy and Danny to escape the lunacy of Jack ripped away before our eyes.
Where to watch The Shining (Dick Halloran’s death occurs at):
8. Hellraiser – Frank Is Torn Apart
When someone tries to get one over on Clive Barker’s hellish Cenobites, it should come as no surprise when it ends badly.
After enlisting his sister-in-law Julia to commit multiple murders in order to drag himself slowly and painfully from the Cenobites, Frank Cotton is eventually discovered and is ripped to pieces by dozens of metal hooks.
Filmed in 1987, the absence of any computer-generated effects gives the scene a more realistic, and more terrifying, power. Before his body disintegrates, Frank Cotton manages a final, sarcastic “Jesus wept” showing his arrogance in withstanding a level of pain that a crucifixion could only dream of. He also manages to stick his tongue out to Final Girl Kirsty, in a creepy and suggestive way that makes us glad when he finally explodes in a burst of blood and gore.
Where to watch Hellraiser (Frank Cotton gets ripped apart at 1hr;22min):
7. Scanners – The Head Explodes
Perhaps best known as a meme these days, the image of Darryl Revock, played by Michael Ironside, causing the head of a ConSec marketer to explode still causes a kind of shocked awe. We sit back and wonder how they did that. (In this case, a double-barreled shotgun pointed to a latex head filled with fake blood and other latex parts).
But as visceral as the head exploding is, less talked about is the extremely tense build-up to the final, bloody effect. It lasts 72 seconds by my count and during this time, Ironside contorts his face into deep, insane concentration, an effect that becomes more and more unsettling. The ConSec marketer, played by Louis Del Grande, does an excellent job portraying confusion, leading to pain, then finally almost looking like his head is really about to explode.
The exploding head effect is so simple, yet so shocking that it’s often the only thing people remember about Scanners – making it one of the most iconic horror movie kill scenes in history thus far.
Where to watch Scanners (the exploding head scene starts around 0hr;12min):
6. The Wicker Man – Burning Sgt. Howie.
I’m referring, of course, to the original 1973 classic rather than the Nicholas Cage remake (which should be consigned to movie hell for all eternity).
When we first meet Sgt. Neil Howie, played by Edward Woodward, we don’t like him. On the hunt for a missing girl, he is a devout Christian, saving himself for marriage and stands in marked contrast to the residents of the remote Scottish Isle.
But the genius of the film is in how our loyalties slide towards him. None of the residents seem concerned about the missing girl, and their pagan worship, led by a never better Christopher Lee, unsettles us.
By the time the truth comes out, it’s all too late. Howie has been lured there to be a sacrifice, burned alive as an offering to save their dying crops. The ending — Howie burning in the Wicker Man as the residents happily sing — is an image that lingers in the mind. No matter how many times you see it, a little voice always whispers, “Maybe THIS time he will be rescued.” But help never comes.
Where to watch The Wicker Man (Sgt. Howie’s burnination occurs at around 1hr;23min):
5. The Silence of The Lambs – Hannibal Lecter’s Escape
We’ve become used to death and bodies by the time Hannibal Lecter, played by Anthony Hopkins, escapes his new jail cell. Heads in jars, bodies on slabs, these are all past events. We’re seeing the aftermath.
We’re TOLD that Hannibal Lecter is “A monster. A pure psychopath.” But then we’re introduced to Hopkins’ portrayal of a suave, charming gentleman. Yes, he is violent, we are told, but we never really see any evidence of that.
However, when making his escape, the monster is unleashed. He leaves one guard hanging from the ceiling, his entrails ripped out and dangling. And he’s wearing the face of the other guard and wheeled out by a medical team. In these few minutes, we see the intelligence of Hannibal Lecter, along with the insane degree of control and vicious monstrosity he has.
Where to watch The Silence of the Lambs (Hannibal Lecter’s deadly escape starts at):
4. Jaws – The Opening
We know more about what goes on in outer space than we do about what lurks in our own oceans. And the opening to Stephen Spielberg’s 1975 classic is so frightening that it changed a whole generation’s attitude towards the sea.
Anyone swimming in open water has experienced that brief flicker of fear, that feeling of “Is there something in here with me?”
Chrissie Watkins, played by Susan Backlinie, strips off for some nighttime skinny-dipping, and becomes the shark’s first victim. The scene feels longer than it is as she is pulled under several times, her breathing getting faster and more panicked each time. Finally, her screams for help are cut off and we’re left in silence as she disappears under the water for the last time. This disturbing opening – one of the horror movie kill scenes that feels the most real/likely to happen to anyone – sets the mood for what Spielberg has in store for us.
Where to watch Jaws (the shark’s first kill happens within the first few minutes of the film):
3. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre – No Trespassing.
Tobe Hooper’s 1974 independent film changed the face of horror cinema as we know it. Redneck cannibal families may be a dime a dozen now, but here’s where they began.
This is also the film that introduced us to Leatherface, in all his hideous glory.
On a road-trip, Kirk, played by William Vail, enters the Sawyer Family’s house looking for some gasoline, and he discovers something horror movies have taught us about houses in America generally (and Texas in particular): wait to be invited in.
Kirk stumbles up a small ramp, Leatherface steps into view — skin mask and leather apron on full display — and slams Kirk in the head with a sledgehammer without a second’s hesitation. The speed and brutality of the scene not only causes our popcorn to hit the ceiling, but also shows us what future horror movies have in store (seriously; horror movie kill scenes took a drastic turn after this film!).
Where to watch The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (the scene where Kirk gets ‘hammered’ occurs at around 0hr;34min):
2. Alien – Chestburster
This now iconic scene starts innocently enough, the crew happy and laughing ’round the dinner table. Crude jokes are shared. Then Kane, played by John Hurt, starts to choke on his food.
Screaming in pain and writhing on the table, the scene is chaotic and confused. Then it isn’t. His shirt turns red with blood and there’s silence for just a second. Director Ridley Scott didn’t tell the cast what was going to happen and filmed their genuine reactions. Probably best shown with Veronica Cartwright’s utterly repulsed reaction.
One of the most horrific, parasitical organisms in movie history is born, and a truly memorable scene enters not just horror movie history, but film history overall.
Where to watch Alien (the first chestbuster appears at):
1. Psycho – Shower Time
On a list of horror movie kill scenes, could Number One really have been anything else? Even if you haven’t seen it, you know about Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece. And the power of the shower scene shows even today.
We’re 35 minutes into the film. Marion Crane, played by Janet Leigh, has stolen $40,000 from her employer. After a change of heart, she decides to return the money after spending the night at the Bates Motel. She then doesn’t see the morning thanks to shy, nervous Norman Bates, played by Anthony Perkins. He viciously stabs her to death in the shower.
Killing off your protagonist less than halfway through the movie was shocking enough, but filming such a scene of implied violence and nudity at a time when the Hays Code was in full effect was nothing short of a masterstroke by Hitchcock.
The Psycho shower scene has been studied to death, and inspired countless parodies, but the original is still the best. The vulnerability of being naked and wet is on full display and even now, 65 years later, the scene still leaves a mark.
Where to watch Psycho (the shower scene occurs at around 0hr;35min):
What Are YOUR Favorite Horror Movie Kill Scenes?
In humans, is there a more primal fear than the fear of death? Movies, and horror movies especially, are by their nature designed to tap into our primal fears and desires.
It’s perhaps appropriate that the first movie kill occurred almost simultaneously with the widespread introduction of cinematographic motion pictures. And it occurred, naturally, with an axe.
The Execution of Mary Stuart was produced in 1895. A short 18-second grainy work, Mary, played by Robert Thomas, in that longstanding theatrical tradition of having males play females, is lead to the executioners block and kneels down. There is the first recorded use of the stop trick, in which he is replaced by a mannequin, and the executioner’s axe falls.
There’s a coldness to the film which, if pressed, an argument could be made for it to be regarded as the first horror movie – and the first horror movie kill scene. But that’s a debate for another time.
You may be desensitized enough to be able to sit through Pascal Laugier’s Martyrs with nary a blink of an eye, but as horror fans, a good kill scene — whether it’s 1895 or 2025 — will always have a hold on us. What are YOUR favorite horror movie kill scenes? Let me know in the comments!
Images for this post were purchased via MovieStillsDB and used for review purposes.
Editor’s Note: Horror Movie Kill Scenes & HorrorFam.com Guest Post Submissions
Adam Page originally submitted this article with the title(s) “The Top Ten Horror Movie Kills”/”My Favourite Horror Movie Kills,” but I quickly realized that these ten kills were special to ALL of us. They were horror movie kill scenes that we, as horror fans, are familiar with – even if we haven’t yet seen the film. Long before Diana Prince did her Exorcist III “shears” cosplay, on The Last Drive-In, I knew that scene (and my first viewing of the actual movie was that night)!
Some of the other horror movie kill scenes on Adam’s list are known by non-horror fans as well; because they’ve transcended the Horror Community and made their way into human culture at large. They’ve been referenced, parodied, become part of our lexicon, etc. And I thought that was really cool!
But, I also know what it’s like to NOT be in the loop, so I thought it would be nice to retitle this “10 Horror Movie Kill Scenes NEARLY Everyone Knows” because then people who already know them can feel great about reconfirming their knowledge while other fans falling into the “Nearly” Knowing category could have an easy way to look up a “CliffsNotes“-style summary of awesome kills so we could all be on the same page. Because sharing moments like these is what makes being a part of the horror “Fam” so fun! ♥
Anyway, HUGE thanks to Adam Page for submitting this guest post! And if YOU have a horror-focused topic you’d like to see published on HorrorFam.com: Check out my Guest Post Guidelines and send it on over! I haven’t drawn attention to it in a while (my bad!), but I accept guest post submissions from writers all year, and I’d LOVE to read your thoughts. –Lauren*
