My Favorite Horror Movie Death Scenes Part 3/8

Here is Part 3 of My Favorite Horror Movie Death Scenes!
Enjoy! Part 4 is coming soon!
List of My Favorite Horror Movie Death scenes used in Part 3: Read more …

The Scary Bits: Pathetic Plugs and Sundance Scares - Review

Looks like next month’s Sundance Film Festival is offering four films that could accurately be labeled as “horror,” which isn’t a whole lot — but of course it’s all about quantity over quality. The quartet of creepy flicks are Paul Solet’s Grace; Jonathan Liebesman’s The Killing Room; Duncan Jones’ Moon; and a Norwegian import called Dead Snow. All four sound intriguing enough, but I’m particularly looking forward to Grace and Moon, because I’ve been hearing stuff about both since, like, pre-production. Check out Dread Central for a handy little recap of these four movies, and of course keep your browser set to Cinematical once Sundance hits. Looks like it’ll be Erik, James and myself causing all sorts of cinematic damage. Read more …

Top 10 Horror Movie Deaths

Horror stories and great kills. They go together like peanut butter and jelly. Cheech and Chong. Sodom and Gomorrah. Society has always had a fascination with death. Ghost stories and other horrific tales of things that go bump in the night have been around ever since man first learned to communicate. Back in 1897 this form of storytelling was taken to a brand new level in Paris, France, with an innovative type of horror entertainment dubbed Le Théâtre du Grand-Guignol. Actors, writers, F/X men, and producers took their first stabs at showcasing these tales, complete with ghastly on-stage deaths. Audiences were hooked. Our love affair with over-the-top kills continues to this day, and when it comes to horror movies, the gorier the better.

Sit back, dearest reader, and let us highlight ten of the most memorable kills in horror movie history. Oh, you may want to bring a raincoat and a mop. Things can get pretty messy around here.

10) HELLRAISER Chain Rip: “Jesus wept!” Those were the final words uttered by Uncle Frank right before he was torn to bits by the Cenobites in Clive Barker’s demonic opus, HELLRAISER. Can you think of a better way to start off our little look back than having someone split into pieces via hooks and chains? Didn’t think so!

9) HATCHET Half-Head Rip: Adam Green’s ode to Eighties-style slasher movies was a winner with most fans the world over because he got the formula 100% right. The film was bloody, at times scary, and all the time fun. His character of Swamp Monster Victor Crowley displayed quite the talent for dispatching those around him, the most memorable of which was when he grabbed his intended victim around the head, inserted his hands and fingers into the woman’s mouth, and tore her head completely in half. It is near impossible for anyone not to stare at the screen slack-jawed as this happens. This was one of the better kills in the last thirty years. I’m thinking we haven’t seen the last of Crowley. You can’t keep a good killer down for long.

A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET Bed Blood Geyser: Without question one of the most prolific modern-day killers is the evil and charred Freddy Krueger. The whole notion of “dying in your sleep means you die for real” is truly the stuff of *ahem* nightmares. Despite several films under his belt, two TV shows, one crossover movie, and now a remake on the way, Freddy’s most memorable moment to date came when he snatched a snoozing Johnny Depp into his mattress, only to have the then youngster erupt into the Old Faithful of gore and grue. Can the proposed remake top this moment? I guess we’ll find out soon enough, but my money is still on the original film.

7) FRIDAY THE 13th PART VII: THE NEW BLOOD Sleeping Bag Kill: Ironically enough, one of Jason Voorhees’ most vicious kills comes without a single drop of onscreen blood. It was in PART VII that he shoved a helpless premarital sex-having horny teenager into her sleeping bag and then whipped her into a tree, creating one of the most sickening thuds movie audiences are ever likely to hear. Bravo, Jason. Bravo.

6) THE OMEN Glass Sheet Decapitation: Oh, you little devil! With Big Red himself looking over everyone’s favorite bundle of Antichrist joy, Damien Thorn, you knew anyone who stood in the way would be dispatched horribly; and boy, were they ever. With 1976’s THE OMEN director Richard Donner gave audiences what would become probably the most famous decapitation scene ever, tricking audiences into seeing it even if they had covered their eyes. How’d he do that, you ask? It’s all about the seconds, baby! Usually people who cover their eyes only do so for a few seconds. Knowing this, Donner extended the severed head spinning through the air scene so that even the most chicken-hearted out there got a fine dose of shock! Genius!

5) ZOMBIE Splinter to the Eye: Time to add a dash of Italian seasoning to our list in the form of Lucio Fulci’s unofficial sequel to the George A. Romero classic DAWN OF THE DEAD. There’s no way in the world any viewer of this film can avoid wincing and cringing as one of the undead blasts an arm through some wooden shutters, grabbing its victim by the head and pulling her face-first into a large wooden splinter that ends up going right through her eye. Bellisimo!

4) SCANNERS Head Explosion: When it comes to head damage, nobody does it better than David Cronenberg did in this 1981 masterwork. This was the head explosion heard, seen, felt, and loved around the world. Good old practical effects shot in gloriously gory slow motion? I’m sure we speak for fans everywhere when we say that we’ll take that over the now standard CGI crap any day!

3) JOHN CARPENTER’S THE THING Neck Stretch Spider Head: Now that we’re getting down and dirty, let’s switch gears a bit. While not a traditional kill per se, it’s impossible not to mention this scene from John Carpenter’s re-envisioning of the 1951 science-fiction standard THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD. In fact, no list of kills or other horror related fodder should be without it. This masterpiece of three-stage effects is still very much mind-blowing. From the monster chest teeth to the most unbelievable tendon snapping neck stretch ever put to film to the climactic spider head walk, few things can top this one in terms of shock factor.

2) DAY OF THE DEAD Body Tear: George A. Romero is one of the true masters of the horror genre, and with his DEAD films he’s given us more than our fair share of ghoulishly glorious moments, but none better than the Captain Rhodes body tear from the finale of the third entry into his gore-soaked franchise. Remember, kids — CHOKE ON ‘EM! CHOOOOOOKE ON ‘EMMMMMMMM!!!!!!

1) DEAD ALIVE Lawnmower Mayhem: Before Academy Award-winning director Peter Jackson made blockbuster fare like his remake of KING KONG or three little films you may or may not have heard of called THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy, he belonged to the world of low-budget horror. With his film DEAD ALIVE (or BRAINDEAD as it is known abroad), he gave us probably the most blood-soaked scene to ever grace the silver screen featuring a lawnmower and dozens of hungry zombies. It’s impossible to describe this bit of cinematic insanity; it’s just something you have to see for yourselves. Believe me, horror heads; it will be worth your time.

There you have it. Some of the greatest kills ever put to screen. With so many to choose from, it was hard to narrow them down, but I think we totally hit the right bases. Who knows? Maybe sometime down the line this list will follow suit with horror trends and get itself a sequel … or at the very least a remake!

We’ve done our part so now do yours and give us your questions, comments, and suggestions.

Byline: Steve “Uncle Creepy” Barton

Exclusive Trailers!: Friday the 13th, Terminator Salvation, Donkey Punch, Fired Up, I Love You Phillip Morris - Upcoming Movies

Friday the 13th
This is the new full length trailer for the reimagining of the classic horror franchise. Sexually active young adults being stalked by a big dude in a goalie mask. Aside from a Jason who is much faster than the lumbering killing machine in countless sequels I don’t see anything new here. This hits theaters on Friday February 13.

Terminator Salvation
OK, this is really just a preview of the preview which is kind of lame. Entertainment Tonight is going to have the official first look at the full Terminator: Salvation trailer next tuesday, but this clip from the 12/4 shows some intriguing bits. Terminator 3 pretty much killed my interest in the series, but between this and the teaser trailer they’ve definitely got my attention. Salvation begins on May 22.

Donkey Punch
Despite a title that implies some bizarre form of animal cruelty (and the actual meaning of the term is even more disturbing) this is a horror suspense yarn about a good time gone very wrong. Three girls out partying in Spain meet some guys and go back to their yacht. One of the girls ends up dead after some rough sex games and the plot is off and running. The trailer makes me think of Wolf Creek, another young-people’s-vacation-turns-to-horror movie. Look for this in theaters on January 23 in limited release.

The Great Buck Howard
John Malkovich is Buck Howard, a showbiz mentalist/magician whose star has faded but feels he’s on the verge of a comeback. Colin Hanks is the law school dropout working as his assistant, with real-life Dad Tom Hanks playing the father who doesn’t approve of his career choice. Malkovich does oddball so well I have to see this, and it will be in theaters sometime in 2009.

Fired Up
When two high school football players learn that the female to male ratio at cheerleading camp is 500:1 they abandon the grid iron and take up the pompoms in this teen comedy. The only glimmer of hope I’m seeing in this one is that director Will Gluck worked on Andy Richter Controls the Universe, a show whose cancellation was downright criminal. Things get fired up on February 20.

I Love You Phillip Morris
JIm Carrey plays a man who, after a traumatic car accident, comes to the conclusion that he’s gay and embarks on a career in embezzlement. While in prison he meets and falls in love with Phillip Morris played by Ewan McGregor. At times Carrey looks like he’s breaking new ground, but other times it’s classic Carrey. Not sure what to make of this one. No U.S. release info yet, but it comes out in France on February 25.

New this week on AOL Moviefone:

• The Ugly Truth - Gerard Butler is an abrasive, chauvinistic TV personality and Katherine Heigl is his romantically challenged producer.
• Adoration - A teenage boy reinvents his life on the internet. Check out the trailer right here:
• The Soloist - Robert Downey Jr. plays a reporter who befriends a homeless schizophrenic with a gift for playing the cello.
• Let Them Chirp Awhile - A young man hopes to win a woman’s heart by caring for her Jack Russell terrier.
• Dance Flick - Satire of dance movies from the Wayans brothers.
• Hotel for Dogs - A brother and sister living in foster care take over an abandoned hotel and make it a home for stray dogs.
• The Wrestler - Mickey Rourke stars as a wrestling star from the 1980s trying to make a comeback. Here’s the preview:
• Coraline - A tale of dark fantasy from the director of A Nightmare Before Christmas based on a book by Neil Gaiman.
• Little Ashes - An exploration of the life and loves of a young Salvador Dali.
• New in Town - Renee Zellweger stars as a Florida business woman who relocates to the frozen expanses of Minnesoata.
• Adventureland - Comedy about a recent college grad forced to take a job at an amusement park.