I’m back with part 2 of animal deaths in horror films that tore me apart. I honestly didn’t think I was ever going to do a part 2, but the file was stowed away and my mind is running on empty at the moment. These are some of the animal deaths in the horror genre that affected me so much, that I’ve avoided rewatching the movies because of them. (WARNING: CONTAINS SENSITIVE MATERIALS AND MAJOR SPOILERS!!)

Grandpa – Evil Dead

Usually when a pet is introduced in a horror film, that means either the pet will save the main characters at the end, or the animal will be added to the victim’s list. Unfortunately for Grandpa, it’s the latter. In a fit of possessed rage, Mia (Jane Levy) mercilessly beat Grandpa to death with a hammer. Luckily, we only see two seconds of the beating, but Mia’s brother, David (Shiloh Fernandez), found Grandpa just in time to see his final seconds.

Pigeon – Orphan

Young Daniel (Jimmy Bennett) was out shooting paintballs at targets when an innocent little pigeon sits in top of one of the targets. Daniel saw an opportunity and shot the poor bird. As his adopted sister, Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman) approached the struggling pigeon and the heartbroken Daniel, she grabbed a rock and told him to put the bird out of its misery. When he refused, Esther took matters into her own hands and smashed the bird with the rock without any hesitation or remorse.

Hootie – Urban Legend

I was unfamiliar with the “dog in the microwave” urban legend before I saw this film, so little Hootie’s death definitely caught me by surprise. This is one of the most horrific deaths any animal can receive. When partygoer Parker (Michael Rosenbaum) got a call from the college’s supposed serial killer, he jokingly messed with the them, thinking that it was all a joke. However, he got his urban legends wrong and he’s told about the story of a woman drying her wet dog by putting him in a microwave. Of course, Parker knew what that meant. He ran to the microwave and saw poor Hootie… or, at least, what was left of Hootie.

Turtle – Cannibal Holocaust

This death earned its place in this series because it’s the only death that’s actually real. In Cannibal Holocaust, all of the animal deaths are real. The turtle’s death was the hardest to watch because we are forced to watch the poor thing gutted, torn apart, cooked, and eaten. It’s a slow and painfully torturous scene to sit through. This very scene is the reason Cannibal Holocaust is a one-and-done watch for me.

Sam – I Am Legend

This death may not have been shocking, but it’s certainly one of the most heartbreaking in horror history. In the apocalypse, Sam was Robert Neville’s (Will Smith) only companion. When she eventually becomes infected, he tried everything he could to prevent her from changing. When nothing worked, he quietly sang to her and waited. She eventually changed and he was forced to kill her. It was not only a gut-wrenching scene, it became the moment that Robert was truly alone.