I’m back with part 7 of my 500 favorite horror movie death scenes!! Whether it’s the characters, the special effects, the dramatics, the originality, the shock factor, or all of the above, these are some of the death scenes that stuck with me the most. I hope you enjoy and let me know some of your favorite horror movie death scenes! (MAJOR SPOILERS!!!)

Happy’s Not So Happy Anymore – My Bloody Valentine (1981)

After negligence and an explosion led to a cave-in at Hanniger Mines, a groups of workers were trapped for days. One man, Harry Warden (Peter Cowper) survived by eating his friends. A year later, he returned and killed the men responsible for the cave-in. He vowed that he would kill those in the town of Valentine Bluffs if they ever threw a Valentine’s Day party again. Many years later, the new generation decided not to take his warning seriously and began planning their first Valentine’s Day dance. The local bartender, Happy (Jack Van Evera) was tired of them mocking the tragedy he witnessed firsthand, so he decided to get back at them. He snuck to the mines and rigged a Harry Warden dummy to swing a pick-axe every time the door opened. He opened it many times and laughed at his handiwork. As he went to leave, he decided to open the door one more time. This was his last time as the Valentine Bluffs killer replaced the dummy and swung the pick-axe right through his head. It was a great jump scare and it was proof that no one was safe, even those who tried to heed Harry’s warning.

A Taste Of Suicide – The Return Of The Living Dead (1985)

Suicide (Mark Venturini) and his fellow band of misfits decided to hang out in a cemetery while waiting for their friend, Freddy (Thom Mathews) to get off work at a medical supply warehouse. While they were partying around the dead, Freddy and his uncle accidentally broke a tank holding a dead body and unleashed a chemical that brought the dead back to life. As Freddy’s girlfriend, Tina (Beverly Randolph) entered the warehouse to find him, she encountered the body from the tank, walking, talking, and hungry for brains. As the chemical hit the sky and burning rain fell on the gang, they fled to the warehouse. When they called for Tina, they heard her scream from the basement. As Suicide went to see what was trying to pry Tina out of her hiding spot, the body found its first victim. It sunk his teeth right into Suicide’s head, getting his brain and killing him almost instantly. I saw this scene way before I saw the film and that bite always stuck with me!

Paul’s Plunge – The Lost Boys (1987)

Brothers, Michael (Jason Patric) and Sam (Corey Haim) Emerson moved with their mom to the sunny Santa Carla, California. Things started out fine, but after a few nights on the town, Michael was recruited by a coven of vicious vampires. After drinking the blood of the head vampire, Michael started to turn into one of them, and it was up to Sam to save him. Sam sought out the help of professional vampire hunters, Edgar (Corey Feldman) and Alan (Jamison Newlander) Frog and they all went to the vampire’s hideout. Edgar killed one of the vampires, starting a war between the good and the evil. They prepared as much as they could before sunset, including filling their bathtub with a bunch of garlic and holy water. As the vampires invaded their home, one of them, Paul (Brooke McCarter) cornered the Frog brothers. As they made their way into the bathroom, they tried to push Paul into the bathtub, but they failed. Before he could kill them, Sam and Michael’s dog rushed in and pushed him in the bathtub. The water burned him alive, melting the skin right off of him until he was nothing but a vampiric skeleton.

How’s It Hanging, Phil? – Child’s Play 2 (1990)

After Andy Barclay (Alex Vincent) was placed in foster care, he was taken in by married couple, Phil (Gerrit Graham) and Joanne (Jenny Agutter) Simpson. Joanne was very open to taking care of Andy, but Phil was hesitant due to his trauma and stories of a killer doll, Chucky (Brad Dourif). What they didn’t know was that Chucky was indeed a real killer doll who needed to transfer his soul into Andy to get out of the doll once and for all. He tracked Andy down to his temporary home and tried multiple times to get him. Phil and Joanne didn’t believe Andy, of course, so Andy decided that it was time to take matters into his own hands. He grabbed an electric knife and went into the basement to find Chucky. After Phil heard the noise of them fighting, he got out of bed to investigate. He saw Andy alone with the knife and he crept down the steps, unaware that Chucky was underneath with a large hook. He caught Phil’s foot, making him hang upside down. After Phil saw that Chucky was alive, Chucky unhooked his foot, making him fall on his head and break his neck.

Nestor’s Horrible High-Ground – Tremors (1990)

The town of Perfection was the perfect place for those who valued privacy and isolation. Unfortunately, that isolation was their undoing as it became the perfect feeding ground for large, underground dwelling, human eating monsters named Graboids. As the Graboids tore through the town, eating everything in their path, the remaining survivors found themselves trapped. As they tried to understand how the Graboids functioned better, they learned that they hunted by touch and sound. They all got on their rooftops to avoid them. This worked for a minute, but the Graboids began to learn as well. They shook the ground underneath, rocking the foundations of all the houses and buildings. Unfortunately, one of the residents, Nestor (Richard Marcus) was on top of his mobile home, so tipping the whole thing over was very easy for the Graboids. Now exposed on the ground, Nestor had only seconds to find a place to climb… and he chose a large tire. As you would expect, he got sucked right through the hole of the tire and eaten. I appreciate the urgency of the situation, but that was a very stupid place to try and escape something directly under you.

Nice Hearing From Ya, Carlos! – Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991)

Carlos (Ricky Dean Logan), Spencer (Breckin Meyer), and Tracy (Lezlie Deane) were three troubled teens in a youth shelter dying to get out. As they tried to steal one of the shelter’s vans and skip town, they ended up accidentally hitching a ride to the infamous town of Springwood. One of their counselors, Maggie (Lisa Zane) caught them and told to go back to the shelter. As they tried to leave town, they found themselves literally driving in circles, no matter what direction they were going. They eventually gave up and decided to sleep in a nearby abandoned house. As Carlos found a bed and fell asleep, he became dragged into the world of dream demon, Freddy Krueger. Krueger brought back his trauma in the form of his abusive mother who took his hearing. Then Freddy cut off his ear and took his hearing aid. Carlos begged for it back and Freddy gave it to him. However, the hearing aid dug into his head and made him hear TOO much. After torturing him with loud noises, Freddy pulled out a chalkboard and began to scratch it. The noise was too much for Carlos and his head just exploded.

Josh’s Disintegration – Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday (1993)

Josh Kurtzman (Andrew Bloch) was a small town deputy having an affair with a married woman. When infamous maniac, Jason Voorhees (Kane Hodder) was thought to be finally killed, his soul actually transferred to a coroner examining his remains. As he made his way back to Crystal Lake, he needed a new body to transfer into. As Josh was meeting up with his gal, Jason grabbed him and transferred his soul into him. After some time, Jason needed yet another new body. As a scumbag reporter named Robert Campbell (Steven Culp) snuck into his home to plant evidence, Jason ambushed him and got his next victim. Josh was now free, but he learned in a horrible way that Jason doesn’t exactly leave a body intact after transferring out of it. Almost immediately, his body started to fall apart. His skin began to melt and even got stuck to the floor as he tried to get up. Josh suffered to his last breath in one of the most gnarly, disgusting, and disturbing ways.

Billy’s Beheading – Final Destination (2000)

Billy Hitchcock (Sean William Scott) was a student who was joining his classmates in his French class on a trip to Paris. They never made it to Paris because one of his classmates, Alex (Devon Sawa) had a premonition that the plane was going to explode on takeoff. Alex, Billy, and a handful of others were taken off the plane and were spared a deadly fate… at first. After the explosion, the people who got off the plane started getting killed in gruesome ways. Alex figured out that Death was killing them in the order they would’ve died on the plane. With only a few survivors left, their classmate Carter (Kerr Smith) parked his car on a train track, and he realized it really was his turn when the car wouldn’t turn back on. Alex was able to get him out of the car before the train hit it and Billy told Carter to stay away from him. What they realized the hard way was that because Carter was saved, Death skipped him and Billy was next. As he turned to leave, a sharp piece of the car flew out and chopped the top part of his head clean off.

Pazzi’s Past – Hannibal (2001)

Inspector Rinaldo Pazzi (Giancarlo Giannini) was assigned to investigate the disappearance of the curator of the Capponi Library. As he investigated, he suspected that there was something sinister about the curator’s replacement, Dr. Fell. After finding out the FBI was looking for him, he also learned that Dr. Fell was really a psychotic cannibal in hiding named Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins). He could’ve turned Hannibal in at any point. However, when he heard one of Hannibal’s victims, Mason Verger (Gary Oldman) was offering a large amount of money for his whereabouts for the purpose of revenge, Pazzi decided money was more important than justice. As Hannibal was giving a lecture in the library, some of Mason’s men were waiting outside until everyone left. After it was just the two of them left, Hannibal drugged Pazzi and strapped him to a dolly. After asking who all knew about him, he rolled him onto a balcony, gutted him, and threw him over the rail. Pazzi died hanging next to the very wall that his ancestor, Francesco de’Pazzi hung, after betraying Hannibal like Judas, who Hannibal was ironically discussing in his lecture.

Trey’s Tempur-Pedic Tension – Freddy vs. Jason (2003)

Best friends, Lori (Monica Keena), Kia (Kelly Rowland), and Gibb (Katharine Isabelle) were hanging out at Lori’s place on a stormy night. Little did they know was they were about to be pawns in a dream demon’s master plan. In order to instill fear in the teenagers of Springwood again, Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) resurrected unstoppable killer, Jason Voorhees (Ken Kirzinger) to kill for him. He sent him straight to Lori’s house to kill whoever was in there. To Lori’s surprise, her friends invited Gibb’s boyfriend, Trey (Jesse Hutch) and his friend, Blake (David Kopp) to the house. After a few drinks, Trey and Gibb snuck off to have sex. As everyone was distracted, Jason snuck into the house and made his way upstairs. After they had sex, Gibb left to go take a shower while Trey grabbed another beer. He didn’t get to enjoy that beer though as Jason appeared right beside him and dug his machete in his back multiple times. If that wasn’t bad enough, Jason then grabbed both sides of the bed and folded it up, completely snapping Trey’s body in the wrong direction.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Horrifying – The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)

Erin Hardesty (Jessica Biel), her boyfriend, Kemper (Eric Balfour), and their friends were traveling through Texas to a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert. Their drive came to a screeching halt when they found a young, traumatized girl (Lauren German) just walking on the road and mumbling to herself. They were able to get her in their van and try to find some help for her. When she realized they were heading in the direction she just came from, she tried to jerk the wheel and they stopped the car, so confused. She started to cry and she pulled out a gun from between her legs. She told them they were all going to die, put the gun in her mouth, and pulled the trigger. I gotta say, I love how the camera panned out through the hole in her head before her head fell back, it was an incredible shot that really made this moment stand out!

Carly’s Climb – Wrong Turn (2003)

Carly (Emmanuelle Chriqui), her fiance, Scott (Jeremy Sisto), and their friends set out on a camping trip in the West Virginia woods. After their car was sabotaged and they were stranded, another man, Chris (Desmond Harrington) crashed his own car into them. As they set off to find help, the nearest house they found ended up belonging to the maniacs who caused their car accident in the first place. As they tried to escape, Scott was killed and it was just down to Carly, Chris, and Carly’s best friend, Jessie (Eliza Dushku). Going deeper in the woods, they came across an abandoned radio tower. Inside, they tried to call out for help, but the maniacs found them. They set the tower on fire, so their best shot was jumping and hitting one of the nearby trees. They were successful, but now they were exposed with very little to go. As Carly hesitated to balance on the branch beneath her, one of the maniacs with an ax chopped the top of her head clean off. I love the visual of her pupils growing as it pans to her body falling to the ground.

Putman’s Last Serve – Club Dread (2004)

Putman (Jay Chandrasekhar) was the tennis instructor at the swingers’ paradise, Coconut Pete’s Pleasure Island. After all of the guests arrived, the employees started getting picked off one by one. They were told if they didn’t do their jobs, they’d all be killed. So, it was up to them to do what the killer wanted while trying to find a way off the island. As more bodies piled up, they started to suspect one another of being the killer. As two of the employees, Lars (Kevin Heffernan) and Jenny (Brittany Daniel) hid under Jenny’s bed, they saw Putman around the room. They took a pair of fuzzy handcuffs and cuffed his leg to her bed. They thought he was the killer, but their argument about it was suddenly interrupted as the actual killer approached. With the cuff keys lost and the door lock busted, Putman was a sitting duck. While Lars and Jenny hid, Putman grabbed his racket and a few balls and hit the killer with them. This was all moot as the killer threw his machete right into his chest. Then, Putman hilariously forgot to mention who the killer was to Lars and Jenny as he was dying.

Sam’s Showdown – The Descent (2005)

Sam Vernet (MyAnna Buring) was medical student who joined her best friends to the middle of nowhere on a cave-diving trip. What they didn’t know until they were all caved in was that their friend, Juno (Natalie Mendoza) didn’t bring them to a well-known cave with a safety plan. She brought them to a cave that no one had supposedly ever been to… and there was no safety plan. As they tried to find another way out, they realized they weren’t alone as large, bat-like creatures attacked them. They all split up in a panic and the friends started getting picked off one by one. As Sam tried to climb to another tunnel, Juno and Sam’s sister, Rebecca (Saskia Mulder) tried pleading with her to come back. Sam didn’t have time to answer as she realized one of the creatures was right in front of her on the ceiling. With nowhere to go, Sam drew her knife, ready to fight. She tried her best, but the creature ripped out her throat. Before she died, she was able to wrap her legs around the creature, stab it, and let it drop below her. She certainly didn’t go down without a fight!

Robert’s Reunion – Disturbia (2007)

After getting placed on house arrest, it didn’t take long for young teen, Kale Brecht (Shia LaBeouf) to experience cabin fever. Letting boredom devour him, he resorted to spying on his neighbors. After some time, he started to suspect that his next door neighbor, Robert Turner (David Morse) was a serial killer. With the help of his friends, he tried to gather proof of Robert’s deadly hobbies. After his friend, Ronnie (Aaron Yoo) snuck into his house, he accidentally caught footage of a dead body in the walls. As Kale was reviewing the footage, Robert kidnapped his mother and knocked Ronnie unconscious. He tried to frame Kale, but thanks to his other friend, Ashley (Sarah Roemer), Kale was able to escape and he ran to Robert’s house to find his mom. He found a lot more as he got deeper and deeper into the house, including water filled with Robert’s previous victims underneath the house. Kale found his mom, but then Robert found them both. After another fight, Kale got the upper hand by stabbing Robert with hedge clippers. Then he pushed him into the water to join his victims.

Lorna’s Blood-Bath – Hostel: Part II (2007)

Lorna (Heather Matarazzo) was an art student studying in Rome but homesick for Baltimore. When her classmates planned a trip to Prague, her friend, Beth (Lauren German) invited her to cheer her up. On their train ride, they were told of an amazing spa and hostel in Slovakia, so they changed their destination. Upon arrival, it seemed like they were going to have an amazing weekend. At the city’s harvest festival, Lorna was given alcohol and when she was asked to dance by a strange man, she was completely smitten. Against her friend’s warning, Lorna joined the man on a moonlight boat ride and was kidnapped by him and his accommodates. They were part of a business that charged wealthy sadists to torture a murder tourists. When Lorna woke up, she was hung upside down over a bathtub. A woman, Mrs. Bathory (Monika Malácová) disrobed and lied in the tub. She grabbed a blade and sliced Lorna’s back all over, bathing in her blood. After many agonizing cuts, Bathory put Lorna out of her misery with one final throat-slit. This one was so brutal and painful to watch.

Kimberly’s Close-Up – Wrong Turn 2: Dead End (2007)

Kimberly Caldwell was a reality competition star who was on her way to her next show. As she drove through the West Virginia woods, she called her agent to ask for directions and to chew him out for getting her this gig. As she came across a fork in the road, she had to guess which path to take. As we all know, she chose wrong. As her phone began to cut out, she took her eyes off the road for just a second, and she ended up hitting a kid with her car. She froze for a second, thinking he was dead. As she went to him, he started choking on blood. She tried to help him, but when she got too close to his face, he grabbed her and viciously bit her lips off. She was hysterical and tried to run back to her car, but she was stopped by the kids uncle wielding an ax. He made her stand still as he lifted the ax and chopped her completely in half. Then the two grabbed both sides of her and dragged her away to prepare for their feast.

The Bouncer Gets Bounced – Halloween II (2009)

Howard (Jeff Daniel Phillips) was a bouncer at a strip club in the town of Haddonfield. On a dead night, his boss, Big Lou (Daniel Roebuck) and one of the dancers, Misty (Sylvia Jefferies) settled in front of the TV to watch Big Lou’s latest interview. Howard tried to join the conversation every time they said something, but they were not having it. They wanted to get rid of him so they told him to go take out the trash. As he was taking out the trash, he was suddenly face-to-face with a towering and intimidating figure, Michael Myers (Tyler Mane). Thinking he was a homeless man, Howard spewed every threat he could at him, but Michael didn’t budge or let him pass by him. Howard tried to hit him, but he failed tremendously and Michael body slammed him onto the ground, knocking all air out of him. Then, he stomped on his head over and over again until it was just mush. It was such a brutal beat-down at the hands (or in this case, feet) of one of the best horror killers!

I Need You Hopeless – Jennifer’s Body (2009)

Jennifer Check (Megan Fox) and Needy Lesnicki (Amanda Seyfried) were best friends who watched a hot new band performing at the local bar in their town. After a big fire set off in the bar, the band took Jennifer to their van and drove off with her. Believing she was a virgin, they sacrificed her to the Devil for fame and wealth. However, she wasn’t a virgin, and she ended up possessed by a demon that craved the blood of humans. About a month after her last feeding, she began to feel weak again. One day, after class, Needy’s friend, Colin Grey (Kyle Gallner) asked Jennifer on a date and was turned down. When she heard that Needy thought he was nice, she changed her mind and set her sights on him. Jennifer led him to a house under renovation where no one would notice them. After she revealed her evil eyes, she snapped his arm, threw him on the ground, and tore him apart with just her teeth. The set-up, the music, the screaming, and brutality are what made this scene truly unforgettable!

Jackie’s Swim – The Stepfather (2009)

After her divorce, Susan Harding (Sela Ward) believed she finally found love again when she met the sweet and kind David Harris (Dylan Walsh). Things started out perfectly. She and David were engaged, and her sister, Jackie (Paige Turco) offered him a job at her real estate firm. Unfortunately, David’s “perfect guy” demeanor started to crumble as people started looking into his past. After Jackie asked for personal information, he immediately quit, throwing up red flags for her. She kept pushing him on the matter and she realized none of them actually knew anything about David. She emailed Susan telling her she was going to have an investigator look into him, and of course, he saw the email first. As Jackie was getting ready to leave and join her girlfriend on a trip, she noticed one of her umbrellas fell in her pool. As she tried to fish it out, David grabbed her head and pushed it into the water. The lighting and the close-up of her face under the water are really what made this scene stick out for me!

Too Little Too Late – The ABCs Of Death (2012)

A young woman (Eva Llorach) was slowly poisoning her husband (Miquel Insua) over time, making him bedridden. As the end of the world began, she realized she was running out of time. She grabbed a kitchen knife and started stabbing at him. He tried his best to defend himself, but she got him good in the hand and the neck. As he was writhing in agony, she ran out, got a pan and threw scalding hot oil all over his face. Then, she hit him over the head with the pan multiple times. As her husband was taking his final breaths, she explained to him that she’s been trying to kill him for a long time, but she ran out of time, so she had to speed things along. This one was so messed up and hilarious at the same time. This woman absolutely sucked at killing someone. I also question her logic: if the world was ending, why did it matter if he died right then. They were both going to die soon enough, anyway!

Franco’s Failed Redemption – This Is The End (2013)

James Franco was a famous actor having a housewarming party out in the Hollywood hills with his celebrity friends. The party came to a screeching halt when the rapture happened and the world started to end. A LOT of people died or were raptured and only a small group was left. One of the people who survived was James’ “friend” Danny McBride. Danny became such a problem for the group, that they decided to kick him out of the house. Later, the house was no longer safe and while they were escaping, they realized that their souls could be saved and they could be raptured if they acted out of pure selflessness. When they were suddenly accosted by Danny and his new cannibal crew, James saw his chance. He fought off the cannibals so his friends could escape, and he was so close to being raptured. However, he started gloating and rubbing it in Danny’s face, that he lost all credit he just earned. He lost his redemption and the cannibals got to have their feast.

Vanessa’s Vigilante Misfire – Halloween Kills (2021)

Wanting to salvage what was left of their Halloween night, Vanessa (Carmela McNeal) and her husband, Marcus (Michael Smallwood) stopped at Haddonfield’s local bar for a nightcap. After news broke out that crazed killer, Michael Myers (James Jude Courtney) escaped police custody and was stalking the town residents, one of Michael’s previous survivors, Tommy Doyle (Anthony Michael Hall), decided to gather wannabe-vigilantes to track down and find him. Vanessa and Marcus decided to join other people who survived encounters with him before. As they stopped at a park to yell at some kids who haven’t gone home yet, they realized Michael was already there and he killed one of the kids. It didn’t take long for Michael to kill each person in the car. After Vanessa got out of the car, she walked back with a vengeance and shot at him with all her might. As she got closer, Michael kicked the car door, making it hit her hand. That hit turned the gun around and she ended up accidentally shooting herself. This movie is so brutal, but this kill scene was so shocking, it actually made me laugh the first time I saw it.

Laura Hasn’t Slept – Smile (2022)

Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon) was an overworked psychiatrist who helped anyone she could in an attempt to move past her own trauma. After being told to go home and rest by her superior, she was out the door and ready to go… when her phone rang. As a hysteric new patient, Laura Weaver (Caitlin Stasey) was brought in, Rose sat her in an empty room to discuss what had been happening to her. Laura told her about how she witnessed her professor kill himself and how ever since, she’s been haunted by this smiling entity. Rose did her best to calm her down, but then Laura started panicking over something Rose couldn’t see. When Rose believed Laura was convulsing, she called for assistance. She turned her back to Laura during the call and when she turned back around, Laura was standing right in front of her, just smiling. As she held a broken piece of a plant pot, she gave herself a new smile as she cut herself from her cheek down her throat. It is one of the most haunting moments I’ve ever seen, specially since she never lost her smile.

Charles’ Chomp – Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024)

After a particularly stressful day of shooting, Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder) finally checked her phone and realized that her stepmother, Delia (Catherine O’Hara) had been texting and calling her like crazy. She rushed over to Delia’s art exhibit to find out what was going on. That’s when Delia told her that her father, Charles died. He was on a plane-ride home from his latest bird-watching expedition when it crashed into the ocean. He survived the crash and was able to find a piece of the plane’s wing to help him float. As he found other survivors and was about to make his way towards them, a shark jumped out and bit his head clean off! What I love most about this scene was its stop-motion style of storytelling. I also love how Lydia kept guessing how he died while Delia tried to explain. It was a great way to say goodbye to a beloved character without actually bringing the actor back.