It’s been quite a year for some great, and not-so-great horror movies. With that also comes on-screen carnage. As we all know one of the things that make a great horror movie is the inventiveness of the kill, and this year there were some good ones. But with that originality came unsettling scenes of self-harm, child violence, and self-mutilation. Some detractors might ask, with all that’s going on in the world, why would anyone want to see such graphic displays?
To them, I would emphasize that as a species we are intelligent enough to know that it is all fake. None of what we see in movies is real so we can then appreciate the filmmaker’s visions and all the special effects work that goes into perfecting a gag; the more clever, the better.
As you go through the list, be warned there are spoilers and scenes of violence that are mentioned above. If you can’t differentiate what is real from what is not or are easily triggered by scenes of graphic gore or violence against human beings of all ages, you might want to reconsider reading this article.
For the rest of us, here are some of the best horror scenes 2023 has to offer in film.
Evil Dead Rise
Evil Dead Rise is complicated because no one really dies, they just come back…different. But there is one kill scene in which a living mass is destroyed at the end so if you don’t want spoilers don’t read (or watch) any further.
In the last scene, every Deadite merges into a single mass called the Marauder. It has working limbs that grab weapons in an attempt to kill our final girls Beth and Cassie. But Beth manages to maneuver the creature into a whirling wood chipper grinding everything but the head into a pulp. In the end, Beth, having been taunted one last time by the severed demon head, gets the last word before punting it into the spinning teeth of the industrial appliance.
Thanksgiving
Eli Roth knew what fans wanted and he delivered it in Thanksgiving. Of all the kills “John Carver” performs there is one that contains a few horrific jabs. First, a character named Kathleen is shoved into a large oven and cooked alive. Then, after being oven-roasted her arms and legs are tied and positioned like a Thanksgiving turkey on a dining table in front of the gagged and bound survivors. The killer then cuts a slice of cooked white meat from her inner thigh and forces her husband to eat it.
Cocaine Bear
Poor Ranger Liz (Margo Martindale). She means well but nothing ever works out. First, she has a crush on an unavailable man, and then a huge bear hopped up on illegal stimulants is terrorizing her peaceful park. Her one bout of good luck comes after she is injured and an ambulance quickly arrives to take her to the hospital. That’s cut short after the bear leaps into the back of the speeding ambulance launching her and the stretcher face-first at high velocity into the pavement where the momentum drags her several more feet.
Saw X
There were a few kill scenes that were difficult to watch this year. Valentina’s death in Saw X was one of them. After her part in a medical scam against John Kramer (Jigsaw) he captures her and creates a trap that forces her to choose between amputating her leg and collecting enough bone marrow or failing and suffering the consequences: decapitation with a Gigli saw. We watch every excruciating second as she saws into her leg and then, after failing, her head slowly being sliced from her shoulders.
Scream VI
Scream VI had many kills, but the ladder above the alley might have been the most memorable. Anika is the girlfriend of Mindy Meeks and is unfortunately at the wrong place at the wrong time when Ghostface comes calling. In a harrowing scene several stories above a New York City alleyway, she is tasked with crawling across a ladder bridged between two windows to an adjacent building. Fearful of heights she nervously starts her transition but midway through Ghostface rocks the ladder and Anika falls to her death bashing her head against a steel dumpster on the way.
When Evil Lurks
This is probably the most suspensefully well-crafted scene of 2023, and it’s also the most provocative. Vicky, the young daughter of our hero Pedro, is sitting next to the large and hefty family dog who has just become infected by a demon virus. As Pedro and his ex-wife Sabrina argue, Vicky’s older brother looks on in horror as the possessed dog mauls the little girl and drags her down the street. This isn’t the most gruesome scene in the film, but it is the most shocking.
No One Will Save You
This isn’t a human kill, it’s an extraterrestrial one. Our heroine Brynn is in a tense game of cat and mouse inside her house with a large gray alien on her heels. Just as it looks as if the alien is going to win she kills it using a bell tower from her miniature village diorama. What makes this kill so great is that it’s a headshot and we don’t see it coming, and neither does the alien. Furthermore, we aren’t sure what is going to happen next: is the E.T. really dead? And if so what happens next?
It’s a Wonderful Knife
Some might think the axe attack is the best kill in the mediocre It’s a Wonderful Knife, and that might be accurate. However, as a horror fan, the kill is only as good as its gag. For this gag our heroine’s best friend Cara and her boyfriend head off on their own for a private kissing session. During the liplock Cara in recoils in disgust at the taste of her partner’s breath. The camera pans out and we see that he has been impaled and bleeding through the mouth by a large sharpened candy cane yard decoration.
Beau is Afraid
Not everybody likes Beau is Afraid, it is probably the most divisive horror movie of this year. It is so weird and non-linear that some filmgoers got confused and asked the modern question “What did I just watch?” That’s fair because there is so much artistic exposition about anxiety, depression, and grief the culminated result is an exhausting think piece.
There is one memorable scene that deals with mental illness resulting in self-harm and death. Beau is staying with Roger and Grace and their trepidatious daughter Toni. In one scene, Toni, under the spell of an intrusive thought, begs Beau to drink some blue house paint, and when he refuses she engulfs it herself thus resulting in her death.
It is such a weird moment that only adds to then quirkiness of the movie, but it remains with you in afterthought.
These are just a few noteworthy kills in horror movies this year. We know there are more that weren’t included. So if you have a favorite that we missed, let us know in the comments.