Movies & TV

10 Most Gruesome Deaths From 1980s Horror Movies

MelinaDecember 31, 2024
3 14 minutes read

This article contains mentions of brutal deaths and murder in horror films.

Few decades have been as influential for the horror genre as the 1980s. From the late ’70s to the early ’90s, there were an impressive number of horror movies released, which then turned into multi-movie franchises or inspired and created tropes previously unheard of. Genre conventions set in the ’80s can be seen in horror movies even today, and that demonstrates how many ‘80s horror movies were ahead of their time. It was a modern golden era for the genre, and the best horror movie from each year of the 1980s is a classic today.

Not only did classic and iconic monsters and horror movie characters take shape during that time, but the brutality of visual horror also went through a major transformation. From the forgotten horror movies of the 1980s to the celebrated franchises, this period in time marks the development of visceral practical effects, editing techniques, and cinematographic tactics that upped the gore factor of horror movies for years to come.

10

Frank Gets Torn Apart

Hellraiser (1987)

Rife with religious iconography that’s dripping in every frame, Hellraiser is one of the most grueling horror movies from the ’80s that inspired a franchise that has struggled to live up to the standards set by it. The depravity that drives this horrifying affair, chock-full of perversion, creates a disgusting atmosphere where every sound and every whispered expression of desire becomes a source of horror. As an exploration of the rejection of God, Hellraiser features gruesome deaths amplified by the morbid practical effects that have come to define the franchise.

Characters from the Hellraiser franchise

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Though unintentional, it’s hard to keep from chuckling at how badly some of the scenes in the Hellraiser films played out.

The most gruesome death is that of Sean Chapman’s Frank Cotton. Dozens of metal hooks take hold and slowly tear him apart as he mockingly declares “Jesus wept”, one of the best quotes from the movie, in a final act of defiance while being torn into shreds. The lack of visual effects makes his death particularly visceral, especially the expression of pride on Frank’s face, marked by Chapman’s defiant choice to stick his tongue out while his character gets decapitated. Cotton’s contentment at knowing he’s suffering a fate worse than crucifixion and can withstand it makes his death particularly disturbing.

9

Sylvia is Killed With A Water Pipe

My Bloody Valentine (1981)

The premise for My Bloody Valentine sets up a quintessential slasher movie. With a myth that is ignored by the youth and a haunting tradition forcefully reinstated despite several warnings, it takes its time building up to the gorefest in the second half of the movie. The horrifying atmosphere creeps up on viewers, just like it does on the young victims.

Sylvia’s death is the most inventive one in My Bloody Valentine.

Of all the questionable choices that the youth have made in horror movies, getting drunk and visiting a mine that was previously a sight of a massacre has got to be one of the stupidest. The mine provides the ideal backdrop for the slasher villain to take out his victims one by one, however, and Sylvia’s death is the most inventive one in My Bloody Valentine. After impaling her head on a water pipe, the killer turns the spigot and running water flows out of her open mouth.

8

Jason Is Brutally Cleaved

Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)

Few movie characters are as iconic as Jason Voorhees from the Friday the 13th franchise, especially because he’s died more times than any other horror movie villain. Spanning almost three decades, across a dozen Friday the 13th films, all of which don’t feature him, Voorhees has been killed in all gruesome ways imaginable and keeps returning. The returns weren’t really a thing until after his first true death in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, which was supposed to be the end of the franchise.

Jason canonically died in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, but became the iconic unkillable villain he is today when the traumatized killer Tommy digs up his grave in a later film, which allows Jason’s body to be struck by lightning and infused with life.

A young Tommy Jarvis, played by a teenage Corey Feldman, finally figures out how to trap Jason, and confronts him with a shaved head, meant to look like Jason as a kid. Jason becomes stupefied by the sight, and Tommy’s mother seizes the opportunity to strike him with a cleaver. In the ensuing fight, Tommy hits him again, cleanly slicing through Jason’s deformed face. However, the real gruesome part is yet to happen. Seeing Jason’s fingers still twitching, Tommy goes feral and repeatedly hacks at Jason’s body with the cleaver.

7

Brundle Disintegrates

The Fly (1986)

David Cronenberg is one of the pioneers of visceral body horror effects in cinema, but what sets his use of the scare tactics popular in the genre is the thematic association he introduces between the horrifying visuals and the psychosis of the characters that go through the disgusting body horror in his movies. His characters are endearing and empathetic, allowing body horror to affect viewers both on a visual and an emotional level.

The Fly is a dark and devastating rumination on the dangers of overzealous scientific experimentation. Its character-driven exploration of the effects of terminal illness on a person and their significant other leaves viewers both disgusted and depressed. The transformation of protagonist Seth Brundle from man to insect is an unforgettably scarring image, and the final form of Brundle’s disintegrated body that his girlfriend is forced to shoot in a moment of euthanasia will live on in horror movie history as one of the most gruesome fates to befall a character.

6

Rhodes Gets Ripped Apart

Day Of The Dead (1985)

George A. Romero’s zombie franchise comprises compelling and strong films about the tug-of-war between egoism and humanism that defines people’s responses to impending doom. The second film, Day of the Dead, is one of the best zombie movies ever. It follows the last remaining survivors of a zombie apocalypse as they all bunk together in a missile silo and prepare for the inevitable confrontation with the zombies. It’s a depressing and grueling watch, an experience made especially disgusting by legendary makeup artist Tom Savini’s incredible practical effects.

Rhodes’ death isn’t just brutal on screen, as the horrible smell of the animal remains used for the effects had to be endured by Joseph Pilato, who plays the captain, unlike the rest of the cast and crew, who wore masks to work.

Captain Rhodes is particularly despicable among the people who live in the bunker. His aggressive and sadistic actions threaten the peace that some of the others try to establish in an attempt to create a paradisiacal space in which they can spend their final moments before the zombies come attacking. So, when Rhodes dies, it’s a satisfying moment for viewers, especially because he’s ripped in two by a horde of hungry zombies who he can’t stop by himself. Savini’s effects make Rhodes’ final moments particularly grisly and unforgettable as one of the most visceral deaths in zombie movie history.

5

Glen Gets Pulled Into The Bed

A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)

A Nightmare on Elm Street introduced viewers to another iconic horror movie villain who would become a staple since then, as the movie inspired an entire franchise. The claw-handed Freddy Krueger is unique – he haunts people in their dreams, but they die in real life, in the most horrifying ways imaginable. It’s conceptually easy to survive from him, as one only needs to stay awake, but it’s also impossible to never sleep, and Krueger’s always waiting for the moment one falls asleep.

Split image of Freddy Krueger in A Nightmare on Elm Street and Jack Torrance in The Shining

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Glen, played by Johnny Depp in his first acting role, decides to watch TV the entire night, so Krueger can’t get to him. But, everyone who’s tried to stay up by watching TV has inevitably fallen asleep in front of the screen, and the same happens to Glen. Immediately, the blades on Krueger’s hand wrap around him from underneath and pull him into his bed. That doesn’t seem particularly horrifying. It’s heavy-handed symbolism, if anything. But moments later, shreds of Glen’s body and his blood shoot out from the hole in the bed, painting his room with his remains.

4

The ConSec Marketer’s Head Explodes

Scanners (1981)


Scanners is a science fiction horror film directed by David Cronenberg. Released in 1981, the movie centers around individuals with telepathic and telekinetic abilities known as scanners. It follows a man with these abilities who is recruited to hunt down a rogue scanner leading a rebel faction. The film stars Stephen Lack, Jennifer O’Neill, and Michael Ironside, blending psychological tension with intense action sequences.

Release Date

January 14, 1981

Runtime

103 minutes

Cast

Michael Ironside
, Jennifer O’Neill
, Stephen Lack
, Lawrence Dane
, Patrick McGoohan

What makes Scanners and most of David Cronenberg’s filmography is that gnarly and unbelievably gory moments are created without the use of visual effects. While makeup and costuming can help with practical effects like torn bodies and meat chunks, explosions are a little harder to create, especially when they’re happening on body parts. But, that didn’t deter Cronenberg from creating a movie where people have the power to make others’ heads explode.

The most memorable effect in the movie is when Darryl Revok makes a ConSec marketer’s head explode. The explosion itself is unbelievable because of the absence of visual effects. A shotgun loaded with salt was used for the effect, but knowing the answer doesn’t detract from the horrifying visual. The explosion itself would perhaps have just been shocking and not unforgettable if not for the excruciating minute-long buildup. It’s impossible to unsee the pained expressions on Darryl’s and the marketer’s faces as the former spends such a long time focusing on trying to make the latter’s head explode.

3

The Sleeping Bag Kill

Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988)

Jason Voorhees never runs out of unique and fascinating ways to kill his victims. While the weapons he has brandished over the years make for gory decapitations, his most memorable kill is much more campy than his scary frame would be associated with. Instead of using a machete or an ax, he simply uses the most available tool at hand – the sleeping bag in which his victim is lying.

Jason traps the unsuspecting coed in her sleeping bag and swings the bag with the woman inside at a nearby tree. That’s all it takes to kill her. While this reminds viewers of Jason’s strength, it’s a little unrealistic how the face of her lifeless body just slips out of the bag after he swings it at the tree one time. It was a much more brutal murder, but the original version, in which he hits the bag at the tree multiple times, is more believable. Unfortunately, the film board required that to be toned down.

2

Tina On The Ceiling

A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)

The best way to establish a monster as scary is to have them come in guns blazing, brutally killing someone before viewers know what hit them. Early on in A Nightmare on Elm Street, when Tina Gray dies, audiences know Freddy Krueger isn’t to be messed with. His victims may be young, but he won’t hold back from brutally killing them when he gets the chance to. Tina Gray first meets Krueger in a nightmare where she can’t escape from him. Fortunately, she wakes up before she’s dead, but her nightgown has been slashed.

It’s a terrifying way to establish the rules of the movie and how dangerous Krueger is.

She’s not as lucky the next time. Her nightmare involves her finding Freddy waiting for her outside the locked house, and while she’s knocking desperately on the door, Krueger attacks her. Outside her dream, her boyfriend wakes up to find that Tina’s abdomen has been slashed, and she’s levitating in the air, as blood from her wounds splatter everywhere. Tina’s spinning body gets dragged up the wall and across the ceiling, leaving a trail of blood and painting the room with her blood. It’s a terrifying way to establish the rules of the movie and how dangerous Krueger is.

1

The Chest Cavity Eats Dr. Copper’s Arms

The Thing (1982)

Few directors have had a bigger impact on the horror genre than John Carpenter. While he’s most famous for Halloween (1978), his most terrifying movie is perhaps The Thing. With a monster that can shapeshift into anyone, it instills unspeakable fear in the hearts of viewers who are on the edge of their seats in anticipation of who will be attacked next and who the Thing will imitate next.

Custom image of Halloween and Children of the Corn

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The most gory death in the movie establishes beyond a doubt that there’s a vengeful being who people have to be cautious of. When Dr. Copper tries to resuscitate a frozen body by doing CPR, and the chest collapses, it is just sad. But then, the chest cavity develops teeth that eat his arms clean off. Moments later, the body’s intestines seemingly come alive, and a centipede-like creature crawls out to deliver one of the most gruesome deaths in horror movie history.

MelinaDecember 31, 2024
3 14 minutes read
Photo of Melina

Melina

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