Brains splattered, eyes pulled from their sockets, guts spilled, bones shattered, screams silenced – and that’s just one scene. Blood, guts and gore add the shock factor to your favourite horror films, and without ‘shock,’ there would be no ‘horror.’
It has become a competition between directors – who can traumatise their audience the most? In time for Halloween this year, War Games, the latest addition to the array of blockbuster horrors to make you hide from the screen, is out on Blu-ray and DVD on October 3rd. Torturous and terrifying, this twisted horror story – inspired by true events, sees an innocent group of friends hunted down by psychopathic ex-soldiers, who turn their country break into a bloody nightmare.
Shocking audiences doesn’t come easy these days, with so much gore and guts packed into horror films, directors are pulling out all the stops to ensure you’re left utterly traumatised. With spew-bag in hand, we’ve trawled the archives to find the top 10 ‘gore-ified’ scenes of all time. These blood drenched horrors are not for the squeamish, or the faint of heart.
10) Saw III (Darren Lynn Bousman, 2006)
This popular horror film series, with roots in the torture porn sub-genre, is undeniably one of the most graphic, gory series of all time. In Saw III, Mpho Koaho plays Timothy, another of Jigsaw’s victims trapped in what will become his death. The real gore factor in this scene is the noise, as the hydraulic crucifix twist Tim’s arms and legs to the point of torn ligaments and bones snapping through the skin.
9) Hellraiser (Clive Barker, 1987)
If you can look past the less than impressive ‘80s digital effects, this scene will have you squirming in your seat. Sean Chapman plays Frank, a zombified, demon bound criminal who finds a way to restore himself. This scene sees Frank turn from a bloody pile of goo, into a half-human, zombie version of his former self. It truly is stomach churning.
9) Switchblade Romance, aka Haute Tension (Alexandre Aja, 2003)
An entire family is killed off one by one as their daughter cowers upstairs listening. Alexa’s father gets his head wedged between the railings on the stair case, as he lays dying, the murderer slides a chest of draws past, decapitating him instantly.
8) Aftermath (Nacho Cedrà, 1994)
This late 90s’ short film may have slipped under your radar, but certainly not ours. A mortician, obsessed with dead bodies, mutilates and defiles one of the corpses. In a sick twist, he even takes the heart home to his dog. This one won’t have you fearing for your life, it will have you scared of what happens after you die.
7) Scanners (David Cronenberg, 1981)
The slow motion head explosion during a press conference on telekinesis had the whole world sick to their stomach. Michael Ironside plays Darryl Revok, an intensively psychic new breed of humans sent to hunt others like him. The gore factor in this is amplified by the shock of the unexpected.
6) Hostel: Part II (Eli Roth, 2007)
Taking our sixth spot is the twisted offspring of the mother of all torture movies. Every person that undergoes horrific torture in this thriller does so with extreme pain, violence and gore. In this scene, the captured man has his “man-hood” slowly cut off and pulled out of his pants. Warning – do not click the following link if you want to keep your food down.
5) War Games (Cosimo Alemà, 2011)
This entire film could have made up our top ten – honestly. A group of psychopathic ex-soldiers release modern warfare on a defenceless group of friends on holiday in the country. Torturous, terrifying and gruesome, this years entire dose of gore is all included in this one movie.
4) Day of the Dead (George Romero, 1985)
The third part of George A. Romero’s original zombie trilogy sees zombie take control over the United States, leaving a small group of scientists and military personnel to survive in an underground bunker. The standout scene of this underrated sequel sees one of the (un)lucky survivors meet his match in a group of zombies who overwhelm him are tear him limb from limb, ripping out his intestines right before his own eyes!
3) The Evil Dead (Sam Raimi, 1981)
One of the 80s most controversial movies, Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead which follows five friends who travel to a cabin in the woods where they find the Necronomicon and unleash an unspeakable evil that lurks in the forest. Shot on a mere $375,000 budget and judging by the events on screen most of that money when on the ridiculously over the top gore, which includes a grisly ankle stabbing and a flesh melting finale.
2) Cut and Run (Ruggero Deodato, 1985) / The Hills Run Red (Dave Parker, 2009)
These two films, despite being decades apart share one thing in common – at least in their uncut forms – a literally side-splitting scene in which one of our poor victims are tied to a tree and torn in half in gloriously gory slow motion. Deodato’s version didn’t make it through the censors unscathed, but Parker’s did, however both are equally as grisly.
1) Braindead (Peter Jackson, 1992)
Before he brought the world a certain trilogy involving a ring and a bunch of hobbits, Peter Jackson lensed this tale of Lionel, a young man whose mother is bitten by an infected Sumatran rat monkey. Getting sick she develops a taste for flesh – killing and eating dogs, nurses, her friends and neighbours – and before long the “zombie” infection spreads. Featuring a baby zombie, zombies having sex, gratuitous violence, extreme gore, a super fighting ninja priest, the film tops all of that with an uber-gory finale sees Lionel fire up a lawnmower and cut a bloody swathe through the zombies… a lot of zombies!
That’s all folks, hope you kept your food down. Happy watching!
Pingback: ELI ROTH NETWORK • ELI-ROTH.COM • YOUR ONLINE ELI ROTH RESOURCE