Happy Thanksgiving, Dreadies! There is nothing better on Turkey Day than to get a nice big slice of the bird and dig in. But when the thought of slices came up, we just had to give it a nasty twist and bring you the Top 11 Slices in Horror.
Today we’re talking about the most memorable times some kind of a blade met some kind of unappreciative flesh. Be it a butcher knife, axe, scalpel or another type of slicing instrument, these are some of our favorites of all time. Slide right in and see if you don’t agree.
As always, honorable mentions need to be recognized before we get into the best of the best. Gareth and remnants of the Terminus crew certainly did some nice slicing on poor ol’ Bob early in Season 5 of “The Walking Dead.” And there is one particularly memorable decapitation scene in the oh-so-legendary Silent Night, Deadly Night. Both Dr. Heiter and Martin did outlandish slicing in The Human Centipede films (with more certainly to come in The Human Centipede 3), and Johnny Depp himself provided plenty of the red stuff in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, accompanied by a slew of catchy tunes. Our beloved Lola Stone left her mark on a number of unfortunate boys in The Loved Ones. The Trent Haaga-directed vehicle Chop saw a poor soul lose one body part after another… and a brand new micro-budget Norwegian film entitled Christmas Cruelty provided multiple instances of insanely realistic moments of blade hitting flesh that are outstanding considering the financial constraints the filmmakers were up against. And finally, we must remember that the Final Destination and Saw series are loaded with one brutal slice after another.
And now on to the Top 11 Slices in Horror!
The Seasoning House (2012) – Captured girl
An absolute punch-in-the-face of a film, The Seasoning House is a tale of young girls forced into drugged prostitution in the Balkans during wartime. An awesome revenge flick that will simply exhaust you, The Seasoning House attacks with vivid imagery. Not the least of which is a combination practical/digital F/X throat cut that occurs early in the movie (the beginning of the effect can be seen around 1:50 of the trailer below… but you’ve got to experience the entire movie to really appreciate the power of this scene). Rosie Day is incredible as a seemingly harmless waif that scuttles between the walls of the brothel until the right moment arrives. Sean Pertwee also stars, and believe us; he’s much more likable in his current role as Alfred Pennyworth on “Gotham”!
See No Evil 2 (2014) – Tamara
Glen “Kane” Jacobs returns for another round of slaughter in See No Evil 2. And, although it wasn’t quite as spot on as directors Jen and Sylvia Soska’s previous films, it does have some great directorial moments and contains one particularly awesome death scene. This involves Soska favorite Katharine Isabelle, who plays party girl Tamara. Incidentally, it must be noted that Isabelle’s performance is indeed the highlight of the movie. She is very entertaining and her death scene follows suit. It’s an amazing throat slash with an implement called a “fleshing knife,” and again, the combination of digital and practical F/X, as well as an amazing performance by Isabelle (she does this thing with her neck just at the right moment that really sells it), makes this an absolutely fantastic special effects moment.
Psycho (1960) – Marion Crane
When it comes to horror cuts, you can start and end the argument for the greatest right here. The shower scene from Psycho is a thing of which legends are made. It’s not only one slice, but an entire three-minute scene of them with 50 cuts from 77 different camera angles. The murder of Marion Crane is perhaps the most influential in the history of film, and the slices (although none actually are shown puncturing Marion’s skin) are made that much more terrifying by the unforgettable soundtrack piece by Bernard Herrmann made up of screeching violins, violas and cellos entitled “The Murder.” The scene is filled with legends and rumors, but whether Janet Leigh was in the shower the entire time or there was a stand-in now and then or how much influence graphic designer Saul Bass had over the scene will never be known for sure. What we do know is that the shower scene in Psycho is one of the greatest slices of all time.
Dead Alive (1992) – Unfortunate Room Full of Baddies
It’s nearly impossible to do a list like this having to do with bloodshed and not include Dead Alive on it somewhere. There is just so much of the red, red kroovy being spilled that it manages to find itself being relevant to this day. We have to doubt that Peter Jackson had any inkling of the enormous future that awaited him while he was putting this little nightmare together, but as amazing as all his later works have been, we horror fans still love the fact that one of Hollywood’s darlings had the depravity within him to make something as twisted as Dead Alive. And if we’re talking about slicing, what could possibly do a better job than a lawnmower? The scene shown below is the legendary mower scene where our hero, Lionel Cosgrove, mows (literally) through an entire houseful of infected baddies. With all the films that have come out since the Dead Alive release over 20 years ago, we doubt that anything has surpassed it for sheer gross-out and bloodshed. It represents the benchmark for cartoonish brutality.
30 Days of Night (2007) – Deputy Billy Kitna
All right, perhaps more of a hack (or a series of hacks) than a slice, the decapitation scene in 30 Days of Night is one of the most brutal and realistic meetings of axe and neck you’ll ever find on film. When Deputy Billy Kitna finds himself wounded at the hands of a vampire and starting to change, Sheriff Eben Oleson (played by Josh Hartnett) did what any rational thinking law enforcement officer would do: He slams an axe into his neck until Billy’s head falls off. The scene is incredible. It’s loud, bloody as hell and looks fantastically realistic. It is the crowning moment of 30 Days of Night, a vampire film that shows the beast the way it should be shown, not sparkling or wearing big, puffy shirts, but damn near feral. Isn’t that how you like your vamps?
Cannibal Holocaust (1980) – The Turtle
We’re not exactly sure what a nearly four-minute scene of people catching, killing, flaying, cooking and eating a big-ass turtle adds to a film, but this real-life hunting scene is one of the most prevalent and memorable from Ruggero Deodato’s Cannibal Holocaust. The animal was eaten by the native members of the cast and crew, so indeed it was no different than any other hunting experience they would normally have. But the way it was filmed and portrayed made it seem like just a bit much. But being “just a bit much” is what has kept Cannibal Holocaust pertinent to this day, nearly 35 years after its initial release. It’s off the charts when it comes to being gritty and realistic, and the death of the turtle scene is a big reason for that. If you’re checking out this list looking for something to watch during Thanksgiving, you might want to pass on this one, at least until after dinner.
Hostel: Part II (2007) – Stuart
I personally think it’s fantastic to see the National Football League stepping up and making a stand against domestic violence. Of course, their hand was a bit forced on the issue, but that’s a discussion for another time. What we have in this scene from Hostel: Part II is the ultimate revenge for a woman who was made a victim by a man. That’s right; ol’ Stuart finds his johnson in a very precarious predicament and still doesn’t have the good sense not to call Beth a cunt while his member is between two very sharp, very large scissor blades. Come on, man! You’ve gotta know better than that. Just like many of the scenes on the list so far, this castration is spot-on realistic looking, and the fact that she flips the wiener to a couple of dogs to eat while sashaying out of the room leaving instructions to “Let him bleed to death” made this one killer finale!
Pet Sematary (1989) – Jud Crandall
Of all the films based on the writings of Stephen King, Pet Sematary is one of the most memorable. It’s just downright scary. The Micmac burial grounds, Gage and goddamn Zelda (she haunts me to this day) are all absolutely frightening subjects. Our entry on this list focuses on toddler Gage and his run-in with Fred Gwynne’s character, Jud Crandall. Gage severs Jud’s Achilles’ tendon in an intense cinematic moment. It’s the kind of scene, like the hobbling from Misery, that makes you grip the arm of your chair, curl your toes and cringe. From there, Gage, the little scamp, goes on to bite Jud’s throat out in a moment of active childhood disobedience, before going on to the final battle with dear ol’ dad… “Now I wanna play with yeeeew.”
“The Walking Dead” Season 4, Episode 14 – “The Grove”(2014) – Mika Samuels
This is the only cut on the list that you never actually see, but it is a deep one. Poor Mika… we all knew that she was going to get it sooner or later. She was a fringe character at best, and we knew that when it was time for someone to go, she’d probably be the one (take notice Tara, Sasha, Eugene, etc. – the axe is about to fall again). Kudos to the makers of “The Walking Dead” for taking Mika and Lizzie, who was not that much more intriguing up to that point than her sister, and making news-worthy television with them. Talk about getting the most out of your cast. In the course of one episode, “The Walking Dead” brought life to a new expression. We all immediately knew what “Look at the flowers” meant, and the media went crazy questioning whether the show had gone too far in the killing of the two young characters. And that’s when we know we’ve seen something fantastic; when the mainstream media questions whether it’s gone too far.
“Dexter” (2006-2013) – Kill Room Victims
If you found yourself waking up Saran Wrapped to Dexter Morgan’s table in one of his carefully crafted kill rooms, you knew you were in trouble. But it wasn’t until he got his trusty scalpel out and took his trophy from your cheek that things would really go from bad to “Oh fuck.” Dexter’s slice… It was his signature move and the one that signaled the end of the victim. The next thing you knew, you’re fish food being dumped off the side of his boat, Slice of Life. Regardless of what you thought about how the series was wrapped, all fans of the show have to admit that “Dexter” took us on an amazing eight-season ride that had us laughing, loving and almost always, at the edge of our seats with tension. The victim in the clip is one of Dexter’s most physically intimidating targets, Little Chino, played by 6’8″ former NFL offensive lineman Matt Willig, a personal favorite of mine.
Maniac (2012) – Rita
As disturbingly creepy as William Lustig’s original film was, and it was stunningly creepy, there is a slice in the remake that just screams to be included on this list. (On a side note, here’s a really cool fact… What’s the connection between original Maniac director William Lustig and Martin Scorsese? Lustig, who directed and produced the original Maniac, is the nephew of former boxing champion Jake LaMotta, whose story is brought to the screen in the film Raging Bull, which, of course, was directed by Martin Scorsese. Pretty cool, huh?) Anyway, the brutal scalping scene from Elijah Wood’s 2012 remake of the horror classic is another special F/X gem that stands out due to not only its brutality but its incredible realism. As far as horror remakes go, Maniac earns high honors for both its brazenness and also the creativity of shooting the entire movie from the lead character’s POV. A brilliant risk that paid off, big time!