Although there are many beloved subgenres belonging to the horror genre, it’s often the slasher genre that’s recognized for being the most violent. And, because of this, it’s often displayed some of the most creativity. After all, with so many films dedicated to the same themes or formulas, you have to come up with new ways to shock or disturb audiences. This has led to some pretty iconic and unique death scenes over the decades. Now horror fans on Reddit have decided what they believe to be the ten most painful slasher film deaths.
The titles featured on this list are quite interesting. A large majority of the titles belong to newer horror films, which include the likes of House of Wax at first place, so don’t expect too many classics. Of course, there are still a few stand-outs from the classic era of slasher films, including A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors at number four.
Here’s the complete list via Reddit:
- House of Wax – Wade’s wax figure transformation
- Freaky – Bottle shattered in throat death
- Fear Street 1994 – Bread slicer death
- A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors – Marionette death
- Wolf Creek – Head on a stick death
- Urban Legend – The dean has his Achilles tendon slashed
- Friday the 13th (2009) – Cooked in a sleeping bag death
- Cube Zero – Acid death
- Terrifier – Sawed in half, upside down
- Scream – Casey’s death
While a lot of the titles featured are newer, it’s hard to argue against them. After all, they have all become quite iconic for being rather painful slasher film death scenes. For example, while many fans were disappointed with the 2009 Friday the 13th film, it’s the opening scene that has stuck in most audiences’ minds since its release. And it’s the aforementioned sleeping bag death that happens to be one of the most memorable kills of that sequence. So Reddit seems to have a pretty good grasp with this list.
With so many slasher films having been produced over the decades, it’s hard to condense even some of their deaths into a definitive list. Especially when there are so many obscure horror classics and niche stand-outs in the genre. But with that said, this is certainly a good starting point.