{"id":174,"date":"2010-01-10T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-01-10T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/scottsnowden.net\/blog\/?p=174"},"modified":"2017-01-17T16:40:50","modified_gmt":"2017-01-17T16:40:50","slug":"movie-mutilation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scottsnowden.net\/blog\/2010\/01\/10\/movie-mutilation\/","title":{"rendered":"10 top macabre movie mutilations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Arguably one of the best horror movies around, John Carpenter\u2019s The Thing<\/i> is soon to get a sequel \u2013 or rather a prequel. In honour of the macabre ways in which this movie maimed men, Scott Snowden looks at the most gruesome ways to go, as given to us by Hollywood<\/strong><\/p>\n

The genius behind the recent re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica<\/i>, Ronald D. Moore, had been determined to make a prequel to John Carpenter\u2019s 1982 remake of The Thing<\/i> for some time. The project was given a green light in early 2009 and a release date of some time around the end of this year has been announced.<\/p>\n

For many, Carpenter\u2019s The Thing <\/i>was the benchmark in fantasy horror. Itself a remake of the 1951 original The Thing from Another World<\/i>, which is an adaptation of the short story Who Goes There, <\/i>Carpenter excelled himself in new and gruesome ways with an alien that could attack its pray, absorb them and then mutate itself into their form.<\/p>\n

The reason the new project is generating so much excitement is that Moore is centering his prequel on what happened at the Norwegian Antarctic research station \u2013 before rough, tough R.J. MacReady and his team are interrupted by the men in the helicopter trying desperately to shoot the fleeing husky.<\/p>\n

Despite being made over 25 years ago, the special effects in Carpenter\u2019s film were way ahead of their time. We are treated to dissolving dogs, a torso with teeth and a decapitated head that sprouts spider-like legs and scuttles away.<\/p>\n

So, to celebrate this glorious, gory return to the fantasy horror genre, we consider some of the more disturbing ways to depart, as seen in the cinema.<\/p>\n

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Movie:<\/b> Robocop <\/i>(1987)
\nVictim:<\/b> Emil (played by Paul McCrae)
\nScene:<\/b> during a perilous car chase through an abandoned steel mill, Robocop craftily sidesteps Emil\u2019s attempt to ram him with his speeding van. Instead Emil drives straight into a giant metal vat, emerging a few minutes later in a somewhat disturbing state
\nCause of death:<\/b> slowly dissolving after being drenched in toxic waste
\nCoroner\u2019s report:<\/b> Clearly the toxic waste weakened the molecular bonding throughout Emil\u2019s body as we see when he \u201csplashes\u201d all over the windscreen of crime boss Clarence Boddicker\u2019s speeding car: a blessing really
\nTime taken to die:<\/b> approx 3 \u00bd minutes
\nAgony rating:<\/b> 5<\/p>\n

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Movie:<\/b> Alien <\/i>(1979)
\nVictim:<\/b> Kane (played by John Hurt)
\nScene:<\/b> the crew of the Nostromo<\/i> are enjoying one last dinner – after a troublesome experience on an alien planet – before entering cryogenic hibernation for the trip back to Earth
\nCause of death:<\/b> a particularly pesky alien fetus rips through your major organs and burst out of your chest a day or so after the embryo is unceremoniously ejaculated down your throat
\nCoroner\u2019s report<\/b>: as the fetus is ready to be \u201cborn\u201d it starts tearing at your organs to be able to get out, and that\u2019s got<\/i> to hurt
\nTime taken to die:<\/b> approx 20 seconds
\nAgony rating:<\/b> 8<\/p>\n

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Movie:<\/b> Starship Troopers <\/i>(1997)
\nVictim:<\/b> Zander Barcalow (played by Patrick Muldoon)
\nScene:<\/b> having crash-landed into a cave on Planet P, the wounded Zander and Carmen Ibanez inadvertently face off against the giant \u201cbrain bug\u201d
\nCause of death:<\/b> having your brains sucked out like you\u2019re slurping on a milkshake
\nCoroner\u2019s report<\/b>: the enormous alien limb that\u2019s rammed into his head doesn\u2019t penetrate at a point to cause actual death – that results from his brains being sucked out
\nTime taken to die:<\/b> approx 8 seconds
\nAgony rating:<\/b> 5<\/p>\n

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Movie:<\/b> The Thing <\/i>(1982)
\nVictim:<\/b> everybody? Well, we don\u2019t know for sure\u2026
\nScene:<\/b> throughout the movie, the alien parasite uses stealth to attack and \u201cbecome\u201d the victim in order to slowly and strategically take over
\nCause of death:<\/b> being utterly absorbed or digested by an alien life form
\nCoroner\u2019s report:<\/b> since the creature seems to inherit memory and basic characteristics from the victim in order to camouflage itself more effectively, complete osmosis seems to take place at a genetic level
\nTime taken to die:<\/b> unknown
\nAgony rating:<\/b> 6<\/p>\n

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Movie:<\/b> Raiders of the Lost Ark <\/i>(1981)
\nVictim:<\/b> Gestapo agent Toht (played by Ronald Lacey)
\nScene:<\/b> the Ark of the Covenant is finally opened to see if the broken tablets of stone on which the Ten Commandments were inscribed are inside
\nCause of death:<\/b> being melted by the power of God
\nCoroner\u2019s report:<\/b> rapid though it may be, it looks like the liquefying progresses inward as opposed to an all-at-once process, so death is far from instantaneous; the flesh and eyes would melt first and the skull itself would take a little longer
\nTime taken to die:<\/b> up to 10 seconds
\nAgony rating:<\/b> 6 \u00bd<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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Movie:<\/b> Star Trek: The Motion Picture<\/i> (1979)
\nVictim:<\/b> Commander Sonak (played by Jon Rashad Kamal) and token assistant
\nScene:<\/b> two crew members are beamed aboard the Enterprise<\/i> from Starfleet HQ not knowing the transporters aren\u2019t fully functional yet as a result of her ongoing overhaul
\nCause of death:<\/b> not being able to reform properly after having every component molecule in their bodies scrambled and sent up to orbit and then back down to Earth again
\nCoroner\u2019s report<\/b>: during the attempt to save them, the unfortunate Starfleet officers begin to physically form, thus they are actually conscious of being pulled apart at a sub-atomic level
\nTime taken to die:<\/b> around 10 seconds
\nAgony rating:<\/b> 7<\/p>\n

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Movie:<\/b> The Black Hole <\/i>(1979)
\nVictim:<\/b> Dr Alex Durant (played by Anthony Perkins)
\nScene:<\/b> the crew of the USS Palomino<\/i> try to discreetly explain to Dr Durant that Hans Reinhardt is a complete loon, but the psychotic robot Maximillian is on to them and promptly dispatches the good doctor with menacing mastery
\nCause of death:<\/b> having a spinning 18in \u201cblender\u201d blade mince your abdomen
\nCoroner\u2019s report:<\/b> Disney has a dark side, who\u2019d have thought. The anticipation of just about to be minced probably doesn\u2019t help, and the mess would just go everywhere
\n<\/i>Time taken to die:<\/b> approx 5 seconds
\nAgony rating:<\/b> 8<\/p>\n

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Movie:<\/b> Total Recall <\/i>(1990)
\nVictim:<\/b> Vilos Cohaagen (played by Ronny Cox)
\nScene:<\/b> a desperate, last-ditch struggle over the \u201con\u201d switch for the alien reactor has resulted in an explosion causing sudden explosive decompression in the control chamber
\nCause of death:<\/b> blown out and exposed to the surface of Mars sans environment suit
\nCoroner\u2019s report<\/b>: rapid decompression and exposure to a vacuum causes hypoxia, convulsions and fibrillation of the heart, however, loss of consciousness usually occurs after 15 seconds or so
\nTime taken to die:<\/b> 90 seconds
\nAgony rating:<\/b> 6<\/p>\n

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Movie:<\/b> The Hitcher <\/i>(1986)
\nVictim:<\/b> Nash (played by Jennifer Jason Leigh)
\nScene:<\/b> psychotic John Ryder breaks into a motel room and kidnaps Nash, dragging her to a truck stop parking lot. He ties her between a Mack truck and its trailer and commandeers the truck’s cab, revving the engine
\nCause of death:<\/b> being tied hand and foot then slowly pulled apart
\nCoroner\u2019s report:<\/b> chances are the resulting effect would be having your arms and legs ripped off, rather than actually being torn in two, leaving the victim bleeding to death
\nTime taken to die:<\/b> a few minutes
\nAgony rating:<\/b> 9<\/p>\n

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Movie:<\/b> Star Wars: Return of the Jedi<\/i> (1983)
\nVictim:<\/b> seven of Jabba the Hutt\u2019s henchmen and Boba Fett (played by Jeremy Bulloch)
\nScene:<\/b> Han, Luke and Chewbacca are only seconds away from ceremonial sacrifice by the galactic gangster by being thrown into the Great Pit of Carkoon
\nCause of death:<\/b> being swallowed whole by the sand pit-dwelling Sarlacc monster
\nCoroner\u2019s report<\/b>: victims are reportedly kept alive once inside the creature\u2019s stomach so that they may be digested over 1,000 years, so death by dissolving would probably take second place to eventual starvation
\nTime taken to die:<\/b> quite a few years
\nAgony rating:<\/b> 10<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Arguably one of the best horror movies around, John Carpenter\u2019s The Thing is soon to get a sequel \u2013 or rather a prequel. In honour […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsnowden.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsnowden.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsnowden.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsnowden.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsnowden.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=174"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/scottsnowden.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1354,"href":"https:\/\/scottsnowden.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174\/revisions\/1354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsnowden.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsnowden.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsnowden.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}