The Top Ten Memorable Murder Scenes in Horror/Slasher Movies

Halloween is fast approaching and let's get into the carnage, I mean... mood. My ten most memorable murder scenes in Horror/Slasher movie history.

10) "Theatre of Blood" - Spooky movie icon, Vincent Price stars in this 1973 movie as fanatical Shakesperian actor Edward Lionheart. He methodically seeks revenge on a group of theater critics who humiliated him and caused him to go insane. Lionheart kills his enemies similar to the various unfortunate demises of Shakesperean characters. The most memorable of these critics deaths is when Lionheart lures one his enemies to a fake wine tasting party. When the critic realizes that he has been duped he stutters in absolute horroras he is surrounded by Lionheart's minions. He is then dunked and drowned in a barrel of wine.

9) "Phantasm" - The low budget 1979 movie was a combination horror/science fiction movie that featured hooded midgets monsters and a large gruff looking Undertaker (called the Tall Man) that just can not die. The most memorable character of this movie seems to a little metal sphere that glides through the air and chases intruders in a funeral home. In one scene, the hero of the movie escapes this sphere as it accidentally attaches one of the villians in the forehead with its blades. The sphere then takes out a drill and unleashes gallons of blood from its unfortunate victim. Watching this scene definately gave me a headache, but it was nothing compared to the migraine I had while watching Phantasm Four.

8) "Nightmare on Elm Street" - Known for his bad sweaters, farmers hat, charcoaled face and trademark ginzu knifed glove, Freddie Krueger made more children fear going to bed than anyone else, even Michael Jackson. When the first film of this franchise was made it featured a little known actor at the time by the name of Johnny Depp. However, poor Johnny, doesn't end up making it to the end of this movie. He makes the fatal mistake of falling asleep and then is devoured by a hole in his own bed. Seconds later the bed spits out a column of blood covering the room and leaving no physical trace of the "21 Jump Street" actor. Fortunately for Depp, this role did not prove to be a career killer.

7) "The Exorcist" - Considered to be the ultimate horror film, this movie mainly takes place in the bedroom of a young girl (played by Linda Blair) who is possessed by the Devil. She levitates, projectile vomits, talks in tongues and curses worse than Ozzy Osbourne's children at a family reunion. The hero of the film, Father Karras successfully extracts the devil from the girl but is killed as he crashes through a window and tumbles down a large flight of stairs to his death. However, in a fate worse than death, Father Karras, was brought back to life in the lackluster Exorcist 3.

6) "Friday the 13^th" - Known for his trademark hockey mask and his handy blood stained machete, Jason Vorhees was the face of this movie franchise. The first film had Jason's mom (eerily played by Betsy Palmer) butcher a group of camp counselors as revenge for the past neglectful drowning of her special needs son decades earlier. Ms. Voorhees (who has clearly lost her mind) then literally loses her head in a life and death struggle with the last remaining counselor. But Jason is his mother's son, and he just had to go into the family business and give us several sequels that take us to Manhattan, Hell and even outer space. What's next for Jason? Maybe a visit to Congress?

5) "Silence of the Lambs" While this may be considered a drama; evil serial killer Hannibal Lecter (brilliantly portrayed by Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins) terrified movie viewers (much like Rosie O'Donnell did on "The View"). His escape scene where he bites a guard in the face and maces another is all too horrifying. He then clubs one of the men to death with a sadistic grin on his face and later showcases his gruesome handiwork as the law enforcement tries to apprehend the cannibalistic psychiatrist. How Lecter escapes is one of the most imaginative and creative seen in any movie of the last twenty years.

4) "Se7en" Seven deadly sins, seven ways to die. This dark 1995 movie starred Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman. The brilliance of this movie was that it didn't show much violence, it left the grisly details to the imagination. There are several victims killed and tortured in disgusting ways. The most disturbing of these involves a prostitute who is only seen by viewers in a still photo. What transpires is that movie viewers then see a man screaming hysterically as he recollects the horror of having forced sex with this woman as the film's villain put a gun to his head. It then becomes apparent that this woman died a gruesome death as the man was forced to wear a sickening contraption that had a leather penis sheathe with a blade at the end of it. I could make a joke here but this scene really disturbed me.

3) "The Omen" The original film made in 1976 stars Gregory Peck and Lee Remick as the unfortunate parents whose adopted young son named Damian happens to be the son of the Devil. This film features many unique and spectacular deaths of the people that get in the way of Damian's destiny. However, the most memorable of these is of a photographer who gets decapitated in slow motion by a large horizontal sheet of glass. The Omen spawned several sequels yet its greatest legacy is that parents no longer name their children Damian.

2) "Alien" This film was unique for the space/science fiction genre in that it was also a horror movie. It featured a hideous creature (designed by macabre artist H.R. Geiger) that enacts a gory killing spree begins on a ship deep in outer space. However, it is our first introduction to this creature that is the most memorable and shocking scene of this movie. The alien makes a bloody, gut wrenching exit from the body of a space explorer (played by John Hurt) who unwittingly became it's host. After watching this scene, you would think they would have renamed the movie, "Guess Who's Coming Out to Dinner."

1) "Psycho" This movie is probably one of the most famous movies ever made. Part of the reason, the infamous shower scene where Janet Leigh's character is slain by the mother of Norman Bates (come on should I really give it away?) Masterfully shot and edited, it caused viewers to get sick, pass out and in some cases forgo showers for lengthy periods of time. Even with today's graphic violence in film, this scene is still one of the most violent and chilling despite the fact there was never any footage of the knife penetrating any flesh. After filming Psycho, Leigh's film career did not go down the shower drain. In fact, two decades later she appeared in the horror classic, "The Fog" with daughter Jaime Lee Curtis.

Well, that was my top ten, my apologies to all those Halloween, Evil Dead and Texas Chain Saw Massacre movie fans. Maybe next year.....