This article contains descriptions of graphic violence.
Some horror movies go overboard towards the end in the best way possible, like Hulu's Fresh and Prey, or the most recent entry in the Scream franchise. This was particularly prominent in the horror heyday of the 1970s and 1980s, but there's been a resurgence in the increasingly self-aware 2010s. While it's early on into the 2020s, it already seems clear that bombastic horror finales are going to be a mainstay.
Excess in the gore department can detract from a film's overall impact. However, if done in a way that isn't unsettling to the viewer (e.g. many slain zombies as opposed to human beings) or with a sense of humor and intelligence, a fuchsia fireworks finale can work well.
Dawn Of The Dead (1978)
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It wasn't one of the highest-grossing horror films of the 1970s, but George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead has managed to hold as powerful a legacy as his original Night of the Living Dead. However, while the two films' reputations are basically identical, Dawn has far much more bloodletting than Night.
By the end of the film, the narrative's shopping mall-bound central quartet of "Flyboy," Peter, Roger, and Francine are dealing with not just the bloodthirsty undead but an actively sadistic biker gang, as well. Once they enter the picture, Romero ups the gore factor to the max.
The Evil Dead (1981)
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Every Evil Dead movie and series is both well-reviewed and bloody as can be, including Sam Raimi's low-budget 1981 original. The effects don't always hold up, but that's a major part of The Evil Dead's charm. And, even still, the final 30+ minutes of Raimi's debut are extremely gory, very much pushing the limits of its rating.
The moment Ash Campbell's sister, Cheryl, is taken over by a Kandarian demon, their group's sojourn to the woods goes to hell. Raimi's film has a remarkably seasoned idea for pacing in horror, especially considering it was his debut. The film manages to doll out its chaos in careful measure until the final reel when daggers are stabbed, hands are burned, faces melt, and demons speak plain English.
Sleepaway Camp (1983)
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Sleepaway Camp's ending couldn't be done now. But it was an effective shock in 1983 and remains as such. There's a lot of blood, yes, but the look on Felissa Rose's face is far more disturbing than any of the gory imagery.
With that being said, the dropped-jaw, wide-eyed stare, and blood are united in one lurid image. Rose's Angela (in reality, Peter) stands with the severed head of Paul, who had been a sweet kid throughout the film's runtime but whose blood now covers his peer from the neck down.
Day Of The Dead (1985)
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Dawn of the Dead makeup artist/actor Tom Savini gave the film a gory ending, but he arguably topped his work in Day of the Dead. The film's group of soldiers is a mostly contemptible sort, and the film clearly feels no restriction in giving them elongated, gory demises. Perhaps most notable is the death of the film's central antagonist: Captain Henry Rhodes (Joseph Pilato, giving a legendary horror film performance).
But there's also one of Rhodes' main shoulders graphically shooting himself in the head, as well as any number of other lower-level soldiers getting torn apart in the base's tunnels. Perhaps most disgusting of all is the dream sequence of a man's insides falling out, or one of Rhodes' top guys having his head yanked as his vocal cords stretch both on the camera and on the soundtrack.
Evil Dead II (1987)
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Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn manages to find an even better mixture of absurdly funny and scary than the original Evil Dead. The original film had a sense of humor, but it was below the surface; Dead by Dawn has a woman's deadite-turned mother get her morphed head squished until its eyeball pops out and shoots into the mouth of another woman. And that's towards the middle of the film.
Evil Dead II remains one of the most brilliantly-paced films, horror or otherwise, with a gory Looney Tunes vibe that goes through the roof in the climax (where the Deadites form an impressive practical effects beast that roars in a doorway). There's also Ash's severed hand stabbing the film's grieving daughter in the back and a kindly character dragged into a cellar until he's turned into a geyser.
Dead Alive (1992)
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Peter Jackson's Braindead (Dead Alive in the U.S.) is wildly over-the-top essentially from moment one. It only gets more extreme yet manages to work all the way through. The plot mostly focuses on Lionel, a New Zealand resident living under the thumb of his mother.
Things only get worse for him when once a sweet young woman enters the picture. And when a rabid rat-monkey bites his mother at a zoo. Lionel's now zombified mom is just the first, and before long, he's holding up a lawnmower, running through his living room with blood and guts spraying.
Saw: The Final Chapter (2010)
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The originality of Saw 3D: The Final Chapter's finale is comparable to the creativity level on display in its title. It's a series of twists, turns, betrayals, twists, turns, betrayals. There's Sean Patrick Flanery's Bobby Dagen with hooks in his pecs dragging himself up via chain, Cary Elwes' Lawrence Gordon sewing a man's eyes shut, and, most of all, Betsy Russell's Jill Tuck in her final interaction with the trademark Jigsaw bear trap.
Saw 3D: The Final Chapter doesn't work as a film for several reasons, especially once the concept of logic is taken into consideration. However, it at least manages to refrain from being overwhelmingly and nightmarishly grotesque, though not for a lack of trying. Case in point, the color of the film's prop blood, which not once reads as red over pink. It looks silly, but at least that allows the audience to see the icky and impressive practical effect used for Tuck's demise.
The Cabin In The Woods (2011)
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The Cabin in the Woods is a movie to go into fresh, but the reputation of its bombastic finale precedes it. Essentially, a shady group of underground businesspeople (led by Sigourney Weaver's unnamed Director character) sacrifice young people to a god being that exists within the Earth. Failure to make good on the being's dinner is problematic and spells the end of the human race.
Even before the god's hand bursts through the Earth's surface and whacks down, The Cabin in the Woods' ending sings for the fences. There are shady government agents getting impaled by unicorns while a crawling fish monster devours Bradley Whitford of The West Wing. It's wildly entertaining and utterly unique.
Ready Or Not (2019)
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Both one of Samara's Weaving's best movies as well as her breakthrough, Ready or Not is a wild, unforgettable time with a very dysfunctional family. The plot focuses on family game night and, specifically, new inductee Grace. When Grace has her turn (As is tradition) to draw a family game night card, she draws "Hide-and-Seek." Unfortunately, this is the one choice that means her husband's secretly Satan-worshipping family has to carve up a sacrifice.
Ready or Not was both a financial success and a ringing of the bells that directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett were a cut above. They then proved this definitively several years later with their follow-up: Scream (2022).
Scream (2022)
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The finales to all the Scream films are at least somewhat gory. Scream (1996) has stabbings, gunshots, and a television to the noggin. Scream 2 has even more stabbings and shootings while Scream 3 has a tamer version of the same thing. Scream 4 upped the ante a bit with Jill Roberts smashing herself into a coffee table, but it was Scream (2022) that really went wild.
Even if just limited to the number of times Sam Carpenter stabs Ghostface Richie Kirsch, or just second Ghostface Amber Freeman's prolonged death, Scream (2022) is the goriest installment of the franchise. Fortunately, it also has a lot more than gore working for it, making the rebootquel something truly special.