In the wake of our ongoing ‘Essential’ list, we’re going to also rerun the popular and lost to the annals of the web CHUD’s 100 BEST KILLS list, half of which originally aired in the sadly defunct MOVIE INSIDER magazine with the rest appearing on this here site. As the site prepares for a ground-up redesign/reimagining/revamp/retard, here’s your kills as requested. Five at a time every few days until the whole 100 have been revisited. Enjoy. In no particular order…

Disclaimer: Some of these may not actually be KILLS, either due to the uncertain fate of the victim or a lapse in movie logic. Too bad. They SHOULD be kills.




American History X: I guarantee this scene will make you cringe! Located about halfway through the film, swastika tattooed Edward Norton decides to educate a young assailant on the delicacy known as the street curb. Not only is the ensuing face smash very hard to watch, the sound of his teeth touching the curb is what really sets this kill up. DISTURBING!



John Carpenter’s Vampires: It takes some balls to introduce a group of professional vampire killers successfully destroying a nest of the undead, and then kill off almost every one of them in the following scenes, but that’s exactly what director John Carpenter did here. As the hunters celebrate their most recent victory over the sharp-toothed terrors, the one that got away returns to crash the party in a big way. Thomas Ian Griffith is Valek, one of the oldest living vampires left, and he’s rather ticked that he was left off of the guest list that apparently included hookers and strippers, so he sets about wreaking havoc by breaking necks, biting necks, and the ancient vampire favorite, "cutting a man in half with the side of your hand" shtick. The end result is this poor sap. FUNNY!



Total Recall: Ronny Cox must hate Mars. The planet’s hot, has no good football teams, and the currency exchange rate is wretched. Oh, and it also pops his eyes out, implodes his lungs, sends his veins ripping through his flesh, and pulverizes his skeleton. It’s hard to stick out in a film that features three nippled women, gun-toting midgets, and the killing of Sharon Stone but Ronny’s comically grisly outing manages to do it. FUNNY!



Wanted: Dead or Alive: An armed grenade in his mouth, Gene Simmons is faced with an important decision: Have his head explode or shit his pants and then have his head explode. Either way, the resulting head detonation is the capper to a surprisingly good Rutger Hauer action flick. The trick is so neat, I hear Gene’s mulling the idea of doing it at the climax of every future Kiss concert. FUNNY!



Robocop: No matter what your opinion of Paul Verhoeven is, you can’t deny the fact that the man films some great death scenes. Emil’s death here is no exception. During the climactic battle, our friend drives headfirst into a vat of toxic waste, thus becoming the famous "melting man". Then, to make matters worse, he meets up with Kurtwood Smith in his sporty new 6000 SUX. Severe splattery ensues. FUNNY!

Discuss this list here.