One of the most fun aspects of horror is the endless creativity when it comes to on-screen carnage, and 2024 has delivered no shortage of memorable horror movie kills.
It’s been a fantastic showcase for special makeup effects artists when it comes to on-screen slaughter; 2024 provided multiple extended kills that cumulatively threatened to wipe out a warehouse supply of fake blood. And that’s why we’re looking back and paying tribute to some of the nastiest, goriest, and most unforgettable 2024 horror movie kills.
We’re saluting the ten best kills in 2024 horror movies, which means massive spoilers ahead for the following: Longlegs, MaXXXine, Sting, Alien: Romulus, The Coffee Table, Abigail, Smile 2, The Substance, Terrifier 3, and In a Violent Nature.
You’ve been warned…
Longlegs – Facial Reconstruction
Filmmaker Oz Perkins refreshingly keeps his curious serial killer, Longlegs, as enigmatic and elusive as possible, giving only glimpses into the killer’s machinations and treating him more as a peculiar boogeyman. It makes the short bursts of Nicolas Cage’s eerie freakouts all the more impactful and unnerving, developing palpable anticipation by the time the serial killer finally meets FBI agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) face to face. That’s when Perkins pulls the rug out from both Harker and the audience with the abrupt, visceral self-demise of the film’s seeming Big Bad. Longlegs bashes his face against the desk, splattering Harker with his viscera. It’s not just the nonchalance of the self-harm that shocks, but the realization that Longlegs was never the true villain of this story but a mere pawn of the devil.
MaXXXine – John Labat’s Car Troubles
Kevin Bacon’s John Labat seems like the type of sleazy private eye that revels in trouble from the moment he pops up in Ti West’s trilogy ender. At the very least, Labat makes it clear that his morals are skewed, and he doesn’t take no for an answer. He’s more than happy to employ intimidation tactics. It’s too bad he doesn’t realize until far too late that Maxine Minx (Mia Goth) isn’t your average aspiring starlet at all. When Labat pushes Maxine too far, she enlists her adult film industry agent for a quick resolution in the form of a beat down, followed by a brutal evisceration of his body and the evidence with a live junkyard car compression.
Sting – Maria’s Ruthless Spider Attack
In a year with two spider horror movies, Sting doles out the most savage death. The venomous alien spider, still in a relatively small form, escapes his makeshift cage and into the apartment building to dispatch the residents one by one. The worst punishment is saved for Maria (Silvia Colloca), a depressed woman mournfully looking at a family photo; Sting launches at her face, biting down on a cheek and causing a nasty fall in the process. The alien venom acts fast; Maria gets violently sick, which in turn causes her head to crash into the bathtub’s ledge with a sickening crunch. This kill would still qualify if it ended here, but then Sting decides to crawl into her mouth and cut open her belly from the inside. It’s an elaborate death for a character we’ve barely met, one who’s clearly going through a rough patch. It makes for one of the cruelest kills of the year.
Alien: Romulus – Mother and Offspring
In a film where characters are brutally dispatched via acid, tail impalement, or even the tried-and-true chest burst, it’s poor Kay (Isabela Merced) who suffers worst of all. After being rescued from a vicious xenomorph attack, a badly injured Kay opts to take the experimental Prometheus serum, hoping to save herself and her unborn baby. Instead, the serum alters her DNA and causes her to birth the Offspring. The eerie humanoid creature winds up feeding on his own mother, finally putting an end to her horror and suffering. That Kay is portrayed as one of the most innocent among the group only makes this extended kill all the more heartbreaking.
The Coffee Table – The Freak Accident
The inciting event of The Coffee Table gets this pitch-black horror-comedy off to a shocking start, and the suspense only ramps up from there. Despite promises for an unbreakable glass coffee table, that’s exactly what happens within the first act, sending a father spiraling after accidentally decapitating his newborn baby while his wife is out. Director Caye Casas toes the perfect balance when it comes to framing this taboo-shattering death; it’s not explicit, yet still harrowing and intense. Quick images combined with effective sound design leave the viewer just as shaken as Dad.
Abigail – A Villain Explodes
Never trust a double-crosser. Frank (Dan Stevens) is the precise type of crook you can’t trust, and the former cop turned criminal evolves from self-appointed group leader to the de facto villain when granted vampiric power. Frank turns on the remaining survivors, eager to slurp up every bit of their lifeblood, setting up one ultra-satisfying showdown. His demise brings catharsis, relief, and triumph for Abigail (Alisha Weir) and Joey (Melissa Barrera) by unleashing an insane torrent of blood; Frank bursts like a giant vampire water balloon, leaving no surface uncovered in blood. Vampire deaths tend to be messy, more often than not, but Abigail stakes a claim for the messiest thanks to the copious amount of blood employed for this death.
Smile 2 – Lewis Lifts Weights
Drug dealer Lewis Fregoli (Lukas Gage) found himself an unwitting recipient of the curse simply for being at the wrong place at the very worst possible time. When it was his turn to pass the curse, director Parker Finn ensured his brutal death would up the ante from the first film. A fully possessed Lewis freaks out on a confused Skye Riley (Naomi Scott), seizes, then violently smashes his face in with a barbell plate. Finn focuses on the carnage, with the sound design working just as hard as the visuals to sell the nausea-inducing bodily harm. While Lewis’s death is far from the only nasty kill feature in this sequel, the brutality sets the tone straight away that Finn’s sequel will be bigger, nastier, and much more ruthless.
The Substance – Monstro Elisasue’s Final Bow
It’s not just the sheer level of prosthetics and makeup effects required that earns The Substance a spot on this list; it’s the drawn-out sequence dedicated to the protracted, gory, and tragically funny demise of Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) and Sue (Margaret Qualley). Or, more accurately, the prolonged dissolution of Monstro Elisasue. After murdering Elisabeth out of rage, Sue attempts to reuse the leftover activator to stave off her rapid deterioration, creating the fleshy, deformed Monstro Elisasue. It sets the stage for the final bow, literally, with the monstrous entity transforming a live New Year’s Eve broadcast into a bloodbath. It culminates, somehow, in even more bloodshed as Monstro Elisasue explodes into a puddle of viscera and goo. It’s the type of over-the-top finale that goes hard and, more impressively, takes its time to splatter as much blood as possible getting there. It’s the type of no-holds-barred climax that doesn’t come around very often. Yet it’s not without emotional impact, either; Monstro Elisasue is far more accepting of herself than Elisabeth was.
Terrifier 3 – Doomed Shower
It’s likely safe to assume that as long as there’s a year with a Terrifier movie released, Art the Clown’s shenanigans will wind up on a Best Kills list with multiple worthy moments for consideration. Terrifier 3 certainly offers up a few choice kills for this list, from a surprise mall explosion to medieval torture by rats. But it’s director Damien Leone’s gender-reversed callback to his iconic Terrifier kill that stands above the bloody pack. On his way to Jonathan (Elliot Fullam) at the university, Art (David Howard Thornton) makes a pit stop at the dorm shower for some Christmas carnage. This centerpiece moment delivers an extended dismembering for the unlucky couple discovered getting frisky in the shower. Art makes sure to give the most attention to Cole (Mason Mecartea), who gets arguably the most graphic death of the film; no anatomy is spared during Art’s deranged bisection via chainsaw.
In a Violent Nature – Yoga Pretzel
It’s difficult to imagine anything toppling a Terrifier film from the top spot in the Best Kill list, and yet the experimental slasher In a Violent Nature clinched it with a creative demise best summed up with two words: Yoga. Pretzel. This centerpiece kill sees undead Johnny come upon Aurora (Charlotte Creaghan) as she’s practicing yoga cliffside. He disembowels her with a rusty hook, then pulls her head back and through the gaping hole in her torso, contorting her body into a gruesome pretzel. It’s a lively death that stands out, especially in the context of this quiet arthouse slasher, but it’s all the more impressive considering how this elaborate, ambitious sequence took months to pull together. A challenging production couldn’t hold back undead Johnny or the incredible SFX team, and the result is the most memorable movie kill of the year.