Nato And Remy’s Last Stand: Disturbingly Cringe-Worthy Horror Deaths

OK, Remdog and I are pretty hardcore horror fans who have been desensitized to the brutal violence and merciless gore our favorite genre unapologetically promotes, to the extent that our family and friends worry about our sanity - but even we come across some kill scenes too much for even two seasoned veterans to handle. I know, it's damn hard to believe, but every once and a while we see something so unnerving, so perverse, so visually repulsive that even we tend to cringe a little, but just a little. We're still super-messed up, but there is some notion of sanity left that snaps us back into reality at times. Whether it's bones crunching, skin tearing, muscles showing, insides being strewn about - there's always a director out there ballsy enough to push visual boundaries so far viewers have no choice but to look away. Sick, twisted, psychotic people who want to deliver the most realistic gore possible and make us squirm in discomfort, but also remind us why the hell we love horror so much. Oh, and we can't forget the genius artists who make these dark fantasies a reality through practical special effects wizardry, because they have to be just as deranged as the man with the vision. It's really a beautiful thing when all these minds come together, isn't it? This week Remy and I applaud the sickest of the sick by listing a few of our favorite cringe-worthy horror deaths, showcasing sickeningly brutal gore and sadistically creative mindsets. Go big or go home they say, right? Remy: Jaw Rip (Mirrors) This may very well be one of my favorite kills from modern horror. Why? You feel that the scene is coming, but you keep waiting for something ELSE to happen, or someone to bust in and save her. The her, in this case, is Amy Smart, and what she needs to be saved from is her own reflection, which has slipped its hands into its mouth and has started separating the upper jaw from the lower jaw, and while you wait anxiously for the camera to pan away, it doesn't. You see her nerves and tendons being pulled and snapped as her lower jaw is torn off her upper jaw and just proceeds to hang on by the tendons, looking more like meat strings at this point. It is disgusting. It is unsettling. Yeah, it is the exact reason I love horror. Nato: Needle Pit (Saw II) OK, no one dies during this scene, so I'm cheating a little, but f#ck you, I don't like needles. I don't like them one bit. Every time I go to the doctor's office and need any kind of injection or test of some kind, I refuse to watch the needle puncture my skin and enter my usually protected body. So how do you think I reacted when poor Amanda is thrown unwillingly into a pit of what appear to be dirty, grimy, most likely infected used needles? I flinched, squirmed, freaked, and sat uncomfortably perturbed the entire time. I don't know why, but I can just feel the needles and imagine myself being stabbed by an entire pit full of them, poking and prodding me the whole time my exposed arms sift through the little medicinal daggers - OK I have to end this quick because I feel myself passing out. Seriously though, a pit full of needles is one of the worst things I could ever imagine, and Saw II made that a reality. I don't even know what's worse, pulling your arm out of the plastic sea to find it riddled with dangling new "piercings," or pulling the needles out one by one, each needle tugging at your skin with every pull. I don't care that Amanda didn't die in the pit, this is one scene I'm NEVER able to sit through unruffled. Remy: Achilles Cut (Pet Semetary) Don't even act like this doesn't make you squirm, because the thought of this makes EVERYONE squirm. You know the scene. The little dead kid is hiding under the old guy's bed, and he reaches out with a scalpel and cuts his Achilles tendon, rendering the man's leg useless. Do you know why this bothers us? Because when we see it, we imagine it. That scary thought of someone hiding under your bed, waiting to hurt you, and then the idea of your ankle being slashed, as you fall to the ground, bringing you to eye level with an evil dead kid (not Evil Dead like the movie, but as in he is evil and he is dead) - yup, thanks for the mental scar. This kill plays on so many of our fears, and does so in a way that ensures we never forget it. Nato: Pregnant Mother (Dream Home) It's one thing to kill a defenseless woman, it's another thing to kill a defenseless pregnant woman, and then it's a COMPLETELY other thing to kill a defenseless pregnant woman and her baby by brutally suffocating her in a show of dominance and cruelty - even if it's only to make the perfect apartment available to you. I think what makes Josie Ho's killing spree in Dream Home all the more sickening revolves around her selfish reasoning, killing off residents in an apartment complex just to drive down the price of a unit she dreams of owning. Yes, the poor mother pictured above is suffocated using one of those vacuum-sealed packing bags one would put clothes in and suck the air out of to save space. An innocent dead mother, an even more innocent dead baby, and Ho is only one more corpse closer to her own homely nirvana. Everything about this kill is brutal and wrong, pushing the boundaries of what we expect from a horror kill. I mean, an unborn baby?! Remy: Stair Scene (Inside) You know the scene: The boss comes to visit the pregnant girl on Christmas eve, but the psycho lady is already there, intent on killing her. When the boss comes up the stairs, the crazy woman reveals herself, and proceeds to stab him in the dick and slash his face. The scene itself just looks so violent and real, and it all happens almost too fast for your mind to process it, but as it does, the crippling horror of the situation makes itself incredibly evident. The whole of Inside f*cked me all up, beyond words, really, and the reason for this is all of the violence in the film feels and looks 100% real, but an insane and determined Beatrice Dalle playing the role of "The Woman" is what sold it all to me - hook, line and sinker. Inside is ninety minutes of mental abuse to the viewer, which is why you never shake it from your mind. Nato: Random Bodyguard (A Serbian Film) Ok, I could have just listed A Serbian Film in its entirety for this post, because picking the most disturbing kill out of all this filth was like picking who is the most vile criminal out of Bundy, Gacy, and Dahmer. I mean, there's a scene where Milos is forced to have sex with an "actress" doggy style, beats her senseless, and then goes to town on her with a machete - and yet I'm picking another kill scene as the most graphically unsettling. Past the newborn porn, past the incestuous horrors, past the random acts of sexual violence, Milos finally has enough. As the film ends and he goes on a vengeful killing spree, one poor bastard suffers the most horrifying porno death ever imagined. After beating a few characters to a pulp, Milos, still "rock hard" I may add, gives the performance of a lifetime by thrusting his mighty rod like a spear right into this man's eye socket, bringing "skull f#cking" to an entirely new level. Could you imagine the horrors of watching some dude's throbbing schlonger coming straight for your eye, and then feeling it enter your cranial cavity only to skewer your brain? Yeah, I'm out. Seriously, if this was Mortal Kombat, Milos' Fatality would have put him in the history books of "Kills Involving A Man's Penis," but I'm pretty sure the competition is pretty limp. ZING. Remy: First Kill (High Tension) I am not talking about the oral sex from the decapitated head. No, I am talking about the scene when the madman breaks into the house, shoves the Dad's head into the stairwell banisters, and then proceeds to sever his head with a bureau. Though I adored horror my whole life, I had NEVER seen a kill like that in a movie, and it just grabbed me and punched me in the gut right away, stealing my breath and never giving it back for the entirety of the movie. While I can openly admit I am no fan of the ending, I still think High Tension is one of the best horror movies ever made from the level of constant panic the viewer feels. Also, did anyone notice a trend on my list? Five credibility points to whomever tells me what it is in the comments. I will give you a hint: Aja. Crap, that was too obvious, huh? Nato: Phillip's Death (A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors) It's so damn hard because Phillip's death at the hands of Freddy Krueger happens to be one of my favorite nightmare kills, but at the same time I can't watch it completely without gripping my arms and writhing in discomfort. Something about the way Freddy pulls at Phillip's veins doesn't sit well with me, and I can almost feel something tugging on my own whenever I catch a viewing of Dream Warriors. Being killed off by some dream-jumping murderer is bad enough, I mean just think back to your most terrifying nightmare and imagine if you could actually get hurt while stuck in it, but adding the physical discomfort of having someone work you like a puppet using your inside material makes me hate every freaking minute of this death scene. OK, and by hate I mean love, but still, that doesn't mean I have to like what I'm watching. Ew, I seriously feel something crawling up and down my skin just thinking about Freddy pulling those veins around. Oh God, again, I have to stop. This is too much. I'm all tingly and shit! For those of you strong enough to make it through the list, are you overly grossed out now? Which horror deaths get your stomach churning? Let us know in the comments! *A special thanks to Remy for stepping in to guest write! Feel free to follow either of us on Twitter for even more insanity and updates: Matt Donato Follow @DoNatoBomb Remy Carreiro Follow @RemyCarreiro Like what you read? Check out last week's edition where Remy and I talk about beautiful horror vixens who carried us through the worst movies!