Welcome to Dread Central Unearthed 2024, where we’re sharing our favorite films, moments, kills, scares, and more from this year in horror. Today, Chad Collins is sharing the 10 best and most disgusting kills that graced our screens in 2024.
It’s been a bloody year. A bloody good one, yeah! Horror is back (not that it ever went anywhere), and this year, the genre was angrier, crueler, and gorier than ever. Every year, it’s my pleasure to dive into the carnage and cull the best of the best when it comes to the genre’s kills. Horror is more than gore, certainly, but let’s be honest—we all love some good bloodshed. From nasty rats to toothy sharks, read below for the best kills the 2024 horror scene had to offer. Proceed with caution, as spoilers abound in this list.
And if you’re interested in more carnage candy, check out the lists for 2023 and 2022.
10. Smile 2, Simply Smashing
Skye Riley (Naomi Scott), icon that you are. Seriously, between her and Trap’s Lady Raven (Saleka Night Shyamalan), 2024 was the year of the horror pop superstar. Yet, where Lady Raven successfully outmaneuvered Josh Hartnett’s duplicitous serial killer (and even saved a man’s life to boot), Skye Riley had a rough go of it. A really, really rough go of it. Smile 2 handles its mental health discourse better than the previous film, though I did chuckle at an online suggestion that the film’s message amounted to “every bad thing in your life is your fault.” It’s a shallow read, but not an entirely unfounded one.
Wherever you land, there’s no denying Parker Finn’s sequel puts his lead through the absolute ringer. More than the first, the horror here is unrelenting. Bouts of violence, hallucinations, scream-inducing jump scares, and even ungodly assemblages of concertgoers morphing together like some kind of Dungeon and Dragons monstrosity—Smile 2 has it all. If that wasn’t enough, par for the horror course, the film even ends with one of those gotcha moments everyone saw coming. There’s no escape from the demon here, and as Skye comes to, she realizes she’s in the midst of her tour. She falls into a trance, is possessed, and then impales her eye socket with the microphone. As she bleeds out, she has presumably passed to curse onto the entire stadium. Rings who?
9. Under Paris, Catacombs Catastrophe
To get it out of the way quickly, I’m not entirely convinced Mika (Léa Léviant) was the real villain of Xavier Gens’ Under Paris. She was rash and hotheaded, but she had the right idea. It’s a shame she’s dispatched so savagely, though by that point in Under Paris, I’m not quite sure what else she expected. Lilith, a monstrous mako shark, has arrived in the River Seine, and her tracking beacon is still active. She has traveled from the Pacific, and marine researcher Sophia Assalas (Bérénice Bejo) is desperate to stop her. Under Paris being a horror movie and all, no one takes her seriously, though she does manage to convince some local law enforcement to follow her down into the flooded catacombs. Mika is down there to find Lilith, and she does. Sophia and company arrive just in time, begging Mika to get out of the water.
She doesn’t listen, and is immediately killed, though rather than ending there, Gans stages a mass panic on par with his French counterpart Alexandra Aja’s Piranha 3D. Onlookers panic and trip, collapsing into the water as Lilith and her offspring swarm. It’s not one particular death, but the sheer scale of the underground massacre. Shark horror too often pulls its punches, though Under Paris luckily delivered one of the most shocking, staggering beats of unbridled shark terror in years.
8. Longlegs, Interrogation Room Headache
Longlegs is going to have an interesting legacy. I echo the sentiments of our review— “Longlegs horrifically embodies the idea of gazing into a deep dark abyss, full of nothing but despair”—but in the months since Oz Perkins’ latest released, the film has polarized audiences more than I anticipated. While some might consider it overrated, I found it terrifying. Perkins’ precise tonal control, a strong sense of geographic place, and Nicolas Cage’s frightening central performance were enough to render Longlegs one of the scariest movies I’ve seen in years. And it’s a testament to Perkins’ storytelling prowess that he can kill his main villain off midway through without jeopardizing any of the terror.
Maika Monroe’s Special Agent Lee is tasked with interrogating Cage’s killer after he is finally apprehended. He taunts her, dredging up past memories, and concludes by pledging his allegiance to “the main downstairs”. He then proceeds to violently slam his head into the table, augmented by fantastic practical effects, until his face is mush and his teeth are scattered everywhere. Longlegs’ death isn’t the end, but rather the beginning of one of this century’s scariest releases.
7. Late Night with the Devil, WORMS!
Much like Longlegs, I was surprised to see how polarizing Colin and Cameron Cairnes’ Late Night with the Devil was when the film was released wide earlier this year. Sure, the weakest moments pantomimed much better films, especially Stephen Volk’s Ghostwatch. But when Late Night with the Devil found its rhythm, oh, boy, was it a late-night horror hoot. David Dastmalchian has rarely been better as the desperate television host eager to elevate his Halloween night live show. Why not bring in an allegedly possessed guest to really shatter that ratings ceiling?
Ian Bliss’ Carmichael Haig, the resident skeptic, isn’t convinced, and toward the film’s finale, endeavors to prove to Dastmalchian’s Jack Delroy, and the audience writ large, that they’re being duped. He subjects Jack’s sidekick, Gus McConnell (Rhys Auteri) to a hypnotism demonstration. Really, it’s a practical effects demonstration as Gus imagines his body is full of worms. Soon, they pour out, culminating with Gus tearing his chest open as a bundle of steamy, gooey worms cascade down his legs. It’s not a real death, but it’s undoubtedly Late Night with the Devil’s strongest moment. On Night Owls, you can’t trust what you’re seeing, and you’d be forgiven for being just as horrified as the in-movie studio audience. I know I was.
6. Love Lies Bleeding , Jawdropping Results
While Rose Glass’ Love Lies Bleeding is more horror-adjacent than anything, Glass imbues her sophomore feature with enough hypnotic, hallucinatory terror to qualify. Part body horror, part revenge saga, part love story, Love Lies Bleeding is a genre hybrid that transcends the sum of its parts, in no small part because of Kristen Stewart and Katy O’Brian’s pitch-perfect performances. Love Lies Bleeding goes hard, especially once the inciting incident sends the two leads spiraling out of control, desperate to retain the year’s most visceral feeling of new love.
O’Brian’s bodybuilder Jackie wants to do right by new quasi-girlfriend, Lou (Kristen Stewart). For years, Lou’s brother-in-law, JJ (Dave Franco) has abused her sister, Beth (Jena Malone). When Beth is hospitalized, Jackie absconds quickly, arriving at JJ’s house late in the evening. She wastes no time surprising him and then savagely beating him to death? The standout moment? Jackie slams JJ’s jaw into the corner of his coffee table several times. It all but detaches, just barely clinging on by a strip of drippy, sticky flesh. It’s a brief cut to the full aftermath, but after Franco’s eerily solid work as an abuser, it’s a standout, cheer-worthy moment.
5. The Substance, A Star Is Born
The Substance was heartbreaking. I was laughing as much as the rest of my raucous, filled auditorium, but in retrospect especially, I was filled with a nebulous kind of… grief? Coralie Fargeat is unmatched when it comes to refracting ultimately tragic tales through a lens of genre excess (accounting for why Revenge is one of the century’s best), and for most of The Substance, there’s an electric sense of absurdity. Demi Moore, awards-worthy, unravels with aplomb.
Sure, the titular substance will allow her to ephemerally relive her youth (played by an equally good Margaret Qualley), though it comes at the expense of her own body, especially as she continues to push the boundaries of the substance’s strict rules. Seven days. Stabilize. The thrust of the film is Sue and Elisabeth, young and old, respectively, grappling with the slow decay of their conscious bodies, with neither wanting to relinquish control to their other iteration.
When Elisabeth is drained dry, Sue endeavors to replicate her own, younger body, resulting in an old Hollywood monster—the aptly named Monstro Elisasue. Elisasue attends the New Year’s celebration to the horror of the studio audience. Her mutated body is attacked and severed, showering the audience in blood. She then flees, crawls onto Elisabeth’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and melts into a puddle of pulp. It’s Grand Guignol excess, crimson perfection, and deeply, tragically sad.
4. The Coffee Table, Don’t Ask
The Coffee Table has been horrifying audiences since its 2022 festival premiere. The film didn’t become widely available until this year, at which point it became something akin to a modern dare. Everyone was talking about how shocking The Coffee Table was, though no one would say why. Naturally, I needed to rent it for myself to see what it was all about, and, well… it kind of ruined my night? New father Jesús (David Pareja) insists on an awful coffee table, much to the chagrin of his wife, María (Estefanía de los Santos). It’s glass and gold, and pretty tacky, though Jesús kind of throws a fit, so María concedes and allows him to buy it. He starts building it the day of a dinner party, and he’s left alone with the baby while María briefly runs to the grocery store.
One thing leads to another, but sure enough the prominent glass pane decapitates the baby while he and Jesús play. The remainder of the film, firmly in black comedy territory, sees Jesús go to more desperate lengths to conceal the death. It’s the bleakest thing you’ll watch all year. Naturally, I recommend it.
3. Terrifier 3, Oh Rats!
Is it cheating to include two different deaths from Terrifier 3? Probably, but I’m going to do it anyway. While the early deaths are par for the Art the Clown course, director Damien Leone and the team at Tinsley Studio really seal the deal in the film’s latter half. While it’s upsetting that several key deaths occur off-screen (including, unfortunately, the movie’s biggest douche), the finale is unrelenting in its cruelty. Jess Shaw (Margaret Anne Florence) gets the worst of it. Despite spending the entirety of the movie doubting Sienna’s (Lauren LaVera) grip on reality, she’s apprehended and tied up by Art (David Howard Thornton) and Victoria (Samantha Scaffidi).
Sienna is forced to watch as Art hammers transparent tubing into Jess’ throat, drops some rats down it, and then slits her throat. It’s… foul? I had to look away during most of it, but nothing could keep me from imagining the worst as sounds of rats munching and blood gurgling filled my ears. It may lack the scale of the series’ most famous deaths, but it’s undoubtedly the cruelest and nastiest Art the Clown has ever been. Maybe that Oscar nomination isn’t such a bad idea?
2. In a Violent Nature, Core Strength
I was a big fan of Chris Nash’s immersive, patient slasher throwback In a Violent Nature. While I respect the perspective of the film’s most vocal detractors, I was fully on board from the start. A kind of day-in-the-life with slasher killer Johnny (Ry Barrett), audiences follow the slasher as he works his way through hedonistic teens looking to cut loose lakeside. Convention is the point, though like the best of them, Nash augments familiarity with gnarly, nasty kills. The standout is definitely the death of Aurora (Charlotte Creaghan).
Practicing some solo yoga cliffside (for some reason), Johnny slowly approaches. Aurora doesn’t realize his presence until it’s too late. With his dragging hooks in tow, Johnny first impales Aurora through the back. Most horror movies would end there. In a Violent Nature goes further. Johnny then pivots Aurora’s body, impales the hook through her head, and then pulls on the chain until Auroa’s neck is snapped and her head is pulled through the hole in her chest. It’s nasty, incredible—sheer art.
1. Terrifier 3, The Chainsaw Shower Scene
With the success of Terrifier 3— currently the highest-grossing unrated film of all time—the uber-violent slasher franchise is firmly in mainstream territory. That may irritate franchise mainstays arbitrarily clinging to narrow exclusivity (a horror movie for real horror fans, whatever that means), but Art the Clown is now neck-and-slashed-neck with the likes of Michael Myers and Freddy Krueger. What’s most exceptional is how three movies in, Art the Clown remains as vicious as ever. While nothing in Terrifier 3 quite tops the scalping of Terrifier 2, the apex of sequel slaughter occurs with the widely advertised shower sequence. It’s worse (in the best way) than anyone could have imagined.
Mia (Alexa Blair Robertson) and Cole (Mason Mecartea) are getting hot and heavy in the dormitory showers. Mia sealed her fate moments earlier, wondering aloud within Art’s earshot what it must feel like to look into his eyes as he kills you. She gets her chance as Art smashes through the glass and slashes Mia apart. The Coup de grâce? Art shoves the chainsaw up Cole’s ass. It’s an interminable scene, the savagery almost taunting in nature. It never seems to end, and if there was any doubt as to why the Terrifier series endures, the artistry of Terrifier 3’s chainsaw carnage is all the evidence naysayers would need.
What do you think? What kill broke your heart or made you recoil in disgust? Share all the gruesome details with me over on Twitter @Chadiscollins.
Categorized:Editorials
