Here are the forty most memorable movie murders in cinematic history. Because if these scenes haven’t already forever seared themselves into your memory, maybe its just time for a little refresher…
Warning: consider this your spoiler alert to end all spoiler alerts. Read on at your own peril. (But seriously, if you haven’t seen any one of these movies, just shame on you. Honestly now…)
- The shower scene. Done aaaaaand done. -Psycho
- Fredo breaks Michael’s heart; pays dearly -The Godfather II
- Tony Montana introduces Sosa’s men to his little friend; meets a few dozen of their own -Scarface (1983)
- The wood chipper…. -Fargo
- Daniel Plainview drinks Eli’s milkshake; bludgeons him to death with a bowling pin -There Will Be Blood
- Vader conquers his dark side; gives Palpatine the shaft (or vice versa) -Return of the Jedi
- Serial bank robbers discover that karma is a bitch -Bonnie and Clyde
- David Mills “becomes wrath” -Se7en
- After futile attempts to hang, rack, and dismember the Scottish warrior, William Wallace finally finds freeeeedooommm!!!! -Braveheart
- Hannibal Lector escapes his cell; borrows a face for the ride -Silence of the Lambs
- And you will know my name is the LORD when I lay my vengeance upon thee” -Pulp Fiction
- Travis Bickle reaches his breaking point; murders Sport and his two bodyguards in the bloodbath of a finale -Taxi Driver
- Willard terminates Kurtz with extreme prejudice (ie. a machete); gives him a true taste of “the horror…” –Apocalypse Now
- Bambi’s mother gets capped by “man” -Bambi
- Scorpio asks himself one question; finds his luck to be lacking –Dirty Harry
- Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid finally reach the end of the line; go out guns a blazing -Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
- Smiegol strangles Diegol; gives himself the worst birthday present ever -Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
- Tommy and Jimmy go to town on Billy Batts; load him into Henry’s trunk for eventual disposal -Goodfellas
- “…Howard Beale, the first known instance of a man who was killed because he had lousy ratings” -Network
- Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes -The Godfather
- A raincoat-donning Patrick Bateman axe-murders his colleague to the “clear, crisp sound” of Huey Lewis and The News -American Psycho
- Drago breaks Apollo-Rocky IV
- Holly Martins shoots his old mate Lime; puts an end to a truly epic sewer chase -The Third Man
- Mola Ram rips out his sacrificial victim’s beating heart; lowers the poor bastard into lava pit. Kali maaaaa….. -Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
- Kaizer Soze cleans house. And like that, he’s gone… -The Usual Suspects
- “Put your mouth on the curb…” -American History X
- Bill killed… -Kill Bill 2
- Raymond shakes his mother’s spell; commits matri, step-patricide -The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
- The Joker makes a pencil “disappear” -The Dark Knight
- Charlie gets hung out to dry -On The Waterfront
- McClane wishes Hans happy trails. Yippie-ki-yay indeed… -Die Hard
- Leonard gets sniped; plunges off Mount Rushmore -North By Northwest
- Carla Jean Moss (presumably) finds out just how much one can lose on a coin toss -No Country For Old Men
- Death by paint… -Goldfinger
- The Moe Greene special -The Godfather
- Hal opts not to open the pod bay doors after all -2001: A Space Odyssey
- The McManus brothers dispose of nine Russian crime bosses in Nomeni Patri Et Fili Spiritus Sancti -The Boondock Saints
- Leonard Shelby murders in reverse -Memento
- Vizzini pulls the old switcheroo, dies anyway -The Princess Bride
- William Munny goes postal on Little Bill, henchmen; respectfully declines his offer for a rendezvous in hell -Unforgiven