The Top 10 Death Scenes Of 2018

By Will Mavity 

​As the year comes to a close, I’m seeing dozens of “Top 10” lists, singling out things that people typically actually care about: Scores, Performances, Songs. I wanted to single out an area 2018 quietly excelled in: dramatic death scenes.

In a year that was as strong for horror as this one, there were bound to be a few. But the field of death expands far beyond horror. Some of the year’s most memorable moments in film revolve around death. 2018 as a whole was pretty depressing overall. So, amidst the other Top 10 lists, a list about death seems oddly appropriate.

Beware that obviously, this list is full of spoilers. Read at your own risk...

​10. A Quiet Place - "I have always loved you."

During the "A Quiet Place's" climax, John Krasinski’s character realizes that the sound-sensing creatures are about to eat his kid. In order to draw them away, he speaks to his daughter in sign language, letting her know he’s always loved her (which she doubted) and then lets out a scream and is promptly tackled and eaten. Now, he almost ruins his film’s emotional climax with his unintentionally comical Howard Dean-esque scream…almost. There is fortunately still enough earned emotion in the sequence to compensate.

​9. Mission: Impossible – Fallout - Ethan Hunt vs. August Walker

The Mission: Impossible franchise has had its fair share of memorable deaths (tell me you weren’t traumatized by Emilio Estevez’s death in the first film), but the latest installment, "Mission: Impossible - Fallout" may have the series’ most creative yet. After engaging in a protracted battle with the Henry Cavill first in a helicopter, then on a cliff, and finally in a helicopter hanging off of a cliff, Tom Cruise is able to loosen the metal hook that had been keeping the helicopter from plummeting off the edge, which because of…physics…flies backward, embedding itself in Cavill’s skull (killing him) and then carrying him over the edge (doubly killing him) before the helicopter follows down landing on him (triple killing him). It’s the epitome of the overkill, the likes of which we haven’t seen since Pierce Brosnan dropped Sean Bean off of an 80-foot drop before dropping an entire building on him in "Golden Eye."

8. Avengers: Infinity War - "I'm sorry little one."

I refuse to include the final scene of “Avengers: Infinity War” here because there is a zero percent chance that anyone actually died in that final scene. But in honor of the cultural shock that ensued from that moment, I’ll include another  moment instead...

In order to retrieve yet another stone for his all-powerful Infinity Gauntlet, the film’s villain, Thanos drags his adopted daughter Gamorah (Zoe Saldana) to the top of a cliff where the stone is supposedly being kept. Upon arriving, he discovers that he must sacrifice something that he truly loves. To Gamorah’s horror, she realizes that her psychotic father actually loves her. Grudgingly, he hurls her over the edge to her death in order to earn the stone. Brolin’s motion capture performance is masterful in the moment, selling the character’s inner torment and offering him surprising depth for a Marvel villain. It ends up being one of the more emotional moments in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and hopefully (unlike the film’s ending) actually has permanent results for a franchise that has lacked real stakes for a long time.

7. Game Night - "Oh no! He died!"

"Game Night" is a film full of masterfully executed black comedy, with more than a few macabre moments (most of which involve Rachel McAdams), but the standout moment comes when McAdams faces off against an evil henchman and causes him to be sucked into a jet engine. She jumps up and down and cheers as he is shredded to bits, before realizing the implications of what just happens and croaks “oh no…he died.” It’s a pitch-perfect punchline to an already amusing fight scene and perfectly underlies the film’s careful balancing act of comedy and action.

6. Black Panther - "Just bury me in the ocean."

“Black Panther” proves unique among other Marvel offerings in that instead of offering a cardboard walking plot device for a villain, it instead offers a genuinely well-rounded and sympathetic villain who has every right to be pissed off. Accordingly, whereas most Marvel villains are immediately forgotten about after being dispatched, in this case, after our hero, T’Challa rams a spear through Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan)’s gut, the two decided to share a sunset together, as recognition of their mutual respect. Before collapsing, Jordan remarks “Bury me in the ocean, with my ancestors that jumped from the ships, because they knew death was better than bondage,” allowing the character one final moment of dignity before he passes. It’s a touching moment and ultimately stands as one of the film’s most poignant scenes.

5. Anna and the Apocalypse - "Turning My Life Around."

As an over-the-top zombie Christmas musical, "Anna and the Apocalypse" spoils us with choices for memorable death scenes. Instead of choosing one, I want to single out the mass carnage that is the film’s “Turning My Life Around” musical number. Two self-absorbed teens walk to school, belting out the world’s most upbeat tune about exciting plans for their futures, entirely oblivious to the carnage around them. The film peaks with this song, as the two dance between people plummeting to their death from windows or being tackled and dismembered by zombies. Yes, the film is taking a gag from “Shaun of the Dead” here, but seeing that oblivious gag so well executed and so over-the-top is impossible to resist. There is ample carnage on display here, but more importantly, the song is an absolute bop.

4. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs - "Can't be top dog forever."

Ok, I’m cheating again here. This isn’t so much one scene as several. The first 15 minutes or so of the Coen Brothers’ anthology film "The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs" follows a happy-go-lucky singing cowboy who just wants a drink, a good tune, and some company. Unfortunately, everywhere he goes, trouble seems to follow, and he repeatedly has to blast away dozens of western characters. He never loses his smile and upbeat attitude. However, at one point, he engages an entire bar in a song, even while perpetuating a massacre. This sequence is the goriest bit of drama the Coens have portrayed since “No Country for Old Men” and it is just so utterly absurd as to be irresistible. It is quintessential Coen Brothers.

3. Mary Queen of Scots - The Lords take action

Director Josie Rourke showcases an ability to capture medieval politicking and scheming in a way that would make "Game of Thrones" showrunners David Benioff and DB Weiss proud. But she also proves more than capable of executing gruesome "Game of Thrones" level executions. When a group of Scottish lords signs an agreement to effectively dethrone Queen Mary and place her husband on the throne, they determine that Mary’s personal secretary (and closest friend) David Rizzio is a threat to their plans (they believe he has been sleeping with Mary, despite the fact that he is gay). One night, they barge into Mary’s chambers and drag Rizzio away, each man taking turns stabbing him (with Mary’s husband delivering the final blow). The moment is visceral and unflinching, providing one of "Mary Queen Of Scots'" most emotionally devastating scenes. Rourke doesn’t flinch when it comes to showcasing gore as the man has his intestines hanging out by the end of the scene. For a film some have described as dry, this scene is particularly raw and real.

2. Suspiria - The Human Pretzel

Between this stand out sequence and the film’s blood splattered climax, “Suspiria” offers gore hounds a wealth of choices. Still, we’ve seen decapitations like the film’s climax before. What we have never seen is a human being twisted into a human pretzel and bones crack and bones in bodily fluid splatter. Luca Guadagnino refuses to allow the audience to look away as he illustrates just how every part of the body can contort when twisted as though on a medieval rack. The prosthetics on display are astounding, and the sound effects and editing are even better. The film may not be scary, but my god is it disturbing to watch and listen to.

1. Hereditary - THE Scene

As if there could be any other answer. “Hereditary” has its fair share of gory moments (self induced decapitation and burning alive), but is there any scene more shocking this year than when Alex Wolff drives his young sister (who was arguably the center of the film’s marketing) to the hospital after an allergic reaction, and accidentally swerves the car into a light post? We don’t immediately know what happened, but we can assume she is injured, or likely dead. It’s a masterful creative decision by director Ari Aster, leaving us wondering until we hear the screams the next morning and see the carnage up close, just what exactly happened to Charlie: she was completely decapitated and ants ate part of her head through the night as her soul shaken brother drove home too shocked and traumatized to face or react to what he had done. It's one of the most shocking cinematic moments in several years, and one that brings the film’s disturbing nature to an entirely new level.

So what do you think? What re some of your favorite death scenes from 2018? Let us know in the comments section below.

​You can follow Will and hear more of his thoughts on the Oscars and Film on Twitter at @mavericksmovies