Day of the Dead - Pvt. Torrez and Rickles get Eaten

--That's gotta hurt

As many zombie fans know, the death of Capt. Rhodes in the original Day of the Dead is the greatest "death by Zombie" in the history of cinema. But there were many other great death scenes from Day of the Dead that have been overshadowed and deserve some recognition....

Although Day of the Dead had fewer zombie kills than Dawn of the Dead, the scenes of gore are much more intense and convincing. Which brings us to the deaths of Pvt. Torrez(Taso N. Stavrakis) and Pvt. Rickles(Ralph Marrero), two of the most brutal Zombie "feasting" scenes ever and two of Tom Savini's greatest moments....

In this scene, the Zombies descend into the underground facility and wreck havoc on the remaining soldiers. Our first victim is Pvt. Torrez, who is literally ripped apart by the zombies, head first! Shortly after, our second victim, Pvt. Rickles is attacked and eaten as a Zombie rips off some of his face. Play close attention to the gruesome detail that Savini gives us. Some of the effects are so well done, it makes you wonder how he did that.

Night of the Living Dead - Another One for the Fire

"Oh hai! You came back"

A lot of remakes rarely live up to their predecessors, but the 1990 colorized adaption of Night of the Living Dead does the original justice. Sure, the remake was just made because most Americans can't sit down and watch a black-and-white movie anymore, but it was made well. The film is basically a faithful retelling of the original Romero story with the benefit of better special effects, cameras, and lighting. There are a few subtle differences, particularly the ending. While the original ending was very dark and full of meaning, the remake ends on a slightly more positive note, with some ham-fisted social commentary for good measure. But watching Barbara shoot that asshole Harry in the head was the most satisfying part of the film. A great death.

The Prowler - Shotgun to the Head

The Prowler is an effective and above average 80's slasher flick. The plot is somewhere between My Bloody Valentine and every other slasher flick ever, but what really stands out are the death scenes from special effects legend Tom Savini. There are so many great kills in this film, it's pretty difficult to just choose one. The pitchfork shower scene, the knife through the guy's head, the pool throat slitting. All great, but the one that stood out the most was the demise of the villain himself. Skip to the end of the movie where the Prowler is attacking our heroine with a shotgun pointed in her direction, she somehow overpowers him and turns the shotgun from his arms so it points right at his face and well.... you can guess the rest. We get the Tom Savini special, a shotgun blast to the face similar to his own scene from the 1980 film Maniac.

The Burning - Raft Massacre Scene

This notorious scene stands out as one of the most gruesome of the 80's slasher films. Tom Savini was in top form when he created this famous massacre in The Burning. An underrated classic that luckily did not go down the road in having 7 sequels and a remake(even though it is itself considered a "ripoff" of Friday the 13th). The scene is not dark or shadowy, it's a straight up mass murder in the daytime aided and abetted by the gore FX of Tom Savini.

Maniac - Shotgun Headshot

This clip from the 1980 film Maniac was filmed in slow motion and lit entirely by the reflected headlights of the car. The scene was infamous and widely talked about because of how extremely graphic and realistic it is in its depiction of the damage caused by the man's head being blown apart at near point blank range by 12 gauge buckshot. Another great FX shot from the great Tom Savini.

Related HEADSHOT Deaths
Dawn of the Dead - Headshot!
Saving Private Ryan - Sniper Headshot
The Godfather - Moe Greene Special
Bad Boys 2 - Slow Motion Headshot

Dawn of the Dead - Headshot!

We start "HEADSHOT WEEK" off with this classic clip from the original Dawn of the Dead. During the raid scene in the beginning of the movie, one crazy racist cop goes on a shooting spree blasting everyone in sight. He busts open the door and blows one poor guy's head clean off. In the original ending, Peter shoots himself in the head and Fran commits suicide by sticking her head in the helicopter blades. After changing the ending, make up artist Tom Savini didn't want Fran's fake head to go to waste. He dressed the head up as a bearded African-American man and used a real shotgun to film the scene. The result was one of the greatest headshots of its time.

Related HEADSHOT Deaths

Saving Private Ryan - Sniper Headshot
Maniac - Shotgun Headshot
The Godfather - Moe Greene Special
Bad Boys 2 - Slow Motion Headshot