Horror, by its very nature, is designed to scare and make viewers feel uncomfortable, but that doesn’t always mean it succeeds. Sometimes there are moments so ridiculously ridiculous that it’s impossible not to shake your head while looking at the screen. Of course, there are times when you know that the scene you are watching should be a bit satirical. There are times when a scene plays out straight and serious and leaves you wondering what was going on in the writers’ room when it was being written. While this isn’t always a bad thing - of course horror is a welcome and necessary factor in a horror movie - it’s sometimes just as satisfying to see downright stupid ways for characters to die.
12/12 Sleepwalkers (1992): Death by corncob
Yes, you read it right. It’s really a corncob murder. It happens in sleepwalkers(written by Stephen King,) when Mary (Alice Krige) stops by the Robertsons’ house to kidnap Tanya (Mädchen Amik) and at the same time kills many deputies and injures Tanya’s parents. When one of the aides tries to call for backup, Mary sneaks up behind him and plunges a corncob into his back, killing him in one of the most bizarre and ludicrous ways possible. The scene also takes place in the kitchen, where there must have been a knife or some other weapon that would have been enough, so why choose the corncob? The icing on the cake is the phrase she says after: “No vegetables, no dessert.” It’s an unforgettable moment for sure.
11/12 Bodies, Bodies, Bodies (2022): Self-inflicted machete wound
Bodies, bodies, bodies a tense and intriguing mystery lingered throughout its run, balancing humor and intrigue with great success. Trapped in a big house during a hurricane, a group of friends play a game of bodies, bodies, bodies to pass the time. With high tension and head-to-head action, the fun comes to an abrupt halt when David (Pete Davidson) found dead. Everyone immediately pounces on each other, pointing fingers and delving into past mistakes and old grievances. But when the sun rises and the storm subsides (and many bodies move into the house), it turns out that David was not actually killed. Instead, we see in a TikTok video he was making at the height of him trying to pop the cork out of a champagne bottle with a machete and accidentally slitting his own throat. Admittedly, this is a great twist ending that makes the events of the movie feel especially dark, but there’s no denying the stupidity of the murder and the character in general. No matter how cool someone else looked using a machete to open a cork, it’s probably not a good idea.
10/12 Seed of Chucky (2004): “Oh, he did it again”
Let’s be honest, you never go to Chucky the film was expecting serious horror. The franchise is known for its mannerisms and over-the-top ridiculousness. We watch these films to see what kind of jokes Chucky will make or how he will kill someone in a new way. There are many moments to choose from, but none of them compare to this one in Offspring of Chucky. The scene in question shows Chucky (Brad Dourif) after making a promise never to kill again. Of course, this is a lie and he breaks his promise by managing nothing more than Britney Spears off-road. It’s completely ridiculous and random, and yet it’s the perfect summary of the franchise and how ridiculous it’s become in recent years.
9/12 Destination 2 (2003): Spaghetti Slip
Another franchise that has multiple moments to choose from, but this one is from Final Destination 2 so stupid in retrospect that he should take the win. Particularly with this movie, you can just remember it as a logging truck movie. AKA: A scene that scarred a generation, but later on there is another scene that rightfully deserves a spot on this list. The scene follows Evan (David Paetkau) as death hunts him down in various ways, leaving viewers guessing what the final blow will be. It’s not that his hand got stuck in the sewer, and it’s not about the fire that engulfed his kitchen. No, instead, his death comes when he goes down the fire escape and slips on the spaghetti he threw out the window earlier. Lying on his back, groaning in pain, he looks up as the fire escape descends into his eye. The murder itself is wild and bizarre, but the addition of him slipping on spaghetti brought him here, it’s so stupid looking back.
8/12 Final Destination (2009): Rogue
As I already said, Final destination franchise has so many moments to choose from that he gets here twice. Destination (which is the fourth part of the franchise) rips a page out of Final Destination 2book for that assassination and leaves you wondering what will end up being the deathblow for the character. For now, the film follows Samantha (Christa Allen), who heads to the salon for a little pampering. While there, the climax of the moments sets viewers and characters up for potential disaster. The bottles overflow and create a slippery floor, there’s a straightener zipped around a bottle of hairspray, and even a ceiling fan that falls through the ceiling at her feet. But none of them will hook her, although each of them seems to be a reliable preparation for the sinister blow of death. Instead, when she leaves the salon, a lawn mower across the road catches a rock and hits her right in the eye. While it’s definitely surprising, it’s such a laughable end to a really tense scene.
7/12 Friday the 13th: Part III (1982): Handstand Murder
Friday the 13th: Part 3, or in fact any of the films in the franchise may not automatically feel like it should be on this list. After all, Jason is a slasher legend, and his kills are often iconic in the genre or feature minimal detail. But in Part 3 we meet AndyGeoffrey Rogers), a person who constantly walks on his hands for no apparent reason other than looking stupid - and preparing for his possible death. Walking on his hands again, he bumps into Jason, who is clearly not a fan of gymnastics, and slams his machete straight down, cutting Andy in half. The nature of it might be dumb enough to put him on this list, but it’s disgusting to see it later when the camera shows his half cut body hanging from the rafters. Ugh!
6/12 Leprechaun (1993): Death by Pogo Stick
Listen, Leprechaun the movies are inherently funny, which is why they deserve their place on this list. The scene in question uses something you never expected to see as a weapon: a po-stick. After the shop owner appraises the Leprechaun’s gold and decides to leave it overnight to study it some more, the Leprechaun jumps out and chides him for it, biting his leg. He then finds a pogo stick and starts beating the poor shop owner to death while singing a ridiculous version of “This Old Man”. At least he cleaned the men’s shoes afterwards.
5/12 Halloween: Resurrection (2002): Tripod Pullback
Michael Myers has never been the most creative horror slasher ever. Of course, later halloween in the trilogy, he ups his game, but in the previous films, he mostly stuck to his sure-footed knife punches. However, in Halloween: Resurrection he adds a new weapon to his repertoire: the tripod. This happens while CharlieBrad Sihwon) sets up cameras around Myers’ old house. Michael sneaks up on him and takes one of the camera tripods, using its spiked legs to corner Charlie and impale him in the neck. Of course, creativity is good, but for Michael it was a rather strange choice. Also, why were tripod legs so sharp in the first place? What was it for and why was it used for a simple live broadcast? Again, this film Busta Rhimes use kung fu techniques to defeat Michael, so why try to rationalize everything he does?
4/12 Sleepaway Camp (1983): Curling iron
sleep camp is one of those classic 80s slasher movies that every horror fan should watch at least once, and do so with little or no information about it. It contains one of the most brutal, embarrassing murders ever, and it’s all thanks to the curling iron. You might think it was just used to set someone on fire, but it’s actually a lot worse, and thankfully, it’s done mostly behind the scenes. When the killer makes his way to Judy (Karen Fields) room and knocks her out before suffocating her with a pillow and sticking a hot curling iron somewhere where you should never put a curling iron. While it’s an odd choice to kill, there’s no denying the creativity and goosebumps it evokes just by thinking about it.
3/12 Carrie (1976): Bucket vs. Main
This murder never made any sense, and it is for this reason that he is often talked about in the horror community. During the famous graduation scene in Carrieafter a bucket of blood fell on her and before her reign of terror really began, Tommy (William Catt) is taken out by a fraudulent bucket. After the bucket disengages and falls, Tommy shatters on his head and falls to the ground. Considering the bucket was empty, this murder has always been a source of confusion for fans of the film, as it is unlikely that Tommy would die from it. For this reason, it is on this list. There must have been a better way to kill Tommy, perhaps something less ambiguous and more subtle.
2/12 Cabin in the Woods (2012): Motorcycle, Introducing Forcefield
Shed in a woods it’s an addictive game of the horror genre in general, from copying title tropes to having classic horror characters (like a nerd, a virgin, a sex symbol, etc.). and it’s even better to see the characters make stupid decisions. Perhaps the dumbest of all (apart from that ending, which we’ll just pretend didn’t exist) was Kurt’s (Chris Hemsworth). While trying to get help, Kurt decides he can make a huge ravine jump on his motorcycle. His confidence is strong and compelling, and for a moment you think he can actually do it. Of course, this is not the case, as he crosses half of the chasm before colliding with an invisible force field and meeting explosive death. It was ridiculous to think that he would jump from the start, but it’s an added laugh when you see his body constantly collide with the force field on the way down.
1/12 Every death in Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010)
Of course, this list would be incomplete without a goofy horror movie: Tucker and Dale vs Evil. It’s filled with goofy kills and characters to boot, and for that reason we can’t pick just one single moment. From Mitch (Adam Boschen impale yourself Mike (Joseph Allan Sutherland) dived head first into the wood chipper. If you want dumb kills and a damn good time, look no further than Tucker and Dalethere is everything.
Source: Collider
