40 Best Death Scenes Of 2011

Red State

The Death: Travis (Michael Angarano) manages to escape captivity and makes a break for safety, only to get shot by ATF Agent Joseph Keenan (John Goodman), who mistakes him for a member of an evil sect.

Look Away When: Travis hits the ground dead. Heartbreaking.

Attack The Block

The Death: Drug dealer Hi-Hatz (Jumayn Hunter) gets his comeuppance as he attempts to shoot our central gang, only to get mauled to pieces by big-toothed aliens.

Look Away When: Hi-Hatz’s nose comes off…

Super

The Death: Frank (Rainn Wilson) and Libby (Ellen Page) break into Jacques’ (Kevin Bacon) ranch, armed with all manner of artillery. But after killing a few guards, Libby’s hit in the head with a bullet and dies instantly.

Look Away When: Libby’s death turns Frank into a whirling dervish and he takes down all of Jacques’ men…

Rubber

The Deaths: Numerous deaths-by-tyre, as a strangely sentient car tyre goes about the California desert making peoples’ heads explode. The maid’s death (above) is the most graphic.

Look Away When:
The tyre starts to vibrate – something bad always follows...

Hatchet II

The Death: So many to choose from, but Chad’s is pretty much top of the list for its unrelenting brutality, as Victor Crowley (Kane Hodder) beats his face to a pulp with the blunt end of a hatchet.

Look Away When: Victor just keeps on bashing away…

Mothers Day

The Death: Vicky (A. J. Cook) and Jenna (Alexa Vega) choose the wrong guy to mess with as they wait to use a cash machine. Unaware that Ike (Patrick Flueger) is a killer, they become part of his twisted mind games – and Jenna murders Vicky to spare her own life. Only for Ike to kill Jenna anyway.

Look Away When: Jenna stabs Vicky…

Dont Be Afraid Of The Dark

The Death: Kim (Katie Holmes) feels the wrath of horrible little pixie devils when, at the film’s climax, her leg gets broken and she’s dragged into the furnace, never to resurface.

Look Away When: That leg buckles…

The Skin I Live In

The Death: Vicente (Cornet) finally gets revenge for years of psychological torture – oh, and also being turned into a woman and stuff – by shooting dead his captor, Robert Ledgard (Antonio Banderas).

Look Away When: Vicente enters Ledgard’s bedroom…

Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes

The Death: During the film’s Golden Gate Bridge showdown, a gorilla is cornered by police and mercilessly shot to death.

Look Away When: The monkey gets it. You’ll need tissues...

Colombiana

The Death: In the film’s one standout scene, Zoe Saldana’s stealthy assassin gets herself arrested, then slinks out of her cell to kill another inmate. She makes it look so easy.

Look Away When: Saldana aims the gun at her target, who’s woken up…

Josh Winning has worn a lot of hats over the years. Contributing Editor at Total Film, writer for SFX, and senior film writer at the Radio Times. Josh has also penned a novel about mysteries and monsters, is the co-host of a movie podcast, and has a library of pretty phenomenal stories from visiting some of the biggest TV and film sets in the world. He would also like you to know that he "lives for cat videos..." Don't we all, Josh. Don't we all.