Hungry Pigs and Horse Heads: 9 scary gangster movie scenes

Madsen himself had mixed feelings about the scene, but what about those dance moves? (Reservoir Dogs)

5) Reservoir Dogs – Stuck in the Middle with You

This list wouldn’t be complete without this memorable scene from Reservoir Dogs, where Mr. Blonde/Vic Vega (Michael Madsen) interrogates police officer Marvin Nash (Kirk Baltz). As he slashes his captive, Blonde famously dances around to the tune of Stuck in the Middle with You by Stealers Wheel. It’s a moment that is sadistically tinged with black humor.  According to Quentin Tarantino, it even made horror director Wes Craven walk out of the theater!  If that doesn’t earn the scene some horror cred, what will?

— Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

6) The Untouchables – “Enthusiasms”

Al Capone isn’t known for being a nice guy. Still, when Capone (Robert DeNiro) stands at a crowded gangster dinner and delivers a speech about man’s “enthusiasms,” it initially sounds inspiring. He relates that his favorite sport is baseball. While he talks about teamwork and the joys of the game, he walks around with a bat. Then, WHAMMO!, someone gets it with the bat. It’s the ultimate lesson that, in the game of life, you get nowhere if the team you’re on doesn’t win.

It’s a bit of a disturbing scene, especially when it apparently happened in real life. In fact, in real life Capone supposedly gave 3 people the bat at the dinner.  That would mean The Untouchables was actually downplaying violence!  So, when people whine about movies presenting unrealistic depictions of life being too violent, just remember that some scenes actually downplay brutality.