Most horror fans agree that 2024 has been a particularly fantastic year for horror of all kinds. There have been some incredible independent movies and surprisingly bold mainstream fare. All in all, this a year many of us won't soon forget, especially because there are so many moments and disturbing scenes burned in our brains.
Show-stopping and cringe-inducing Smile 2 ending
The first Smile became memorable in part because of its ending featuring the first full look at the Entity in all of its disgusting (and awesome) glory. Smile 2 takes things way further. This time, we get to see the moment of Skye's possession in full as the Entity rips open her mouth and forces itself into her throat.
Since all of this happens on stage during a concert in front of millions of fans, it's also easier for the filmmakers to show us just how massive the Entity really is. In real life, production created a massive puppet nicknamed "Lollipop." It's an unforgettable sequence culminating in Skye's death and a microphone shoved through her skull via her eye socket.
Birth of the Offspring in Alien: Romulus
The Xenomorphs are terrifying enough, but even they cannot hold a candle to the monstrosity that is the Offspring, a creepy hybrid of human and xenomorph DNA that Kay involuntarily gives birth to at the end of the film.
Terrifier 3's skin-peeling moment
Look, I could just put Terrifier 3 on here and be done with it, but I tried to pick the scene that genuinely disturbed me the most. Yes, the shower scene is over-the-top and as gratuitous as the franchise's previous most infamous kills like the bedroom scene in Terrifier 2 and the hacksaw kill in Terrifier, but because of how long the shower scene goes, it starts to lose its impact.
But the scene where Art and Victoria murder the workers who happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Specifically, the moment when Art carves up one of the guy's faces by peeling the skin off of him. I full-body shivered. And then it's even worse because Victoria is shown masturbating with a shard of glass while the entire thing is happening.
Maxine stomps on a creep's testicles
MaXXXine is the most divisive entry in the slasher franchise from Ti West starring Mia Goth. However, that doesn't mean the film was short on gore or bloodshed like the previous two installments. There were several memorable moments in this movie, but one that stands out and is most cited is when Maxine gets accosted by a man in an alleyway and stomps on his scrotum, which is shown in a close-up shot.
Enter Monstro Elisasue
Like Terrifier 3, The Substance has multiple scenes and movie moments that would fit here. Coralie Fargeat's brilliant body horror film revels in the grotesque, so there were tons of options to choose from. But I think the film's climactic final act featuring Monstro Elisasue is most apt.
When Elisasue emerges on stage during the New Year's special, we get to see the culmination of Elisabeth and Sue's inability to adhere to the "balance" and it's as Cronenbergian as you can get. Then it gets even worse when she starts spewing blood all over the audience in a seemingly neverending sequence of carnage.
The First Omen has a sickening birth scene
Childbirth is perhaps one of the grisliest things the human body can do, so props to anyone out there who has given birth, seriously. The First Omen makes it even gorier by providing us with a close-up of the process and a demon's long-fingered hand extending from the birth canal.
Longlegs final act
It was a little bit of a tie between the opening scene of Longlegs and the ending. The opening isn't necessarily super brutal, but it's incredibly unnerving. And the ending isn't even as gory as half of the things on this list, but Oz Perkins is so good at creating the palpable sense of unease that permeates the entire film that the horrific massacre at Agent Carter's house just feels extra chilling. Actually, the whole movie really could fit here because everything about Nicolas Cage's depiction of Dale Kobble is the stuff of nightmares.
Immaculate's brutal finish
This has been a wild year for horror movie pregnancies and Immaculate is another film that really pushed things to the limit with a deeply disturbing ending. After being forcibly impregnated, when Cecilia finally gives birth to what is believed to be the Antichrist, she beats the infant to death with a rock.