PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Horror fans are able to sit through the torture and death of people over and over again. However, when any of that harm is aimed towards an animal, then that’s crossing the line! Whenever an animal is in the picture, the first thing that comes to mind is, “I hope they don’t die!” Of course, some animal deaths in horror movies are worse than others. These are the animal deaths in horror films that shocked and upset us most.
10. Grandpa – Evil Dead (2013)
If there was no pet in the original but there’s one in the remake, that means either the pet will save the main characters at the end, or the animal will be added to the victim’s list. Unfortunately for Grandpa, it’s the latter. In a fit of possessed rage, Mia (Jane Levy) mercilessly beats Grandpa to death with a hammer. Luckily, we only see two seconds of the beating, but Mia’s brother, David (Shiloh Fernandez), finds Grandpa just in time to see his final seconds.
9. Pigeon – Orphan
This is our first mercy killing on this list. Young Daniel (Jimmy Bennett) is out shooting paintballs at targets. Then an innocent little pigeon sits in top of one of the targets. Daniel sees an opportunity and shoots the bird. As Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman) approaches the struggling pigeon and the heartbroken Daniel, she grabs a rock and tells him to put the bird out of its misery. When he refuses, Esther takes matters into her own hands and smashes the bird with the rock without any hesitation or remorse.
8. Horse – The Ring
The most infuriating thing about this one was that the horse’s death could’ve been easily preventable. Rachel (Naomi Watts) is on a ferry headed to an island. There, she sees a horse and tries to pet it. The curse on Rachel causes the horse to completely freak out and escape. The horse then jumps off the ferry and hits the water. The current pulls the horse under the ferry, and Rachel and the horses owner wait in anticipation. We don’t see the death upfront, but we do see a lot of blood, and we hear the horses pained cries and the owner’s haunting scream.
7. Cat – Capture Kill Release
This scene was such a tense moment! Jen wants her husband, Farhang, to prove to her that he’s ready to kill a man. So, she brings home a cat and asks him to kill it. When he refuses and tries to convince her to let it go, she decides to drown it herself. It was such a drawn-out and horrifying death scene! It made you think that maybe she wouldn’t do it, but proved that Jen was relentless and ready to kill.
6. Cat – The Collector
This poor creature was put through hell before its death! As the Collector booby traps the entire house and Arkin (Josh Stewart) is trying to escape without being noticed, he stumbles into a room where there’s acid all over the floor. Unfortunately, that’s the room the cat got stuck in. As the cat cries out and tries to get out of the acid, Arkin is desperate to keep quiet, so he rips the cat out and tosses him to the nearest window. Think the cat’s safe? Nope. He then gets chopped in half by a falling blade.
5. Hootie – Urban Legend
I was unfamiliar with the “dog in the microwave” urban legend before I saw this film, so little Hootie’s death definitely caught me by surprise. This is one of the most horrific deaths any animal can receive. When partygoer Parker (Michael Rosenbaum) gets a call from the college’s supposed serial killer, he jokingly messes with the them, thinking that it’s all a joke. However, he got his urban legends wrong and he’s told about the story of a woman drying her wet dog by putting him in a microwave. Of course, Parker knew what that meant. He goes to the microwave and sees poor Hootie… or, at least, what was left of Hootie.
4. Invisible Dog – Hollow Man
Even though the dog was invisible, his death was still graphic and devastating. Sebastian Caine (Keven Bacon) is feeling the effects of the serum that made him invisible and he’s starting to lose his mind. When one of the other experiments, an innocent little puppy, won’t stop barking around him, Caine loses it. He takes the dog out of the cage and savagely beats him against the wall.
3. Tank – “Slumber Party” Segment – V/H/S 2
This one was really painful to watch. V/H/S 2 is, of course, a found footage film. This segment happens completely in Tank’s point of view because the camera was tied to him. At the end of the segment, Tank’s owners are abducted by aliens and as they were getting lifted onto the spaceship, Tank falls out of his owner’s arm and falls to the ground. Of course, the camera is facing poor Tank, who is now a beaten and broken mess. He doesn’t die right away and we are subjected to his whimpers and his bloody face. It’s tear-jerking.
2. Turtle – Cannibal Holocaust
This death earned its place on this list because it’s the only death that’s actually real. In Cannibal Holocaust, all of the animal deaths are real. The turtle’s death is the hardest to watch because we are forced to watch the poor thing gutted, torn apart, cooked, and eaten. It’s a slow and painfully torturous scene to sit through.
1. Sam – I Am Legend
This death may not have been shocking, but it’s certainly the most heartbreaking in horror history. In the apocalypse, Sam is Robert Neville’s (Will Smith) only companion. When she eventually becomes infected, he tries everything he can to prevent her from changing. When that doesn’t work, he quietly sings to her and waits. She eventually changes and he’s forced to kill her. It was not only a gut-wrenching scene, it also shows us that Robert is now truly alone.
Honorable mentions:
Cuddles – The Roommate
Dog – Audition
Kitten – Drag Me To Hell
Baboon – The Fly
Watching an animal die in a film can be a very painful thing to watch, even for horror fans. Which animal’s death affected you the most? Tell us in the comments!
