11 Goriest Scenes in Non-Horror Movies
Not all gore is reserved for horror movies. Violence-loving directors like Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, and Mel Gibson love to get graphic, too. Here are some of the goriest scenes in movies that aren't (technically) horror films.
'Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan' (1982)
Hard to forget that cringe-inducing, cover-your-eyes (and ears!) scene when Khan plants the ultra-disgusting Ceti eel in Chekov's (Walter Koenig) ear. He also puts one in Capt. Terrell and then both proceed to crawl/burrow into their skin and toward the brain. KHAAAAN! indeed.
'Star Trek III: The Search for Spock' (1984)
Another grosser-than-necessary moment that Trek fans will never forget. While on the Genesis Planet, Kruge (Christopher Lloyd) is attacked by a slimy, spiky, oversized worm. But it messed with the wrong Klingon. He soon strangle-claws it to death, drawing some very black, very gooey blood from the oversized microbe in the process.
'Casino' (1995)
In Scorsese's Las Vegas crime opus, things get far more bloody than they did in "Goodfellas." Take the horrific "head in a vise" torture scene. Followed (karmically) by Joe Pesci's character and his brother being beaten to death by baseball bats. Both cruel and unusual.
'Braveheart' (1995)
In a movie filled with blood and guts, there's still nothing like having a pissed-off William Wallace burst into your house on horseback and put a mace through your face. Puts a new spin on the term "crushing defeat."
'Donnie Brasco' (1997)
An FBI agent (Johnny Depp) goes undercover with the mob in this based-on-a-true-story drama. Part of that ugly truth? Sawing up a stack of bodies. (That sawing sound. Ack!) Donnie nearly gets sick and so do we.
'Saving Private Ryan' (1998)
The opening 20 minutes of Steven Spielberg's World War II epic is one of the most brutal battle sequences ever filmed. We feel like we're right there with the actors, dodging bullets and reeling from the carnage as the men fight their way onto Normandy Beach.
'Gangs of New York' (2002)
Scorsese loves a bloody fight, and there's few bloodier than the opening battle between two warring factions in old New York. Bill the Butcher (Daniel Day-Lewis) proves how he earned his nickname as he viciously takes out Priest Vallon (Liam Neeson) in this bloodbath.
'Passion of the Christ' (2004)
Mel Gibson's R-rated, bloodier-than-bloody tale of Christ's crucifixion definitely can't be shown in Sunday School. Roger Ebert argued it should have been given an NC-17 for the extreme, graphic violence -- like when we Christ's ribs after a brutal whipping.
'Kill Bill Vol. 1' (2003)
In Quentin Tarantino's tale of revenge, the extended battle between The Bride (Uma Thurman) and a yakuza gang is so grisly it's almost cartoonish. Even when shot in black-and-white, so many lopped-off limbs make us queasy.
'127 Hours' (2010)
If you didn't want to see "the movie where the guy chops off his own arm to survive," maybe that was a good call. Because he does, indeed, cut it off in a stomach-churning scene that helped earn James Franco a Best Actor nomination.
'Drive' (2011)
Beneath the cool exterior of Ryan Gosling's unnamed getaway driver is a stone-cold killing machine. Take that eye-blistering elevator scene, in which he kills an armed man by stomping him to death. It makes the hammer attack scene look mild by comparison.