10 Most Sudden Deaths In Horror Movies You Never Saw Coming

These deaths left everybody shook.

By Jack Pooley /

Death is of course an inevitable part of horror movies more than any other genre, and more often than not even the least savvy of viewers will be aware when a kill scene is coming up.

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The conventions of the horror film are so well-honed at this point that there's not much to be surprised by, though smart, daring filmmakers can certainly still find room to deliver a totally shocking, sudden, and wildly unexpected death scene totally out of nowhere.

These 10 movie deaths were all so jarringly abrupt in their brutality and their finality, embodying the statement "here one second, gone the next."

While you might've predicted some of these characters dying eventually, you surely hadn't pegged that it'd be with such gnarly efficiency as this.

It's tough for filmmakers to pull off sudden deaths that don't feel totally cheap or lazy, but these films most certainly got the execution right, offering up some honest-to-God shock value that totally enhanced the movie for the majority.

By ambushing the viewer so aggressively, these deaths were only all the more bluntly effective, even if some of them might've also ruined your day...

10. Dr. Copper - The Thing

Let's kick things off with one of the most iconic outta nowhere deaths in the history of not just horror but cinema as a whole.

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All hell categorically breaks loose in the second half of John Carpenter's The Thing, and after the research team's geologist, Norris (Charles Hallahan), appears to suffer a heart attack, physician Dr. Copper (Richard Dysart) desperately attempts to resuscitate him.

He eventually resorts to using a defibrillator to get Norris' heart pumping in rhythm again, but as he pushes down with the paddles, Norris' chest suddenly caves in, revealing that he has indeed been assimilated by the titular extraterrestrial entity.

And before Copper has any time at all to react, the gaping hole in Norris' chest has turned into a toothed, mouth-like orifice, which promptly bites Copper's arms clean off, causing his swift demise from shock and/or blood loss.

Between the suddenness of Copper's dispatch and the jaw-dropping practical effects on display, it's the kill everybody remembers from the movie, and the one nobody could've possibly seen coming.

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