10 Brutal Movie Torture Scenes That Made Our Toes Curl
10. Ear Reservoir Dogs
Tarantino is not one to shy away from a bit of blood, something the director was keen to show with his feature length debut, Reservoir Dogs. A brilliantly written and stylishly pieced together film, Reservoir Dogs is a gangster film set mainly during the immediate aftermath of a jewel heist gone awry. The hapless criminals had arranged to meet in a warehouse, where questions and accusations start flying around with regards to a possible snitch. One of the gangsters, Mr. Blonde (Michael Madsen), arrives at the warehouse with a very unfortunate cop in tow. When Mr. Blonde is finally left alone however, his interrogation of the cop takes on a more sadistic tone. Mr. Blonde takes out a straight razor and proceeds to cut off the cops ear, before dousing his captive with gasoline. The success of this scene owes a lot to the terrific performance of Kirk Baltz as the unlucky cop. Baltz brings a sense of grounded terror to the part, that really comes to life when his character is at the peril of a total psychopath. Thanks to Mr. Blondes choice of radio station, its now almost impossible to listen to Stuck in the Middle with You without the image of a bloody, one-eared, gasoline soaked cop springing to mind.
