10 Recent Horror Movie Moments That Shocked The World

If there's any movie genre that can be relied upon to consistently shock audiences, test their mettle, and challenge the integrity of their stomach, it's surely horror, right?

With the genre's never-ending exploration of death and the vulnerability of the human body, horror films are often conceived with the aim to shock and disgust as much as entertain, and many fans wouldn't have it any other way.

Yet as horror veterans we're also desensitised to the point that it's tough for a film to genuinely surprise us these days - we've see it all, or so we think.

But smart and creative filmmakers are nevertheless able to push back against our hardiness by crossing the line and doing the unexpected.

That's certainly the case with these 10 movie moments, all of which subverted our expectations, turned our stomachs, and maybe even broke our hearts a little.

From disturbingly brutal death scenes of beloved franchise characters, to tonally off-kilter musical interludes, a truly nauseating bout of body horror sex, and surely the most traumatic birthing scene ever put to film, these moments left even the most well-trained horror fan totally shook...

It took five whole movies to do it, but the Scream franchise finally pulled the trigger - or turned the knife, rather - and killed off one of its three flagship heroes in its most recent installment.

Despite Sidney (Neve Campbell), Gail (Courteney Cox), and Dewey (David Arquette) being a rare trio of OG horror movie protagonists who've managed to survive each successive installment, the fifth movie injected some unpredictability back into the formula by killing off fan favourite Dewey.

Even though Dewey has only scarcely survived each previous film, his role as de facto comic relief seemed to provide him with plot armour throughout the franchise. In the most recent Scream, however, the character received an appropriate reinvention.

Dewey is now divorced from Gail and living out of a trailer when he's called in to help the new band of heroes bring down the latest Ghostface killer.

This culminates in Dewey being gutted by one of the two killers at the end of the second act - a profoundly shocking and upsetting moment for fans who've rooted for the character for over 25 years.

It was admittedly frustrating seeing Dewey effectively killed by his own stupidity - he doesn't confirm the kill when he has Ghostface out for the count, and then goes back to rectify the mistake, only to be distracted by a phone call which gives Ghostface a window to strike.

Even so, Dewey's death landed with a rare gravity and emotional impact for the genre, subverting the expectation that Scream's three leads were basically "safe" characters.