10 WTF Off-Screen Horror Movie Deaths
8. Lambert - Alien
Ridley Scott's Alien is a masterpiece of subtlety and suspense, and perhaps its most disturbing death scene is the ambiguous yet undeniably horrific demise of Nostromo crew member Lambert (Veronica Cartwright).
The Xenomorph gets the drop on Lambert while she's gathering coolant in the bowels of the ship, and the sight of the creature simply leaves her paralysed with fear as it corners her. But rather than make short work of Lambert, we see the alien slowly approach and curl its tail up her body - a stomach-churning visual which many have suggested implies the Xenomorph sexually violated Lambert before killing her.
Either way, Scott cuts away at this point, leaving us to only hear Lambert's dying screams as Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) frantically heads to her position. And when Ripley finally makes it there, we see only Lambert's bare legs suspended in the air, suggesting the Xenomorph both left her hanging from the rafters and inexplicably stripped her in the process of killing her.
The vague implications of all this are so much more unsettling than had Scott actually shown it in graphic detail.