20 Gory Movie Moments That Left Horror Fans Cheering
8. Chest Defibrillation - The Thing (1982)
John Carpenter finally intersected with his longtime idol Howard Hawks when he remade the directors 1951 sci-fi classic The Thing From Another World as The Thing, an altogether different beast that hedged closer to the original John W. Campbell short story and featured cutting-edge effects by the wizardly Rob Bottin and Stan Winston. The film, of course, followed a crew of researchers trapped inside a Norwegian camp as a shape-shifting creature picks them off one by one.
The most memorable moment of the film features Dr. Cooper (Richard Dysart) as he attempts to revive Norris (Charles Hallahan) with a defibrillator. Appallingly, Norris has become inhabited by the Thing, and as his chest caves in, Coopers arms are immediately ripped off quite gruesomely. MacReady (Kurt Russell) then uses a flame thrower on the creature.
This scene is actually where the term kill it with fire came from. Well, not really, but this scene is still a master class in old-school gore and effects.