5. The Thing (John Carpenter, 1982)
John Carpenters 1982 remake of Christian Nyby & Howard Hawks' 1950's film, The Thing From Another World, has since become one of the most renown horror films ever produced despite receiving critical reviews upon it's original release. It's become particularly revered for the groundbreaking special effects work of Rob Bottin & Stan Winston...which is simply put, mindblowing. The Thing is a horror-sci-fi film- starring Kurt Russell- which has archetypically woven the parasitic invaders concept into a paranoia-oriented thriller. The plot focuses on a alien that has the ability to invade, absorb and imitate it's host (and pretty much anything else). The Thing, as it's called, supposedly came from a UFO that was uncovered by a team of Norwegian scientists. Once free from the ice, it invaded and began to imitate one of the sled dogs as it's host- eventually infecting the entire Norwegian crew. The story begins when a group of Americans are heading up to the station, and realize something eerie is going. To be safe, they decide to send in a team led by a pilot named Macready- with a doctor named Copper- to investigate. After expertly figuring out what is going on, they realize that one of the sled dogs has been infected when it starts to horrifically mutate and scare all the other dogs. They quickly incinerate the creature, but further tests reveal that the parasite can be passed on at the cellular level. So they decide it's best to avoid contact with one another. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EX9ZpsEg6Mc This sets the stage for the groups paranoid breakdown. They all begin to fear that everyone else has been affected, and don't know who can be trusted. Setting us up for what has become one of the most infamous kills in the history of horror. After a couple guys disappear and others die, Macready gets lost out in the snow and is thought to have been infected. He does eventually return...waiving around a bunch of dynamite...and threatening to blow them all up if they attack him. The shock of the whole incident elicits a cardiac arrest in a crew member named Norris. Copper reacts and grabs the defibrillator, hoping he can save Norris. But when he goes to shock him, Norris' chest opens up like a giant mouth with huge teeth, and chomps off his hands- which start spurting blood everywhere- before mutating into a giant creature which is then incinerated...except for it's head...which sprouts legs and scurries off in spider-like fashion. This kill is downright awesome and simply hilarious. It's sure to retain it's place among the most ludicrous horror deaths for a long time to come- while making many lists in the process.