17. The Godfather James Caan
A slightly different kind of death is that of Sonny Corleone (James Caan) in The Godfather. It might not have the squeam factor of some but is equally gory. Sonny waits at a toll booth en route to his sisters apartment to kick ten bells from her husband Carlo, when gunmen appear at all angles and unload their tommy guns on him. Sonny stumbles out of the car and is hit by a barrage of bullets that leave his finely upholstered Italian suit in tatters with blood flowing from all bullet holes. Then to add insult to injury, he receives a boot in the face by one of the gunmen. I dont think a death in a movie has ever shocked me more. Firstly because I never saw it coming. Secondly, I didnt realise how much I cared about Sonny. He cheats on his wife, is short tempered, violent and yet, when he died I felt the same rush of emotion that his father (Brando) and brother Tom (Duvall) would show in the following scenes.
16. The Hitcher Zachary Knighton
Drawn and halved would be the best way of describing this death scene in the short but quite sweet remake of The Hitcher. While Sean Beans Hitcher might not be quite as atmospheric as the original, but it makes up for it by being extra brutal and brief. Sophia Bush wakes at her motel to find lover Zachary Knighton gone. She exits to find him chained by his hands to a truck and his feet chained to a car with Sean Bean at the wheel. As she tries desperately to untie his hands Bean revs on the engine. Finally, having goaded him enough Bean raises the hand break and speeds off tearing Knighton in two. In an instant you see blood and gore and intestines and organs fly.