50 Movie Death Scenes That Left You TRAUMATISED
17. Sam - I Am Legend
Naturally, there are a lot of animals that have featured on this list, in particular dogs. They are man's best friend after all, and many will have far more of an issue with seeing a canine mistreated on screen than another human.
In the case of I Am Legend, man's best friend was taken more literally than most. For the bulk of the story, Robert Neville (Will Smith) was alone in a zombie-like apocalypse, with only his German Shepherd, Sam, by his side. She was his best and only friend, which made what ultimately happened so much sadder.
While under attack from the monstrous darkseekers, Sam took a wound, and Robert knew exactly what that meant. As she began to turn into a zombie, he had to smother his own dog to death to stop it. The camera thankfully panned away from Sam herself, but you'd have to be made of stone not to be affected by watching Robert's reaction to it all.
Say what you want about the film itself, most of which would likely be far from positive, but this scene was harrowing. Cinema is about emotion after all, and even though the rest of I Am Legend, in particular the ending, was underwhelming, there is no taking away the fact that it boasts such a powerful and heartbreaking moment.