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Top Ten Head Explosions
28th Nov 04
The main head-blasting action comes straight after the Burberry clad arms dealer steps out of the shower to discover her safe house has been overrun with zombies...
10 . The Running Man (1987)
Of Arnie's many pointless-but-fun action romps of the mid-80s, The Running Man is the least talked about, since despite a soundtrack by Harold Faltermeyer (of 'Axel F' fame) and cameos by Jim Brown and Mick Fleetwood, it's still not all that. It does however open with a bunch of convicts wearing explosive neck bands trying to escape by disabling the perimeter trigger thingy, but one unlucky fella just can't wait and, well, you can gues the rest...
9 . Riki-Oh (1991)
A pumped-up Bruce Lee look-a-like guy named Ricky, who´s talented with bizarre supernatural powers, fights his way through a corrupt prison and leaves a trail of blood and guts behind him. Heads explode, limbs get torn off and intestines spill gratuitously, but in a very silly way rather than anything else. My DVD has a sticker on it saying, 'featuring the famous head explosion scene as featured on Comedy Central!' One for fans of daft gore and bad dubbing everywhere.
8 . The Fury (1978)
Ridiculous but entertaining thriller about a renegade secret agent, played by an aging Kirk Douglas, obsessively searching for his psychic son who has been kidnapped by an evil government agency that wants him as a weapon. Action-packed, fast-paced and suspenseful, even if it doesn't make sense a lot of the time, The Fury will always be remembered for its final scene, in which head villian John Cassavettes gets his just desserts...
7 . Wild Zero (2000)
Wild Zero is our absolute favourite Japanese alien-invasion rock-n-roll zombie road movie and as such it has to get a mention here. The main head-blasting action comes when the Burberry clad arms dealer steps out of the shower to discover her safe house has been overrun with zombies and at beginning in the Captain's office. The effects are mostly CGI which we tend to frown upon here at Eatmybrains, but our Rock'n'Roll blood brothers get away with it.
6 . Evil Dead II (1987)
The '73 Oldsmobile falls from the sky, shortly followed by a battle-weary Ash. The knights surround him, mistaking him for a demon, but before they can do away with him a deadite soars down from on high, scattering the knights left, right and centre. Ash, however, calmly lifts his trusty boomstick and blows the creature's head clean off. All hail the new hero...
5 . Premutos - Lord of the Living Dead (1997)
There's no denying that Premutos - Lord of the Undead is a bad film, hell - I've seen porn with better acting, but one thing this movie does have in abundance is head explosions. So, if you do get hold of a copy, I strongly advise you skip the travesty of a plot and head straight for the last 20 minutes. There it's full-on zombie carnage with a good half a dozen close zombie head splats. Nice.
4 . The Beyond (1981)
"A plotless film, with no logic to it, just a succession of images," is how Fulci himself describes this gore soaked classic, and it's true. The little story we have is of Liza (Catrionia McCall) and her attempts to renovate an old hotel she's inherited from her Uncle. Things go weird, hired help get wasted and the only sane person she can find is the local doctor (Dave Warbeck). Um, then the zombies turn up and Dave is forced to blow a little girl's head off, then it ends...
3 . Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Romero's middle zombie movie (and oft considered best) has only just been released uncut in the UK for the first time. The scene in question occurs in the apartment raid by a SWAT team and the edited version shows victim, then a scream and gun shot but the impact of the shot is not seen. Well, in the uncut version it is seen and it rocks, big time. All hail Savini, God of Gore, who actually manages two entries in this top ten, the second being...
2 . Maniac (1980)
Tom Savini, playing a real stud smoothie character who's out to get carnal satisfaction from some unlucky young lady, instead gets his bonce blasted by 'Maniac' Jo Spinnel through his car windscreen. Spinnel appears in the car headlights, running in slo-mo towards the car, taking aim, then "BAM!" through the windscreen. Several shots make up this blood (and brain) soaked montage which is one of the most incredibly cool (and horrible) head explosions EVER! Tom's chick sits and screams a lot, covered in much brains and blood. Fair enough really...
1 . Scanners (1981)
Cronenberg's super dark killer psychic flick Scanners still has the best head explosion sequence ever commited to celluloid, and with modern filmmakers' increasing reliance on CG effects for this kind of thing, I doubt that'll be changing any time soon. Achieved by blasting a blood-filled pig's bladder with a shotgun, the effect is absolutely astounding and is helped tremendously by the quality build up by way of an impromptu psychic dual between Michael Ironside and the hapless victim. It's a testament to what can be achieved with a little imagination and some decent editing, two things we don't get too much of anymore in modern cinema. Shame.
Posted by
Jim
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