Top 10 Times Faces Were Ripped Off in Horror Movies

The graphic violence of Peter Jackson’s “Dead Alive” may come as a shock to those who mainly know the director for his Middle Earth movies. Old-school fans know full well Jackson’s devilish sense of humor, however, and that comes through big time in this 1992 splatter-fest. In just one of the gore-soaked scenes of “Dead Alive,” the unholy spawn of an undead coupling bursts forth from poor Rita’s face in graphic detail. The effects are still gruesome and disgusting to this day, and, believe it or not, there’s a lot more where that came from with “Dead Alive.”

“The Deadly Spawn” is a neat creature feature from 1983, a gross-out horror flick that relies heavily upon its excellent effects to deliver the thrills. The face rip in question occurs relatively early on in the film, when the protagonist’s parents, Sam and Barb, meet their ends at the sharp teeth of our titular spawn. Sam goes first, and is devoured, but Barb’s death seems more protracted and painful as she loses her face to the creatures, before being devoured by the smaller, baby spawns in the basement. It’s all extremely goopy, gross and disgusting…and horror fans probably wouldn’t want it any other way.

Clive Barker isn’t known as one of the masters of horror for nothing. “Nightbreed” is the first film of his to make an appearance on our list, but, spoiler alert, it won’t be the last. Barker wrote and directed “Nightbreed” as an adaptation of his novella, “Cabal,” and it’s one of his most imaginative works. Narcisse is a member of the titular Nightbreed who shows up early in the film, cryptically revealing to protagonist Aaron how to enter the monster realm of Midian. Shortly afterwards, he shocks Aaron by violently removing the skin from his face, before being overcome by authorities in the hospital.

The next encounter on our list may be short, but it’s also one of the most iconic scenes from the world of 1980s horror. Tina Gray is built up at first to perhaps be the lead protagonist of Wes Craven’s original “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” but audiences soon realize that nothing in Freddy Krueger’s dream world is as it seems. The child murderer is at his most intense and disturbing here as he torments poor Tina, although the young woman does attempt to fight back. At one point, she even tears off Krueger’s face, but it’s to no avail, and she’s ruthlessly torn apart by Freddy in her nightmare.

The horror cinema of Rob Zombie is visceral, violent and unrepentantly sleazy, evoking the spirit of 1970s New York and the grindhouses of Times Square. Want proof? Well, how about Zombie’s decision to not only shoot one face-ripping scene for one of his movies, but two? The Firefly clan’s first appearance in Zombie’s “House of 1000 Corpses” has a scene where killer Otis taunts a victim with her father’s severed face. More gruesome still was the encore for 2005’s “The Devil’s Rejects,” where Otis (again) does the deed to Adam Banjo, a musician whose band falls afoul of the Fireflys. It’s wince-inducing stuff.

Dr. Hannibal Lecter is no stranger to, let’s say “facial reconstructive surgery,” such as the time he narcotically induces Mason Verger into a state where he self-inflicts such damage. Fans of Lecter’s second appearance on film are probably more familiar with his dramatic escape in 1991’s “Silence of the Lambs.” Here, Lecter, played by Sir Anthony Hopkins, uses the face of a guard he attacks, Sgt. Pembry, as a disguise to escape police custody. This is only revealed when “Pembry” / Lecter emerges during an ambulance ride and causes more bloody carnage. It’s a shock many moviegoers never saw coming.

The original “Texas Chain Saw Massacre” was loosely based upon the exploits of notorious Wisconsin serial killer Ed Gein, specifically the killer’s penchant for grisly flesh constructions throughout his home. This “Texas Chainsaw” sequel from ’86 continues in this vein, to the point where Leatherface not only tears off a victim’s face, but puts it to another, different use. This occurs when radio DJ Stretch is being held captive by Leatherface and the Sawyer family, and Leatherface decides to place her coworker L.G.’s face over hers, creating a horrible sight that we still remember to this day. Trouble is, it’s then revealed that the now faceless L.G. actually survived his initial attack. At least, temporarily.

Who said slasher movies have all the fun? Horror fans in the know will likely point to this stylish and atmospheric thriller as an early example of transgressive horror within contemporary cinema, and with good reason. The plot of “Eyes Without a Face” has been retread numerous times, such as in 1988 with “Faceless,” directed by notorious exploitation auteur Jesús Franco. It’s simple, really, but oh so effective: a surgeon is desperate to successfully transplant a human face onto his disfigured daughter. It’s a motive that turns into madness after young Edna Grüber is incapacitated by the doctor and has her face forcibly removed. What’s worse: the transplant doesn’t take, meaning that Edna’s disfigurement (and later death) was all for nothing.

It’s arguably one of the scariest horror movie moments under the PG rating. We’re talking about the OG “Poltergeist” from 1982, and a scene so graphic that it almost put this Steven Spielberg-produced classic into R-rated territory. The fright occurs during a dream sequence, when a paranormal investigator named Marty is peering into the bathroom mirror. We then see a terrifying hallucination, culminating with the mirror’s reflection of Marty tearing off his own face. The special effects are still fantastic, and the hands that are doing the tearing actually belong to none other than Spielberg himself!

Before we name our number one pick, here are some honorable mentions

Darry Is Missing Something

A Bad Day to Be a Soldier

Brundle Into Brundlefly

The Gift That Keeps on Giving

A New Kind of Malpractice

This is the face rip against which all other horror movie slashings are judged: the crème de la crème of creepy grossness from the twisted mind of Clive Barker. To be honest, “Hellraiser’s” Uncle Frank was already creepy enough, played to the hilt by Andrew Robinson. However, Frank’s comeuppance at the hands of the Cenobites is more than suitable, as his face and body are torn apart by the extra dimensional creatures, all while Frank utters the immortal line “Jesus wept.” Not to be outdone, Barker’s sequel, “Hellbound,” brought back the other antagonist from the first film, Julia, basically doing a gender swap of the path taken by her departed lover Frank. It goes about as well as you’d expect.