Top 10 Torture Scenes

We start our countdown with honorable intentions, and the cruel death of Scotland’s William Wallace. Found guilty of high treason, he’s first hanged, and then he’s stretched beyond bodily capability. Gasping for breath and grimacing in pain, he makes little complaint, though, and when he refuses to kneel, we refuse to believe the inevitable… But things don’t look good for the freedom fighter; it’s an epic battle, and this is an epic moment.

This scene is as sharp as the torturer’s weapons of choice. The women are told to close their eyes, and it’s all we can do to keep ours open! Chang’s looking to find who ordered the hit on him, and Byron’s got answers. Nailed to the chair he sits in, first through his arms, and then through his thighs, Byron might believe the worst was over… but no! A symbolic removal of the eyes is followed by a skewering of the ears, and for us, considerable turning of the stomach!

At first thought, the ol’ hammer to the mouth trick doesn’t seem the most cultured of torture methods. When it’s realized a little more creatively, though, it’s gruesomely original. Using a claw hammer to extract teeth like rusty nails from a 2x4, our protagonist begins to piece together the reason behind his previous imprisonment. He doesn’t get all the answers he wants, but he does get a lot of blood – he’s ruthless, and his victim’s left toothless.
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The anticipation in our next scene has us feeling almost as sick as the victim evidently is. Tied to a chair, the last thing you want the guy in front of you to do is talk about his love of surgery! Especially as he’s wielding a knife! Even when the damage is done, the audience still can’t quite work out what all the screaming is about– that is until the camera flashes the gaping mess that is the poor guy’s Achilles tendon onto our screen!

One of the more controversial of our torturous ten, the scenes of interrogation in “Zero Dark Thirty” have wider implications away from the big screen. Director Kathryn Bigelow was criticized for misrepresentation, as the film heavily suggests that information on Osama Bin Laden was partially gathered through torture. An un-American idea, and an unsavory reality for its government, the film received widespread critical acclaim nonetheless. Taken from a purely cinematic point-of-view, the scenes are handled extremely well, conveying both hostility, and horror.

Though the tortured figure in our next scene is clearly the bad guy in the movie, the image of his helpless body strapped to the table pre-castration is one that’s difficult to forget. Ellen Page terrifies as 14-year-old Hayley Stark, as she performs a drawn-out medical procedure that has both genders squirming in their seats! This punishment is as much about psychology as it is about pain – and it leaves the viewer entirely exhausted from shock!

It’s a story that’s known worldwide, and one that Mel Gibson took a very significant gamble with when he translated it to the silver screen. And the film certainly doesn’t hold back! The lengthy run up to Jesus’ crucifixion is as dramatic as it is distressing, and this beating is amongst the most brutal ever captured. We feel every crack of the whip, and we hear every taunt – religious beliefs aside, this scene is very difficult to watch!

It ain’t no gamble with our third entry – it’s a dead-cert stomach churner! As the head of Tony Dogs is crushed until a swollen eye spits out, we find the gore too grim not to continue watching! Rumor has it that Scorsese only included the scene as sacrificial footage, so that when the cinematic standards people denied it, they’d be more lenient to other violent moments – luckily for us (and unluckily for Tony Dogs!) it got the green light regardless!

For some of us, tattoos are a rite of passage; for others they signify rebellion; for some they’re merely a fashion accessory. This work of inky art is none of those – it’s a painful, and probably poisonous, label. Lisbeth is the torturer, but as Bjurman’s rape victim, you feel she has a right to be! She lets her merciless facade translate into action as she abuses the guy first, and brands him second. It’s a ruthless revenge, and one that will never wash away!

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions:
- The Pin Cushion “Audition” (1999)
- Finger Cuttin’ Good “Man on Fire” (2004)
- Scarred by a Psycho “The Girl Next Door” (2007)
- Nail-Biting Scenes “Syriana” (2005)
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Atop our torture table sits genre movie master, Quentin Tarantino. In his directorial debut, he has Mr. Blonde enact some violence that’s as dancey as it is disturbing. As is typical, the guy tied to the chair doesn’t know anything… But Blonde isn’t really too bothered either way! He slashes his face and severs his right ear, before dousing the mutilated man in gasoline. But what sets it apart is its light-hearted tone – and as Blonde laughs out loud, he lands himself the gold medal in gore!

Do you agree with our list? Which torture scene did we skip? For more gory Top 10s published daily, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.