Top 10 Worst Ways to Die in Science Fiction Movies

“Blade Runner” (1982)

This seminal cyberpunk film sees a group of replicants fighting to extend their lifespans, and follows the attempts of one of the titular replicant hunters to catch them. The replicant leader, Roy Batty infiltrates the residence of the creator of all replicants, Dr. Eldon Tyrell, and requests an extension to his lifespan, to which Tyrell explains is impossible. Despite Tyrell’s apparent acceptance of Roy’s “questionable” deeds, the replicant crushes his creator’s head and eyes with his bare hands in a grisly fashion. He may have kissed him beforehand, but we’re honestly not sure if that makes it better or worse.

“Jason X” (2001)

The “Friday the 13th” franchise is known for some creative and nasty kills courtesy of its silent, undead, hockey mask sporting villain Jason Voorhees. Though it didn’t do so well with critics, his trip into the future offered the iconic killer even more unique possibilities for carnage. After being cryogenically frozen, Jason is thawed out aboard a space station and returns to his lethal ways immediately; dipping an intern’s face in liquid nitrogen and freezing her face mid-scream. Freezing deaths are not uncommon in sci-fi - Simon Phoenix’s chilly fate in “Demolition Man” remains a standout - but this particular death takes the trope in a creative and uniquely horrifying direction.

“Timecop” (1994)

This film follows Max Walker, one of the titular temporal police officers. Walker attempts to thwart the plans of a corrupt senator who is using time travel to advance his career and personal fortune while killing everyone in his way. To achieve his dastardly ambitions, Senator McComb enlists the help of his younger self, but is adamant that they not touch, as the consequences could be dire. We see those consequences firsthand in the film’s climax, when Walker forces the two McCombs into making contact, causing them to merge together in a fleshy, grotesque mess before disappearing altogether. Death by paradox? Awesome!

“Life” (2017)

In this movie about the discovery of hostile alien life, the astronauts aboard the International Space Station meet a wide variety of grisly fates, but this one is the worst. The station’s commander goes on a spacewalk to fix the communications, but is attacked by the alien creature, causing a fluid leak in her suit; which fills up with water. Rather than coming back aboard, risking the creature getting loose, she chooses to drown instead. Though numerous movies feature characters dying in their spacesuit due to asphyxiation, such as in “2001: A Space Odyssey,” drowning in space is something special.

“Scanners” (1981)

When psychics and David Cronenberg mix, gruesome deaths ensue. “Scanners” follows a struggle for power between the eponymous people with telekinetic powers, while the climactic battle between protagonist Cameron Vale and his evil brother Darryl Revok features a telepathic conflict for the ages. Though Revok threatens to suck Vale’s brain dry, Vale manages to do the opposite to his brother, essentially transferring his mind into his opponent’s body while his own is immolated in a thoroughly disturbing sequence. In a sense, this is two deaths for the price of one, since Revok has his mind supplanted while Vale’s body is destroyed.

“The Thing” (1982)

Few movie monsters are as inventively disgusting as the alien creature that gives this movie its name. The Thing from another world is able to invade and alter the bodies of other creatures, including humans, and it proves a formidable adversary for the members of an Antarctic research station. While trying to defibrillate Norris, a man infected by the creature, Dr. Copper is killed when Norris’ chest transforms into a huge mouth, which bites the doctor’s arms off. The shock alone would probably be enough to kill a person, though the massive blood loss probably doesn’t help either.

“Starship Troopers” franchise (1997-)

War is always ugly, but that statement has never been more true than in this conflict against giant bug-like aliens. The insectoid hordes can kill their human opponents in a variety of ways, but the grossest and most painful is probably the method of death meted out by the Brain Bug. The thinkers of the Bugs’ army, the Brain Bugs pierce the skulls of their victims with a proboscis and suck the brains out of people’s heads; consuming them and gaining the intelligence and knowledge of their human victims. At least human interrogators have the decency to leave your brain in your head - most of the time.

“RoboCop” (1987)

There’s carnage aplenty in this dystopian action flick, with people getting mowed down in hails of bullets and an above average number of bodies being thrown through glass. But its most horrific death happens to Emil Antonowsky, a member of Clarence Boddicker’s gang; the group that murdered Alex Murphy, leading to his transformation into RoboCop. While Emil is pursuing RoboCop, the cyborg tricks him into crashing into a large toxic waste container; spilling its contents all over him - horrifically melting his body. Later, Emil is struck by Boddicker with his car when he stumbles into the path of the vehicle; smashing his weakened body into a bloody mess.

“Total Recall” (1990)

Speaking of movies with plenty of horrible ways to die, “Total Recall” has more than its fair share on Douglas Quaid’s Martian adventure that may or may not be real, but one tops them all. During the film’s climax, the villainous chief administrator of Mars, Cohaagen pulled out onto the surface of Mars after an explosive decompression. Once outside, Cohaagen suffocates while his eyes, tongue, and other extremities swell grotesquely. While hardly scientifically accurate, there’s no denying how utterly disgusting and awful this would be to experience.





Before we get to our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions:


Eaten by the Sarlacc
“Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi” (1983)


Being Shot in Front of Your Younger Self
“12 Monkeys” (1995)


Getting Obliterated by an ARC Gun [aka Mulcher]
“District 9” (2009)

Spine Ripped Out
"Predator" (1987)

Explosive Decompression
"Outland" (1981)

“Alien” franchise (1979-)

The circle of life, impressive though it might be, can also be downright disgusting - and out among the stars is no different. The xenomorph aliens who give the “Alien” franchise its name have a very unusual method of reproduction. Upon their eggs hatching, the creatures, dubbed facehuggers, will latch onto a nearby creature and implant their genetic material through their mouth. The infant alien then gestates inside the host, before violently bursting from their torso and invariably killing them in what has to be one of the worst ways to die in a sci-fi film.