“…and now the leg…”
For me, it’s the torture/death scene of the cop in the chair in ‘Reservoir Dogs’.
But not shocking, really. You knew it was coming. When Vincennes whispers “Rollo Tomasi” you know and Vincennes knows that Vincennes has had his (future) revenge on Smith, and Smith doesn’t it. That scene didn’t shock me. I actually smiled. Good on you, Vincennes.
I was somewhat shocked by the rape/murder at the end of “Short Cuts.” It seemed random and gratuitous. Then, the Deus ex machina earthquake. That earthquake didn’t seem realistic either and together with the scene above kinda spoiled the whole movie for me.
Well, the murder itself took this rube by surprise. Vincennes’ dying “Rollo Tomasi” was indeed satisying.
Rape scene in Heaven’s Gate. I don’t remember that the rape was really unexpected, but the amount of violence surprised me, and in my memory at least it seems to have gone on for quite a long time. I really liked that film and thought it was brilliant and beautiful, but the thing I remember most is that rape and how truly awful it was.
Oof. I saw this scene in the theater, never having heard of Tarantino but having heard a recommendation for this film. A couple years later, the movie showed at my college. I watched up until this scene, and when the music came on, it suddenly occurred to me: “NOPE!”
I walked out.
Brute Force has several scenes of harrowing violence: a stool pigeon is crushed in a stamping machine and a prisoner is beaten to death with leather straps.
Marvin?
The Martian?..Hamlisch?.. Gardens?
'splain, please.
“Oh man, I shot Marvin in the face.” https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LBBni_-tMNs
There’s a cheesy old sci-fi movie from the 50’s called Earth vs. The Flying Saucers. I think I saw it third run at a Saturday matinee. Shocking and unexpected to my pre-adolescent self was the scene where one of the robots picks up a human (probably a soldier or someone equally anonymous) and proceeds to break him in two like a stick, with suitable “bone-cracking” sound effects. Not a classic of course, except by very specific and narrow definitions of the term.
When I was a kid, we used to watch a TV series called “Iron Horse”. One episode, the bad guys smashed a man’s hands with a hammer. We didn’t watch it after that.
The Naked Prey - One of the poachers is stabbed to death by the village women and one of the guides is covered in clay and roasted on a spit. Later Cornel Wilde kills some of his attackers. All this in 1966. I used to watch it whenever it played on TV in the '60’s and '70’s and the guy roasted on the spit always creeped me out.
The Green Berets - Timothy Hutton impaled and Puff the Magic Dragon strafing the overun camp.
Hey, Ghost, thanks for picking up the slack.
Salino’s death in The Sting. It’s not overly gory or over-the-top, but comes out of nowhere.
Nitpick – they weren’t robots. They were the aliens (who had physically weak bodies) in their “power suits”. Kinda like humans in the Marauder suits in Heinlein’s Starship Troopers. Or like the Daleks in Doctor Who, only not as far gone physically.
While not really a classic film, Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte scared the crap out of me as a kid. From Bruce Derns head rolling down the stairs to everyone trying to drive Bette Davis insane, it set off powerful waves of fear and paranoia in my little brain.
Oh, hells yes. Absolutely shocking to my young self and I’m thinking it was probably pretty shocking for its time (and still holds up pretty well today). Also, wasn’t there a severed hand in there somewhere?
Burn After Reading. Unexpected and shocking, because until then the film had been a lighthearted comedy. So unexpected, and utterly absurd, that I was torn between horror and laughter.
I remember that. More of Bruce Dern. And wasnt a 30something Victor Buono Bette Davis’ Dad? I think it holds up wonderfully too.
I wish Davis and Crawford could have sucked it up and worked together. Their toxic chemistry would have lit up the screen.
Straw Dogs, the rape and sodomy scene with Susan George.
Then afterwards when Dustin Hoffman gets revenge and kills the men.