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Weekend Discussion Thread: Your Favorite Death Scenes in MSTed Movies

Alert reader Deejay relates:

I recently rewatched Deathstalker and the Warriors From Hell. I love scene where the hero is watching the girl being cremated and they riff “He was overwhelmed by feelings of ambiguity.” How many times have these movies presented us with scenes that are supposed to be heart-wrenching and tragic and all we can do is shrug? I think it’s worth discussing.

So let’s discuss our favorite expirations. One of my faves is that guy in “Devil Fish” whose long, drawn-out passing caused Crow to declare: “Jeez, Francisco Franco died quicker!”

What’s your favorite?

126 Replies to “Weekend Discussion Thread: Your Favorite Death Scenes in MSTed Movies”

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  1. frankenforcer says:

    Squeamy Ellis being tossed off that high rise by Lon CHaney (that was Squeamy right? I still can’t tell the difference between the two).

    Chip falling from the cliff in “Girls Town” he landed ridiculously.

    Big Jake in “Sidehackers”. Come on who the hell walks up slowly to a guy with a gun.

       3 likes

  2. Mills says:

    I liked the guy who in City Limits who took an exploding toy plane with the shrieking hysteria of getting his privates caught in a mousetrap.

    Also in Mr. B Natural when any sense of shame or dignity was brutally exterminated.

       2 likes

  3. Tom Servo getting knifed at the end of ‘The Beatniks!’

    “Continue to tape ‘Baywatch’ for me…”

       3 likes

  4. EricJ says:

    @36, 50 – Anyone who’s ever been to the “Sci-Fi Drive In” restaurant at Disney World has the ritual in their heads–The restaurant runs a loop of Famous Goofy Sci-Fi Clips on a big drive-in screen, and when they get to Glen’s syringe dart, everyone in the restaurant has to scream “…AAHHH!” :)

    (Also as memorably, if disingenuously, homaged in Dreamworks’ “Monsters vs. Aliens”:
    http://hq55.com/disney/monal/monal-disneyscreencaps.com-64.jpg )

       0 likes

  5. Invasion of the Neptune Man says:

    I’m surprised nobody has mentioned The Horrors of Spider Island with the guy who got caught in a giant web in the middle of his cheerleading move.
    Favorite death riffs- “He died as he lived, with his mouth wide open” Pod People, and “Tell my eyebrows I love them” The Projected Man

       5 likes

  6. ServoTron3000 says:

    The gun shop clerk in “Wild Rebels”. “It sounds like she shot him with a staple gun.”

       1 likes

  7. Cornjob says:

    This topic is making me think of the death of the Asian lady in Operation Double 007 and Niel Connery’s complete non response.

       1 likes

  8. Cabbage Patch Elvis says:

    I love the “…and he died as he lived,…” comments. My two favorites:

    …a total load.

    …mud-stained and splaying.

       6 likes

  9. lancecorbain says:

    Also, the guy Beverly Garland just guns down during the montage of her busy week as sheriff-“Well, I’m pretty sure he was a criminal.”

    Charlie Blake’s demise at the hands of Jimmy Wilson, just because I remember wondering where exactly did he shoot him?
    That, and his bodyguard/goons just standing there outside the door, listening to the struggle-“They’re really goin’ at it in there!”

    The guy being literally “hounded” to his death at the end of The Painted Hills was both satisfying AND goofy.

    Also, as far as aftermaths/eulogies go, I find myself quoting “He tampered in god’s domain” whenever someone in any movie dies a bizarre death.

       3 likes

  10. Bat Masterson says:

    Definitely the stinger with the old man being skewered in Hercules Against the Moon Men.

       3 likes

  11. frankenforcer says:

    I love he died as he lived… failing algebra.

       5 likes

  12. WeatherServo9 says:

    These are all fine deaths, but for my money nothing tops the death of the fawn in Circus on Ice. Parents, take your kids to see the ice-skating show, you know, the one with the interpretive dance about the deer getting killed. That one.

       11 likes

  13. Kenneth Morgan says:

    As far as group death scenes are concerned, I’ll agree with the railing kills from “Space Mutiny”. I’ll also add the arrow & spear kills from “Operation Double 007” (“Mammy! They shot Jolson!”) and the incredibly stupid crowd getting roasted near the Thames in “Gorgo”.

       1 likes

  14. Neptune Man says:

    That girl in The Violent Years: “She died as she lived, failing at math”.
    Does Diabolik die at the end?
    That high priest in Colossus and the Head Hunters: “A less conspicuos might have helped”.
    That scene when Trash blows-up a helicopter with a handgun in Escape 2000, Tom Servo shouting “Boohoo!”, when the obvious dummy falls from the sky, kills me.
    But I agree, Vornoff’s death has to be the goofiest.

       0 likes

  15. Flying Saucers Over Oz says:

    “He died as he lived: With jelly all over his face.”

    The ‘Urk! He got me!’ spear deaths from UNDERSEA KINGDOM deserve a passing mention as well, but my all-time favorite bad-movie death is from an un-MST3Ked movie, THE GIRL AND THE GEEK. The plot, such as it is, concerns a very scrawny sideshow geek with minimal makeup who tries to compensate by making ‘Ooga-booga’ faces in close-up straight at the camera as he chases a screaming girl around a deserted carnival midway. At one point, he throttles an Edith Massey type who’s wearing a huge wig. She goes limp to indicate she’s dead. As the geek lowers her to the ground she reaches up with one arm, holds her wig in place, then lowers it again when she’s all the way down. Brilliant.

       3 likes

  16. crowschmo says:

    In Zombie Nightmare, the dad gets killed — cut to, kid as a young adult bopping down the street, not a care in the world – “Ever since dad got murdered, things have been GREAT!”

    Not much time to dwell on the horror or tragedy of the event.

       10 likes

  17. noplot says:

    I’ll admit the death of the girlfriend in Swamp Diamonds is a favorite, but is it really a death scene? She doesn’t visibly get killed, it’s unclear whether she drowns, dies from the gunshot or is eaten by the gator (unlikely, since she was at the pool on the other side of town, but you never know), and she disappears from the film. Shouldn’t a death scene at least let you know specifically how the victim died?

       1 likes

  18. frankenforcer says:

    the sad death of mega-weapon

       3 likes

  19. Professor Gunther says:

    The brother in Hercules Unchained who earns the line, “two words, Hercules, french doors.” (Eteocles or Polynices? I always get them mixed up.) He struts and stutters around–and then falls flat on his face, like a tree.

    And who can forget the John Saxony villain in Cave Dwellers? “Give my mustache to…UGH!”

       1 likes

  20. Warren says:

    So many good ones already mentioned, what else…
    The death of the Vodka-loving ‘psychic’ in Merlin’s Shop’s tv show within the movie. Excuse my juicy belches.
    I second the light show when Paul the Moon Beast is killed.

       1 likes

  21. Doesn’t the guy from The Final Sacrifice get his butt set on fire? I guess that was his weakness.

    Don’t forget the horrible moldy death visited on those unlucky enough to cross paths with the lovable mummy-alien in Being from another Planet?

    In my opinion, the wormy guy getting his good arm ripped off by the thing behind the door in The Brain the wouldn’t Die is a landmark moment in cinematic history.

    And seeing worm-face disappear into a wriggling mass of linguini marinara in Squirm left me with a healthy respect for wormkind.

       4 likes

  22. lancecorbain says:

    Totally forgot-the guy who gets shoved into the pit and supposedly eaten by the giant snake before Ator, just for the joke “Always thought that I’d be an apo-STLE!!!!”….references to Jesus Christ Superstar always make me smile.

       1 likes

  23. Watch-out-for-Snakes says:

    @ Neptune Man #64

    “Does Diabolik die at the end?”

    No, he winks. ;-)

       6 likes

  24. Blowie the Dolphin says:

    How about the death and subsequent resurrection of Lt. Lamont in Space Mutiny?

       7 likes

  25. ck says:

    Wait a minute. Has the sadistic killing and head mounting
    of Gumby’s pal (over the family’s garage!)in the Gumby short been
    mentioned? After all, it did lead to the bots needing years
    of powerful Adlerian therapy.

       4 likes

  26. Stoneman says:

    I’ve always liked the Creature from the Black Lagoon’s nice rising fastball as he throws the guy into the tree.

       10 likes

  27. Flash says:

    Good call on the oft repeated “Your weapons will have no effect on me!”

    How about THAT villain’s overly dramatic death, when Prince of Space blows up Phantom and his minions
    on Krankor?

    Love the “…but that loser civilization will NOT be missed…” riff. That riff makes me think of the unlamented demises of all of the awful civilizations Earth has produced over the centuries…

       4 likes

  28. Flash says:

    And who can ever forget the non-death “…there was no monster…” from Monster-A-Go-
    Go?

       2 likes

  29. dsman71 says:

    Id say all of them. Off the top of my head
    Rocket Attack USA – the US spy gets killed very un-dramatically in the same spot where his female accomplice was also shot
    Zombie Nightmare at the end – Adam West being dragged down to hell
    Attack of the the Eye Creatures poofing up in smoke when the headlights of cars are turned on
    It Conquered the World – Lee Van Cleef falls on top of It, both to their death
    The Amazing Colossal Man – falling off the dam and suddenly you can see right through him
    Gamera vs Guiron – Space Gaos getting sliced up
    Killer Shrews the man gets bit and still types something…
    of course there is Fugitive Alien where Rocky “Tried to kill him with a forklift” Ken didnt die but the attempt to kill by forklift is there ! :D

       2 likes

  30. Flash says:

    Now, does the exploding old Martian in “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians” count?

    I doubt it, as none of the Martians present seem to care, despite the camera lingering way too long on the after shot.

       0 likes

  31. radioman970 says:

    Definitely that swinging 60s dance party in Creeping Terror with all the cute girls slowly getting sucked up by that walking carpet, also that bit where they… well pretty much every death scene in it oh yeah…

    Revealing too much: (hee hee) those women getting sucked up, I have to say that made me feel funny when I saw the film in the 70s for the first time at about 13 years old. Didn’t realize why at the time.. I guess I’d secretly wished I had that kind of apparatus where I could suck girls up like that. Now now! I’d want the ability to blow them back out, unharmed! :-* :-P :laugh:

       2 likes

  32. ANGMEM says:

    The She-Creature delivering a lobster-claw like chop to the hypnotist Dr. Lombardi, and then he dies next to the hypnotized woman.

    The Soul-Taker vaporizing into the ring on “Soul Taker”.

    The helicopter blowing up with Donald Pleasant inside on Puma Man.

    The bee-stung wife of the caretaker of Seagull Island on “Deadly Bees”. The husband carries her while Servo hums the wedding march.

       2 likes

  33. Fart Bargo says:

    Excellent thread.

    The Creeping Terror has many silly death scenes that I can not pick out just one;

    Guitar guy who goes all Bluto on the Creeping Terror. Not sure but he may have been the only one who did not cooperately crawl in to the creatures mawl.

    Chubby Grandpa, since we never see the actual death I have imagined him getting stuck in the creatures craw and his chubby legs kicking for a few hours.

    Soldiers armed with rifles who are ordered to march in “Spoon” formation into its gaping mouth.

    Lastly the young woman with the long legs who kept on kicking while takin a lickin. (This is meant in a PG way).

       2 likes

  34. frankenforcer says:

    The Edit awful death of Sonny in Daddy-O. Having to assume that SOnny had died until a cop verified it was always too damn funny.

    The death of Livia in The Undead. “Our hero bravely stabs the unarmed woman”

    What was the movie that lead to the line “And our hero bravely roasts the elderly man”?

       0 likes

  35. ck says:

    #84
    I believe you’re referencing Space Mutiny, although
    Ripped Cheesecake actually roasted a handicapped person,
    causing Crow to suggest they stop eating lunch in the
    gas conduit (whatever) on the SoL.

       1 likes

  36. Kathy says:

    Hercules and the Captive Women – Queen Mommy at the end, while praying to Uranus during the demise of Atlantis…a huge stone pillar falls on her *SPLAT*

    Also, from Ring of Terror – the guy whose funeral they go to (“I love open caskets when they’ve gone through the windshield.”).

       0 likes

  37. Fingal says:

    Say goodbye to beer for me!!

       1 likes

  38. Rose from NJ says:

    Not a particular favorite, but in Zombie Nightmare, when the skort-wearing tennis player gets tossed into the hot tub, Mike says “Um, the dead don’t tread water”.

       0 likes

  39. ANGMEM says:

    One additional comment on my previous comment (#82)

    During the scene when Donald Pleasance dies in the helicopter explosion, Crow sings “Burn an old man, singe all his flesh off” to the tune of the puma man theme song and I can’t help it, I start laughing.

       2 likes

  40. Brandon says:

    “OW!! YOU SHOT MY BUTT!! WHAT THE HELL?! YOU SHOT ME IN THE BUTT!!”

       2 likes

  41. Moochavelli says:

    Jerry the dinosaur in the opening scenes of Future War. So sad. He was only 2 days away from retirement you know.

       3 likes

  42. Robert L Lippert Jr says:

    Here’s a blast from the past from KTMA
    Hangear 18 the headless astronaut floating away
    speaking of astronauts
    Space Travelers Ricard Crenna also floating away
    again with the astronauts
    Phantom Planet Lt Maconin again floating away
    will you let that die please
    ok how about Colossus and the Head hunters Kermees’s death scene not as long as some but very acty

       2 likes

  43. Pete says:

    TEENAGE STRANGLER: As one of the victims is carted away, someone in the crowd giggles.

    Any scene where Coleman Francis shoots from the air.

    ROCKET ATTACK USA: Art Metrano never got to wear that tie.

       0 likes

  44. robot rump! says:

    even though technically it was rebuilt, Megaweapon crushing the annoying new wave motorcycle in WotLW was satisfying.
    but i guess for my favorite, the bald colonel or major or whatever, like it matters, from Red Zone Cuber er ah Cuba. a little paint splatter, a look of mild disappointment and poof you’re done! that’s the way for me.

       1 likes

  45. William Ball says:

    — The death of the wife in The Deadly Bees, it was surprisingly gruesome for an otherwise tame movie.
    — The dummy that falls out of the exploding helicopter in Escape 2000. “Wow, he stayed up there a really long time.”

       2 likes

  46. I Am Not Frank says:

    I’d love to be able to say my favorite DS was the brave, daring, intrepid, un-daunting and heroic death of Commando Cody…but, of course, that wasn’t going to happen, was it?
    Oh, well…the film broke, in the Robot Holocaust experiment (COMING SOON, in VOL. XXV–MST DVD SETS CAN BE ***YOURS***!! ***COLLECT THEM *ALL*****!!!), didn’ it? That was kind of a death scene. Yeah. That was pretty rad. 8-)

       0 likes

  47. lancecorbain says:

    Remembered another one, from my “gateway drug” episode, the one that got me hooked on this show-

    At the end of The Black Scorpion, when they’re trying to harpoon the beast in the bullfighting arena with an electrified lance(as if that scenario isn’t goofy enough)-they miss the first time, reel it back in, and one grabs the harpoon and electrocutes himself, apparently forgetting the entire plan? I just remember laughing pretty hard.

       1 likes

  48. Bob(bi) Executive says:

    Revenge of the Creature, where a guy gets thrown into a palm tree. And by thrown, I mean gently swung by invisible string.

       1 likes

  49. trickymutha says:

    Wait- the cripple who Big McLarge Huge burns alive- and Mike’s comment makes me laugh every time- though I can’t recite it right now.

       1 likes

  50. fatbarkeep says:

    There were no deaths.
    All characters were found miles away and in good health.

       6 likes

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