As film-making technology advances, movies are capable of more now than ever before. Modern horror films are crawling with over-the-top gore and unbelievable deaths that are often brought to life through CGI. The horror genre, however, has always been a shining example of what movie magic is truly capable of. Even before all the technological advancements of today, horror looked realistic, gritty, and hard to swallow. That's thanks to special FX makeup, prosthetics, and other practical effects that go into bringing terrifying moments to life.

Today, there's a large divide between the use of CGI and practical effects. It's hard to argue that some films wouldn't be the same without the use of CGI. It's hard to imagine any of the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies without CGI, for example. That said, practical effects are still a surefire way to make sure something looks as realistic as possible. Many professionals still believe that if they can achieve something with practical effects, that's the best way to go. No genre utilizes this idea more than horror, which has given the world some of the most incredible visual effects ever.

10 The Realistic Arrow Through The Neck

Friday the 13th, 1980

• Friday the 13th was released on May 9, 1980
• The movie is rated R and has a run time of 1 hour and 35 minutes
• Kevin Bacon portrays Jack Burrell

Friday the 13th (1980) is the first film in the monumental Friday the 13th slasher franchise. Although this film isn't what popularized the slasher genre, many common slasher tropes originated from Friday the 13th and its iconic killer, Jason Voorhees. This film was also one of the earliest movies that starred Kevin Bacon. Since Bacon's appearance as Jack Burrell, he's gone on to star in many horror movies, like Tremors (1990), Flatliners (1990), The Darkness (2016), and They/Them (2022).

Jack's death scene is one of the most realistic and memorable deaths in the entire Friday the 13th franchise. Jack is lying in bed, smoking a cigarette, when he notices a drop of blood dripping onto his head from the overhead bunk. A hand appears from beneath the bed and holds Jack's head down against the pillow. The killer pushes an arrow through the bottom of the bed, where it enters Jack's body through the base of his neck and protrudes out Jack's front. Blood bubbles up and spouts from the neck wound. This kill isn't as graphic or gory as some other kills in the franchise, but it's unsettling in its realism.

The effects that went into Jack's death were just as impressive. Make-up artist, actor, and director Tom Savini brought this scene to life with his master prosthetic skills. Kevin Bacon's head was resting on the mattress, but the rest of Jack's body was a body cast. Bacon's real body was beneath the mattress for the duration of the scene. The arrow that killed Jack was pushed up through the prosthetic body to give the illusion of a realistic murder. The arrow had a tube attached to it that fed into a blood bag filled with fake blood. When the arrow broke through the prosthetic skin, blood from the bag came out, creating the spurting and pooling blood effect.

9 Freddy Comes Out Of A TV

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)

• A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors was released on February 27, 1987
• The movie is rated R and has a run time of 1 hour and 30 minutes
• Penelope Sudrow portrays Jennifer Caulfield

The Nightmare on Elm Street franchise is known for some of the most creative slasher kills in the genre. Freddy Krueger, aka the Dream Demon, can kill people in their dreams. Everyone sleeps eventually, so no one is safe from a horrible and brutal death. One of the most unique kills happens in the franchise's third installment, Dream Warriors. Jennifer is doing everything she can to keep herself from falling asleep. She even goes as far as to burn herself with a lit cigarette to stay awake while she watches TV.

Unfortunately, Jennifer still nods off. The first indication that she's dreaming happens when a talk show host turns into Freddy Krueger. Horrified and confused, Jennifer attempts to change the channel with the remote, but it doesn't work. She makes the mistake of approaching the TV. Two massive arms, one with Krueger's iconic clawed glove, sprout from either side of the TV and grab Jennifer. The arms lift her as Freddy's head sprouts from the top of the TV. He welcomes her to prime time before slamming her face into the TV's screen, where he leaves her lifeless body hanging.

Peter Chesney was the lead of the Dream Warriors special effects team. To create Jennifer's death scene, they made a full-sized dummy of Jennifer's actress, Penelope Sudrow, with flexible limbs. The real magic is how the TV came to life, though. To do this, the special effects team created five versions of the same TV. Each one would stand in for the same TV at different scene intervals. One TV had Freddy's giant arms attached to the side to grab Jennifer when the TV first came to life. Another version of the TV had a rubber top that Freddy's head could push through. The head was also a dummy stand-in.

8 Jason Voorhees' Death Is Only Upstaged By His Face Reveal

Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)

• Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter was released on April 13, 1984
• The movie is rated R and has a run time of 1 hour and 31 minutes
• Ted White portrays Jason Voorhees

Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter is the fourth installment in the Friday the 13th franchise, and it was the original conclusion of Jason Voorhees' saga. Jason has been killed and resurrected many times to continue the franchise. The original film even got a remake in 2009, but in 1984, The Final Chapter seemed like the last time the world would see Jason... At least until the following year, when A New Beginning (1985) hit theaters.

Since The Final Chapter finally put an end to Jason's murderous rampage, Jason's death needed to be as epic as his legacy. In this scene, Trish knocks Jason's famous hockey mask off with a machete. Enraged, Jason stalks after her, giving Tommy an opening to pick up the discarded machete and slam it into the side of Jason's face. Jason falls to the floor with his own machete stuck in the side of his head. The hilt of the weapon hits the floor, forcing Jason's face to slowly slide down the blade, splitting apart as it does. The only thing more shocking than the gruesome death is what Jason's disfigured face looks like beneath the mask.

Both Jason's appearance and death were brought to life with practical effects. Tom Savini returned as the lead special effects artist for The Final Chapter. To create a realistic depiction of Jason's disfigured face and death, Savini created a full-scale puppet that had working facial features. The Jason fans see sliding down the machete isn't an actor, but a puppet that looks just like him. The special effects crew could control Jason's face remotely with some mechanics hidden inside the shell of the killer dummy.

7 Ash Narrowly Avoids Being Butchered With A Chainsaw

Evil Dead 2 (1987)

• Evil Dead 2 was released on March 13, 1987
• The movie is rated R and has a run time of 1 hour and 25 minutes
• Bruce Campbell portrays Ash Williams

Evil Dead 2 is the second installment in the Evil Dead franchise, and it takes a more comedic approach to horror than some of the other offerings of the time. The comedic elements didn't stop the movie from being gory and bloody, though. One of the most memorable scenes happens when reluctant protagonist Ash Williams sits on a porch chair. Only seconds after he sits down, his girlfriend's head lands in his lap. Linda's head animates, revealing sharp teeth and completely white eyes. She's a deadite now.

Linda chomps down on Ash's hand and no matter how many times he beats her, she refuses to let him go. In his frantic desperation to get the severed head off him, he runs to a nearby tool shed where there should be a chainsaw. Unfortunately, the chainsaw is missing, but Ash finds it soon enough, or rather, it finds Ash. Linda's headless body busts the door open wielding the chainsaw. She plows towards Ash, revving the chainsaw, but Ash manages to kick it back at the headless corpse, which causes it to turn on her and cut her down the middle. Ash retrieves the chainsaw and uses it on Linda's severed head as well.

Mark Shostrom was the head of the special effects team, which included Robert Kurtzman, Greg Nicotero, and Howard Berger. Greg Nicotero's name might ring a bell to The Walking Dead fans. Since Evil Dead 2 had so much blood and violence in it, a lot of the film's more graphic scenes were done with stop-motion animation. Most of the deadites were brought to life through extensive prosthetic makeup. Director Sam Raimi's brother, Ted Raimi, portrayed Henrietta with a full-body latex suit. Even the chainsaw was modified to avoid injury, including filing the chainsaw's chain and replacing the gasoline engine.

6 Seth's Final Transformation Into The Brundlefly

The Fly (1986)

• The Fly was released on August 15, 1986
• The movie is rated R and has a run time of 1 hour and 36 minutes
• Jeff Goldblum portrays Seth Brundle

The Fly is a body horror film based on a science fiction short story of the same name written by George Langelaan. Seth Brundle is a scientist who invented two devices he calls "telepods". These telepods can teleport anything between them no matter where they are in the world. Unfortunately, as many experiments often do in these sorts of stories, the telepods don't work entirely as planned. One night, after putting a lot of work into making the telepods safe for living organisms, Seth teleports himself. A fly gets trapped in the pod with him and the rest of the film elaborates on his slow mutation into a half-human, half-fly creature.

The Fly is considered one of the best body horror films ever made, and it traumatized a generation of moviegoers. The entire film is one long, drawn-out sequence of Seth's experiments turning him into a monster, and inevitably dying. In the end, Seth's transformation drives him insane, and he attempts to fuse himself with Ronnie, his pregnant lover, so they will always be together. Eventually, he begs Ronnie to shoot him and put him out of his misery.

To accomplish Seth's horrific transformation, Goldblum spent hours every day in a makeup chair. Most of the film is done with extensive special FX makeup and prosthetics. This allows Seth to go through various stages of his transformation, from losing fingernails to being more bug than human. By the end of the film, Seth becomes a fly-like monstrosity that no longer resembles a human. To achieve this, the special effects team built a massive monster animatronic to replace Goldblum.

5 Christmas Toys Go On A Rampage

Krampus (2015)

• Krampus was released on December 4, 2015
• The movie is rated R and has a run time of 1 hour and 38 minutes
• Luke Hawker portrays Krampus

Krampus tells the story of an unruly family terrorized by Krampus. Simply put, Krampus is like the anti-Santa Claus. While Santa delivers gifts to good children, Krampus punishes bad children. This horror movie takes things to a whole new level because Krampus doesn't just punish the kids, he punishes the entire family for being ungrateful, irritating, and ultimately undermining what the holidays and good family values are meant to be.

This film is one of the newer films to utilize practical effects over CGI for almost every element. Only a few moments of CGI show up throughout the film, and it's mostly used to create the animated gingerbread men. Krampus brings a large selection of demonic Christmas toys, decorations, and cookies with him to terrorize the family. One of the most horrific and impressive scenes takes place in the attic when a giant jack-in-the-box swallows one of the kids whole. This entire scene is accomplished with practical effects.

Most of the monsters in Krampus were created by Weta Workshop, a design studio that makes some seriously cool props and designs. Weta Workshop has worked on many movies, including Renfield (2023), Avatar: The Way of Water (2022), and Dune (2021). The design studio brought Krampus' evil minions to life with animatronics and puppets. Weta Workshop also helped design the costume and makeup for Luke Hawker's portrayal of Krampus and many of his accessories, like his sleigh. Having one studio create everything for the movie helped the look and vibe of the final result feel cohesive.

4 The Blob Dissolves Its Victims

The Blob (1988)

• The Blob was released on August 5, 1988
• The movie is rated R and has a run time of 1 hour and 25 minutes

The Blob is a remake of a 1958 film of the same name, and it's about a mysterious blob monster invading a small town. Anyone who gets trapped inside the Blob is horrifically dissolved. As the Blob claims more victims, it grows in size, making it easier to trap more people inside it. Each scene is horrific, but the kills are also creative and entertaining in a way that many other horror movies can't manage. Every time a victim is trapped in the Blob, they're shown through a layer of the Blob, obscuring parts of the horror, but still putting on full display how terrified the victim is as they're slowly eaten.

Tony Gardner is the genius behind The Blob's horrific magic. The Blob creature itself was created by filling silk bags with methylcellulose. Methylcellulose is a compound that comes from cellulose, and it's commonly used to thicken food. It can also be found in wallpaper paste and many artists use it for papier-mâché crafts. Special FX makeup was used to create burns and other injuries for characters like Reverend Meeker, who were injured by the Blob but survived their ordeal.

3 A Woman Falls Apart & Turns Into A Zombie

Dead Alive (1992)

• Dead Alive was released in the U.S. on February 12, 1993
• The movie is rated R and has a run time of 1 hour and 25 minutes
• Elizabeth Moody portrays Vera Cosgrove

Dead Alive (also known as Braindead outside of North American regions) is one of the goriest horror movies ever made. It is a New Zealand zombie comedy film, and it takes blood and guts to the extreme. Dead Alive tells the story of Vera Cosgrove spying on her son during a date at the zoo. Vera is a controlling mother who doesn't always approve of her son's choices. At the zoo, Vera's bitten by a mutant creature the film calls a rat-monkey, which infects her with an unknown virus.

Vera's death is nothing short of horrific. Her body begins decaying rapidly and quite literally falls apart. This scene is disgusting and over-the-top. Even though Vera is portrayed as an unlikable mother, the audience can't help but feel bad for her. Dying this way is awful, but what's worse is that Vera can't even rest peacefully. After seemingly dying, what's left of her body reanimates as a zombie, which quickly goes on a rampage, infecting anyone who gets in her way.

Many methods were used to bring these zombies to life. Needless to say, everything was done with practical effects. Elizabeth Moody wore a lot of special FX makeup throughout the shooting of the film to give her a zombie-like appearance. Director Peter Jackson also used stop-motion animation to capture some of the harder-to-realize scenes. The special effects team also created puppets for some of the less-human zombies. Vera's full monster zombie form at the end of the film was a puppet. They also animated things like moving piles of gory goo and the rat-monkey himself this way.

2 The Original Chestbuster Scene Made Cinema History

Alien (1979)

• Alien was released on June 22, 1979
• The movie is rated R and has a run time of 1 hour and 57 minutes
• John Hurt portrays Kane

Alien is a horror masterpiece that needs no introduction. By now, horror fans and non-horror fans alike have at least a basic understanding of the Alien franchise. The franchise is still ongoing today, with a new installment, Alien: Romulus, right around the corner. Despite the long-lasting success of the franchise, the original Alien has never been outdone. This 1979 classic brought the iconic Xenomorph into the world and highlighted Ellen Ripley as one of the most influential final girls to ever appear on the silver screen.

The Xenomorph's design is elegant and beautiful. It's hard to imagine a film in the 70s could pull it off. What might be even more impressive than the alien's design, though, is the original chestburster scene. The chestbursters have become a normal shtick for the Alien movies, but when Kane doubled over in pain, it shook the crew and the audience to their cores. In this legendary scene, a baby Xenomorph forcefully claws its way out of Kane's chest, killing him in the process.

This scene had all practical effects as well. The way this scene was filmed is similar to how Kevin Bacon's character died in Friday the 13th. John Hurt hid beneath the table with only his head poking out through a hole. A fake body was placed on the table to stand in for Hurt during his death scene. H.R. Giger, the man who designed the Xenomorph suit, and his special effects team, tore apart the fake body, allowing a tiny version of the Xenomorph to burst through Kane's abdomen and chest.

1 A Stomach Opens Up Into A Giant Mouth & Chomps

The Thing (1982)

• The Thing was released on June 25, 1982
• The movie is rated R and has a run time of 1 hour and 49 minutes
• The Thing is based on John W. Campbell Jr.'s novella Who Goes There?

The Thing is one of John Carpenter's best and most praised movies. The only other Carpenter film that might rival The Thing is Halloween (1978). For decades, this film has been a go-to example of how effective practical effects are in film. Since the entire movie is about an alien life form of some sort terrorizing a small, remote research base in Antarctica, The Thing needed to be creative with how it depicted the monster. The extraterrestrial creature can assimilate living beings, from sled dogs to people, so the effects team had a lot of work on their hands.

One of the most infamous scenes in the entire movie happens during the defibrillator scene. In this scene, Dr. Cooper uses a defibrillator on Norris. After one shock, the doctor checks Norris' pulse and finds nothing. He goes in for another round with the defibrillator, only for Norris' stomach to open into a massive mouth that chomps down on both of Dr. Cooper's arms. The doctor's arms are ripped off as he attempts to get away from the Thing, but the horrific scene doesn't stop there. Soon, a strange, spider-like entity with Norris' head attached to it pops out of the hole in his stomach.

Even by today's standards, this scene is incredibly realistic and unnerving to watch. Rob Bottin led the special effects team for The Thing. Bloody-Disgusting went into full detail to describe Bottin's work to bring the horrific creature to life. Bottin and his team created the defibrillator scene with a dummy of Norris' actor, Charles Hallahan. The dummy was fiberglass and contained many elements, including fake organs and a hydraulic rig system. The team also hired a double-amputee to stand in for Dr. Cooper when he loses both arms.