Gore is not for everyone, not even all horror aficionados. For many viewers, a few severed limbs and disembowelment go a long way. Outside of the horror community, “gore” is almost a pejorative — to some people, horror movies are splatter flicks, full stop.
That isn’t true, of course. Horror is diverse and haunting and enduring, and though there is some merit to the argument that gore can compensate for failures elsewhere, it’s also an artform in and of itself. For filmmakers like Tom Savini, Greg Nicotero, and Eryn Mekash, gore is paint, and film is their canvas. In the right hands, blood and guts can be a poetic, violent, boundary-pushing interrogation of global ailments and a curative, crimson expression. After all, wounds are healed when blood is spilled.
In our opinion, the following movies are the goriest ever made. With only 10 to choose from, not every bloodbath could make the list, but whether it’s an old classic or a newer gem, these are the movies whose gore is rendered so consistently and effectively that it transcends.
formerly Mad Cornish Projectionist.