The Best and Messiest Exploding Head Scenes
Scott Shoyer
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Maniac (1980)
Here’s another exploding head by shotgun (see Dawn of the Dead above). Maniac is a film that oozes sleaze. The whole thing makes you feel like you need a long hot shower after watching it. What makes this exploding head scene so much fun is that none other than Tom Savini both executes the special FX and is the actor who gets his head blown apart. Good times, good times.
The Toxic Avenger (1984)
I’m taking a few liberties by including this one on this list. There isn’t actually an exploding head in this scene. It’s more of a “crushing head” scene… to the extreme. Toxie can smell evil a mile away, and in this particular instance his nose takes him to the local gym where some poor schmuck is about to get “avenged.”
Pulp Fiction (1994)
The scene when Vincent (John Travolta) accidentally blows off Marvin’s (Phil LaMarr) head is so damn effective because just like in Scanners, the exploding head is completely unexpected.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyDvGxJ0TIc
Galaxy of Terror (1981)
Most remember this classic film for the scene when a woman gets raped by a gigantic worm (calling Dr. Freud), but we all know there’s no exploding head in that scene (well, maybe when the worm… never mind). But everyone seems to forget the scene where Alluma, played by Erin Moran (Joanie Cunningham from “Happy Days”) gets her head squeezed so hard that it bursts. Classic scene in a hugely entertaining, classic film.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wn9yaO_Vo-k
The Frighteners (1996)
This is more of a supernatural-comedy (a sup-nat-com??) and is a ton of fun. Before Peter Jackson was up to his nipples in Hobbits and rings, he used to make fun movies. The Frighteners is one such film. When you think of this flick, I bet “exploding heads” don’t exactly come to mind, but in this scene Milton Dammers (Jeffrey Combs) gets his head blown off, only to be have it instantly replaced with… a ghost head!!
