Top 10 Foreshadowed Deaths In Horror Movies
#10: Keith Jennings Loses His Head
"The Omen" (1976) Richard Donner's 1976 hit pits Gregory Peck against the spawn of Satan Himself. As young Damien grows up, those around him start to mysteriously die. Photographer Keith Jennings, played by horror icon David Warner, realizes that the manner of their deaths is foreshadowed in photographs – including his own! To his horror, his reflection in one of the photos shows a long black slash where his neck should be. Sure enough, while he’s retrieving daggers that could put an end to Satan Junior, a runaway truck rolls down an incline, and a loose pane of glass re-enacts the photo. The now classic decapitation of Warner was re-imagined in the lifeless remake, but there's no substitution for Donner's horrific set-piece.
#9: Annie & Her family
"Hereditary" (2018) Ari Aster's directorial debut kept a lot of heads inside car windows. After the death of her secretive mother, Toni Collette's Annie starts to learn things about her mysterious dealings in the occult. Family resentments boil over, as do supernatural occurrences that lead to her and her husband's demise. The movie culminates in her eldest child Peter becoming the host of the demon Paimon. The deaths of Peter’s parents, and his own damnation, are foreshadowed by references to Greek tragedy. As his classmate explains, it’s all inevitable - they’re caught up in the machinery of fate, and in denial all the while.
#8: Sarah's Friends
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"The Descent" (2008) Director Neil Marshall's first big hit in the U.S. spells out the gruesome deaths of Sarah's friends with an ominous birthday cake. Following the tragic death of her husband and daughter, adventurer Sarah continues the tradition of gathering with her five girlfriends - this time to spelunk in the Appalachian Mountains. Things go awry immediately, with a cave-in and the revelation that the cave is uncharted. Even before the cannibalistic humanoids attack, we're already in a state of constant terror from paranoia, claustrophobia, and the dark. Throughout the film, Sarah has recurring nightmares about her daughter blowing out five birthday candles. She blows them out one by one, just as the girls are brutally picked off.
#7: Dean Armitage
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"Get Out" (2017) Jordan Peele's directorial debut is rich with social commentary, addressing issues of privilege, racism, and color blindness. As Rose drives her boyfriend Chris to meet her family, she accidentally hits a deer with her car. It’s an ominous sign of what’s to come - since Rose is secretly leading Chris to the slaughter, or at least a fate worse than death. It also foreshadows the death of Rose’s father. Dean keeps a mounted deer’s head on his wall - the same head that he’s later impaled on. It's one of the less subtle moments in a film filled with racial overtones and foreshadowing, but it's satisfying nonetheless to see Chris killing Dean with one of the very things that he’s objectified.
#6: Playfighting Turns into the Real Thing
“Kill List" (2011) Ben Wheatley's hitman occult thriller is one of the most brutally unforgiving horror films in recent memory. In one scene, Jay plays with his wife and child before carrying out a series of contract killings. But never has playful roughhousing foretold such a mean-spirited death. During a job, the film shifts from crime to horror as occult symbols and rituals start to become apparent. At the film's climax, Jay is forced to fight a hunchback, killing it with a knife to the back. The reveal? It wasn't a hunchback at all, but his wife and child - re-enacting their horseplay from earlier, only with real weaponry.
#5: Curt Vaughn's Jump of Fate
"The Cabin In The Woods" (2011) Early in this film, a bird flies into an invisible electrified barrier, dropping into a canyon. Later, as the characters try to make their escape, Chris Hemsworth's Curt tries to make the canyon jump on his dirtbike. From there, it's just a matter of time – a death made funnier by the heroic build-up to the inevitable. Joss Whedon's script for "The Cabin in the Woods" dismantles every horror movie trope imaginable. The main characters head to the titular cabin for a fun night of partying. A fan of irony, Whedon loads the film with foreshadowing, such as office drone Steve Hadley's fatal desire to see a Merman.
#4: Ed's Fun-Filled Plan
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"Shaun of the Dead "(2004) Imagine waking up one morning, hungover, and the entire city is infested with zombies. That's the premise of director Edgar Wright's love letter to zombie movies. Oblivious to his surroundings, Shaun not only neglects his girlfriend, but a zombie apocalypse occurring around him. After a breakup, his best friend Ed lays out a plan for the next day, starting with a couple of bloody Mary's and ending back at the pub for shots. Sure enough, the first zombie the two encounter is named Mary and, by the end, they're back at the pub. Ed's relegation to the shed is even foreshadowed by their housemate . . .
#3: Gage Creed
"Pet Sematary" (1989) When big city doctor Louis Creed moves his family to the country, he expects peace and quiet. There’s just one problem: the main road, which is plagued with speeding tanker trucks. Louis’ son Gage is almost run over early on in the film, and the jogger Victor Pascow actually IS hit and dies. Elderly neighbour Jud warns Louis about keeping his daughter’s cat Church away from the road; but just to add MORE foreshadowing, Church is also run over. Poor Gage really doesn’t stand a chance! Hey, what do we expect from a Stephen King adaptation? In the remake, it’s Louis daughter Ellie who’s run over; but there are the same signs foreshadowing her demise.
#2: What's in the Box?
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"Se7en" (1995) "Se7en" is considered a genre staple – for fans of both detective thrillers and horror. Retiring detective Somerset, played by Morgan Freeman, teams up with a new partner for his last case: a serial killer whose murders are based on the seven deadly sins. If one thing sticks in viewers' memories, it's what we don't actually see: Gwyneth Paltrow's head in a box. Except that Fincher, notoriously a stickler for details, does actually show the audience her head framed in a window earlier in the film. It's one of the numerous subtle details the director has become known for. Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honourable mentions: Tatum Riley “Scream” (1996) The Shark "Jaws" (1975) Dr. Foley "Cult of Chucky" (2017) Noah Clay "The Ring" (2002) Kane "Alien" (1979)
#1: Pretty Much Everybody
"Final Destination" (2000) The "Final Destination" franchise is made up entirely of foreshadowed deaths. After escaping a plane explosion due to a premonition, teens and teachers of an aborted high school trip to France are picked off one by one by Death itself. Tod, who mimes strangling himself on the plane, is . . . well, strangled to death. And Terry, who gets hit by a bus, is earlier seen with a picture of a bus behind her. Terry’s last words are all too fitting . . . Every character, whether they notice or not, is given a hint that they're on death's checklist. Although Valerie’s elaborate, Rube-Goldberg machine death was a liiiittle harder to predict . . .
