The Predator Movies' 14 Most Gruesome Deaths, Ranked

While the big draw of the first Predator movie was seeing the now iconic alien hunter do battle with the biggest '80s action star (Arnold Schwarzenegger), there is no doubt that seeing the Predator pick off Arnie's crew was also a huge part of why the movie was such a hit. Predator's effortless blend of sci-fi, action, and horror delivered on all levels and ensured that fans looking to see some seriously gruesome killings weren't disappointed. The film was essentially a slasher movie set in the jungle, with a high-tech alien hunter instead of a masked psychopath.

The films that followed may have varied wildly in quality, but they all have one thing going for them--they continued to deliver the kills. The decision to set 1990's Predator 2 in the urban jungle, namely "futuristic" Los Angeles (it's set in 1997), provided the Predator with even more victims, and its increased selection of weaponry added plenty of variety to his kills. And although the next movie, Alien vs. Predator (2004), toned down some of the violence to get a PG-13 rating, Alien vs. Predator: Requiem (2007) brought the gore levels back up and delivered some of the nastiest deaths of the franchise. The fifth movie in the series, 2010's Predators, returned to the jungle. This time it was an alien planet where a group of assorted soldiers, violent criminals, and mercenaries assembled to take on the Predators with suitably bloody results.

The Predator is the latest entry in the series, and we already know that it will deliver the gory goods. In GameSpot's The Predator review, Rafael Motamayor said that "those craving an R-rated The Predator will get their money's worth, as spines get ripped out and every part of the human body is shredded to pieces at one point or another." So to celebrate the latest addition to this gore-splattered franchise hitting theaters, here's a look at the series' most gruesome death scenes.

The first Alien vs. Predator was also the first movie in the series to carry a PG-13 rating, so the gore is somewhat toned down compared to the two previous entries. Nevertheless, there are a couple of juicy moments. Gruff mercenary Max Stafford meets an unpleasant end when a Predator fires his Netgun at him. As the net contracts painfully over his face, cutting into his flesh, the Predator seals the deal by impaling him on his Combistick.

While the Predators do most of the killing, occasionally one of their human prey does get the upper hand. At the end of Predators, surviving heroes Royce and Isabelle manage to defeat the fearsome Berserker. After Isabelle shoots the creature, Royce grabs its axe and chops off its arm and then its head in satisfyingly juicy close-up.

Young love doesn't stand much of a chance when a Predator is in town. Poor Jesse might have been introduced as the romantic interest for our hero Ricky in Alien vs. Predator: Requiem, but a flying shuriken thrown by the Xenomorph-hunting Predator Wolf quickly ends that relationship. Jesse is pinned nastily to the wall while Ricky runs after Wolf, guns blazing.

Played by former wrestling star Jesse "The Body" Ventura, gunner Blain Cooper is the second of the elite army squad to get picked off in the first movie. He is blasted from behind as he stalks the Predator through the jungle, his chest exploding in our faces.

Laurence Fishburne's role as crazy survivalist Noland in Predators is relatively small but highly memorable and he has a great death scene. His attempts to kill the movie's heroes attract the attention of the Tracker Predator, who corners Noland and blasts him with his Plasmacaster, causing his entire body to explode.

Buddy Benson and his son Sam are on a woodland hunting trip when they encounter some Facehuggers that have escaped from the crashed Predator ship. Buddy and Sam both become hosts for the Alien and get to share a gruesome simultaneous chestburst. This is particularly noteworthy for the fact that Sam is a small child, usually off limits in this type of movie.

Predators like their trophies, and where possible they remove the head and attached spinal column from their victims to display proudly on the walls of their spacecraft. In Predator 2, likeable loudmouth cop Jerry (played by the late, great Bill Paxton) meets an unpleasant end when he is dragged into the sewers of LA and has his spine ripped-out. The moment itself is shot at a distance, but director Stephen Hopkins then gives us a juicy close-up of Jerry's body just to make sure we didn't miss it.

Mac (Bill Duke) manages to last more than an hour into the original Predator, but his luck runs out when he attempts to sneak up on the creature. The three glowing laser sights move from his arm to his head, which then explodes as the Predator blasts him, splattering the camera with gore.

From the moment he steps on screen in Predator 2, it's quite clear that Gary Busey's snarling Federal agent Keyes is going to meet an unpleasant end. And the movie doesn't disappoint. During a confrontation with the Predator in a meat locker, the creature throws his Smartdisc at Keyes. It slices through a row of hanging animal carcasses before it does exactly the same to Keyes, cutting him cleanly in half.

With the exception the aforementioned Netgun scene, the best deaths in Alien vs. Predator occur--unsurprisingly--during the skirmishes between Predators and Xenomorphs. In a moment that fans of both franchises must have been waiting years to see on screen, one unlucky Predator is killed when a Xenomorph smashes its extendable jaws through his Biomask and into his head, sending fluorescent brain matter flying everywhere.

We don't actually see the moment that mystical drug lord King Willy is killed in Predator 2, but the aftermath of his death is so good it deserves a mention here. Willy is confronted by the Predator in an alleyway and prepares to fight. Cut to what seems to be Willy screaming--until the camera pulls back and we see that it's actually his severed head, being carried away by the Predator. Bad luck Willy.

One of the most spectacularly nasty deaths in the whole series, the demise of wisecracking serial killer Stans allows us to see the Predator's spine-rip in close detail. Stans is overcome by the Berserker Predator, who reaches down and in one swift, brutal motion, wrenches his entire spinal column and skull from his body.

It might be the worst Predator movie, but Requiem does have plenty of satisfyingly splattery moments. Perhaps the most gruesome death comes in the sequence in which the Predalien (the movie's Predator/Alien hybrid) attacks the maternity ward of a hospital. It forces Alien embryos down the throat of a heavily pregnant woman, whose belly then erupts in disgusting detail.

The first Predator gave '80s action fans the glorious team-up of Arnold Schwarzenegger with another of the decade's great action icons--Apollo Creed himself, Carl Weathers. Sadly Carl, playing Colonel Al Dillon, doesn't make it to the end of the movie, but he does get its most spectacularly nasty death. Cornered by the Predator, Dillon has his arm blasted clean off--we see the severed limb drop to the ground, still firing into the trees. Luckily he has a second weapon, so while his right stump spurts blood, he spins round ready to blast his attacker. Sadly it's all too late and The Predator spears him through his chest.