User blog:BrianBerta/Top 10 Movie Suicides

Suicides are definitely one of the darker aspects of life. It can be disturbing to know about them in real life. However, some movies have been successfully able to bring the horrors of them to the big screen and were able to make memorable scenes which can bring out many different emotions from the viewer. In this list, I'm going to be counting down the ones which I feel are the most memorable and well-done. Obviously, you will disagree on some of these but just remember that this is just my own subjective opinion and most likely, it is going to be different than yours. Anyways, here is my list.

Number 10: Max Renn from Videodrome (1983)

This is definitely one of the more weirder films out there. It isn't "Eraserhead" level weird but it definitely has its own set of oddities. This movie is about a tv channel host who investigates a v/h/s tape called "Videodrome". However, he begins to experience disturbing body horror instances. After he kills several people in hopes of stopping Videodrome, he finds out that he needs to kill himself so he can stop it for good. He witnesses it being done on tv first. Then he points the gun to his head, says "Long live the new flesh", and kills himself as the movie ends.

Number 9: Ellen Ripley from Alien 3 (1992)

This was a pretty bad film, yes. However, I have to admit that Ripley's suicide at the end stands out. Ripley has escaped many different situations while most if not all of her other crew members died. However, it's only a matter of time before her luck runs out. After Ripley kills the last alien on a planet, she finds out that there is a queen growing inside her. Someone who looks like Bishop offers to remove it via surgery but she doesn't trust him. She then jumps into molten lead to kill herself. Just before she dies though, the alien bursts out of her chest only to fall in with her.

Number 8: Father Damien Karras from The Exorcist (1973)

The Exorcist is often considered to be one of the scariest movies ever made. I personally found this more disturbing than scary but the ending is definitely very well-done. This movie is about 2 priests trying to perform an exorcism on a possessed girl. After Father Lankester Merrin is found dead, Karras then begs for the demon to take him instead. The demon then possesses him and he's given one last second of sanity as he jumps out the window and falls to his death. It is quite an end to the film and it left many in shock who saw it for the very first time.

Number 7: The Lisbon Sisters from The Virgin Suicides (1999)

This is definitely the most horrifying suicide on this list. This is about a group of attractive and odd sisters who are love interests for boys in the neighborhood. After they visit their house though, they find all of them killed themselves in various ways. The deaths include one of them dying by carbon monoxide poisoning as she kept a car engine running in a sealed garage. Another one of them died by overdosing on sleeping pills. There is a huge variety and the fact that this happened to little kids makes it all the more hard to watch.

Number 6: Ben Sanderson from Leaving Las Vegas (1995)

All of the other suicides in this list only take up a few minutes of screen time. However, this suicide is particularly drawn out throughout the film. Ben is a hollywood screenwriter whose alcoholism cost him his job, family, and friends. He then moves to Las Vegas so he can literally drink himself to death. He meets a prostitute named Sera who tries to help him as he gets slowly more weaker. Eventually, he gives in and dies while talking to her. His last word before dying is "Wow". We all wanted him to survive but you and I both knew that he wouldn't have survived.

Number 5: "Little" Bill Thompson from Boogie Nights (1997)

Boogie Nights: One of if not the only good porn movie ever made. Ever. This movie follows a young man's journey through the porn industry in the late 1970's and early 80's. Bill married a porn star but he couldn't satisfy her sexual thirst so she frequently had sex with other men in public to embarrass him. Eventually, he has had enough so on a Christmas Eve party, he shoots his wife, the man having sex with her, and he shoots himself. The scene is made more disturbing with Bill's facial expression just before he kills himself. It goes by very fast and it hits us very hard when he pulls the trigger.

Number 4: Brooks Hatlen from The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

Some suicides can be disturbing. However, Brooks Hatlen's suicide is very heartbreaking from start to finish. After an old librarian retires from his prison job, he goes back into everyday life where he finds it too fast-paced for him. The emotional narration and music makes the scene more depressing. We know that he is going to hurt himself but that thought doesn't occur to us until it's too late. Eventually, he decides that he has had enough of his life and he hangs himself. Just before he dies though, he carves the phrase "Brooks was here" onto the wall.

Number 3: Romeo and Juliet from Romeo + Juliet (1996)

Kind of like the shower scene in Psycho, pretty much everyone knows the ending to this tale so it's really hard to spoil it. However, the film's twist on it makes it more tragic. In this adaptation of it, just before Romeo takes the potion, Juliet wakes up and for a second there, we think that it might actually have a happy ending. However, Juliet is a second too late and Romeo notices her right after he takes the potion. The reason this scene works so well is because they both would've lived had only Romeo have gotten there one second later.

Number 2: Thelma and Louise from Thelma & Louise (1991)

After Louise shoots and kills a rapist, they are forced to go on the run from the cops to avoid prison. We knew that they would eventually be caught but we didn't know that THIS would happen. After days of running from the cops, they find themselves cornered on a cliff with no way to go. Instead of spending the rests of their lives in prison though, they decide that it will be better to drive off the cliff and kill themselves instead of getting arrested. This ending comes as a surprise and the music and camera cuts makes it even more memorable.

Number 1: Pvt. Pyle "Gomer Pyle" Lawrence from Full Metal Jacket (1987)

Many people tend to agree that the second half is weaker. I agree, but the first half is most definitely amazing. While training to go to the Vietman War, Pvt. Pyle is constantly picked on by the drill instructor Lt. Lockhart because he keeps screwing up and keeps making him mad. This movie seemed like a simple comedy at first but he then finally reaches his breaking point. He decides to end his life but he doesn't want to go alone and he takes Lt. Lockhart, the man who yelled at him, with him. He is about to shoot Pvt. Joker also but he then changes his mind. He sits back down on the toilet and shoots himself in the mouth. This scene is very engaging and there is absolutely nothing to take your attention away from Pvt. Pyle's rifle. This is the scene that makes the movie's first act a hit among the audience and this is why I put it at number

Did I miss a great pick which you believe should be on here. If so, then leave it in the comments.