Article by Trace Thurman

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! The holidays are usually pretty barren for us horror fans, so I thought I would honor this holiday by taking you through a tour of some of the best dinner scenes in horror film history. I fully realize that I probably skipped some of your favorites, so this is by no means the definitive list on this subject (if there ever could be one). I also probably picked some that were a bit obvious, so I tried to also include two or three lesser-known films. If you think I missed one (which I most certainly did) feel free to discuss in the comments! Otherwise, let’s take a look at some of the ways our beloved genre has utilized dinner gatherings to horrify and entertain audiences over the years. Just a heads up: I’ve included spoilers for the films in this list so watch out.

Oldboy

While not technically a dinner scene in the traditional sense, I think Oldboy definitely qualifies for a place on this list. Granted, it is probably not very intense for Korean viewers , because although this film is crazy (and amazing), the act of eating a live octopus is considered a delicacy in Korea and also something I would love to try one day if I wasn’t so afraid of the tentacles grabbing hold of my throat as it went down (which is why typically it is served sliced, though the pieces are still moving). Nevertheless, this is a pretty gross scene to watch, and a perfect symbol of Oh Dae-Su’s desire for life (or rather, to ingest another creature’s life force) after being holed up in a room for 15 years. I felt like it would be a good moment to kickstart this list.

Dumplings

I had to watch this movie (part of the anthology Three…Extremes) in an Asian Horror film class I took in college and man, it’s pretty gross. Basically, a woman eats dumplings filled with crushed human baby fetuses so that she can have eternal life. What makes the film so effective is the sound design. You hear the slimy, squirmy dumplings (and the bones of the fetuses) as the characters chew them. It’s probably my favorite use of sound in any horror movie I’ve seen recently. There’s also a pretty awesome(?) abortion scene in the film as well (if you watch the extended version that acts as a standalone film). All of this being said, I still think I would rather eat abortion fetus dumplings than balut (fertilized duck egg), which is also on display in this film.

Cheap Thrills

I did enjoy this movie a lot, but it was definitely a victim of hype for me. I heard about how good it was so often that by the time I actually got around to watching it I thought it was just alright. Don’t get me wrong, I do think it’s a good film. I just don’t think it’s amazing. I do love the “dinner” scene where they have to eat the dog though. “Love” may be the wrong choice of words but it’s just so bizarre and absolutely ridiculous. It used to really bother me when dogs died in movies but I think I’ve been desensitized so much that it just doesn’t affect me as much anymore. Like Dumplings, this is another movie where the sound really amplifies the grotesqueness of the scene. The lead characters are told they will win money if they eat the dog that has been killed and boy do they go for it. It’s hilarious and disgusting at the same time and while my feelings about the movie may be mixed, I can’t deny the effectiveness of this scene.

Tore tanzt (Nothing Bad Can Happen)

This one took the place of Poltergeist on my list (sorry!) since they both involve maggot-infested meats. I’m still a little conflicted about how I feel about this film, but that’s kind of what the director was going for. While not really a horror movie, it is definitely horrifying. Nothing Bad Can Happen follows self-proclaimed “Jesus Freak” Tore as he befriends a family and ends up living with them after the patriarch invites him into their home. It isn’t long before things take a turn for the worse (to put it mildly) as the family starts to torture poor Tore to test his religious strength. The scene in questions is probably the scene that will stick with you the longest once the movie is over and involves the parents of the family force-feeding Tore chicken that was thrown out in the garbage days before and has now become maggot-infested. I watched this movie at the Alamo Drafthouse here in Austin, which meant I was eating while I watched it. It wasn’t the best plan. You’ve been warned.

Beetlejuice

Yes I know, this isn’t technically a horror movie, but it’s one of the most memorable and entertaining dinner scenes in film history. I wasn’t allowed to watch Beetlejuice growing up because I had a lot of nightmares as a small child after finding a doll of the titular character that had a string on its back that caused its head to spin around when you pulled it. I finally got to see it when I was about 9 after I tricked my grandmother into letting me watch it. I would constantly rewind and watch this scene over and over again while singing and dancing to it in the living room. This scene combines my two favorite genres (horror and musical) and goes balls to the wall with it. In my opinion, this is the quality all horror comedies should strive to achieve.

Alien

I confess, I almost forgot to put this one on the list. I’m not sure what I was thinking, as this is one of the most iconic dinners in cinema, but I digress. I don’t really think I need to go into what makes this scene so amazing but I only wish I could have been alive in 1979 in a theater watching this for the first time. I think the impact this scene had on me was definitely softened after hearing so much about it but I can’t deny that it is a fantastic feat of technology and filmmaking. I may still prefer Aliens as a film, but damn if this scene isn’t an example of how to really knock the audience off of its feet.

Hannibal

I really like Hannibal. I still prefer that batshit insane ending of the novel (if I lost any of you with that statement I completely understand) but I think this is a great film. It’s just overshadowed by the amazing Silence of the Lambs so it never really stood a chance. Well, that and the fact that it’s a 131-minute film and it takes Hannibal nearly 6o of them to show up. That being said, the dinner scene where Ray Liotta’s Agent Krendler gets the top part of his skull removed as Hannibal slices pieces of it off to cook and feed to him is absolutely horrifying. I didn’t get to see Hannibal until years after it was released (I wasn’t allowed to watch R-rated movies until I was about 16) but I had always heard about this scene (and even read it before I saw the movie). It’s so brilliantly disturbing and definitely earns its place on this list.

Killer Joe

While the clip above actually happens before the dinner scene in the film, it’s still pretty horrifying nonetheless. I love Gina Gershon. Ever since I saw her in Bound I’ve had a thing for her. I feel the exact opposite about Matthew McConaughey. I have never liked him and he has always annoyed me in most of his films (even Frailty, which I love). But I adore him in this movie. I was looking forward to it because I really enjoyed Tracy Letts’ other plays, Bug and August: Osage County, but I didn’t know anything about it. I randomly Redboxed it one night and it was a very pleasant surprise (well, pleasant in a very weird way). Seeing Gershon blow a fried chicken leg was not exactly what I expected, but it was traumatic, to say the least. I still can’t believe that scene got this film an NC-17 rating, but I’m glad director William Friedkin didn’t trim it down to get an R. The fact that after all of this Joe tried to get everyone to sit down for a nice family dinner is all the more hilarious/horrifying. I love this movie, and the final scene is my favorite part.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child

I think this one haunts me so much because I remember seeing Greta’s stuffed face on the back of every VHS box for Nightmare 5 in any video store I walked into when I was a kid. Seeing the image of Greta’s body hanging out of the refrigerator door, with her mouth stuffed full of food is a pretty disturbing image for a 5-year-old. The fact that this is one of the most memorable deaths in the franchise (for me, at least) is kind of sad considering that it’s one of the worst films in the franchise (whether Freddy’s Revenge or Freddy’s Dead or both are worse is up for debate). Even still, seeing poor Greta get fed her own innards by Freddy is a twisted idea and I’m glad they writer had the balls to do it, despite the censoring the scene had.

You’re Next

You’re Next was one of my favorite movies from last year, and this scene is one of the main reasons why. Yes, the film has some pretty good kills in it and, while the ending is a little predictable (I admit I was expecting a little bit more to the twist, but I appreciated the simplicity of it more on a second viewing), it’s dialogue like this that really make the movie stick out for me. This movie actually takes time to establish its characters and Simon Barrett did a really good job with the dialogue in this scene. Obviously, if you’ve seen the movie, you know that things escalate rather quickly after this but I wanted to acknowledge a scene where nothing really happens to highlight the brilliance of the film. This is one of the few moments the audience gets to relax and really get to know these characters. This could easily be your family. They have real arguments and behave like real people. Then shit goes down.

Dead Alive

I hate pus. I can handle all of the blood and gore you throw at me, but the second pus gets involved I start to gag a little bit. Nothing has made me want to leave the room more than the dinner scene in Dead Alive (except possibly the eyeball-severing bit in Hostel). I admit I’m not as big on this movie as many of you are, but I can certainly appreciate all of the talent behind the film. My feelings for the film aside, I don’t think any scene has embedded itself in my memory the way this one has. You can’t tell me that this scene does not gross you out, no matter how funny it may be.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

No list of horror movie dinners can be complete without this masterpiece. This is the dinner scene to end all dinner scenes. I admit that when I first saw The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, I was bored to tears. I saw it very late in my horror viewing and I just didn’t see what all the fuss was about. After many more years filled with several re-watchings of it, I have definitely come around, and I think I can finally see what makes this movie so special in many people’s eyes. I can’t say anything about the film that hasn’t been said already but the first time I saw it, it didn’t really affect me. Somewhere down the line, though, this movie really started disturbing me. I’m not sure what happened, but this scene is so freaky to me now. No film has really been able to match this dinner scene (though the 2006 Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning would try) and I believe that’s a testament to how amazing this scene (well, the whole film really) is. Nothing else can really compare to it.

ABOUT TRACE: Trace is a graduate of the Radio/TV/Film program University of Texas at Austin and still lives in Austin. An avid fan of the horror genre, he spends most of his free time reading about/watching movies and TV shows and endlessly harassing his friends to watch underrated gems. He has a strong dislike for the lack of tact/respect present on Internet message boards and is on a mission to promote thoughtful, polite discussions between people who disagree about things online.