When it comes to big-screen action, violence comes in many shapes and forms. On one end of the spectrum, you have superhero action, where someone can be punched through a wall, only to shrug it off with a joke that has a little product placement snuck in. On the other end, you have people standing ankle deep in blood with limbs missing, guns blazing, and there’s still 40 minutes left in the movie.

Those extremely brutal movies can be cathartic experiences for moviegoers if the violence is used in a way that drives home the themes of the film, or if it just looks really cool. The following is a breakdown of the most violent movies of the last ten years, ranked by the quality of overall storytelling and how the violence was incorporated into the film’s narrative.

10

‘John Wick: Chapter 4’ (2023)

John Wick: Chapter 4 begs the question: Is there anyone in the world who is not a trained assassin? Is there a baker who just bakes and wouldn’t accept murder coins as currency? The fourth and at one time thought to be the final installment in the John Wick movies saw Keanu Reeves return as the killer of killers, John Wick. This time, John aimed his crosshairs at the High Table, the ruling council of the quickly diminishing assassins.

Any of the movies in the John Wick franchise could make a strong argument for one of the most violent movies of the last decade, so the only way to properly crown the winner is by body count. John Wick: Chapter 4 gives PETA poster child John Wick a new high score with an estimated 140 bodies that died at his hands. We’ll have to wait to see if John can beat his number when the announced fifth installment hits theaters.

9

‘Mandy’ (2018)

The 2018 action horror movie Mandy didn’t hold back on violence in its tale of revenge. Nicolas Cage put on his angry face as Red Miller, a man with a violent past who has settled down for a quiet life with his girlfriend Mandy (Andrea Riseborough). Their idyllic existence is shattered when a nearby religious cult kidnaps and kills Mandy, sending Red down an unstoppable path of blood-soaked vengeance.

Boasting psychedelic visuals and extreme over-the-top scenes of violence, Mandy quickly became a cult-hit with fans who appreciated the unique style of the movie. Cage taps into a primal level of rage as his grief carries him from one fight to the next, and Red is one of those parts that benefits from the bombastic nature of the actor’s approach to his work. Violence is the co-star to Cage in Mandy, acting as the means of control, devotion, and ultimately retribution in a story about processing grief and large doses of LSD.

8

‘The Sadness’ (2021)

A potent virus turns people into violent, maniacal monsters in the Taiwanese horror movie <em>The Sadness</em>. The film follows Jim (Berant Zhu) and Kat (Regina Lei), a young couple desperately trying to reunite as their city falls to unspeakable violence from otherwise calm and civilized individuals. However, even if they can survive the onslaught of pain and cruelty, there’s no guarantee they can withstand being infected with the virus that will turn them as well.

If the Marquis de Sade stumbled into a time machine and was transported to modern day, The Sadness is the movie he would write. There are brief moments of calm before the day begins for our heroes, and then after that, each scene offers up new combinations of depravity and gleeful violence that will make some with weak stomachs find an excuse to go into the other room. The Sadness is one of the most brutal horror movies in the zombie/infected genre, and it’s worth the watch for those who aren’t bothered by disturbing imagery.

7

‘Terrifier 2’ (2022)