scarface

We recently sat down with one of the 26 filmmakers behind the horror anthology of The ABCs of Death 2, Erik Matti, to discuss the logistics of creating the film, when to use comedy in horror, the future of VOD, and much, much more, but we saved one segment of our conversation for last.

Published today, we have his take on his favorite movie death of all time: the chainsaw sequence in Brian De Palma‘s Scarface. To go along with his answer, Drafthouse Films put together a supercut of all the favorite deaths from each director, which can be seen below (Matti’s pick pops up around the 1:11 mark), along with his explanation of how it became his favorite.

It’s a hard question. I had to go back to the library in my head, the memorable death scenes. I even went as far as The Evil That Men Do with Charles Bronson. I picked and chose and eventually ended up choosing the chainsaw scene in Scarface. Putting some thought into it, the reason why it worked for me is beyond just the killing. It works as a little piece of film. That whole operatic sequence of the use of sound design, how it goes into the window and then the chainsaw is replaced by this almost tropical copacabana-ish music. Steven Bauer is waiting in the car and then he goes back again and then the chainsaw takes over.

Although when I looked a bit I was able to put in the first theatrical version which was slaughtered and then I switched to the director’s cut and that’s where it really worked. In the shortened version, it was just a killing and then Steven Bauer already realized it’s taking them so long and then they already did the attack. In the other one there’s already a whole sequence and a whole cinematic suspension of disbelief, which is very Brian De Palma, of course. He loves to extend and expand, pretty much like the sequence in Dressed to Kill and then in Body Double in the mall down by the beach. He loves extending the suspense and not doing everything in one bite. When the killing comes, it’s immediate, it’s urgent, but then there’s a whole lot of set-up that went into it. It’s goes beyond just the, ‘Oh, I want to kill him with a chainsaw and I kill him and then that’s the end of the scene.’ It goes beyond that. It’s well thought out. It’s like a ballet in chainsaw killing.

The ABCs of Death 2 is now available on VOD and hits theaters on October 31st.

What is your favorite movie death?

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