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* Mystique in ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'' neck-snaps a guard with her feet since her hands are chained to the ceiling.
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* Mystique in ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'' neck-snaps a guard with her feet since her hands are chained to the ceiling. In a deleted scene, Beast dispatches a mook this way.
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* ''Film/TheGreenGoblinsLastStand'', just like the comics, has Spider-Man do this accidentally when the whiplash from catching Gwen with his web snaps her neck.
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* ''Film/TheDevilsRejects'': [[TheSpeechless Tiny]] does this to [[KnightTemplar Sheriff Wydell]], who's trying to kill his sister [[EvilIsSexy Baby]], and the Sheriff ends up with his [[CrossesTheLineTwice head on backwards]]. Somewhat [[JustifiedTrope justified]] in that [[IronicNickname Tiny is seven feet tall]].
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* ''Film/TheDevilsRejects'': [[TheSpeechless Tiny]] does this to [[KnightTemplar Sheriff Wydell]], who's trying to kill his sister [[EvilIsSexy Baby]], Baby, and the Sheriff ends up with his [[CrossesTheLineTwice head on backwards]]. Somewhat [[JustifiedTrope justified]] in that [[IronicNickname Tiny is seven feet tall]].
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** Thor in ''Film/ThorTheDarkWorld'' does this to a Marauder by twisting his head ''with one hand''.
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** During the Battle of New York in ''Film/TheAvengers2012'', Captain America appears to break a Chitauri soldier's neck ''with one hand''.
** Thor in ''Film/ThorTheDarkWorld'' does this to a Marauder by twisting his head''with with one hand''.hand.
** Thor in ''Film/ThorTheDarkWorld'' does this to a Marauder by twisting his head
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* In ''Penitentiary II'', Creator/MrT kills Ernie Hudson this way, albeit with a crush rather than a snap. As he says, "I'ma kill ya! I'ma kill ya slow!"
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* In ''Penitentiary II'', Creator/MrT [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tvshudson_5181.jpg kills Ernie Hudson this way, way,]] albeit with a crush rather than a snap. As he says, "I'ma kill ya! I'ma kill ya slow!"slow!" And it is; no quick snap here, just a gradual SickeningCrunch as Hudson slowly goes limp.
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* ''Film/TheresaAndAllison'': Paisley instantly kills the sole vampire to object about her having a human be raped before she's killed this way.
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* This occurs a number of times in the ''Film/ParanormalActivity'' franchise. In the second film, Possessed-Katie snaps Dan's neck. In the third film, the Demon snaps both Dennis' neck ''and'' back. In the fourth film, Possessed-Katie snaps Ben's neck while he's sat at the computer, and in ''The Ghost Dimension'', the now corporeal Toby strangles Emily before snapping her neck.
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** In ''Film/YouOnlyLiveTwice'' Bond tries it on the assassin who killed Henderson and succeeds.
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** In ''Film/YouOnlyLiveTwice'' Bond tries it on breaks the neck of and kills the the assassin who killed Henderson and succeeds.Henderson.
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* At the beginning of ''Film/SupermanII'', Non breaks the neck of a guard as part of General Zod's plan to take over the planet Krypton.
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* At the beginning of ''Film/SupermanII'', Non breaks the a guard's neck of a guard as part of General Zod's plan to take over the planet Krypton.
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* ''Film/TheRunningMan'': During the faked scene where Captain Freedom fights Amber, he performs a NeckLift on her before breaking her neck.
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* ''Film/TheRunningMan'': ''Film/TheRunningMan''
** During the escape from prison at the beginning of the movie, Richard's friend Laughlin breaks the neck of a guard who was about to shoot Richards.
** During the faked scene where Captain Freedom fights Amber, he performs a NeckLift on her before breaking her neck.
** During the escape from prison at the beginning of the movie, Richard's friend Laughlin breaks the neck of a guard who was about to shoot Richards.
** During the faked scene where Captain Freedom fights Amber, he performs a NeckLift on her before breaking her neck.
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* ''Film/BloodRayne'': Rayne finishes Katarin this way.
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* ''Film/EbolaSyndrome'' have Kai, the VillainProtagonist killing at least 3 people by breaking their necks, the first being his ex-boss in the opening scene - caught sleeping with the boss' wife, he fights back and subsequently got his boss' head caught in the hinges of a folding table. Kai then proceeds to jump on the table and snap it shut, and the results aren't ''pretty''. What's even worse is Kai jumping up and down on said table's top [[DesecratingTheDead with the boss' head still twisted underneath]].
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* ''Film/Cadaver2020'': While [[TheProtagonist Leonora]] is in a struggle with one of the actors, she puts her guest mask on his face. As a result, the large man in white who comes to them through the secret door behind the painting mistakes the actor for a guest and snaps his neck, killing him
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* ''Film/JohndoeVigilante'': Used by John doe to murder his last victim after faking a suicide attempt in order to draw the victim in close enough to grab him.
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* ''Film/JohndoeVigilante'': ''Film/JohnDoeVigilante'': Used by John doe Doe to murder his last victim after faking a suicide attempt in order to draw the victim in close enough to grab him.
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** In ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'', Ronan does this to The Other, using a shockwave from his hammer to twist his head right around.
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** In ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'', ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014'', Ronan does this to The Other, using a shockwave from his hammer to twist his head right around.
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** In ''Film/DoctorStrangeInTheMultiverseOfMadness'', [[spoiler: [[BigBad Wanda]]]] breaks Professor X's neck while he's inside her mind which also breaks his neck in the real world.
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* In ''Film/{{Clownhouse}}'', this is lunatic Cheezo's preferred method of killing people. In a SuprisinglyRealisticOutcome, this is shown as being much harder to do than it is in most movies and Cheezo has to put serious effort into it.
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* In ''Film/{{Clownhouse}}'', this is lunatic Cheezo's preferred method of killing people. In a SuprisinglyRealisticOutcome, SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome, this is shown as being much harder to do than it is in most movies and Cheezo has to put serious effort into it.
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* In ''Film/{{Clownhouse}}'', this is lunatic Cheezo's preferred method of killing people. In a SuprisinglyRealisticOutcome, this is shown as being much harder to do than it is in most movies and Cheezo has to put serious effort into it.
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* In ''Film/TheTripper'', the killer murders the first redneck this way; running past him, grabbing his head and twisting it so his neck snaps, all without breaking stride.
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* Happens twice in ''Film/TheAdventuresOfBuckarooBanzaiAcrossThe8thDimension'':
** Lord John Whorfin performs a NeckLift on an attendant, pins him against a wall, and snaps his neck.
** During the infiltration of Yoyodyne, John Parker snaps the neck of a Red Lectroid.
* The president in ''Film/AirForceOne'' does a pretty realistic one, with considerable effort and a quiet little snap.
* In the made-for-video B-movie ''Film/AirlineDisaster'', Agent Vitale snaps a female hijacker's neck. A rare example that suggests that a) it takes effort and b) it actually hurts the person being killed.
* Done realistically in ''Film/TheAmerican''. Creator/GeorgeClooney's character runs a rival hitman off the road, then grabs his head as he leans out the window to shoot him, using his weight to break the man's neck over the car door.
* This happens in the 2014 revenge flick ''Film/AmericanMuscle'' when the villain's only female mook - a short, scrawny, inked-up punk called "Sassy Fanny", gets the drop on Jack as he tries to sneak into his brother's home. After a vicious beatdown on the veranda Jack pins her to the wall and strangles her before finally ripping her tongue out with one hand (payback for biting his neck in a prior fight) and breaking her neck with the other.
* ''Film/{{Anaconda}}'': Bizarrely, ''[[ItCanThink the Anaconda]]'' uses this on it first victim.
* ''Film/TheAnnihilators'' from 1984 has a rather [[SpecialEffectsFailure bad]] example, with the character simply grabbing an enemy soldier in a headlock and lightly squeezing and pushing his head to the side with his palm, with the soldier's head falling limp with a popping sound effect.
* ''Film/ArmyOfTheDead'': [[spoiler:Maria Cruz]] is killed with a particularly graphic one. [[spoiler:An Alpha zombie comes out of the elevator behind her, grabs her head before she can even react, and twists a full 180 degrees with enough force to cause her spine to pop out.]]
* ''Film/{{Assassins}}'': After Bain is arrested and put in a police car, he disposes of a cop sitting in the driver's seat by kicking out the side window and breaking his neck from behind, using only one hand in a casual effortless way that suggests the cop's spine was made of cardboard.
* ''Film/TheAvengers1998''. Mrs. Peel's clone does it to a Prospero Project Lab staff member while breaking into the facility.
* The 1995 action film ''Film/{{Ballistic}}'' has the villain's muscular henchwoman and lover Claudia (played by Cory Everson) beat a man nearly to death before snapping his neck with one hand. Later, Claudia finds herself on the receiving end of this when Jesse manages to reverse her chokehold and yank Claudia's head over her back, using her shoulder as leverage to break her neck.
* ''Film/TheBellWitchHaunting'' has one of the possessed perform this on the priest one-handed.
* In ''Film/BigGame'', [[spoiler:the vice president]] is killed by having his neck slammed against a bathroom sink, snapping it in the process. Helps to MakeItLookLikeAnAccident.
* In ''Film/{{Black Christmas|2019}}'', Black Mask kills [[spoiler:Helena]] this way during the ritual in the frat house.
* In ''Film/BlueJasmine'', Jasmine's husband Hal committed suicide in prison by hanging himself. Jasmine's listeners think it must have been horrible to suffocate to death, but she enlightens them that hanging actually kills you by neck snap.
* In ''Film/BodyguardsAndAssassins'' the final assassin does this to a MauveShirt. Unusually enough he has to use a scarf for leverage and wastes a fair bit of time pulling it off.
* ''Film/TheBourneSeries'':
** ''Film/TheBourneUltimatum'' subverts this, with Nikki jumping on an assassin's back and trying to snap his neck, only to be flung back into the wall behind them.
** ''Film/JasonBourne'' plays it straight, with Bourne doing this to the [[spoiler:Asset]].
* ''Film/BulletproofMonk'': This is how Jade rounds out her DesignatedGirlFight against the villain's sexy second-in-command, Nina Strucker. Right after breaking Nina's leg and delivering a vicious sucker punch that sends her careening headfirst into a wall, Jade pulls her haggard opponent into a chokehold before brutally snapping her neck. This is a somewhat poor example due to Jades awkward grip on her victim, but her violent twisting motion along with the signature "Crunch!" of a neck being broken leaves little room for confusion.
* The TV movie ''Film/{{Chameleon}}'' has Kam (played by Bobbie Philips) snapping a neck on a person.
* Subverted in ''Film/{{Changeling}}''. The child-murdering SerialKiller Northcott was supposed to die this way at the gallows, but ends up being strangled to death due to a rope malfunction.
* In ''Film/ClearAndPresentDanger'', the drug lord's right-hand man Felix kills his lover/informant Moira by breaking her neck while they're making out.
* ''Film/{{Clownface}}'': Clownface kills Jenna's father by snapping his neck.
* In ''Film/ColdMountain'', Ruby does this to a rooster that won't shut up, then immediately prepares it for supper. Specifically, she wrings its neck, done by twirling the chicken by the head twice and then whipping the body forward (as we see in the film, this also [[OffWithHisHead tears off the head]] when done correctly).
* In ''Film/{{Commando}}'', [[Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger John Matrix]] snaps the neck of one of Arius's henchmen while aboard a plane (differing slightly as the said henchman is knocked out first). This leads to the immortal line, "Do not disturb my friend, he is dead tired."
* In ''Film/CradleOfFear'', The Man kills a nurse when breaking into the asylum by grabbing her head and twisting it around 180 degrees.
* ''Film/{{Cryptz}}'': This is how one of the female vampires ends up killed.
* In ''Film/Cube2Hypercube'', at the end Simon murders Sasha by breaking her neck.
* ComicBook/{{Bane}}'s preferred method of making a point in ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises''. One case subverts the instant death effect that this trope usually has, as when Bane snaps the neck of SmugSnake[=/=]CorruptCorporateExecutive Daggett, Daggett can be heard screaming afterward.
* In ''Film/DeathBecomesHer'', Madeline is [[FingerPokeOfDoom pushed down a long flight of marble stairs]] and winds up in a heap with her head twisted around backwards. We do hear several bones break during the tumble.
* Pachenko in ''Film/DeathRace''. In the movie, it's legal to kill other drivers during races, but for Jason Statham's character [[ItsPersonal it's personal]]. So instead of simply running him over when he gets the chance, Jason gets out of his car in the middle of a race, just to snap Pachenko's neck.
* In ''Film/DeathRing'', Matt does this to one of the sentries when he sneaks back into Vachs' mansion to rescue Lauren.
* In ''Film/TheDescent'', Juno does this to a Crawler.
* Tragically performed by a son against father in ''Film/DesertHeat'' after being pushed too far by an abusive father.
* In the 1929 film version of ''Film/TheDesertSong'', General Birabeau grabs Azuri by the neck.
* ''Film/TheDevilsRejects'': [[TheSpeechless Tiny]] does this to [[KnightTemplar Sheriff Wydell]], who's trying to kill his sister [[EvilIsSexy Baby]], and the Sheriff ends up with his [[CrossesTheLineTwice head on backwards]]. Somewhat [[JustifiedTrope justified]] in that [[IronicNickname Tiny is seven feet tall]].
* During John [=McClane=]'s first brawl in ''Film/DieHard'', he does this to a guy by putting him in a choke-hold and falling down the stairs with him. Missing the usual "walnut-snapping" sound effect.
* Hayabusa does this to a random {{mook}} while sneaking into the bad guy's lab in ''Film/DOADeadOrAlive'' TheMovie.
* In ''Film/{{Dogma}}'', the angel Bartleby is accosted by a security guard, and says, in what is arguably the best use of a ShoutOut in movie history: "[[Series/TheIncredibleHulk1977 Don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry.]]" The security guard doesn't heed the warning, and a few seconds later is on the receiving end of a one-handed version of this trope.
* This method is also used in the Creator/FrankLangella version of ''Film/{{Dracula 1979}}'', when the Count [[spoiler:kills Renfield. Later, he nearly does the same to Harker, but is stopped by Van Helsing.]]
* Borderline example in the ''Film/{{Elektra}}'' film, where a ninja mook snaps his own neck, just by turning the head ''very fast''.
* In ''Film/{{Embrace of the Vampire|2013}}'', the vampire kills Daciana by swinging down from the ceiling, grabbing her head and twisting it sharply.
* In ''Film/EndOfDays'', {{Satan}} kills a guy by grabbing his head and twisting it 180 degrees.
* ''Film/EnterTheDragon'' has a few neck snap scenes including one character (Creator/JackieChan in his cameo appearance) getting his neck snapped by Creator/BruceLee himself during a battle.
* Arnie is ''in love'' with this trope. In ''Film/{{Eraser}}'' he does this by trapping a mook's head with a fridge door and ''twisting his torso''.
* After he and Christmas defeat [[EvilBrit The Brit]], Jet Lee's character finishes him off by snapping his neck using an ''axe kick'' in ''Film/TheExpendables''.
* Varla snaps a man's neck during a fight in ''Film/FasterPussycatKillKill'' At least that was during a knock-down, drag-out fight though. She uses her entire body, and it takes her several seconds to accomplish.
* At the end of ''Film/FearInc'', when everyone is gathered at the diner for the 'wrap party', [[spoiler:Ben has his neck snapped by one of the Fear, Inc. crew, as Joe discovers that it really ''isn't'' a game]].
* Kenshiro kills Goliath in ''Film/FistOfTheNorthStar'' by twisting his neck around.
-->'''Goliath:''' Who are you?\\
'''Kenshiro:''' The Fist of the North Star. '''''[snap]'''''
* ''Film/TheFunhouseMassacre'': Rocco the Clown kills the scare actor who's mask ([[FacialHorror and face]]) he stole by snapping his neck in front of the protagonists. Since it's set in a Haunted House Attraction, they assume it's AllPartOfTheShow.
* In ''Film/FutureWar'' The Master breaks a female lab assistant when she falls from an air duct.
* ''Film/{{Future World|2018}}'': Ash kills a man in the Warlord's gang after he commands it this way.
* Kable kills Hackman this way in ''Film/{{Gamer}}''. He has to do it twice before Hackman finally dies.
* ''Genghis Khan: To the Ends of the Earth and Sea'' have Genghis executing a traitor using this method, in front of his generals. Said traitor was actually a very close friend of Genghis, who's ForcedIntoEvil and offers to let himself be killed in order to atone for his actions, where his last request is for a clean, honorable death, hence this trope. And Genghis is actually tearing up when twisting the neck.
* ''Film/GhostRock'': After a prolonged martial arts fight, Slaughter eventually kills the Barber by snapping his neck.
* ''Film/TheGoldenChild'': A {{mook}} villain [[HeelFaceTurn converted to the side of the good guys]] breaks the neck of another, unconverted Mook to prevent him from skewering Chandler Jarrow with a crossbow bolt and allow the rescue of the title character.
* In ''Film/TheGrudge'', this is how [[StringyhairedGhostGirl Kayako]] is murdered by her husband, thus starting the curse. In the sequel, this is also how [[spoiler:Aubrey]] and [[spoiler:Doctor Sullivan]] meet their ends.
* Michael Myers from the ''Franchise/{{Halloween}}'' series is quite a fan of this trope. There's Grady's death in ''Film/Halloween4TheReturnOfMichaelMyers'', the hermit in ''Film/Halloween5TheRevengeOfMichaelMyers'', and Mrs. Strode's death in [[Film/{{Halloween 2007}} the remake]].
* ''Film/{{Hanna}}'' has the title character (a child assassin played by Creator/SaoirseRonan) snapping the neck of the Marissa Wiegler decoy.
* ''Film/HardToKill'': Mason Storm (played by Creator/StevenSeagal) snapping a neck on one of his assassins who tried to kill him years ago.
* ''Film/{{Hayride}}'': The killer murders one of the hayride volunteers with a neck snap.
* ''Film/{{Haywire}}'' has a semi-realistic example where Mallory breaks a mook's neck using the edge of a table for leverage.
* Cato does this to one of the other tributes in ''Film/TheHungerGames'' after Katniss succeeds in blowing up all the food the career tributes had hoarded. It's [[FightSceneFailure not terribly convincing]], but they are minors acting and the lack of sound effect is due to Katniss (and in turn the audience's POV) being rendered temporarily deaf because of the explosion. (Out of universe adding a crunching sound effect would have pushed the films rating up from PG-13).
* ''Film/TheHuntForRedOctober''. Captain Ramius takes the easy route and just crushes [[ThePoliticalOfficer Putin's]] windpipe.
* The infamous ''Film/HenryPortraitOfASerialKiller'' has several neck snap scenes including the disturbing videotape scene of a mother and son getting their necks snapped.
* During ''Film/TheImaginariumOfDoctorParnassus'', Valentina breaks the neck of a chicken.
* ''Film/JamesBond''
** In ''Film/FromRussiaWithLove'' Bond tries this on Red Grant during their fight scene and fails.
** In ''Film/YouOnlyLiveTwice'' Bond tries it on the assassin who killed Henderson and succeeds.
** In ''Film/{{Thunderball}}'' Bond does this to Col. Bouvar in the teaser, with the assistance of a fireplace poker. He also does it to two SPECTRE frogmen during the underwater fight at the end.
** In ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}'' Oddjob breaks Tilly Masterson's neck by throwing his hat at her. At long range. In a forest. ''At night''.
* Subverted in ''Film/JasonX''. Jason-fucking-Voorhees snaps someone's neck, not quickly, but slowly, and having to use all of both arms. Creator/KaneHodder (Jason's actor) clarifies that script called for him to go for the quick snap, but decided that such a kill was SoLastSeason and instead convinced the director and writer to go with the slow kill instead.
* ''Film/JohndoeVigilante'': Used by John doe to murder his last victim after faking a suicide attempt in order to draw the victim in close enough to grab him.
* [[SpinosaurusVersusTRex A Spinosaurus kills a Tyrannosaurus]] this way in their laughably bloodless battle in ''Film/JurassicParkIII''. Same sound effect even. One of the raptors also performs this trick on the last remaining mercenary.
* ''Film/TheKentuckyFriedMovie'', "A Fistful of Yen" segment. Butkus does this to the three guard contestants in various ways in the ''Series/TheDatingGame'' parody.
* In ''Film/KissOfTheDragon'' Jet Li's character disposes of a pair of sadistic martial artists with a pair of neck snaps but with unorthodox methods. The first he catches in the middle of a flip and forces him head-first into the floor, and the second he finishes with a brutal roundhouse kick to the head while the guy is on his knees.
* In ''Film/KungFuHustle'', the uber-martial-artist known as the Beast becomes annoyed at the prattling of the mob boss who's hired him and gives him an irritated backhand that causes his head to twist around at least 720 degrees. The Beast runs the mob from that point onward.
* ''Film/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen''. During the fight in Dorian Gray's mansion, Captain Nemo does this to one of the Fantom's mooks.
* ''Film/LethalWeapon'':
** In the first movie, Riggs kills a TortureTechnician by snapping the guy's neck with his legs. He then throws the corpse at another mook to distract him then finishes him off by snapping ''his'' neck in the conventional way.
** After returning from the dip in the water that was supposed to kill him in ''Film/LethalWeapon2'', a very pissed Riggs attacks a mook with a chain and twists his neck around. The other gets killed by Riggs using a [[TaeKwonDoor car door]].
** In ''Film/LethalWeapon4'', Wah Sing Ku does this to a man simply by grabbing him by the throat (one-handed) and twisting it around purely by the strength of his wrist, complete with SickeningCrunch. [[RuleOfCool The film gets away with this totally ridiculous example by virtue of Ku being played by]] Creator/JetLi.
* Vampire Eli snaps the neck of a jogger in ''Film/LetTheRightOneIn'' after feeding to prevent him from turning.
** Additionally, it is also performed by Abby in the remake ''Film/LetMeIn''.
* In ''Film/LifeBlood'', Brooke kills Rhea and Patricia by snapping their necks. Rhea gets better.
* In ''Film/TheLongKissGoodnight'', amnesiac Samantha hits a stag and crashes her car. In the aftermath, she finds the deer bleeding to death and snaps its neck to put it out of its misery. Then she wonders [[AmnesiacDissonance How did I]] [[ProfessionalKiller do that]]?
** Later on the movie, she does the same to a mook sent to assassinate her.
* ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'':
** Gimli does this to an orc in the movie version of ''[[Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheTwoTowers The Two Towers]]''. Gimli's version is exceptionally badass in that he does it with one hand while facing the orc and while trapped under a huge warg corpse.
** Aragorn does too during the Battle of Pelennor Fields in ''[[Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheReturnOfTheKing The Return of the King]]''.
* In ''Film/MacheteKills'', a man enters an S&M dungeon and lets himself get strapped down, thinking he's about to have a good time. Unfortunately for him, he gets [[DoesNotLikeMen Desdemona]], who violently whips him a few times, then wraps the whip around his neck and pulls until it breaks.
* The eponymous villain in ''Film/{{Madman}}'' tries to hang one of the characters, but the intended victim manages to get himself breathing again. So he grabs his foot and pulls him downward, and the guy breaks his neck.
* ''Film/ManOfSteel'':
** Faora does this to a few soldiers who get in her way.
** After a drawn-out aerial battle with Zod, this is how Superman finally kills him, having no other choice as Zod is about to fry a human family with his EyeBeams. The shock of having to kill someone with his bare hands leaves him traumatized, not to mention having to kill the last of his people left this side of the PhantomZone to save his adoptive world.
* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse:
** ''Film/IronMan2'':
*** Ivan Vanko does this to a prison guard who tries to apprehend him.
*** Later, Black Widow appears to break a guard's neck with her legs, but this is inconclusive.
** Thor in ''Film/ThorTheDarkWorld'' does this to a Marauder by twisting his head ''with one hand''.
** In ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'', Ronan does this to The Other, using a shockwave from his hammer to twist his head right around.
** ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'': Loki makes an attempt on [[BigBad Thanos]]'s life, who anticipates it and grabs Loki by his throat and [[NeckLift lifts him up]], strangling him, and eventually increases the pressure until his neck breaks, killing him.
* In ''Film/TheMatrixRevolutions'', Morpheus sneaks up behind a {{Mook}} guarding an elevator outside the Merovingian's night club, wraps his arms around the mook's neck and breaks it.
* Creator/ChuckNorris's character, Colonel James Braddok, dispatches three or four Vietnamese soldiers this way in [[Film/MissingInActionIII the third]] ''Film/MissingInAction'' film. Somewhat unusually, it's used for stealth kills.
** Before this, in ''Missing In Action 2: The Beginning'', Braddok escapes the Vietnamese prison camp by faking his own suicide ''by hanging'', then snapping the neck of the guard that came to inspect his seemingly dead body.
* A [[MindOverMatter telekinetic]] does this to a cop in ''[[Film/Momentum2003 Momentum]]'' with a simple wave of the hand. Given that they are shown to be able to break open bank vaults with their minds, this is justified.
* In ''Film/MortalKombatTheMovie'', this is how Sonya Blade finishes her nemesis Kano. [[MurderousThighs She used her legs to do it]]. Hey, he ''did'' [[TemptingFate ask her to]] [[ExactWords give him a break]]...
** One of the early scenes in the sequel has Shao Kahn snapping Johnny Cage's neck.
* In ''[[Film/MrAndMrsSmith2005 Mr. and Mrs. Smith]]'', Mrs. Smith assassinates a target in this way.
* ''Film/NaziOverlord'': When Captain Rogers and his team are ambushed by Nazis at one point, one of the team kills one of the Nazis in this manner.
* ''Film/OriginalGangstas'' has one neck snap scene involving a teen.
* In ''Film/PaganWarrior'', TheKrampus kills Eirik by grabbing his head and rotating 180 degrees with a sickening snap.
* In ''Penitentiary II'', Creator/MrT kills Ernie Hudson this way, albeit with a crush rather than a snap. As he says, "I'ma kill ya! I'ma kill ya slow!"
* ''Film/PrinceOfDarkness''. Susan (the radiologist) comes up from behind Lomax, grabs his head and twists it, breaking his neck and killing him.
* A rather interesting variation occurs in ''Film/{{Prometheus}}'', in which not only does [the Last Engineer use this on David but also decapitatees him. However, at the same time it's subverted, as being an android, David's head is still able to function, though he needs Shaw to carry him out of the ship.
* One of the primary methods used by the wrestlers in ''Film/ProWrestlersVsZombies'' to kill the zombies, always from a sleeper hold. In particular, Shane Douglas does one after another to his zombified family, giving him a chance to whisper agonized goodbyes before snapping their necks.
* In ''Film/TheRaid'', this is how Mad Dog finishes off Jaka.
* Used on the Asian man in ''Film/{{REC}}''.
* In ''Film/{{Resident Evil|2002}}'', Rain Ocampo does it to a zombie attacking her and Alice does it repeatedly to zombies with kicks (including multiple dogs) and one MurderousThighs attack.
* ''Film/RoboCop2''. When Cain (in his Robocop 2 robot body) meets Angie in the warehouse, he grabs her head and breaks her neck, then does a NeckLift on her body.
* ''Film/TheRunningMan'': During the faked scene where Captain Freedom fights Amber, he performs a NeckLift on her before breaking her neck.
* In ''Film/Saw3D'', Hoffman does this to Palmer during his rampage through the police precinct.
* ''Film/ScaryMovie4'': PlayedForLaughs in Cindy's boxing scene with multiple broken necks from trips and falls.
* ''Film/ScreamPark'' has Roy dispatched this way after a Neck Lift.
* In the 1980 WWII film ''Film/TheSeaWolves'', Creator/RogerMoore's character dispatches a Nazi mook this way.
* ''Film/ShowdownInLittleTokyo'':
** A {{yakuza}} thug captured by the heroes snaps his own neck to avoid being interrogated.
** Kenner also breaks a mook's neck during Minako's rescue at the boss's mansion.
* ''Film/SinCity''. When Marv sneaks onto Cardinal Roark's estate, he approaches a police officer on guard duty from behind and breaks his neck.
* In ''Film/StarTrekFirstContact'', Data (being an android with incredible strength) dispatches one of the Borg this way.
* ''Franchise/StarWars'': Darth Vader appears to crush a Rebel ship captain's spine while strangling him in ''Film/ANewHope'', but that's not a typical example, as it wasn't exactly a surprise, and he has super-robot-strength arms. The SickeningCrunch was accomplished by placing walnuts inside a grapefruit rind, then crushing them.
* ''Film/StreetFighter'' has an unexpectedly realistic one. Cammy (played by diminutive Music/KylieMinogue) attempts one on a mook but he stays standing and it appears to not work as she has to flip him and punch him to actually take him out.
* At the beginning of ''Film/SupermanII'', Non breaks the neck of a guard as part of General Zod's plan to take over the planet Krypton.
* ''Film/TalesFromTheHood2'': After possessing John in "The Medium", Cliff uses his telekinetic powers to snap the neck of one of the gangbangers: twisting his almost 180 degrees.
* Happens at least three times in ''Film/TankGirl'': Tank Girl to a Water and Power trooper after offering him an "oil change"; a Ripper to a W&P trooper during the attack that freed Tank Girl, and a Ripper to a W&P trooper during the attack on the W&P fortress.
* Arnie again: Douglas Quaid pulls off two sickening neck snaps in the original ''Film/{{Total Recall|1990}}'' when he is first ambushed by the BigBad's goons after he leaves Rekall.
* This is how "The Frenchman" kills his first victim, a sniper, in ''Film/TheTournament''. He sneaks up on her using his LeParkour skills, then grabs her head and twists it.
* In ''Film/TopGun'', when Maverick’s and Goose’s plane ends up in a flat spin, they’re forced to EjectEjectEject. After jettisoning the canopy, Maverick succeeds in ejecting out of the falling aircraft, but Goose ends up launching into the canopy, bending his neck forward and killing him.
* ''Film/TrueLies'':
** Arnie once more. Bonus points for being performed while hanging upside down using only his legs to hold onto a rope.
** He also does this to the TortureTechnician, having even warned him beforehand under TruthSerum.
* In ''Film/{{Truth or Dare|2012}}'', Justin kills Gemma this way after she discovers that Felix is still alive.
* ''Film/{{Unbreakable}}''. David Dunn uses this technique during his climactic confrontation with the orange-clad janitor/serial killer/kidnapper. It's justified since David is explicitly superhuman and is implied to have well above average physical strength. Even so, he only pulls it off after putting the janitor in a chokehold for over thirty seconds straight and forcing the guy to tire himself out. In addition, it takes him multiple attempts to finally snap the neck cleanly, thus ending the fight. The scene in question can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-waJsBs0eBQ
* In ''Film/{{Unknown|2011}}'', the assassin does this to his first onscreen kill, the hero's nurse at the hospital.
* Silk Spectre in ''Film/{{Watchmen}}'' does this to a mugger.
* Mystique in ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'' neck-snaps a guard with her feet since her hands are chained to the ceiling.
----
** Lord John Whorfin performs a NeckLift on an attendant, pins him against a wall, and snaps his neck.
** During the infiltration of Yoyodyne, John Parker snaps the neck of a Red Lectroid.
* The president in ''Film/AirForceOne'' does a pretty realistic one, with considerable effort and a quiet little snap.
* In the made-for-video B-movie ''Film/AirlineDisaster'', Agent Vitale snaps a female hijacker's neck. A rare example that suggests that a) it takes effort and b) it actually hurts the person being killed.
* Done realistically in ''Film/TheAmerican''. Creator/GeorgeClooney's character runs a rival hitman off the road, then grabs his head as he leans out the window to shoot him, using his weight to break the man's neck over the car door.
* This happens in the 2014 revenge flick ''Film/AmericanMuscle'' when the villain's only female mook - a short, scrawny, inked-up punk called "Sassy Fanny", gets the drop on Jack as he tries to sneak into his brother's home. After a vicious beatdown on the veranda Jack pins her to the wall and strangles her before finally ripping her tongue out with one hand (payback for biting his neck in a prior fight) and breaking her neck with the other.
* ''Film/{{Anaconda}}'': Bizarrely, ''[[ItCanThink the Anaconda]]'' uses this on it first victim.
* ''Film/TheAnnihilators'' from 1984 has a rather [[SpecialEffectsFailure bad]] example, with the character simply grabbing an enemy soldier in a headlock and lightly squeezing and pushing his head to the side with his palm, with the soldier's head falling limp with a popping sound effect.
* ''Film/ArmyOfTheDead'': [[spoiler:Maria Cruz]] is killed with a particularly graphic one. [[spoiler:An Alpha zombie comes out of the elevator behind her, grabs her head before she can even react, and twists a full 180 degrees with enough force to cause her spine to pop out.]]
* ''Film/{{Assassins}}'': After Bain is arrested and put in a police car, he disposes of a cop sitting in the driver's seat by kicking out the side window and breaking his neck from behind, using only one hand in a casual effortless way that suggests the cop's spine was made of cardboard.
* ''Film/TheAvengers1998''. Mrs. Peel's clone does it to a Prospero Project Lab staff member while breaking into the facility.
* The 1995 action film ''Film/{{Ballistic}}'' has the villain's muscular henchwoman and lover Claudia (played by Cory Everson) beat a man nearly to death before snapping his neck with one hand. Later, Claudia finds herself on the receiving end of this when Jesse manages to reverse her chokehold and yank Claudia's head over her back, using her shoulder as leverage to break her neck.
* ''Film/TheBellWitchHaunting'' has one of the possessed perform this on the priest one-handed.
* In ''Film/BigGame'', [[spoiler:the vice president]] is killed by having his neck slammed against a bathroom sink, snapping it in the process. Helps to MakeItLookLikeAnAccident.
* In ''Film/{{Black Christmas|2019}}'', Black Mask kills [[spoiler:Helena]] this way during the ritual in the frat house.
* In ''Film/BlueJasmine'', Jasmine's husband Hal committed suicide in prison by hanging himself. Jasmine's listeners think it must have been horrible to suffocate to death, but she enlightens them that hanging actually kills you by neck snap.
* In ''Film/BodyguardsAndAssassins'' the final assassin does this to a MauveShirt. Unusually enough he has to use a scarf for leverage and wastes a fair bit of time pulling it off.
* ''Film/TheBourneSeries'':
** ''Film/TheBourneUltimatum'' subverts this, with Nikki jumping on an assassin's back and trying to snap his neck, only to be flung back into the wall behind them.
** ''Film/JasonBourne'' plays it straight, with Bourne doing this to the [[spoiler:Asset]].
* ''Film/BulletproofMonk'': This is how Jade rounds out her DesignatedGirlFight against the villain's sexy second-in-command, Nina Strucker. Right after breaking Nina's leg and delivering a vicious sucker punch that sends her careening headfirst into a wall, Jade pulls her haggard opponent into a chokehold before brutally snapping her neck. This is a somewhat poor example due to Jades awkward grip on her victim, but her violent twisting motion along with the signature "Crunch!" of a neck being broken leaves little room for confusion.
* The TV movie ''Film/{{Chameleon}}'' has Kam (played by Bobbie Philips) snapping a neck on a person.
* Subverted in ''Film/{{Changeling}}''. The child-murdering SerialKiller Northcott was supposed to die this way at the gallows, but ends up being strangled to death due to a rope malfunction.
* In ''Film/ClearAndPresentDanger'', the drug lord's right-hand man Felix kills his lover/informant Moira by breaking her neck while they're making out.
* ''Film/{{Clownface}}'': Clownface kills Jenna's father by snapping his neck.
* In ''Film/ColdMountain'', Ruby does this to a rooster that won't shut up, then immediately prepares it for supper. Specifically, she wrings its neck, done by twirling the chicken by the head twice and then whipping the body forward (as we see in the film, this also [[OffWithHisHead tears off the head]] when done correctly).
* In ''Film/{{Commando}}'', [[Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger John Matrix]] snaps the neck of one of Arius's henchmen while aboard a plane (differing slightly as the said henchman is knocked out first). This leads to the immortal line, "Do not disturb my friend, he is dead tired."
* In ''Film/CradleOfFear'', The Man kills a nurse when breaking into the asylum by grabbing her head and twisting it around 180 degrees.
* ''Film/{{Cryptz}}'': This is how one of the female vampires ends up killed.
* In ''Film/Cube2Hypercube'', at the end Simon murders Sasha by breaking her neck.
* ComicBook/{{Bane}}'s preferred method of making a point in ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises''. One case subverts the instant death effect that this trope usually has, as when Bane snaps the neck of SmugSnake[=/=]CorruptCorporateExecutive Daggett, Daggett can be heard screaming afterward.
* In ''Film/DeathBecomesHer'', Madeline is [[FingerPokeOfDoom pushed down a long flight of marble stairs]] and winds up in a heap with her head twisted around backwards. We do hear several bones break during the tumble.
* Pachenko in ''Film/DeathRace''. In the movie, it's legal to kill other drivers during races, but for Jason Statham's character [[ItsPersonal it's personal]]. So instead of simply running him over when he gets the chance, Jason gets out of his car in the middle of a race, just to snap Pachenko's neck.
* In ''Film/DeathRing'', Matt does this to one of the sentries when he sneaks back into Vachs' mansion to rescue Lauren.
* In ''Film/TheDescent'', Juno does this to a Crawler.
* Tragically performed by a son against father in ''Film/DesertHeat'' after being pushed too far by an abusive father.
* In the 1929 film version of ''Film/TheDesertSong'', General Birabeau grabs Azuri by the neck.
* ''Film/TheDevilsRejects'': [[TheSpeechless Tiny]] does this to [[KnightTemplar Sheriff Wydell]], who's trying to kill his sister [[EvilIsSexy Baby]], and the Sheriff ends up with his [[CrossesTheLineTwice head on backwards]]. Somewhat [[JustifiedTrope justified]] in that [[IronicNickname Tiny is seven feet tall]].
* During John [=McClane=]'s first brawl in ''Film/DieHard'', he does this to a guy by putting him in a choke-hold and falling down the stairs with him. Missing the usual "walnut-snapping" sound effect.
* Hayabusa does this to a random {{mook}} while sneaking into the bad guy's lab in ''Film/DOADeadOrAlive'' TheMovie.
* In ''Film/{{Dogma}}'', the angel Bartleby is accosted by a security guard, and says, in what is arguably the best use of a ShoutOut in movie history: "[[Series/TheIncredibleHulk1977 Don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry.]]" The security guard doesn't heed the warning, and a few seconds later is on the receiving end of a one-handed version of this trope.
* This method is also used in the Creator/FrankLangella version of ''Film/{{Dracula 1979}}'', when the Count [[spoiler:kills Renfield. Later, he nearly does the same to Harker, but is stopped by Van Helsing.]]
* Borderline example in the ''Film/{{Elektra}}'' film, where a ninja mook snaps his own neck, just by turning the head ''very fast''.
* In ''Film/{{Embrace of the Vampire|2013}}'', the vampire kills Daciana by swinging down from the ceiling, grabbing her head and twisting it sharply.
* In ''Film/EndOfDays'', {{Satan}} kills a guy by grabbing his head and twisting it 180 degrees.
* ''Film/EnterTheDragon'' has a few neck snap scenes including one character (Creator/JackieChan in his cameo appearance) getting his neck snapped by Creator/BruceLee himself during a battle.
* Arnie is ''in love'' with this trope. In ''Film/{{Eraser}}'' he does this by trapping a mook's head with a fridge door and ''twisting his torso''.
* After he and Christmas defeat [[EvilBrit The Brit]], Jet Lee's character finishes him off by snapping his neck using an ''axe kick'' in ''Film/TheExpendables''.
* Varla snaps a man's neck during a fight in ''Film/FasterPussycatKillKill'' At least that was during a knock-down, drag-out fight though. She uses her entire body, and it takes her several seconds to accomplish.
* At the end of ''Film/FearInc'', when everyone is gathered at the diner for the 'wrap party', [[spoiler:Ben has his neck snapped by one of the Fear, Inc. crew, as Joe discovers that it really ''isn't'' a game]].
* Kenshiro kills Goliath in ''Film/FistOfTheNorthStar'' by twisting his neck around.
-->'''Goliath:''' Who are you?\\
'''Kenshiro:''' The Fist of the North Star. '''''[snap]'''''
* ''Film/TheFunhouseMassacre'': Rocco the Clown kills the scare actor who's mask ([[FacialHorror and face]]) he stole by snapping his neck in front of the protagonists. Since it's set in a Haunted House Attraction, they assume it's AllPartOfTheShow.
* In ''Film/FutureWar'' The Master breaks a female lab assistant when she falls from an air duct.
* ''Film/{{Future World|2018}}'': Ash kills a man in the Warlord's gang after he commands it this way.
* Kable kills Hackman this way in ''Film/{{Gamer}}''. He has to do it twice before Hackman finally dies.
* ''Genghis Khan: To the Ends of the Earth and Sea'' have Genghis executing a traitor using this method, in front of his generals. Said traitor was actually a very close friend of Genghis, who's ForcedIntoEvil and offers to let himself be killed in order to atone for his actions, where his last request is for a clean, honorable death, hence this trope. And Genghis is actually tearing up when twisting the neck.
* ''Film/GhostRock'': After a prolonged martial arts fight, Slaughter eventually kills the Barber by snapping his neck.
* ''Film/TheGoldenChild'': A {{mook}} villain [[HeelFaceTurn converted to the side of the good guys]] breaks the neck of another, unconverted Mook to prevent him from skewering Chandler Jarrow with a crossbow bolt and allow the rescue of the title character.
* In ''Film/TheGrudge'', this is how [[StringyhairedGhostGirl Kayako]] is murdered by her husband, thus starting the curse. In the sequel, this is also how [[spoiler:Aubrey]] and [[spoiler:Doctor Sullivan]] meet their ends.
* Michael Myers from the ''Franchise/{{Halloween}}'' series is quite a fan of this trope. There's Grady's death in ''Film/Halloween4TheReturnOfMichaelMyers'', the hermit in ''Film/Halloween5TheRevengeOfMichaelMyers'', and Mrs. Strode's death in [[Film/{{Halloween 2007}} the remake]].
* ''Film/{{Hanna}}'' has the title character (a child assassin played by Creator/SaoirseRonan) snapping the neck of the Marissa Wiegler decoy.
* ''Film/HardToKill'': Mason Storm (played by Creator/StevenSeagal) snapping a neck on one of his assassins who tried to kill him years ago.
* ''Film/{{Hayride}}'': The killer murders one of the hayride volunteers with a neck snap.
* ''Film/{{Haywire}}'' has a semi-realistic example where Mallory breaks a mook's neck using the edge of a table for leverage.
* Cato does this to one of the other tributes in ''Film/TheHungerGames'' after Katniss succeeds in blowing up all the food the career tributes had hoarded. It's [[FightSceneFailure not terribly convincing]], but they are minors acting and the lack of sound effect is due to Katniss (and in turn the audience's POV) being rendered temporarily deaf because of the explosion. (Out of universe adding a crunching sound effect would have pushed the films rating up from PG-13).
* ''Film/TheHuntForRedOctober''. Captain Ramius takes the easy route and just crushes [[ThePoliticalOfficer Putin's]] windpipe.
* The infamous ''Film/HenryPortraitOfASerialKiller'' has several neck snap scenes including the disturbing videotape scene of a mother and son getting their necks snapped.
* During ''Film/TheImaginariumOfDoctorParnassus'', Valentina breaks the neck of a chicken.
* ''Film/JamesBond''
** In ''Film/FromRussiaWithLove'' Bond tries this on Red Grant during their fight scene and fails.
** In ''Film/YouOnlyLiveTwice'' Bond tries it on the assassin who killed Henderson and succeeds.
** In ''Film/{{Thunderball}}'' Bond does this to Col. Bouvar in the teaser, with the assistance of a fireplace poker. He also does it to two SPECTRE frogmen during the underwater fight at the end.
** In ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}'' Oddjob breaks Tilly Masterson's neck by throwing his hat at her. At long range. In a forest. ''At night''.
* Subverted in ''Film/JasonX''. Jason-fucking-Voorhees snaps someone's neck, not quickly, but slowly, and having to use all of both arms. Creator/KaneHodder (Jason's actor) clarifies that script called for him to go for the quick snap, but decided that such a kill was SoLastSeason and instead convinced the director and writer to go with the slow kill instead.
* ''Film/JohndoeVigilante'': Used by John doe to murder his last victim after faking a suicide attempt in order to draw the victim in close enough to grab him.
* [[SpinosaurusVersusTRex A Spinosaurus kills a Tyrannosaurus]] this way in their laughably bloodless battle in ''Film/JurassicParkIII''. Same sound effect even. One of the raptors also performs this trick on the last remaining mercenary.
* ''Film/TheKentuckyFriedMovie'', "A Fistful of Yen" segment. Butkus does this to the three guard contestants in various ways in the ''Series/TheDatingGame'' parody.
* In ''Film/KissOfTheDragon'' Jet Li's character disposes of a pair of sadistic martial artists with a pair of neck snaps but with unorthodox methods. The first he catches in the middle of a flip and forces him head-first into the floor, and the second he finishes with a brutal roundhouse kick to the head while the guy is on his knees.
* In ''Film/KungFuHustle'', the uber-martial-artist known as the Beast becomes annoyed at the prattling of the mob boss who's hired him and gives him an irritated backhand that causes his head to twist around at least 720 degrees. The Beast runs the mob from that point onward.
* ''Film/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen''. During the fight in Dorian Gray's mansion, Captain Nemo does this to one of the Fantom's mooks.
* ''Film/LethalWeapon'':
** In the first movie, Riggs kills a TortureTechnician by snapping the guy's neck with his legs. He then throws the corpse at another mook to distract him then finishes him off by snapping ''his'' neck in the conventional way.
** After returning from the dip in the water that was supposed to kill him in ''Film/LethalWeapon2'', a very pissed Riggs attacks a mook with a chain and twists his neck around. The other gets killed by Riggs using a [[TaeKwonDoor car door]].
** In ''Film/LethalWeapon4'', Wah Sing Ku does this to a man simply by grabbing him by the throat (one-handed) and twisting it around purely by the strength of his wrist, complete with SickeningCrunch. [[RuleOfCool The film gets away with this totally ridiculous example by virtue of Ku being played by]] Creator/JetLi.
* Vampire Eli snaps the neck of a jogger in ''Film/LetTheRightOneIn'' after feeding to prevent him from turning.
** Additionally, it is also performed by Abby in the remake ''Film/LetMeIn''.
* In ''Film/LifeBlood'', Brooke kills Rhea and Patricia by snapping their necks. Rhea gets better.
* In ''Film/TheLongKissGoodnight'', amnesiac Samantha hits a stag and crashes her car. In the aftermath, she finds the deer bleeding to death and snaps its neck to put it out of its misery. Then she wonders [[AmnesiacDissonance How did I]] [[ProfessionalKiller do that]]?
** Later on the movie, she does the same to a mook sent to assassinate her.
* ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'':
** Gimli does this to an orc in the movie version of ''[[Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheTwoTowers The Two Towers]]''. Gimli's version is exceptionally badass in that he does it with one hand while facing the orc and while trapped under a huge warg corpse.
** Aragorn does too during the Battle of Pelennor Fields in ''[[Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheReturnOfTheKing The Return of the King]]''.
* In ''Film/MacheteKills'', a man enters an S&M dungeon and lets himself get strapped down, thinking he's about to have a good time. Unfortunately for him, he gets [[DoesNotLikeMen Desdemona]], who violently whips him a few times, then wraps the whip around his neck and pulls until it breaks.
* The eponymous villain in ''Film/{{Madman}}'' tries to hang one of the characters, but the intended victim manages to get himself breathing again. So he grabs his foot and pulls him downward, and the guy breaks his neck.
* ''Film/ManOfSteel'':
** Faora does this to a few soldiers who get in her way.
** After a drawn-out aerial battle with Zod, this is how Superman finally kills him, having no other choice as Zod is about to fry a human family with his EyeBeams. The shock of having to kill someone with his bare hands leaves him traumatized, not to mention having to kill the last of his people left this side of the PhantomZone to save his adoptive world.
* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse:
** ''Film/IronMan2'':
*** Ivan Vanko does this to a prison guard who tries to apprehend him.
*** Later, Black Widow appears to break a guard's neck with her legs, but this is inconclusive.
** Thor in ''Film/ThorTheDarkWorld'' does this to a Marauder by twisting his head ''with one hand''.
** In ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'', Ronan does this to The Other, using a shockwave from his hammer to twist his head right around.
** ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'': Loki makes an attempt on [[BigBad Thanos]]'s life, who anticipates it and grabs Loki by his throat and [[NeckLift lifts him up]], strangling him, and eventually increases the pressure until his neck breaks, killing him.
* In ''Film/TheMatrixRevolutions'', Morpheus sneaks up behind a {{Mook}} guarding an elevator outside the Merovingian's night club, wraps his arms around the mook's neck and breaks it.
* Creator/ChuckNorris's character, Colonel James Braddok, dispatches three or four Vietnamese soldiers this way in [[Film/MissingInActionIII the third]] ''Film/MissingInAction'' film. Somewhat unusually, it's used for stealth kills.
** Before this, in ''Missing In Action 2: The Beginning'', Braddok escapes the Vietnamese prison camp by faking his own suicide ''by hanging'', then snapping the neck of the guard that came to inspect his seemingly dead body.
* A [[MindOverMatter telekinetic]] does this to a cop in ''[[Film/Momentum2003 Momentum]]'' with a simple wave of the hand. Given that they are shown to be able to break open bank vaults with their minds, this is justified.
* In ''Film/MortalKombatTheMovie'', this is how Sonya Blade finishes her nemesis Kano. [[MurderousThighs She used her legs to do it]]. Hey, he ''did'' [[TemptingFate ask her to]] [[ExactWords give him a break]]...
** One of the early scenes in the sequel has Shao Kahn snapping Johnny Cage's neck.
* In ''[[Film/MrAndMrsSmith2005 Mr. and Mrs. Smith]]'', Mrs. Smith assassinates a target in this way.
* ''Film/NaziOverlord'': When Captain Rogers and his team are ambushed by Nazis at one point, one of the team kills one of the Nazis in this manner.
* ''Film/OriginalGangstas'' has one neck snap scene involving a teen.
* In ''Film/PaganWarrior'', TheKrampus kills Eirik by grabbing his head and rotating 180 degrees with a sickening snap.
* In ''Penitentiary II'', Creator/MrT kills Ernie Hudson this way, albeit with a crush rather than a snap. As he says, "I'ma kill ya! I'ma kill ya slow!"
* ''Film/PrinceOfDarkness''. Susan (the radiologist) comes up from behind Lomax, grabs his head and twists it, breaking his neck and killing him.
* A rather interesting variation occurs in ''Film/{{Prometheus}}'', in which not only does [the Last Engineer use this on David but also decapitatees him. However, at the same time it's subverted, as being an android, David's head is still able to function, though he needs Shaw to carry him out of the ship.
* One of the primary methods used by the wrestlers in ''Film/ProWrestlersVsZombies'' to kill the zombies, always from a sleeper hold. In particular, Shane Douglas does one after another to his zombified family, giving him a chance to whisper agonized goodbyes before snapping their necks.
* In ''Film/TheRaid'', this is how Mad Dog finishes off Jaka.
* Used on the Asian man in ''Film/{{REC}}''.
* In ''Film/{{Resident Evil|2002}}'', Rain Ocampo does it to a zombie attacking her and Alice does it repeatedly to zombies with kicks (including multiple dogs) and one MurderousThighs attack.
* ''Film/RoboCop2''. When Cain (in his Robocop 2 robot body) meets Angie in the warehouse, he grabs her head and breaks her neck, then does a NeckLift on her body.
* ''Film/TheRunningMan'': During the faked scene where Captain Freedom fights Amber, he performs a NeckLift on her before breaking her neck.
* In ''Film/Saw3D'', Hoffman does this to Palmer during his rampage through the police precinct.
* ''Film/ScaryMovie4'': PlayedForLaughs in Cindy's boxing scene with multiple broken necks from trips and falls.
* ''Film/ScreamPark'' has Roy dispatched this way after a Neck Lift.
* In the 1980 WWII film ''Film/TheSeaWolves'', Creator/RogerMoore's character dispatches a Nazi mook this way.
* ''Film/ShowdownInLittleTokyo'':
** A {{yakuza}} thug captured by the heroes snaps his own neck to avoid being interrogated.
** Kenner also breaks a mook's neck during Minako's rescue at the boss's mansion.
* ''Film/SinCity''. When Marv sneaks onto Cardinal Roark's estate, he approaches a police officer on guard duty from behind and breaks his neck.
* In ''Film/StarTrekFirstContact'', Data (being an android with incredible strength) dispatches one of the Borg this way.
* ''Franchise/StarWars'': Darth Vader appears to crush a Rebel ship captain's spine while strangling him in ''Film/ANewHope'', but that's not a typical example, as it wasn't exactly a surprise, and he has super-robot-strength arms. The SickeningCrunch was accomplished by placing walnuts inside a grapefruit rind, then crushing them.
* ''Film/StreetFighter'' has an unexpectedly realistic one. Cammy (played by diminutive Music/KylieMinogue) attempts one on a mook but he stays standing and it appears to not work as she has to flip him and punch him to actually take him out.
* At the beginning of ''Film/SupermanII'', Non breaks the neck of a guard as part of General Zod's plan to take over the planet Krypton.
* ''Film/TalesFromTheHood2'': After possessing John in "The Medium", Cliff uses his telekinetic powers to snap the neck of one of the gangbangers: twisting his almost 180 degrees.
* Happens at least three times in ''Film/TankGirl'': Tank Girl to a Water and Power trooper after offering him an "oil change"; a Ripper to a W&P trooper during the attack that freed Tank Girl, and a Ripper to a W&P trooper during the attack on the W&P fortress.
* Arnie again: Douglas Quaid pulls off two sickening neck snaps in the original ''Film/{{Total Recall|1990}}'' when he is first ambushed by the BigBad's goons after he leaves Rekall.
* This is how "The Frenchman" kills his first victim, a sniper, in ''Film/TheTournament''. He sneaks up on her using his LeParkour skills, then grabs her head and twists it.
* In ''Film/TopGun'', when Maverick’s and Goose’s plane ends up in a flat spin, they’re forced to EjectEjectEject. After jettisoning the canopy, Maverick succeeds in ejecting out of the falling aircraft, but Goose ends up launching into the canopy, bending his neck forward and killing him.
* ''Film/TrueLies'':
** Arnie once more. Bonus points for being performed while hanging upside down using only his legs to hold onto a rope.
** He also does this to the TortureTechnician, having even warned him beforehand under TruthSerum.
* In ''Film/{{Truth or Dare|2012}}'', Justin kills Gemma this way after she discovers that Felix is still alive.
* ''Film/{{Unbreakable}}''. David Dunn uses this technique during his climactic confrontation with the orange-clad janitor/serial killer/kidnapper. It's justified since David is explicitly superhuman and is implied to have well above average physical strength. Even so, he only pulls it off after putting the janitor in a chokehold for over thirty seconds straight and forcing the guy to tire himself out. In addition, it takes him multiple attempts to finally snap the neck cleanly, thus ending the fight. The scene in question can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-waJsBs0eBQ
* In ''Film/{{Unknown|2011}}'', the assassin does this to his first onscreen kill, the hero's nurse at the hospital.
* Silk Spectre in ''Film/{{Watchmen}}'' does this to a mugger.
* Mystique in ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'' neck-snaps a guard with her feet since her hands are chained to the ceiling.
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