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troperville

RoboCop ranks as one of the most violent movie series of the late 80s and early 90s, and with its crime-ridden Dystopian future involving unethical cybernetic and robotic experimentation, the Nightmare Fuel potential is enormous. And man, do Paul Verhoeven and Frank Miller ever deliver on that potential.

Early in the first film, before his resurrection as the title cyborg, Murphy is captured by Boddicker's gang, who proceed to graphically dismember him with shotguns, blowing his arm off and blasting endless rounds into his torso from a distance, before finally killing him with a close range shot through the head. Murphy is conscious and screaming horrifically throughout, up until the final headshot. Such is the sheer brutality of this scene that even in its edited-for-television version, it is still hard to watch.
During the final shootout between the titular cyborg and Clarence Boddicker's gang in an abandoned chemical plant, one of the gang members crashes a van into a vat of toxic waste...and survives. The effect of the waste on him is both nauseating and terrifying, he is visibly melting and dissolving, while alive, staggering around and moaning desperately for help. It is almost a relief when, later in the sequence, he is accidentally run over by Boddicker and promptly explodes from the impact, showering the windscreen in what appears to be brown water, rather than blood.
The Prototypes of RoboCop 2 from, well, RoboCop 2. It builds up with triumphant music, showing a clunky looking brown cyborg which reveals the human face inside the body — which then flinches its face in anger, complete with sparks, realizing that he's lost his humanity, and then proceeds to gun down the scientists near him, all while only able to say what's been programmed into him — "Stop or I'll shoot." — with the words getting weaker with each sentence, until the prototype shoots himself in the head. And after that, we get the other prototype, which looks much sleeker and more friendly — but then removes its helmet, revealing a skull with wires coming out of it, which pathetically screams in pain before it dies from inadvertently severing it's life support. Unlike Murphy, these would-be RoboCops failed because they weren't prepared to give up their lives and humanity for the line of duty. That, and the insane amount of psychological stress of being slaves to a corporation for the rest of their operational lives. The jerky stop-motion animation of the prototypes doubles the Uncanny Valley factor, and combined with the completely ironic, triumphant music only makes the scene even more creepy than it already is.
- RoboCain, the RoboCop 2 prototype that did work — too well, in fact. A hulking, nearly unstoppable arsenal of lethal weapons combined with the mind of a serial killer that breaks free of its corporate controller to wreak havoc makes for a genuine threat. The amazing stop motion effects done to create this metal monstrosity only enhance the fear factor. Also, there's Cain's "Screen Face", complete with an Uncanny Valley CGI head — sadly not featured in that video.
- How 'bout Cain's brain (complete with staring eyeballs!)?
Duffy, a dirty cop, squeals on Cain. He wakes up tied to a hospital bed. In the room are Cain, his girlfriend, and Hob who is all of fourteen years old and a sad-faced man who's getting his scalpels ready to vivisect him.
Doctor: Maybe you oughta have the kid leave?
Cain: Why?
The stop-motion animation of the ED-209. The jerkiness accentuates its creepy robotic motion. The way it moves puts it right in the Uncanny Valley.
Robocop's limbless torso in 2, after the bad guys tore him apart. It still moved and tried to speak, but could only manage a low moan. Watch the scene when OCP is assessing the damages.
During the final scene with Clarence fighting Robocop. This troper is astounded that Robo was able to feel his arm get stabbed by a metal pole, but terrified none the less by his scream when it happened.
- What happens next is even worse: Boddicker getting stabbed in the throat by a metal rod and collapsing and screaming while his blood sprays all over the place. Robocop is practically covered in it by the time he's dead.