History NightmareFuel / TheGodfather

** Moe Green's death has an extra grisly detail: The first bullet he's shot with goes through his glasses and [[EyeScream into his eye.]] Along with blood, [[{{Squick}} another indistinguishable, pus-like liquid comes out.]][[note]]It's probably supposed to be vitreous humor, but that stuff is clear, which wouldn't be as dramatic/disturbing.[[/note]]

** Unlike other fictional mobsters, many of whom are just plain cranky thugs with a HairTriggerTemper, Michael is the opposite here, making him much more deadly. Michael is cunning, convincing, intelligent, incredibly good at showing a polite facade, rarely loses his composure, and has absolutely no problem in massacring all his rivals, even sending his henchmen on suicide missions, like the hitman who murdered Roth. And remember that massacring enemies is a plan that he carries out in all three movies. It certainly doesn't help that he has one of the highest body counts in the trilogy.

* The very cold and calculated way in which Michael kills Sollozzo and [=McCluskey=] in a restaurant. He retrieves a gun from the men's room, and then sits back down at the table. The camera slowly zooms in on his face as we hear the [[HellIsThatNoise screeching of a Pelham Line train passing by, drowning out Sollozzo's Italian dialogue]], before Michael fires a gun at Sollozzo's head, which emits a PinkMist of blood and brain, before shooting [=McCluskey=], once in the neck, and then once more in the face, killing him. The whole scene plays out like something out of a slasher movie.

* The scene in which Woltz, after actually refusing [[AnOfferYouCantRefuse an offer he couldn't refuse]], wakes up in bed the next morning with the bloody head of his favorite horse. Creepier still is that ''they used the head of a real dead horse [[EnforcedMethodActing without telling the actor]]''.

* The aftermath of Michael's meeting with Moe Greene and Fredo displaying more loyality to an outsider then his own blood, with Michael fixing his brother with a cold DeathGlare.
-->'''Michael:''' Fredo, you're my older brother and I love you. But don't ever take sides with anyone against the Family again. Ever.

* The mob hits against the remaining rival families while Michael was at church, showing how numb Michael has become at the thought of murder. Tattaglia's death is the worst, as Rocco and another assassin shoot him and [[DisposableSexWorker a prostitute]] to death with submachine guns.

* The very cold and calculated way in which Michael kills Sollozzo and [=McCluskey=]] in a restaurant. He retrieves a gun from the men's room, and then sits back down at the table. The camera slowly zooms in on his face as we hear the [[HellIsThatNoise screeching of a Pelham Line train passing by, drowning out Sollozzo's Italian dialogue]], before Michael fires a gun at Sollozzo's head, which emits a PinkMist of blood and brain, before shooting [=McCluskey=], once in the neck, and then once more in the face, killing him. The whole scene plays out like something out of a slasher movie.

* The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJU2cz9ytPQ infamous death of Sonny Corleone]]. Ambushed at a toll booth by a dozen gangsters with tommyguns, [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill he gets shot several dozen times inside his car, then shot some more outside the car, then shot on the ground]] ''[[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill after]]'' [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill he's definitely dead, then has his face kicked in for good measure, just to make sure Sonny stayed dead]] [[LastDisrespects and to disfigure his face more for his funeral]]. The state he was left in is enough that [[spoiler:Amerigo Bonasera, the undertaker from the very first scene, had to be called in by the Don himself to reconstruct his face so that his mother could see him at the funeral]].

* The very concept of Corleone and his family, that this close knit and seemingly loving family are actually brutal, vicious murderers and criminals, no matter how clever and generous they may seem on the surface. For all the talk of honor, there's a reason [[spoiler:Michael finds himself DyingAlone and abandoned]] in ''Part III''.
** The idea that by the end of ''Part II'' [[spoiler: Michael is basically on his own. The once tight family is totally gone. Sonny was ambushed, his father died of old age and his mother too. He had his own brother murdered. Finally his wife has left him. You can imagine how awful this feeling must be, but all we see him do in the final shot is stare and not say a word.]] And in ''Part III'' [[spoiler:when things seem to be getting a bit better for him: he has reconciled with Kay and his sister Connie, his reputation is better than before and he is about to leave the mafia business... the CycleOfRevenge gets back at him again. Near the end he dies alone, abandoned by everyone, having reached nothing with his life.]]
*** Turned up to eleven with the re-cut ending of ''The Godfather Coda'' in which [[spoiler:Michael isn't even ''allowed'' to die.]]

* The very cold and calculated way in which Michael kills [[spoiler: Sollozzo and [=McCluskey=]]] in a restaurant. He retrieves a gun from the men's room, and then sits back down at the table. The camera slowly zooms in on his face as we hear the [[HellIsThatNoise screeching of a Pelham Line train passing by, drowning out Sollozzo's Italian dialogue]], before Michael [[spoiler:fires a gun at Sollozzo's head, which emits a PinkMist of blood and brain, before shooting [=McCluskey=], once in the neck, and then once more in the face, killing him]]. The whole scene plays out like something out of a slasher movie.

** [[spoiler:Carlo]] getting whacked as retribution for the above scene. After being told he's getting put on a plane to [[UsefulNotes/LasVegas Vegas]], he's put in a car with [[ProfessionalKiller Pete Clemenza]] [[DangerTakesABackseat sitting behind him]]. "Hello, Carlo." On the signal of Tom loosening his necktie, Clemenza garrotes him so viciously that he's pulled partly into the backseat and kicks at the windshield, shattering it, which is a good thing because it saves us from witnessing the garrote cutting through the bastard's neck. [[HellIsThatNoise It doesn't save us from hearing it.]]
* The scene in which Woltz, after actually refusing [[AnOfferYouCantRefuse an offer he couldn't refuse]], wakes up in bed the next morning with [[spoiler:the bloody head of his favorite horse]]. Creepier still is that [[spoiler:''they used the head of a real dead horse [[EnforcedMethodActing without telling the actor]]''.]]

** And the music that plays during the build up to the reveal of [[spoiler:the horse's head lying at Woltz's feet]] is a near-CreepyCircusMusic loop of the main theme's opening notes.

** This becomes especially chilling in the second movie when [[spoiler:Fredo turns on Michael, and then is brutally murdered by him just when he thought Michael had forgiven him.]]
* The mob hits against [[spoiler:the remaining rival families]] while Michael was at church, showing how numb Michael has become at the thought of murder. [[spoiler:Tattaglia's death]] is the worst, as Rocco and another assassin shoot him and [[DisposableSexWorker a prostitute]] to death with submachine guns.

* Pretty much the entirety of the hospital scene. The sense of urgency and wonder if Don Vito will survive another assassination attempt on his life again as he lies helplessly in his bed. [[spoiler: Michael tells an oncoming nurse to help relocate him in another room and manages to stand his ground to the oncoming assailants (with the help of Enzo the baker who happens to be stopping by to pay his respects to Don Corleone) at the front of the building by [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome warding them off with a ballsy bluff]].]] The atmosphere for some reason screams ParanoiaFuel.

** Likewise, the scene where Vito returned to his hometown to find Don Ciccio, who was old as well as somewhat blind and deaf. [[spoiler:This didn't stop Vito from slicing Ciccio's stomach open with a blade to avenge his family, showing just how strong his desire for revenge was.]]

* Though it was well-deserved, the scene where [[spoiler:Fredo]] is killed, while Michael just stands and watches from the lake house. The editing leading up to the scene of all the mobsters dropping like flies, similar to the montage near the end of the first film is part of what makes it so frightening. In addition, the blu-ray menu [[NothingIsScarier consists entirely of Michael standing and watching from his lake house.]]

* Any parent will find [[spoiler:Mary's death]] to be pure NightmareFuel. The thought of [[spoiler:watching your own child die in front of you]] is enough to make anyone remain sleepless.

* The very cold and calculated way in which Michael kills [[spoiler: Sollozzo and [=McCluskey=]]] in a restaurant. He retrieves a gun from the men's room, and then sits back down at the table. The camera slowly zooms in on his face as we hear the [[HellIsThatNoise screeching of a Pelham Line train passing by, drowning out Sollozzo's Italian dialogue]], before Michael [[spoiler:fires a gun at Sollozzo's head, which emits a PinkMist of blood and brain, before shooting [=McCluskey=], once in the neck, and then once in the face, killing him]]. The whole scene plays out like something out of a slasher movie.

* The very concept of Corleone and his family, that this close knit and seemingly loving family are actually brutal, vicious murderers and criminals, no matter how clever and generous they may seem on the surface. For all the talk of honor, there's a reason [[spoiler:Michael finds himself dying alone and abandoned]] in ''Part III''.

*** Turned UpToEleven with the re-cut ending of ''The Godfather Coda'' in which [[spoiler:Michael isn't even ''allowed'' to die.]]

* Some of Luca Brasi's actions are this in the novel He dismembered a rival gangster with an ax slowly and even had ''his own child'' thrown into an incinerator.

** Scott Caan, James’ son, once said in an interview that he didn’t see the scene until he was twelve. He was so shook up by it that he wouldn’t let his dad out of his sight for a week.

** Scott Caan, James’ son, once said in an interview that he didn’t see the scene until he was twelve. He was so shook up by it that he wouldn’t let his dad out of his site for a week.

* Don Ciccio killing the entire Vito's family when he was a child.

** And remember that all this takes place in very few years. If he had never had a mafia family in the middle of a mob war, it's unlikely that he would have gone into the family business, so there could be plenty of people just as bad or even worse living out their lives like normal people just waiting for the right opportunity to unleash their inner monsters or, like Michael, not even realizing that they're there until they've broken bad.

*** Turned UptoEleven with the re-cut ending of ''The Godfather Coda'' in which [[spoiler:Michael isn't even ''allowed'' to die.]]

** [[spoiler:Carlo]] getting whacked as retribution for the above scene. After being told he's getting put on a plane to [[UsefulNotes/LasVegas Vegas]], he's put in a car with [[ProfessionalKiller Pete Clemenza]] sitting behind him. "Hello, Carlo." On the signal of Tom loosening his necktie, Clemenza garrotes him so viciously that he's pulled partly into the backseat and kicks at the windshield, shattering it, which is a good thing because it saves us from witnessing the garrote cutting through the bastard's neck. [[HellIsThatNoise It doesn't save us from hearing it.]]

** And remember that all this takes place in just fery few years. If he had never had a mafia family in the middle of a mob war, it's unlikely that he would have gone into the family business, so there could be plenty of people just as bad or even worse living out their lives like normal people just waiting for the right opportunity to unleash their inner monsters or, like Michael, not even realizing that they're there until they've broken bad.
** Unlike other fictional mobsters, many of whom are just plain cranky thugs with a HairTriggerTemper, Michael is the opposite here, making him much more deadly. Michael is cunning, convincing, intelligent, incredibly good at showing a polite facade, rarely loses his composure, and has absolutely no problem in massacring all his rivals, even sending his henchmen on suicide missions, like the hitman who murdered Roth. And remember that massacring enemies is a plan that he carry out in all three movies. It certainly doesn't help that he has one of the highest bodycounts in the trilogy.

* Mosca is frighteningly deranged and terrifying overall. His methods of murder were pretty brutal. ''Part III'''s blu-ray menu shows the Vatican banker hanging from a bridge, and nothing more.

!! '''The Godfather (the novel) and general notes about the entire saga'''
* Some of Luca Brasi's actions are really NightmareFuel in the book. He dismembered a rival gangster with an ax slowly and even had '''his own child''', an newborn infant he had with a prostitute, thrown into an incinerator.

!! '''Film/TheGodfather Part I''':

* Any parent will find [[spoiler:Mary's death]] to be pure Nightmare Fuel. The thought of [[spoiler:watching your own child die in front of you]] is enough to make anyone remain sleepless.