The Very First Decapitation in a Movie Came in a 1895 Film Considered To Be The First Horror Film
We are going to delve into the twisted annals of movie history! Throughout the ages, in a truly mind-boggling display of darkness, the ghastly act of decapitation reigned as the champion of capital punishment. The macabre art of chopping people’s heads off was once shockingly common and was a form of entertainment.
Obviously, when capturing moving images on film was created, early filmmakers wanted to make a film featuring the act of decapitating a head. These days any slasher film you watch will show someone getting their head chopped off, but as you might imagine, putting that on film for the first time was a shocking thing for people to see!
The first movie I saw that featured someone’s head getting sliced off was Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade when a hapless soldier meets his untimely demise in a foreboding temple, ensnared by an enormous blade trap. I remember how gleefully shocked was by that and wondered how in the hell they did that!
The first decapitation ever put on film was in 1895 in a film titled The Execution of Mary Queen of Scots, or The Execution of Mary Stuart," which is also considered by some to be the world’s first horror movie. The film was directed by Alfred Clark and produced by Thomas Edison. It’s only 18 seconds of celluloid and features Robert L. Thomas assuming the role of the ill-fated Mary. But it does the trick! As you might imagine, they used some primitive visual effects work to pull it off.
You can watch a video below that shows the footage and also offers some additional insight.