For all the positive connotations that cinema's designation as an "escapist medium" brings with it, there's no denying that the Hollywood dream machine has manufactured just as many violent fantasies as it has romantic ones.

Sure, a happy ending is a staple in any mainstream movie, but some of today's most acclaimed directors—Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, David Fincher and Sam Raimi among them—are anything but mainstream. In fact, their films can be downright brutal, as evidenced by the number of times their names pop up on our list of The 25 Greatest Movie Beatdowns, in GIFs.

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