Disturbing Films Megathread
-
Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Cult Films
Madotsuki_the_Dreamer — 1 year ago(October 17, 2024 03:14 AM)
This is a thread dedicated to discussing the most disturbing, horrifying, gruesome, and just plain ****ed up films in existence.
The largest lists that I could find of disturbing films are below:
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls009209730/
(this one was, obviously, made by yours truly, and it is the largest list of disturbing films that currently exists)
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls006707604/
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1quQ3591WKa0FiMMVU1zuGsAxZXNt3_4SDDeIVKmgK1k/edit#gid=2103251208
(this one was made by Redditards, so it's filled with films that don't even remotely belong on a list of disturbing movies, like
Watership Down
and
The Dark Crystal
)
http://thelastexit.net/cinema/index.html
There also used to be a massive list of disturbing films located at
https://public.sheet.zoho.com/public/mostdisturbedperson/most-disturbed-list-03-01-12c- alas, however, it is now gone (and I can't find a working archive of it).
In terms of depicting on-screen depravity - being "the sickest movie ever made" - the undisputed reigning champion is
A Serbian Film
(2010), followed by
August Underground's Mordum
(2003). However, neither of those films (in my view, at least) are genuinely disturbing because their overall tone is not disturbing - especially not
August Underground's Mordum
, which is just a plotless, amateurish concatenation of random over-the-top depravity that features absolutely no redeeming value of any sort (
A Serbian Film
is a decent film, IMO, but not a truly disturbing one).
The most genuinely disturbing film that I've seen is the 2007 film
The Girl Next Door
, followed by
Martyrs
(2008). Both are films that leave you feeling like you need to crawl into a corner and die, and both are films that almost any sane person will immediately wish they hadn't watched, as you are never getting their harrowing images out of your head. In terms of what is depicted on screen, they are nowhere near "the sickest movies ever made", but they do masterful jobs of making you actually care about the characters, which makes what happens to them far more legitimately upsetting. Being truly disturbing is not just about grossing people out - you have to create an oppressively bleak, soul-crushing, life-denying tone with an emotional core that really rips your heart out, throws it into a blender, and drinks it.
A little while ago, I wrote a detailed outline for my own attempt at creating the most disturbing film ever made - one that would not only far exceed every other "sickest movie ever made" in terms of on-screen depravity, but would also tell an emotionally devastating story filled with truly heartbreaking pathos. The reactions that it got from the very few people who read it (one of whom said that she couldn't even read all of it) told me that I did exactly what I set out to do.
What would you consider to be the most disturbing films you've seen?
- alas, however, it is now gone (and I can't find a working archive of it).
-
Madotsuki_the_Dreamer — 1 year ago(October 18, 2024 12:44 AM)
I have not actually read
The 120 Days of Sodom
by the Marquis de Sade in its entirety, as I have no real desire to read through 600+ pages of that ****. But I have seen the movie based on it, Pier Paolo Pasolini's thoroughly vile 1975 film
Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom
, which transports the setting to fascist Italy. That film is always cited as being among the most disturbing films ever made, and has been hailed as a masterpiece by a number of pseudo-intellectual critics. It's on
Sight & Sound
's critics' poll of the 1000 greatest films ever made. But the emperor has no clothes. This is nothing more than the sick, twisted sexual fantasies of a dirty old man, shamelessly trying to pass itself off as some kind of serious piece of political commentary. The central premise behind the film is utterly absurd, as the fascists hated homosexuals and other sexual "degenerates", and the dialogue is so over-the-top pretentious that I often found myself laughing throughout the entire film. Also, this is no longer the most depraved film ever made. That dubious honor, as previously stated, belongs to the 2010 film
A Serbian Film
, which takes on-screen turpitude to levels previously thought unimaginable. "Newborn porn", necrophilia, skull-****ing, beheading mid-rape, a woman having her teeth bashed out and then being suffocated to death with penis, and a 7-year-old raped on screen by his own father (in unbelievably graphic detail) are just a few of the things that you'll see. But the most shocking thing about this movie is that it's actually a very well-made film with a significant degree of artistic quality to it (it's supposedly an allegory about the Serbian people's molestation by their government). In stark contrast, the #2 "sickest movie ever made" -
August Underground's Mordum
(2003) - is, again, just a plotless, amateurish concatenation of over-the-top hardcore depravity that possesses absolutely no redeeming value of any sort. It's basically like a feature-length aristocrats joke. -
Madotsuki_the_Dreamer — 1 year ago(October 18, 2024 12:47 AM)
You linked to the IMDb page for the 2010 remake. Have you seen the 1978 original? It was one of Roger Ebert's most hated movies. It is definitely not something that can be even remotely defended from any moral or artistic standpoint, but, as far as pure exploitation trash goes, it's fairly gripping and well-done.
-
LivingDeadBoy
️ — 6 months ago(September 21, 2025 04:58 AM)Eraserhead is the film that most disturbed me. Followed by 120 days. Both films are masterpieces though, especially 120 days. I have re-watched it.
I will never re watch eraser head. It made me sick to my stomach. I hate it. Objectively, it's a masterpiece of psychological surrealism about the fear of fatherhood.
Mysterious Skin also disturbed the hell out of me. It was more depressing than disturbing, though "but still disturbing as hell". A deeply gloomy, sad film with an aura of like, a nostalgic blue depressive aura, much like the aura The Virgin Suicides and Boys Dont Cry had. All three of these are excellent films.
Requiem for a Dream was also incredibly sad and disturbing. I love this film end watch it at least once a year, unlike the others I've mentioned.
Oh yeah, and Hard Candy "2005" disturbing as hell.
I havent seen Martyrs. I'll add that to my "too see" list.
Fidelio♟️