Most disturbing film?

[LavaWave]

I've seen many horror films in my life and some are quite unsettling but the final scene from the lighthouse when 1 of the characters take a peek into the light and let's out a heavily distorted scream is extremely disturbing, I haven't heard anything like it, I've had nightmares for 2 nights because of that scream.

 

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I wonder how did they made that unnatural distorted scream, I tried to take some screams from Sad Satan and edited them with Audacity distortion but didn't made anything close to that. *shudders*

On another note the nightmare face in Inland Empire and the hobo face in Mulholland Dr are kind of disturbing, especially the one in Inland Empire, though I haven't got nightmares from them.

[Koko Ricky]

"Antichrist" features a man being castrated and a woman snipping her clitoris off; the film opens with a couple engaged in upclose penis-in-vagina penetration while their unattended baby falls to its death from a window. Not a movie I've wanted to see since. 

[Lippeth]

Human Centipede 2 was pretty in-your-face.

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Begotten has some cool visuals but is more of a "throw it on in the background" type of thing because it really drags on.

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Inside (2007) is a cool home invasion film with some brutal scenes.

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Two films that aren't necessarily disturbing by modern standards but disturbed me in a narrative sense are The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988) and Brain Dead (1990), both starring Bill Pullman.

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Edited May 17, 2022 by Lippeth

[LavaWave]

Oh yeah I just remembered "Begotten" that film, I couldn't finish that one, eugh.
"Irreversible" now that I remembered this one too is quite close up there.

EDIT: Lippeth beaten me to it >_<

[Megalyth]

1 hour ago, Koko Ricky said:

"Antichrist" features a man being castrated and a woman snipping her clitoris off; the film opens with a couple engaged in upclose penis-in-vagina penetration while their unattended baby falls to its death from a window. Not a movie I've wanted to see since. 

 

Hey thanks for reminding me, and right after lunch too

[The BMFG]

i would imagine faces of death would take the cake

Edited May 17, 2022 by The BMFG

[7Mahonin]

Perhaps to some they wouldn’t count a movie like this, but I suggest the film titled Body Double (1984). You’ll think you’ve got it all figured out but it gets progressively worse for the main character and everything he goes through is quite disturbing and will have you changing your mind about what’s going on quite a few times. You’ll be going from thinking wow poor guy, to okay maybe this guy is kind of a creep, to holy shit. It also has some of the best early 1980s visuals ever seen in film, and is just overall a great time. After the first viewing, the shock will go away because you’ll know what’s going to happen, so you’ll be able to enjoy the more subtle aspects to the film a bit more. 

[Jacek Bourne]

Martyr 

 

I don’t remember the year.

 

It is rather brutal on the main character. I won’t explain how so however part of it focuses on essentially torturing her as much as possible while keeping her alive.

[BGreener]

2 hours ago, LavaWave said:

On another note the nightmare face in Inland Empire and the hobo face in Mulholland Dr are kind of disturbing, especially the one in Inland Empire, though I haven't got nightmares from them.

There’s too many spooky and favorite Lynch moments for me to mention here so I’ll just say “hell yeah”.

 

Mirroring some discussion we had in another thread here awhile ago, the most disturbing film that I geniunely enjoy is Tetsuo the Iron Man. Lots of weird Japanese body horror - it’s great! Kickass soundtrack and the black-and-white style makes the weird-ass makeup more believable.

 

The most unsettling thing I think I’ve sat through might be Dogtooth. Guy raises his three children completely isolated, lots of weird violence and sexuality issues. Wasn’t a big fan, would not recommend, still a good movie and interesting.

 

The most fucked up shit I walked in on was when my old roommates from 10 years ago were big indie film nuts and watched Serbian Film. Nope, I’ve only seen a few moments and that was enough. I’ll only say the director wanted it to be as shocking as possible.

 

The most recent movie to honestly creep me out and stay on my mind was Hereditary. I absolutely love it, still need to see Midsummer sometime…but I also wouldn’t mind just rewatching Hereditary..! (I also don’t think it qualifies as a “disturbing” movie for this thread, but there ya go.)

[Sena]

Cannibal Holocaust would be my pick. Not really a horror guy myself, but it had a good soundtrack.

[rehelekretep]

37 minutes ago, Jacek Bourne said:

Martyr 

 

I don’t remember the year.

 

It is rather brutal on the main character. I won’t explain how so however part of it focuses on essentially torturing her as much as possible while keeping her alive.

i havent seen Serbian Film (no interest in seeing that scene) but ive seen all the other 'extreme' cinema and Martyrs is the most horrific film ive ever watched

[Dark Pulse]

Anybody who doesn't mention Eraserhead is wrong.

 

I'd also say that Andreas Schnaas' Violent Shit trilogy is pretty damn tough stuff (along with the two semi-related movies to it).

 

The Japanese Guinea Pig series are also brutal. Charlie Sheen supposedly reported the second film to the FBI, believing it was a real snuff flick. It isn't, of course.

 

For something a little more hammy and fun, try Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky. That one isn't too bad on the whole, but it's still a bloody good time.

[lazygecko]

Being John Malkovich is a deceptively dark movie.

[Matthias]

Srpski film

[Matthias]

And Taxidermia

[xScavengerWolfx]

Most disturbing film(s) i've seen? I would have to say Texas chainsaw massacre the 1974 one not the 2003. 

 

Now the reason why i say that is because my older brother made me watch it when i was 8 and holy fuck did i have nightmares about it. Make it even more fucked my mom saw that movie when it first came out in 1974. Her brother (my uncle) would stand on the roof top of there house, rev a chainsaw over my moms bedroom and scare the shit out of her. 

 

Another one i can remember it was more of an anime from the early 90's. I can't remember the name of it but it had so much gore in it that i actually puked at one scene where some chick got torn apart and well i won't say the rest because i would get in trouble for it, yeah i've seen fucked up horror movies. And before you ask no it was not Akira, i've never seen akira until much much later in my life (i was 23 when i first watched Akira, i'm 30 now lol).  

[xX_Lol6_Xx]

3 hours ago, Koko Ricky said:

"Antichrist" features a man being castrated and a woman snipping her clitoris off; the film opens with a couple engaged in upclose penis-in-vagina penetration while their unattended baby falls to its death from a window.

Holy shit

[TheMagicMushroomMan]

Irreversible, Audition, The Wailing, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Ichi the Killer (although it is also hilarious), Visitor Q, Man Behind the Sun, Horrors of Malformed Men, Emperor Tomato Ketchup, Squirmfest (Japanese scat p0rn with worms, the Guinea Pig series (mainly 2), Grotesque, August Underground 2.

 

That should give you a good mixture of more mainstream horror, fake snuff films, experimental wonders, and more. Keep in mind that if you had trouble with The Lighthouse/Begotten, you might want to research these a little bit before jumping into them.

 

I tried creating a thread asking specifically for disturbing Asian films, but I got replies such as "Sonic the anime", "Power Rangers", and such. Hopefully your thread ends up being of more use!

[vyruss]

Zombi by Lucio Fulci is one I always recommend in topics like this.  Left a really, really memorable impression on me.  All the rest of these are good recommendations and I'll have to watch them (except for Serbian Film.  fuck that atrocity)

[gwain]

Ive seen "movies" that weren't exactly "scripted" but if you don't count "unscripted movies" as horror films the hills have eyes is a pretty disturbing film your scared of body horror/physical disabilities 

[Faceman2000]

Most of the movies listed so far are only a couple tiers down this iceberg. Enjoy!

[Captain Keen]

Some stuff has already been mentioned, but I guess it depends by what you mean by "disturbing"?

 

For just the general idea of what happens, definitely A Serbian Film. I've never seen it, but I've heard it actually looks pretty fake in the film, but if you read a plot summary of that it's borderline illegal what they depict (even if "simulated"). Not just the really infamous scene but the whole ending as well and several other scenes. They crossed the line and then danced on it, and they did it because it got them a ton of free press. A pure shock film.

 

If talking about real life violence, a lot of the Cannibal films have horrific violence toward animals. Cannibal Holocaust, Cannibal Ferox, etc.

 

There's also Africa Addio (1966) and Mondo Cane which depict real world violence. Africa Addio shows several real executions and tons of slaughter of animals (hippos, elephants, etc) during the end of colonialism in Africa in the 1960s, plus the aftermath of real life genocides against Muslims and others. Not exactly fun stuff.

 

For more extreme "normal" movies you have Inside, Martyrs, Anti-Christ, Ichi the Killer, etc.

 

There's also war films, from the exploitation-esque film Men Behind the Sun (1988) to far better actual cinema like 1985's Come and See (which isn't particularly violent, it's almost all sound design and psychological, which makes it VERY effective). There's also more recent horror like The Nightingale that shows some pretty disturbing stuff, but it's very character focused. Audition is pretty disturbing, too. Those are "real" movies for lack of a better word. Not just shock cinema.

 

Then you have all the simulated snuff film crap like the Guinea Pig series and August Underground. I've never seen any of that stuff. And of course there's Faces of Death, but these days you can just watch Liveleak or whatever if that's your thing. Some/most of that footage is available outside of the series.

[TheLippyServer]

I've seen pretty much every film people listed here and can confidently say that "Salo: or the 120 Days of Sodom" is by far more disturbing to me than any of them, except maybe "Men Behind The Sun". Not just because of it's content (though that's plenty bad), but more for it's tone. It's pretty much impossible to feel good about your day having watched that movie. It's actually fairly well made, it's just a hard watch. As Mike Stoklasa would say - "not for grandma".

 

Also surprised to see no mention of "Nekromantic" or it's sequel (do NOT watch these), and so few mentions of Irreversible, Cannibal Holocaust and A Serbian Film. I actually disagree with the assessment of "A Serbian Film" as a "pure shock film". It's actually not that much worse than a typical over-the-top horror film to me, and certainly isn't without intentional subtext regarding abuses of power by the Serbian government. There's definitely an argument to be made that it goes to far to be at all mainstream, and that it shoots its own message in the foot to a degree, but as someone who's watched all manner of horrifying crap, I'd say it's surprisingly watchable, and even funny at times.

 

@TheMagicMushroomMan mentioned a few good ones. I'm a particularly big fan of Takashi Miike's work, and would recommend "Audition" to pretty much any horror fan. "Ichi the Killer" and "Visitor Q" are harder to recommend, but I still love them. Especially "Visitor Q" - one of my very favorite films. There are really only two things that I have historically struggled with actually handling being able to watch in movies: pedophilia and necrophilia. That Takashi Miike actually made me laugh at a scene of necrophilia has to be some kind of twisted accomplishment.

 

But of all the films @TheMagicMushroomMan mentioned, I have to highlight "The Wailing". IMO "The Wailing" is one of the best horror films EVER MADE. It's magnificent. Almost kinda the South Korean take on "The Exorcist". If you like horror movies, it is a MUST WATCH.

 

EDIT: I can't believe I forgot "Sweet Movie". That's a... special one. There's some stuff in there that's pretty revolting and disturbing.

Edited May 18, 2022 by TheLippyServer

[Spooner5020]

2 hours ago, Sena said:

Cannibal Holocaust would be my pick. Not really a horror guy myself, but it had a good soundtrack.

BULLSHIT!! That movie was not at all what people made it out to be. I didn’t get what the big deal was.

[Faceman2000]

I thought it was pretty disturbing how all the Pirates of Caribbean sequels violated the legacy of a borderline perfect movie.

[Snark]

I'm surprised how few people seem to have seen Brian Yuzna's "Society". Goes a lot further than the 90's body horror movie it's depicted as.

 

[kwc]

Pink Flamingos, although it's a bit more just gross and funny.

[TheLippyServer]

3 minutes ago, Spooner5020 said:

BULLSHIT!! That movie was not at all what people made it out to be. I didn’t get what the big deal was.

I agree it's not THAT bad. The real animal cruelty is kind of a buzzkill, but that doesn't stop people from loving Apocalypse Now, so...

[Spooner5020]

1 minute ago, Faceman2000 said:

I thought it was pretty disturbing how all the Pirates of Caribbean sequels violated the legacy of a borderline perfect movie.

🤦‍♂️

[Dubbag]

Honestly this may seem a little cliche, but the Video tape from the Ring, IMO is one of the most unsettling and disturbing movie moments ever.

Every second and frame of that video touches your brain's fear center in all the most subtle yet effective ways. From the eerie sound design, the disturbing imagery, the color grain and the overall tone of it and the story surrounding it. Even if the movie surrounding it isnt as great or scary, that is still one of the most anxiety inducing things in a movie I've ever seen. The sound that tape makes when it first turns on is iconic and terrifying. my favorite sound is the noise when the chair is on screen, and believe it or not, that woman brushing her hair and staring directly at you is so fucking disturbing.