Movies that will haunt you.
by prettyh | created - 18 Jul 2011 | updated - 27 May 2012 | PublicWhether due to graphic content or effective psychological manipulation, these movies are sure to get under your skin and not allow you to forget about them for a long time to come. Some are outright sick, others bizarre, many disturbing, a few simply heartbreaking; the one thing they have in common is your inability to put them out of your mind once you reach the end credits. Feel free to suggest additions to the list in the vein of any of the above!
- Instant Watch Options
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. The War Zone (1999)
R | 98 min | Drama, Thriller
An alienated teenager, saddened that he has moved away from London, must find a way to deal with a dark family secret.
Director: Tim Roth | Stars: Ray Winstone, Annabelle Apsion, Kate Ashfield, Lara Belmont
Votes: 11,192 | Gross: $0.25M
Far and away the most haunting film I've ever seen. Read the trivia section. Even the actors and crew had a difficult time keeping it together while filming; watching it is agonizing. The sense of dread you feel throughout can't prepare you for what takes place.
2. Irreversible (2002)
Not Rated | 97 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Events over the course of one traumatic night in Paris unfold in reverse-chronological order as the beautiful Alex is brutally raped and beaten by a stranger in an underpass tunnel.
Director: Gaspar Noé | Stars: Monica Bellucci, Vincent Cassel, Albert Dupontel, Philippe Nahon
Votes: 147,709 | Gross: $0.75M
There are two scenes in this film that are unforgettable, and possibly up there with the most disturbing and graphic things we've seen in mainstream cinema. One of those scenes is the very first. Proceed with a LOT of caution.
3. Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975)
TV-MA | 117 min | Drama
In World War II Italy, four fascist libertines round up nine adolescent boys and girls and subject them to 120 days of physical, mental, and sexual torture.
Director: Pier Paolo Pasolini | Stars: Paolo Bonacelli, Giorgio Cataldi, Uberto Paolo Quintavalle, Aldo Valletti
Votes: 65,860
A sick, twisted and graphic visual representation of some of the Marquis de Sade's writings. It breaks just about every taboo you can imagine, and never lets up for a moment. Very grueling to watch.
4. Martyrs (2008)
R | 99 min | Horror
A young woman's quest for revenge against the people who kidnapped and tormented her as a child leads her and a friend, who is also a victim of child abuse, on a terrifying journey into a living hell of depravity.
Director: Pascal Laugier | Stars: Morjana Alaoui, Mylène Jampanoï, Catherine Bégin, Robert Toupin
Votes: 106,486
Part horror film, part torture porn, and the rest is just plain bizarre. Extremely violent, and the ending will make you wonder if it was really worth watching all of that nastiness just to arrive at a question nobody seems to be able to answer.
5. Boy A (2007)
R | 106 min | Drama
The story of a young Jack, newly released from serving a prison sentence for a violent crime he committed as a child.
Director: John Crowley | Stars: Andrew Garfield, Peter Mullan, Shaun Evans, Siobhan Finneran
Votes: 38,863 | Gross: $0.11M
Psychologically devastating. Seeing what a child killer's life is like after he's set free - and watching what happens to him - sounds a lot easier to watch than it ultimately is.
6. In a Glass Cage (1986)
Unrated | 110 min | Drama, Horror
A former Nazi child-killer is confined in an iron lung inside an old mansion after a suicide attempt. His wife hires him a full-time carer, a mysterious young man who is driven slowly mad by the old man's disturbing past.
Director: Agustí Villaronga | Stars: Günter Meisner, David Sust, Marisa Paredes, Gisèle Echevarría
Votes: 5,047
I don't even know where to begin with this one. Profoundly disturbing on every level.
7. 7 Days (2010)
Not Rated | 105 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
A doctor seeks revenge by kidnapping, torturing and killing the man who raped and murdered his young daughter.
Director: Daniel Grou | Stars: Claude Legault, Rémy Girard, Martin Dubreuil, Fanny Mallette
Votes: 8,646
Not only graphically violent, but also psychologically disturbing; the line blurs between justice and vengeance, leaving us to ask ourselves how we would react if we had a chance for revenge on someone who had raped and murdered our child.
8. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
R | 136 min | Crime, Sci-Fi
In the future, a sadistic gang leader is imprisoned and volunteers for a conduct-aversion experiment, but it doesn't go as planned.
Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee, Michael Bates, Warren Clarke
Votes: 881,530 | Gross: $6.21M
Somehow this manages to maintain its punch-in-the-gut effectiveness decades after its release. Ultraviolent, indeed.
9. Nine Inch Nails: Broken (1993 Music Video)
20 min | Short, Horror, Music
Trent Reznor presents his dark vision of the EP 'Broken' by telling the story of a man kidnapped and forced to watch Nine Inch Nails videos, disturbing in their own right, while being ... See full summary »
Directors: Serge Becker, Peter Christopherson, Eric Goode, Jon Reiss | Stars: Trent Reznor, James Duval, Bob Flanagan, Nine Inch Nails
Votes: 1,139
Not exactly a movie; rather, it's a series of videos by Nine Inch Nails, linked together by a subplot featuring a kidnapping and a pretty convincing faux-snuff film.
10. Oldboy (2003)
R | 120 min | Action, Drama, Mystery
After being kidnapped and imprisoned for fifteen years, Oh Dae-Su is released, only to find that he must track down his captor in five days.
Director: Park Chan-wook | Stars: Choi Min-sik, Yoo Ji-tae, Kang Hye-jeong, Kim Byeong-Ok
Votes: 636,125 | Gross: $0.71M
It's hard to classify this movie. All I can say is "see it." The ending will slap you in the face, hard. (Also worth seeing are the other two in this "series": "Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance" and "Lady Vengeance.")
11. Three... Extremes (2004)
R | 125 min | Horror
An Asian cross-cultural trilogy of horror films from accomplished indie directors.
Directors: Fruit Chan, Park Chan-wook, Takashi Miike | Stars: Bai Ling, Lee Byung-hun, Kyoko Hasegawa, Pauline Lau
Votes: 20,874 | Gross: $0.08M
The title is fitting, although each of the three short films are very different, and will therefore affect viewers on various levels. I made the mistake of seeking out the full-length version of "Dumplings," and I don't think I'll ever fully recover.
12. 5150 Elm's Way (2009)
110 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
5150 ELM'S WAY is located at end of a quiet street in a small town. When Yannick fell off his bike.
Director: Éric Tessier | Stars: Marc-André Grondin, Normand D'Amour, Sonia Vachon, Mylène St-Sauveur
Votes: 3,644
Strange and shocking. Unlike some of the others on this list, it's quite clear who the "good" and "bad" guys are from the outset, but that makes it even harder to watch.
13. Your Friends and Neighbors (1998)
R | 100 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Unhappy couples fall apart and hop into other beds with other people.
Director: Neil LaBute | Stars: Amy Brenneman, Aaron Eckhart, Ben Stiller, Nastassja Kinski
Votes: 8,347 | Gross: $4.71M
There is one scene - a monologue expertly given by Jason Patric - that makes this movie a part of my list. The rest is forgettable, but that one long, astonishing speech in a gym's steam room will stay with you.
14. The Bridge (I) (2006)
R | 94 min | Documentary, Drama
Filmmakers use hidden cameras to capture the various suicide attempts at the Golden Gate Bridge - the world's most popular suicide destination. Interviews with the victims' loved ones describe their lives and mental health.
Director: Eric Steel | Stars: Eric Geleynse, Chris Brown, Susan Ginwalla, Caroline Pressley
Votes: 12,219 | Gross: $0.18M
Far from your average documentary. Not only does the camera capture several people's suicides as they jump from the Golden Gate Bridge, but the filmmaker also delves into the whys and wherefores behind what drove them to jump in the first place. Utterly heartbreaking.
15. Fear(s) of the Dark (2007)
Unrated | 83 min | Animation, Horror, Mystery
Several scary black-and-white animated segments in different styles appeal to our fear(s) of the dark.
Directors: Blutch, Charles Burns, Marie Caillou, Pierre Di Sciullo, Lorenzo Mattotti, Richard McGuire | Stars: Aure Atika, Guillaume Depardieu, Nicole Garcia, Gil Alma
Votes: 3,233 | Gross: $0.08M
A startlingly fascinating set of short films, any one of which might inspire a sleepless night or two.
16. A Certain Kind of Death (2003)
69 min | Documentary
Unblinking and unsettling, this documentary lays bare a mysterious process that goes on all around us - what happens to people who die with no next of kin.
Directors: Grover Babcock, Blue Hadaegh | Stars: Fred Corral, Sherwood Dixon, Julie Wilson
Votes: 971
You can't help but contemplate your own mortality, and what will become of you after you die, as you watch these unidentified remains being "dealt with" by the coroner's office.
17. Grimm Love (2006)
R | 87 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
In Germany, as graduate student Katie Armstrong researches cannibal killer Oliver Hagen for her thesis, she becomes obsessed with her subject and ultimately plunges into a lifestyle similar to Hagen's and the thousands of people like him.
Director: Martin Weisz | Stars: Thomas Kretschmann, Keri Russell, Thomas Huber, Rainier Meissner
Votes: 3,602
I didn't expect this to be as unnerving as it was. It quite quickly takes a turn from standard horror fare into a truly, deeply dark psychological place. Knowing it's based very closely on the true story of a man who posted on Craigslist his desire for a suicidal person to volunteer to be eaten...? That makes what we're shown here feel even worse. Sick, sick, sick.
18.
Masters of Horror (2005–2007)
Episode:
Imprint
(2006)
TV-MA | 63 min | Horror
In the 1800s, an American returns to Japan to find the prostitute he fell in love with, but instead learns of the physical and existential horror that befell her after he left.
Director: Takashi Miike | Stars: Billy Drago, Shihô Harumi, Michié, Magy
Votes: 7,643
I think I remember hearing that this episode of "Masters of Horror" was banned - or at least not aired - in most places where the rest of the series was. I had to rent it online to see why for myself, and...yeah, it is beyond grotesque, and disturbingly well made. Takashi Miike outdid himself.
19. Man Behind the Sun (1988)
Not Rated | 105 min | Drama, History, Horror
Japanese troops round up Chinese and Russian prisoners of war and take them to unit 731, where they're horribly tortured and experimented on to test new biological weapons.
Director: Tun-Fei Mou | Stars: Gang Wang, Dai Yao Wu, Runshen Wang, Zhe Quan
Votes: 7,281
Also known as "Hei tai yang 731," this film uses real footage of unspeakable things (experiments on animals, human torture, other atrocities of war) to illustrate life in a Japanese POW camp post-WWII.
20. Enter the Void (2009)
Not Rated | 161 min | Drama, Fantasy
An American drug dealer living in Tokyo is betrayed by his best friend and killed in a drug deal. His soul, observing the repercussions of his death, seeks resurrection.
Director: Gaspar Noé | Stars: Nathaniel Brown, Paz de la Huerta, Cyril Roy, Olly Alexander
Votes: 88,070 | Gross: $0.34M
Unlike anything else I've ever seen. This story is told from the perspective of a young man in Tokyo who is murdered, and becomes omniscient as he tries to keep his promise of ensuring his sister's safety. Surreal, bizarre, original and thoroughly unforgettable.
21. Antichrist (2009)
Not Rated | 108 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A grieving couple retreat to their cabin in the woods, hoping to repair their broken hearts and troubled marriage, but nature takes its course and things go from bad to worse.
Director: Lars von Trier | Stars: Willem Dafoe, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Storm Acheche Sahlstrøm
Votes: 136,573 | Gross: $0.40M
Astonishingly beautiful to look at, in contrast with the terrible things it depicts. Everything from the visuals to the ominous "soundtrack" lends itself to the feeling of impending doom. Some really twisted sexual and violent imagery to behold.
22. Cannibal Holocaust (1980)
Unrated | 95 min | Adventure, Horror
During a rescue mission into the Amazon rainforest, a professor stumbles across lost film shot by a missing documentary crew.
Director: Ruggero Deodato | Stars: Robert Kerman, Francesca Ciardi, Perry Pirkanen, Luca Barbareschi
Votes: 61,170
It veers into schlock territory, but because of its actual footage of animal torture, it usually makes its way onto most "disturbing films" lists.
23. I Spit on Your Grave (1978)
R | 101 min | Horror, Thriller
An aspiring writer is repeatedly assaulted, humiliated, and left for dead by four men she systematically hunts down to seek revenge.
Director: Meir Zarchi | Stars: Camille Keaton, Eron Tabor, Richard Pace, Anthony Nichols
Votes: 31,216
I'll never really understand why the original title of this is "Day Of The Woman," aside from some fairly sick revenge fantasies being played out. This is basically one long rape scene, followed by a whole lot of gory "justice" for the victim. Depraved. Don't even bother with the remake.
24. Dead Ringers (1988)
R | 116 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
Twin gynecologists take full advantage of the fact that nobody can tell them apart, until their relationship begins to deteriorate over a woman.
Director: David Cronenberg | Stars: Jeremy Irons, Geneviève Bujold, Heidi von Palleske, Barbara Gordon
Votes: 53,599 | Gross: $9.13M
Jeremy Irons will convince you that he has a twin brother. He will also make women never want to go to the gynecologist's office again. One of Cronenberg's creepiest films, and that's saying a lot.
25. Kids (1995)
Unrated | 91 min | Drama
A day in the life of a group of teens as they travel around New York City skating, drinking, smoking and deflowering virgins.
Director: Larry Clark | Stars: Leo Fitzpatrick, Justin Pierce, Chloë Sevigny, Sarah Henderson
Votes: 84,674 | Gross: $7.42M
This is one of those movies where you're pretty sure you know what's coming, and you thoroughly dread actually seeing it, but like a train wreck you can't look away.
26. Evilenko (2003)
Not Rated | 111 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A disgraced communist schoolteacher in Kyiv becomes a brutal, unfeeling serial killer. Based on the crimes of Andrei Chikatilo.
Director: David Grieco | Stars: Malcolm McDowell, Marton Csokas, Ronald Pickup, Ruby Kammer
Votes: 3,541
Malcolm McDowell out-creeps his own creepy characters with this one. Not a great film, but his performance and a few key scenes will make just about anyone cringe in horror.
27. A Serbian Film (2010)
NC-17 | 104 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
An aging porn star agrees to participate in an "art film" in order to make a clean break from the business, only to discover that he has been drafted into making a pedophilia and necrophilia themed snuff film.
Director: Srdjan Spasojevic | Stars: Srdjan 'Zika' Todorovic, Sergej Trifunovic, Jelena Gavrilovic, Slobodan Bestic
Votes: 71,731
I'm fairly certain this movie contains things never before put on film. Sick, sick, beyond sick. Only those seeking a really nasty movie will want to go anywhere near this one.
28. Battle Royale (2000)
Not Rated | 114 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
In the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill one another under the revolutionary "Battle Royale" act.
Director: Kinji Fukasaku | Stars: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, Tarô Yamamoto, Chiaki Kuriyama
Votes: 194,485
The plot for the newly popular "Hunger Games" book trilogy may as well have been lifted from this movie, but believe me when I say this film is far superior and absolutely engrossing.
29. In My Skin (2002)
Unrated | 93 min | Drama, Horror
A woman grows increasingly fascinated with her body after suffering a disfiguring accident.
Director: Marina de Van | Stars: Marina de Van, Laurent Lucas, Léa Drucker, Thibault de Montalembert
Votes: 5,729 | Gross: $0.03M
If you're squeamish about self-mutilation, avoid this at all costs.
30. Audition (1999)
R | 115 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A widower takes an offer to screen girls at a special audition, arranged for him by a friend to find him a new wife. The one he fancies is not who she appears to be after all.
Director: Takashi Miike | Stars: Ryo Ishibashi, Eihi Shiina, Tetsu Sawaki, Jun Kunimura
Votes: 89,272
At first glance this might look like a typical horror movie. Not so. There are a lot of truly squirm-worthy moments in this film. One of Miike's best, in my opinion.
31. Shallow Grave (1994)
R | 89 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Three friends discover their new flatmate dead but loaded with cash.
Director: Danny Boyle | Stars: Kerry Fox, Christopher Eccleston, Ewan McGregor, Ken Stott
Votes: 66,248 | Gross: $2.88M
It may be because of the levity with which this movie begins that its downward spiral into hell is so effective.
32. Repulsion (1965)
Not Rated | 105 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A sex-repulsed woman who disapproves of her sister's boyfriend sinks into depression and has horrific visions of rape and violence.
Director: Roman Polanski | Stars: Catherine Deneuve, Ian Hendry, John Fraser, Yvonne Furneaux
Votes: 57,284
This Polanski classic gets overlooked in most modern lists, but like "A Clockwork Orange" it has retained the qualities that made it disturbing in the first place.
33. Mysterious Skin (2004)
Unrated | 105 min | Drama
Two pre-adolescent boys both experienced a strange event and later it affects their lives in different ways. One becomes a reckless, sexually adventurous prostitute, while the other retreats into a reclusive fantasy of alien abduction.
Director: Gregg Araki | Stars: Brady Corbet, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Elisabeth Shue, Chase Ellison
Votes: 76,342 | Gross: $0.70M
Joseph Gordon-Levitt's performance is totally devastating; you'll want to look away, but you won't be able to.
34. Kissed (1996)
R | 78 min | Drama, Romance
Over the years, a child's romantic ideals about death blossom into necrophilia, the study of embalming and the most profound relationship of her life.
Director: Lynne Stopkewich | Stars: Molly Parker, Peter Outerbridge, Jay Brazeau, Natasha Morley
Votes: 3,995 | Gross: $0.47M
One of the most disturbing things about this film is how well Molly Parker's character communicates why she's a necrophile...and how much sense it starts to make to the viewer.
35. Inside (2007)
R | 82 min | Horror
Four months after the death of her husband, a woman on the brink of motherhood is tormented in her home by a strange woman who wants her unborn baby.
Directors: Alexandre Bustillo, Julien Maury | Stars: Alysson Paradis, Jean-Baptiste Tabourin, Claude Lulé, Dominique Frot
Votes: 44,714
Nothing can be said aside from "not recommended for pregnant women."
36. Bijitâ Q (2001)
R | 84 min | Comedy, Drama, Horror
A troubled and perverted family find their lives intruded by a mysterious stranger who seems to help find a balance in their disturbing natures.
Director: Takashi Miike | Stars: Ken'ichi Endô, Shungiku Uchida, Kazushi Watanabe, Jun Mutô
Votes: 17,056
Once again, Takashi Miike makes the list.
37. Deliverance (1972)
R | 109 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Intent on seeing the Cahulawassee River before it's dammed and turned into a lake, outdoor fanatic Lewis Medlock takes his friends on a canoeing trip they'll never forget into the dangerous American back-country.
Director: John Boorman | Stars: Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, Ronny Cox
Votes: 119,299 | Gross: $7.06M
It's been spoofed endlessly and refashioned a lot in the last decade (i.e. "Wrong Turn," etc.), but there are still few scenes as troubling as the infamous "squeal like a pig" moment here.
38. The Uninvited (2008)
Unrated | 97 min | Horror, Thriller
A young woman's nightmarish past returns to trigger off a bizarre phobia she was once cured of; an intense fear of space, eased only by closeness to walls. She becomes a psychological ... See full summary »
Director: Bob Badway | Stars: Marguerite Moreau, Brittany Curran, Colin Hay, Donna W. Scott
Votes: 1,123
Not to be confused with the recent Elizabeth Banks J-horror remake (or any of the other movies with this same or similar title), this film is weirdly claustrophobic, and while the payoff isn't great, the atmosphere throughout will definitely get to you.
39. Lord of the Flies (1963)
Not Rated | 92 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Schoolboys marooned on a Pacific island create their own savage civilization.
Director: Peter Brook | Stars: James Aubrey, Tom Chapin, Hugh Edwards, Roger Elwin
Votes: 20,419
I saw the '90s remake first (I'd actually read the book before both), but the original packs a wallop.
40. Requiem for a Dream (2000)
R | 102 min | Drama
The drug-induced utopias of four Coney Island people are shattered when their addictions run deep..
Director: Darren Aronofsky | Stars: Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, Marlon Wayans
Votes: 899,043 | Gross: $3.64M
Summed up: Gut-wrenching.
41. Hard Candy (2005)
R | 104 min | Drama, Thriller
Hayley's a smart, charming teenage girl. Jeff's a handsome, smooth fashion photographer. An Internet chat, a coffee shop meet-up, an impromptu fashion shoot back at Jeff's place. Jeff thinks it's his lucky night. He's in for a surprise.
Director: David Slade | Stars: Patrick Wilson, Elliot Page, Sandra Oh, Odessa Rae
Votes: 168,118 | Gross: $1.01M
Be preapred for some lively debate after watching this. Trying to figure out who is the worst offender - or which is the offender at all? - will mess with your head.
42. Harry Brown (2009)
R | 103 min | Action, Crime, Drama
An elderly ex-serviceman and widower looks to avenge his best friend's murder by doling out his own form of justice.
Director: Daniel Barber | Stars: Michael Caine, Emily Mortimer, David Bradley, Charlie Creed-Miles
Votes: 91,389 | Gross: $1.82M
Probably not an obvious choice, but seeing Michael Caine go from raw grief to galvanized rage - and all of the carnage left in its wake - is jarring. The unexpected burst of graphic violence that opens the film sets a very definite tone.
43. Margaret's Museum (1995)
R | 114 min | Drama
Margaret MacNiel, a girl living in a Cape Breton coal mining town, finds her life changing when she meets Neil Currie, a cheerful bagpipe-playing dishwasher. Unfortunately, neither of them are able to escape the industry around them.
Director: Mort Ransen | Stars: Helena Bonham Carter, Kate Nelligan, Clive Russell, Craig Olejnik
Votes: 1,394 | Gross: $0.52M
A truly weird movie that looks like a straightforward love story...until you get to see exactly what Margaret keeps in her museum.
44. Sweet Movie (1974)
Not Rated | 98 min | Comedy, Drama, Mystery
After winning the "most virgin" contest, Miss Canada is married to a rich milk tycoon. But she quickly flees the marriage to experience the world around her, full of sweetness and anarchy.
Director: Dusan Makavejev | Stars: Carole Laure, Pierre Clémenti, Anna Prucnal, Sami Frey
Votes: 6,451
I hated this movie, but I'd be remiss if I didn't add it to this list.
45. Benny's Video (1992)
Not Rated | 110 min | Crime, Drama
A 14-year-old video enthusiast obsessed with violent films decides to make one of his own and show it to his parents, with tragic results.
Director: Michael Haneke | Stars: Arno Frisch, Angela Winkler, Ulrich Mühe, Ingrid Stassner
Votes: 18,660
Quietly affecting in the way only Haneke can manage. I'd recommend his "Funny Games," too, if you're feeling masochistic.
46. The Grey Zone (2001)
R | 108 min | Drama, History, War
A Nazi doctor, along with the Sonderkommando, Jews who are forced to work in the crematoria of Auschwitz against their fellow Jews, find themselves in a moral gray zone.
Director: Tim Blake Nelson | Stars: David Arquette, Velizar Binev, David Chandler, Michael Stuhlbarg
Votes: 11,425 | Gross: $0.52M
Of all the excellent movies out there about the Holocaust, I can't quite explain why this one stands out. But it does. I found it very hard to get through.
47. Eraserhead (1977)
Not Rated | 89 min | Fantasy, Horror
Henry Spencer tries to survive his industrial environment, his angry girlfriend, and the unbearable screams of his newly born mutant child.
Director: David Lynch | Stars: Jack Nance, Charlotte Stewart, Allen Joseph, Jeanne Bates
Votes: 127,522 | Gross: $7.00M
David Lynch isn't to everyone's taste - not even mine in many cases - but disturbing? Deranged? Unforgettable? "Erasherhead" fits the bill.
48. Morvern Callar (2002)
R | 97 min | Drama
After her beloved boyfriend's suicide, a mourning supermarket worker and her best friend hit the road in Scotland, but find that grief is something that you can't run away from forever.
Director: Lynne Ramsay | Stars: Samantha Morton, Kathleen McDermott, Linda McGuire, Paul Popplewell
Votes: 11,049 | Gross: $0.27M
From the quiet jolt of the opening to the last frame, this movie has atmosphere in spades. Dark, puzzling, and haunting.
49. A Single Man (2009)
R | 99 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
An English professor, one year after the sudden death of his boyfriend, is unable to cope with his typical days in 1960s Los Angeles.
Director: Tom Ford | Stars: Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Matthew Goode, Nicholas Hoult
Votes: 117,785 | Gross: $9.17M
This is one of those "it's the heartbreak that's unforgettable" ones. If you manage to crack a smile within 24 hours of seeing this bleak and heartbreaking movie, you're a much more cheerful person than I am.
50. Wit (2001 TV Movie)
PG-13 | 99 min | Drama
A renowned professor is forced to reassess her life when she is diagnosed with terminal ovarian cancer.
Director: Mike Nichols | Stars: Emma Thompson, Christopher Lloyd, Eileen Atkins, Audra McDonald
Votes: 11,406
Not a single moment that isn't completely devastating. Forces you to face mortality and the likelihood that we will suffer in the end. Emma Thompson is a wonder.
51. Never Let Me Go (2010)
R | 103 min | Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
The lives of three friends, from their early school days into young adulthood, when the reality of the world they live in comes knocking.
Director: Mark Romanek | Stars: Keira Knightley, Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield, Izzy Meikle-Small
Votes: 153,308 | Gross: $2.43M
Even if you already know the basic story behind why these kids are in this "special school," seeing it on film is pretty tough to take. No matter how inevitable the ending seems, you won't be able to stop wishing it could end any other way.
52. Last Night (I) (1998)
R | 95 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A group of very different individuals with different ideas of how to face the end come together as the world is expected to end in six hours at the turn of the century.
Director: Don McKellar | Stars: Don McKellar, Sandra Oh, Roberta Maxwell, Robin Gammell
Votes: 10,145
Moments of levity don't detract from the impending end of the world in this "apocalyptic" movie with a knife-in-the-heart emotional twist.
53. Blindness (2008)
R | 121 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A city is ravaged by an epidemic of instant white blindness.
Director: Fernando Meirelles | Stars: Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Gael García Bernal, Yûsuke Iseya
Votes: 75,204 | Gross: $3.07M
You have to see it (ironic, I know) to absorb its impact.
54. Melancholia (2011)
R | 135 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
Two sisters find their already strained relationship challenged as a mysterious new planet threatens to collide with Earth.
Director: Lars von Trier | Stars: Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kiefer Sutherland, Alexander Skarsgård
Votes: 195,984 | Gross: $3.03M
Lars von Trier does it again: he somehow creates the most breathtakingly gorgeous visuals to accompany incredibly grim and unsettling subject matter. If you can, see it in a theatre. The final 5 minutes, with a big screen and surround sound, are positively visceral.
55. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)
Unrated | 83 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Arriving in Chicago, Henry moves in with ex-con acquaintance Otis and starts schooling him in the ways of the serial killer.
Director: John McNaughton | Stars: Michael Rooker, Tracy Arnold, Tom Towles, Mary Demas
Votes: 40,464 | Gross: $0.61M
Whatever pushes your "disturb" buttons - gore, rape, torture, murder - it's all packed into this 81 minutes of hell.
56. Perfect Sense (2011)
R | 92 min | Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
A chef and a scientist fall in love as an epidemic begins to rob people of their sensory perceptions.
Director: David Mackenzie | Stars: Ewan McGregor, Eva Green, Lauren Tempany, Connie Nielsen
Votes: 63,970 | Gross: $0.00M
I felt this film got a raw deal from critics. Upon first viewing it may not hit you like a Mack truck, but if you're anything like me, you'll find yourself thinking about certain scenes months after the fact. Not as effective as "Blindness," but certainly worth a look. So to speak.
57. Deliver Us from Evil (2006)
Not Rated | 101 min | Documentary, Crime
Documentary about Father Oliver O'Grady, a Catholic priest who was relocated to various parishes around the United States during the 1970s in an attempt by the Catholic Church to cover up his rape of dozens of children.
Director: Amy Berg | Stars: Oliver O'Grady, Thomas Doyle, Adam, Jeff Anderson
Votes: 10,827 | Gross: $30.58M
Want a documentary that will mess you up? Try this one. The interviews with the priest/pedophile that take place at a children's playground, with him describing what arouses him, are just horrifying.
58. Happiness (1998)
NC-17 | 134 min | Comedy, Drama
The lives of several individuals intertwine as they go about their lives in their own unique ways, engaging in acts which society as a whole might find disturbing in a desperate search for human connection.
Director: Todd Solondz | Stars: Jane Adams, Jon Lovitz, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Dylan Baker
Votes: 74,449 | Gross: $2.81M
I can't count how many times I rented and then returned this movie before getting all the way through it. What a perverse slice of life it is.
59. The Skin I Live In (2011)
R | 120 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A brilliant plastic surgeon, haunted by past tragedies, creates a type of synthetic skin that withstands any kind of damage. His guinea pig: a mysterious and volatile woman who holds the key to his obsession.
Director: Pedro Almodóvar | Stars: Antonio Banderas, Elena Anaya, Jan Cornet, Marisa Paredes
Votes: 165,924 | Gross: $3.19M
There is a lot going on in this film. And a lot of really uncomfortable moments. Which all build up to something that definitely earns Almodovar's latest its rightful spot on this list.
60. I Saw the Devil (2010)
Not Rated | 144 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A secret agent exacts revenge on a serial killer through a series of captures and releases.
Director: Jee-woon Kim | Stars: Lee Byung-hun, Choi Min-sik, Jeon Gook-hwan, Chun Ho-jin
Votes: 146,288 | Gross: $0.13M
Fans of the "Oldboy" ilk will surely appreciate this. It doesn't go easy on the gore nor does it skimp on the emotional punches.
61. The Nazis: A Warning from History (1997)
292 min | Documentary, History, War
An examination of how a cultured people could have allowed Adolf Hitler's rise to power.
Stars: Samuel West, Adolf Buchner, Jutta Rüdiger, Günther Ruschin
Votes: 1,722
As documentary series go, this one is unmatched. I had to take a couple of days between watching each disc in the collection, because in spite of having studied much of the material in depth during my university history courses, the BBC has managed to put together things that most of us have never seen before...and wouldn't have wanted to, but should make ourselves see, all the same.
62. Cracks (I) (2009)
R | 104 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A look at the lives and relationships among girls at an elite boarding school.
Director: Jordan Scott | Stars: Eva Green, Juno Temple, María Valverde, Imogen Poots
Votes: 21,103 | Gross: $0.02M
Take a mentally unstable, beautiful, young teacher and throw her into a mix of needy, unwanted boarding school girls. Watch the twisted relationships unfold. Dread the way you know it's going to turn out. Swear you'll send your own kids to public school.
Tell Your Friends