Disturbing movies
A list I got of movies from Complex magazine's site, plus a few personal favorites thrown in.
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- DirectorBryan BertinoStarsScott SpeedmanLiv TylerGemma WardA young couple staying in an isolated vacation home are terrorized by three unknown assailants.
- DirectorPier Paolo PasoliniStarsPaolo BonacelliGiorgio CataldiUberto Paolo QuintavalleIn 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.
- DirectorRuggero DeodatoStarsRobert KermanFrancesca CiardiPerry PirkanenDuring a rescue mission into the Amazon rainforest, a professor stumbles across lost film shot by a missing documentary crew.
- DirectorJohn WatersStarsDivineDavid LocharyMary Vivian PearceNotorious Baltimore criminal and underground figure Divine goes up against a sleazy married couple who make a passionate attempt to humiliate her and seize her tabloid-given title as "The Filthiest Person Alive".Saw this when I was much younger and I just didn't expect some of this over the top stuff. I couldn't even finish it, it was so sick to me.
- DirectorTakashi MiikeStarsRyo IshibashiEihi ShiinaTetsu SawakiA 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.
- DirectorDavid JacobsonStarsJeremy RennerBruce DavisonArtel GreatBiopic about notorious American serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, taking place in both the past and the present.Not a really splatter filled gore fest, but this movie focused in on what led up to all that. In the end, it's clear what direction the main character goes.
- DirectorLee DanielsStarsGabourey SidibeMo'NiquePaula PattonIn New York City's Harlem circa 1987, an overweight, abused, illiterate teen who is pregnant with her second child is invited to enroll in an alternative school in hopes that she can re-route her life in a better direction.I put this on the list because of there were a few scenes of implied parental sexual abuse that didn't play out (that was in the book) but insinuated the actions, making it all the more gruesome.
- DirectorJohn McNaughtonStarsMichael RookerTracy ArnoldTom TowlesArriving in Chicago, Henry moves in with ex-con acquaintance Otis and starts schooling him in the ways of the serial killer.
- DirectorAgustí VillarongaStarsGünter MeisnerDavid SustMarisa ParedesA 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.
- DirectorDavid FincherStarsMorgan FreemanBrad PittKevin SpaceyTwo detectives, a rookie and a veteran, hunt a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as his motives.
- DirectorClive SaundersStarsMark HoltonAdam BaldwinTom WaldmanModel citizen, devoted father, loving husband and serial killer John Wayne Gacy - a man with over 30 dead men and boys entombed in the crawl space underneath his family house. Based on a true story.
- DirectorTimothy Wayne FolsomeStarsMekhi PhiferMari MorrowMel JacksonDebbie and Howard are celebrating their wedding anniversary. Or so Debbie thought.There were some scenes of violence that were of a very vicious nature. I don't take well to point blank shots to the head with a gun, and there was alot of that in this movie.
- DirectorNacho CerdáStarsPep TosarJordi TarridaÁngel TarrisA short film wherein a man working in a morgue mutilates and defiles one of the corpses.
- DirectorDarren AronofskyStarsEllen BurstynJared LetoJennifer ConnellyThe drug-induced utopias of four Coney Island people are shattered when their addictions run deep..
- DirectorGaspar NoéStarsMonica BellucciVincent CasselAlbert DupontelEvents 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.
- DirectorJoseph EllisonStarsDan GrimaldiCharles BonetBill RicciA disturbed young man who was burned as a child by his sadistic mother stalks women with a flamethrower.
- DirectorWes CravenStarsSandra PeabodyLucy GranthamDavid HessTwo teenage girls heading to a rock concert for one's birthday try to score marijuana in the city, where they are kidnapped and brutalized by a gang of psychopathic convicts.
- DirectorRobert HiltzikStarsFelissa RoseJonathan TierstenKaren FieldsBunks and showers are a mad stabber's beat at a summer camp strictly for teens.Yeah, its a gore film, and we all know what to expect from gore films, but this franchise (two sequels follow) have little children and young teens being victims. Even though most gore films do this, I still think kids below 10 years old should be off limits, and this film engages in that.
- DirectorSrdjan SpasojevicStarsSrdjan 'Zika' TodorovicSergej TrifunovicJelena GavrilovicAn 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.
- DirectorHerschell Gordon LewisStarsConnie MasonWilliam KerwinJeffrey AllenSix people are lured into a small Deep South town for a Centennial celebration where the residents proceed to kill them one by one as revenge for the town's destruction during the Civil War.
- DirectorTakashi MiikeStarsKen'ichi EndôShungiku UchidaKazushi WatanabeA troubled and perverted family find their lives intruded by a mysterious stranger who seems to help find a balance in their disturbing natures.
- DirectorHerschell Gordon LewisStarsWilliam KerwinMal ArnoldConnie MasonAn Egyptian caterer kills various women in suburban Miami to use their body parts to revive a dormant Egyptian goddess while an inept police detective tries to track him down.
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsJack NanceCharlotte StewartAllen JosephHenry Spencer tries to survive his industrial environment, his angry girlfriend, and the unbearable screams of his newly born mutant child.
- DirectorBenjamin LouisStarsDouglas SmithKris LemcheDrew Tyler BellSix high school teenagers decide to commit suicide together, but their plans soon go awry when one of them has something darker in mind as well.
- DirectorPascal LaugierStarsMorjana AlaouiMylène JampanoïCatherine BéginA 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.
- DirectorTakashi MiikeStarsTadanobu AsanoNao ÔmoriShin'ya TsukamotoAs sadomasochistic yakuza enforcer Kakihara searches for his missing boss he comes across Ichi, a repressed and psychotic killer who may be able to inflict levels of pain that Kakihara has only dreamed of achieving.
- DirectorTun-Fei MouStarsGang WangDai Yao WuRunshen WangJapanese 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.
- DirectorGaspar NoéStarsPhilippe NahonBlandine LenoirFrankie PainA horse butcher's life and mind begin to break down as he lashes out against various factions of society while attempting to reconnect with his estranged daughter.
- DirectorGeorges FranjuStarsPierre BrasseurAlida ValliJuliette MaynielA surgeon causes an accident which leaves his daughter disfigured and goes to extreme lengths to give her a new face.
- DirectorAlexandre AjaStarsCécile de FranceMaïwennPhilippe NahonBest friends Marie and Alexia decide to spend a quiet weekend at Alexia's parents' secluded farmhouse. But on the night of their arrival, the girls' idyllic getaway turns into an endless night of horror.
- DirectorPark Chan-wookStarsChoi Min-sikYoo Ji-taeKang Hye-jeongAfter 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.
- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsPierre BatcheffSimone MareuilLuis BuñuelLuis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí present 16 minutes of bizarre, surreal imagery.
- DirectorBen WheatleyStarsNeil MaskellMyAnna BuringHarry SimpsonNearly a year after a botched job, a hitman takes a new assignment with the promise of a big payoff for three killings. What starts off as an easy task soon unravels, sending the killer into the heart of darkness.
- DirectorTodd SolondzStarsJane AdamsJon LovitzPhilip Seymour HoffmanThe 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.
- DirectorLars von TrierStarsWillem DafoeCharlotte GainsbourgStorm Acheche SahlstrømA 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.
- DirectorMarcel SarmientoGadi HarelStarsShiloh FernandezNoah SeganCandice KingTwo high school boys discover an imprisoned woman in an abandoned mental asylum who cannot die.
- DirectorDusan MakavejevStarsCarole LaurePierre ClémentiAnna PrucnalAfter 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.
- DirectorJustin KurzelStarsLucas PittawayDaniel HenshallLouise HarrisBased on true events, 16 year-old Jamie falls in with his mother's new boyfriend and his crowd of self-appointed neighborhood watchmen, a relationship that leads to a spree of torture and murder.
- DirectorAlain ResnaisStarsMichel BouquetReinhard HeydrichHeinrich HimmlerThe history of Nazi Germany's death camps of the Final Solution and the hellish world of dehumanization and death contained inside.
- DirectorAdam RehmeierStarsRodleen GetsicJeff F. RenfroDrettie PageA prostitute looking for her next meal hitches a ride with a trucker that leaves her praying for her next breath.
- DirectorNick PalumboStarsSven GarrettCerina VincentTony ToddA fashion photographer exposes his demented childhood and zooms his evil lens on the oldest profession under the moon, in quite possibly the most notorious serial killer film ever made.
- DirectorHarmony KorineStarsNick SuttonJacob SewellLara ToshLonely residents of a tornado-stricken Ohio town wander the deserted landscape trying to fulfill their boring, nihilistic lives.
- DirectorRémy BelvauxAndré BonzelBenoît PoelvoordeStarsBenoît PoelvoordeJacqueline Poelvoorde-PappaertNelly PappaertA film crew follows a ruthless thief and heartless killer as he goes about his daily routine. But complications set in when the film crew lose their objectivity and begin lending a hand.
- DirectorMeir ZarchiStarsCamille KeatonEron TaborRichard PaceAn aspiring writer is repeatedly assaulted, humiliated, and left for dead by four men she systematically hunts down to seek revenge.One of those movies with no production values and a sick brutal series of rape scenes that look too real. Not for women with any self respect or feminists.
- DirectorAlexandre BustilloJulien MauryStarsAlysson ParadisJean-Baptiste TabourinClaude LuléFour 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.
- DirectorScott DerricksonStarsLaura LinneyTom WilkinsonShohreh AghdashlooA lawyer takes on a negligent homicide case involving a priest who performed an exorcism on a young girl.This was the best supernatural horror flick that I had seen since the 80s. The climax of the movie just hit me and I was freaked out.
- DirectorLynne RamsayStarsTilda SwintonJohn C. ReillyEzra MillerKevin's mother struggles to love her strange child despite the increasingly dangerous things he says and does as he grows up. But Kevin is just getting started, and his final act will be beyond anything anyone imagined.
- DirectorTom SixStarsLaurence R. HarveyAshlynn YennieMaddi BlackInspired by the fictional Dr. Heiter, disturbed loner Martin dreams of creating a 12-person centipede and sets out to realize his sick fantasy.
- DirectorTerence YoungStarsAudrey HepburnAlan ArkinRichard CrennaA recently blinded woman is terrorized by a trio of thugs while they search for a heroin-stuffed doll they believe is in her apartment.
- DirectorSean ByrneStarsXavier SamuelRobin McLeavyJohn BrumptonWhen Brent turns down his classmate Lola's invitation to the prom, she concocts a wildly violent plan for revenge.
- DirectorMichael HanekeStarsNaomi WattsTim RothMichael PittTwo psychopathic young men take a family hostage in their cabin.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsMalcolm McDowellPatrick MageeMichael BatesIn the future, a sadistic gang leader is imprisoned and volunteers for a conduct-aversion experiment, but it doesn't go as planned.This movie has so many layers to it. Kids study it in college, books have been written about it, but it is not for everybody. If you look beyond the violence and sex (which there was alot of in this movie, cutting edge for the time) a profound statement is being made.
- DirectorSimon WestStarsCamilla BelleTommy FlanaganKatie CassidyDuring a babysitting gig, a high-school student is harassed by an increasingly threatening prank caller.
- DirectorNicolas Winding RefnStarsMads MikkelsenMaarten StevensonAlexander MortonForced for some time to be a fighting slave, a pagan warrior escapes his captors with a boy and joins a group of Crusaders on their quest to the Holy Land.
- DirectorMiguel Ángel VivasStarsFernando CayoManuela VellésAna WagenerThree hooded Eastern-European criminals burst into a home in a Madrid gated community, holding the family hostage in its own home, and forcing the father to empty his credit cards.
- DirectorMichael A. SimpsonStarsPamela SpringsteenRenée EstevezTony HigginsA sex-changed slasher returns as a camp counselor.Goofy as this film is, and something of a spoof, there was a pretty brutal killing of a camper with a chainsaw which never sat too well with me.
- DirectorBrian De PalmaStarsSissy SpacekPiper LaurieAmy IrvingCarrie White, a shy, friendless teenage girl who is sheltered by her domineering, religious mother, unleashes her telekinetic powers after being humiliated by her classmates at her senior prom.This shouldn't be that scary, but the ending scene made it hard for me to sleep for a couple of days.
- DirectorMichael HanekeStarsSusanne LotharUlrich MüheArno FrischTwo violent young men take a mother, father, and son hostage in their vacation cabin and force them to play sadistic "games" with one another for their own amusement.
- DirectorSpike LeeStarsJosh BrolinElizabeth OlsenSamuel L. JacksonObsessed with vengeance, a man sets out to find out why he was kidnapped and locked into solitary confinement for twenty years without reason.
- DirectorBrad AndersonStarsWoody HarrelsonEmily MortimerBen KingsleyA Transsiberian train journey from China to Moscow becomes a thrilling chase of deception and murder when an American couple encounters a mysterious pair of fellow travelers.
- DirectorOliver StoneStarsWoody HarrelsonJuliette LewisTom SizemoreTwo victims of traumatized childhoods become lovers and psychopathic serial murderers irresponsibly glorified by the mass media.Though now we can look at this as very corny, at the time some of the more comical depictions of brutality and violence were pretty strong for its time.
- DirectorHarmony KorineStarsVanessa HudgensSelena GomezAshley BensonFour college girls hold up a restaurant in order to fund their spring break vacation. While partying, drinking, and taking drugs, they are arrested, only to be bailed out by a drug and arms dealer.What you think you will get is a somewhat fun and sexy movie with four hot girls. However, what you get will probably give you nightmares if you are not careful.
- DirectorDavid MoreauXavier PaludStarsOlivia BonamyMichaël CohenAdriana MoccaLucas and Clementine live peacefully in their isolated country house, but one night they wake up to strange noise... they're not alone... and a group of hooded assailants begin to terrorize them throughout the night.
- DirectorEli RothStarsJay HernandezDerek RichardsonEythor GudjonssonThree backpackers head to a Slovak city that promises to meet their hedonistic expectations, with no idea of the hell that awaits them.
- DirectorDennis IliadisStarsGarret DillahuntMonica PotterTony GoldwynAfter kidnapping and brutally assaulting two young women, a gang unknowingly finds refuge at a vacation home belonging to the parents of one of the victims: a mother and father who devise an increasingly gruesome series of revenge tactics.
- DirectorClive SaundersStarsMark HoltonAdam BaldwinTom WaldmanModel citizen, devoted father, loving husband and serial killer John Wayne Gacy - a man with over 30 dead men and boys entombed in the crawl space underneath his family house. Based on a true story.
- DirectorSteven R. MonroeStarsSarah ButlerJeff BransonAndrew HowardA writer who is brutalized during her cabin retreat seeks revenge on her attackers, who left her for dead.
- DirectorJörg ButtgereitStarsBernd Daktari LorenzBeatrice ManowskiHarald LundtA street sweeper who cleans up after grisly accidents brings home a full corpse for him and his wife to enjoy sexually, but is dismayed to see that his wife prefers the corpse over him.
- DirectorAlan ParkerStarsMickey RourkeRobert De NiroLisa BonetA private investigator is hired by a man who calls himself Louis Cyphre to track down a singer named Johnny Favorite. But the investigation takes an unexpected and somber turn.Quite frankly I didn't see this movie all the way through, but the scene with Lisa Bonet and Mickey Rourke is dreadful.
- DirectorGregg ArakiStarsJames DuvalRose McGowanJohnathon SchaechJordan White and Amy Blue, two troubled teens, pick up an adolescent drifter, Xavier Red. Together, the threesome embark on a sex-and-violence-filled journey through an America of psychos and quickie marts.Similar to Natural Born Killers, though I can put this on the list it is obvious that much of the stuff they did in the movie was really done for the sake of doing it. To me, there is shocking, and there is being shocking to be shocking for the sake of being shocking. And rape scenes are just not that entertaining to me.