Most disturbing movies you've ever seen

[by Devol]

The murders in Driller Killer are hilarious. The only disturbing thing about that movie is the awful punk band who live downstairs from the main guy.

What!??
You didn't like good 'ol Tony Coca Cola and The Roosters, what with their fucking interminable, two chord practices, and oh-so casual punk struttin? I'd go on a drilling spree too if i was above that.

Other humorous D.K. bits:

- the effete, acerbic art critic "gettin his" at the d.k.'s place.

- the "Port-a-pak" battery charger commercial that becomes the d.k.'s main inspiration

- recurrring close-up shots of a buffalo's eye (?) in one of d.k.'s paintings. These were intercut with shots of him zoning out on the eye - his portal into further madness. YAY!!!

Abel Ferrara's first feature length. ('80) And what a trooper - he played the d.k.!

sorry - we'll get back to disturbing again.

[ShogunRua]

The murders in Driller Killer are hilarious. The only disturbing thing about that movie is the awful punk band who live downstairs from the main guy.

Oh man, I remember this film now! Yeah, you're right; it's absolutely hilarious. Even the title sounds funny. Love the scene where the art critic absolutely eviscerates the Driller Killer's painting!

[by Devol]

Can I sneak in a disturbing scene here instead of film?

In "Peeping Tom", near the end where the lead is playing old home movies that his psychiatrist dad made.
The black and white home film is grainy enough to keep subjects out of focus past three feet, which is effective for making his corpulent dad's cameos look sinister in a nebulous, blurry way. And then a cut to the lead, who was a kid in the home movie, in bed, and suddenly some huge, mantis-like spidery thingie is thrown onto his covers, which his dad did to document the look of fear on the lead's face. And the score during this bit couldn't more perfect: a dissonant, creepier-than-shit composition from Bartok, while this hideous-looking whateverthefuckitwas moved almost choreographically to the spidery-sounding piano. The scene was also good in illuminating the motivation behind his repressed character.

EDIT-

again - more scenes, instead of films: (sue me)

- "Can't Always Get What You Wanted" scene in "Leolo"
- taped-up cat in "Bad Boy Bubby"
- drowned one in "Gummo" (I'm sure "cut" was yelled before actual expiration of said cat)
- dog at the beginnng of "Cook, Thief, His Wife and Her Lover"

nope - not a Peta freak.....just got to thinking about scenes that have unfortunate stuff done to critters "in the name of art".

[mwgerb]

Man, I was going to say something snarky like "Jesus Wept" or "Chaos Reigns" until I read the Wiki synopsis of the film.

I'll take your word for it.

Damn, that is one hell of a synopsis. Agreeing it probably doesn't have much worth from the sound of it, just another torture porn film, just more extreme than most.

More of a porn torture film.

[fletch_lives]

Movies that should get a mention, I have never seen them as they sound a little to disturbing for me but check them out if thats what your into. The guinea pig series from japan. or (Za Ginipiggu) no story lines, just horror in its purest

[Alex S]

One movie springs to mind. "Visitor Q" is one of those fucked up movies thats as funny as it is disturbing. It's completely bat shit crazy and has one of the most surreal endings I've seen.

Anyone familiar with director Takashi Miike and how controversial his movies can be might not be that shocked by the content. He's renowned for pushing the boundaries of good taste. After watching this little belter,i had to have a shower to wash it all away.

[leekenn]

Definitely Mulholland Drive, that film deceives you on multiple levels and once you finally figure out what's really going on you subsequently question your ability to rely on the people around you. Bad times.

[Mentaculus]

I love rereading this thread. For myself, being "disturbing" has less to do with visceral content (seems like that's mostly gore?) in and of itself - I can watch dismemberments and decapitations all day and chuckle most of it off. It's more about having deep emotional reverberations go with the disturbing visuals.

INLAND EMPIRE - I jumped in this movie twice: [spoiler]When Laura Dern is spotlighted, in slowmotion towards camera and then runs towards the frame, and when she meets her projected, clown-face alter-ego near the end.[/spoiler] I'm not even sure why these mess me up.

Cannibal Holocaust: [spoiler]Having sex on the ashes of the natives' buildings; raping the native girl; the counter-rape of the English girl by the natives.[/spoiler]

Antichrist: [spoiler]Female castration. The fact it was done by the woman herself is worse.[/spoiler]

Audition: Ending. Clearly.

Let the Right One In: The fate of the main character, and the full implications of befriending Eli.

The Cremator: [spoiler]The wife's suicide/possible murder is a highlight. But really, this is about a guy who believes he is doing God's work by orchestrating the Holocaust and killing his family.[/spoiler]The whole thing is freaky, and has an incredible disturbing aura.

Taxidermia: [spoiler]The most incredible montage of bestiality / necrophilia / sex ever. I'm still not sure what really happened, but it was messy. Also, the self-embalming at the end was equally profound and disgusting.[/spoiler]

Original Texas Chain Saw Massacre: [spoiler]The freaking nonchalant way Leatherface puts the woman on the meat hook. Jacked.[/spoiler]

Santa Sangre: Most of it. In the best possible way.

I'm sure more exist. these just jump out at me. (Yes, I watched a Guinea Pig - it was just stupid. Snuff and horror aren't interchangable.)

[overrated]

Threads

The Most Hated Family in America. Not so much disturbing as depressing.

Dogtooth

Zodiac

Videodrome

[by Devol]

Definitely Mulholland Drive

One moment that totally made me spit out my Stella Artois - when in broad daylight some hideous zombie-like corpse thing suddenly looms from behind a corner, freaking out buddy. The hilariouness of the incongruity of a relatively innocuous (or, at least, zombie-free) parking lot scene, in broad daylight, combined with ambushing corpses, is something that is very, very, very special to this filmgoer.

Santa Sangre: Most of it. In the best possible way.

whoa - don't even get me started on one of my alltime favourites. There's not enough bandwidth in this website.

Videodrome

Even when I was a kid that film totally made me howl. Something Matt Groening-like about James Woods simply makes me laugh. (to clarify further: he could be the perfect substitute for Binky). Stuffing Betamax tapes into peoples' guts, a hand fusing its flesh over the gun it's holding (or vise-versa?), that Professor Oblivion shmuck......it made me laugh much in the same way the exploding heads in "Scanners" did. Miss Harry was fucking hot - maybe trying a LITTLE too hard, but still - rrrrrrrrowr!

"Wait Until Dark" is a 1967 suspense flick that I found distinctly disturbing by the way the creepy Alan Arkin preyed on the blind Audrey Hepburn. The sadistic cat and mouse dynamic can be a wee bit gratuitously manipulative, but the two leads, along with the compelling, plausible, well-paced plot, makes this film highly recommended. And Henry Mancini's discordant piano score is quite menacing.

EDIT: funny, Shebang.......I just now saw your Mulholland post in the top 5 horror moment thread. I forgot that it was a nightmare thing. And that extra shot of said zombie retreating back behind the corner - that REALLY made it a special, Hallmark cards kind of thing for me.