Top 25 Most Disturbing Films Of All Time
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- DirectorAdrian LyneStarsTim RobbinsElizabeth PeñaDanny AielloMourning his dead child, a haunted Vietnam War veteran attempts to uncover his past while suffering from a severe case of dissociation. To do so, he must decipher reality and life from his own dreams, delusions, and perceptions of death.I don't know what it is about this movie, but this is by far the most jarring, depressing and emotionally devastating movie I've ever seen. If only the deleted scenes on the dvd would have been left in.
- DirectorDennis AlinkStarsDennis AlinkDennis talks about "A Serbian Film" and the lawsuit filed after the Sitges Filmfestival.I guess the movie is so shocking, that IMDB won't even give it a listing. But while "A Serbian Film" was the talk of the film fest circuit in 2010 for its extreme graphic nature, it's actually a pretty good psychological thriller comparable to David Fincher's The Game or the 2003 Korean film Old Boy.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsJack NicholsonShelley DuvallDanny LloydA family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where a sinister presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from both past and future.I can think of no other horror movie more iconic than this. One of Stanley Kubrick's finest films, the images in this film still stand the test of time. Why American horror/supernatural suspense movies continue to not even come close to this masterpiece, I've no idea. But the symbolism and ideas here will be examined and debated for decades to come.
- 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.As depraved and messed up as Serbian Film is, Irreversible still gets to me the most do to the single long takes, grainy just-like-you're-there style and (while few and far between) the ultra realistic acts of depravity...but moreover, the sound design and overall dizzying ambiance.
- 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 haven't felt this uncomfortable or rattled by a movie I saw in theaters in quite some time. This is definitely one of the most soul shattering movie experiences and performances I've seen
- DirectorHarmony KorineStarsNick SuttonJacob SewellLara ToshLonely residents of a tornado-stricken Ohio town wander the deserted landscape trying to fulfill their boring, nihilistic lives.There's a lot of films in this vein...Kids, George Washington, Trans, Tarnation...but Gummo takes the cake. I found this to me immensely more unsettling and under the skin than most "horror films" I've seen. Especially when you find out how much of it was real people cinema verite style.
- DirectorSimon RumleyStarsAmanda FullerMarc SenterJon Michael DavisA woman attracts the attention of a psychopathic former Army interrogator and an emotionally fragile young man caring for his depressed mother.Every reviewer describes this as a "slow burn", but this implies things take awhile to get going. I think the most horrific part of the last act is the seemingly ordinary American town in the afternoon aspect of the killings. Like in American Beauty, anytown USA. Only, this happens to be forever hipster slacker gen x Austin Texas. Not near as graphic as the reviews made it out to be, however the implications implied are pretty dark.
- DirectorJonathan DemmeStarsOprah WinfreyDanny GloverYada BeenerA slave is visited by the spirit of a mysterious young woman.I'd almost say this is more depressing and disturbing than Jonathan Demme's Silence of the Lambs; definitely not a feel good movie.
The abusive slave era mixed with supernatural elements make for a pretty eff'd up experience. - 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.
- DirectorDavid FincherStarsMorgan FreemanBrad PittKevin SpaceyTwo detectives, a rookie and a veteran, hunt a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as his motives.I remember seeing this opening weekend in theaters...I remember realizing immediately this was something special. By far Fincher's most complete masterpiece, it's also by far the most thrilling and jarring film I've ever seen at the movies. A movie that looks like it could have been filmed yesterday, Se7en has no equal
- 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.
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsSheryl LeeRay WiseMädchen AmickLaura Palmer's harrowing final days are chronicled one year after the murder of Teresa Banks, a resident of Twin Peaks' neighboring town.Two decades after it's release, TP FWWM stands as Lynch's most penetrating visions. "I am the armmm....and I sound like this...."
- DirectorJonathan DemmeStarsJodie FosterAnthony HopkinsScott GlennA young F.B.I. cadet must receive the help of an incarcerated and manipulative cannibal killer to help catch another serial killer, a madman who skins his victims.
- DirectorHarmony KorineStarsEwen BremnerBrian FiskChloë SevignyA portrait of the effects of schizophrenia on family life is the central focus.This film has the distinction of being at once one of the most unsettling films I've ever seen...and one of the funniest(and not intentionally) Julien the jammin' jammer!
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsBill PullmanPatricia ArquetteJohn RoseliusAnonymous videotapes presage a musician's murder conviction, and a gangster's girlfriend leads a mechanic astray.Robert Blake in a wig...that is all.
- DirectorGore VerbinskiStarsNaomi WattsMartin HendersonBrian CoxA journalist must investigate a mysterious videotape which seems to cause the death of anyone one week to the day after they view it.A rare example of where the American big budget remake is better than the original foreign film. (If only the sequels didn't suck)
- DirectorMichael HanekeStarsDaniel AuteuilJuliette BinocheMaurice BénichouA married couple is terrorized by a series of surveillance videotapes left on their front porch.
- DirectorCatherine BreillatStarsAnaïs RebouxRoxane MesquidaLibero De RienzoTwo sisters confront their sexual attitudes and experiences while on a family holiday.
- DirectorKim Jee-woonStarsLee Byung-hunChoi Min-sikJeon Gook-hwanA secret agent exacts revenge on a serial killer through a series of captures and releases.
- DirectorLars von TrierStarsEmily WatsonStellan SkarsgårdKatrin CartlidgeOilman Jan is paralyzed in an accident. His wife, who prayed for his return, feels guilty; even more, when Jan urges her to have sex with another.
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsIsabella RosselliniKyle MacLachlanDennis HopperThe discovery of a severed human ear found in a field leads a young man on an investigation related to a beautiful, mysterious nightclub singer and a group of psychopathic criminals who have kidnapped her child.
- StarsRichard ThomasTim ReidAnnette O'TooleIn 1960, seven pre-teen outcasts fight an evil demon who poses as a child-killing clown. Thirty years later, they reunite to stop the demon once and for all when it returns to their hometown.
- DirectorPhilippe MoraStarsChristopher WalkenLindsay CrouseFrances SternhagenOn December 26th Whitley Strieber has a strange nightmare. In the following days, plagued by painful headaches, his behavior becomes increasingly erratic. Later, under hypnosis, he realizes that his dream was not a dream at all.
- DirectorMatthew BarneyStarsRichard SerraMatthew BarneyAimee MullinsThe third film of a five-part art-installation epic -- it's part-zombie movie, part-gangster film.
- DirectorRobert LiebermanStarsD.B. SweeneyRobert PatrickCraig ShefferAn Arizona logger mysteriously disappears for five days in an alleged encounter with a flying saucer in 1975. His co-workers endure ridicule and contempt as they are wrongly accused of murder.