Top 100 Most Disturbing Movies

 

We all watch movies for entertainment. It is a well-known accepted fact in society. Different types of cinema entertain people at different times.

 

Kids love cartoons, and fairy tales, while teenagers love supernatural, romance, and edgy action. But, is there ever a time that people enjoy disturbing movies?

 

If it has shocked you that there is a separate category of movies that have disturbing content, then prepare yourself for more shocks.

 

ENTOIN has a complete list of terrifying movies that are disturbing for various reasons. Some have an astounding amount of violence in them.

 

While some are gruesome and scary. Some movies are psychological thrillers that disturb our minds and continue to play on our psyche for days together.

 

The most unpalatable category that I cannot bear to watch is a movie that is disturbing on an emotional level.

 

Such movies exploit strong relationships between parent and child, or husband and wife, etc., to force them into making bad decisions.

 

Either way, there are many disturbing movies created nowadays. They generate a sensory overload for the viewers every time you watch them.

 

Many times, viewers left the movie midway and could not continue anymore. People have also fallen sick, puking, and fainting in theatres because of these films.

 

If you are wondering why you have never noticed any of these movies before, it is because most of these movies are unrated, R-rated, or NC-17.

 

They are released directly to video or Blu-ray discs as they are rated R or NC-17.

 

Although I would not recommend that you watch all these movies, they continue to have a market of enthusiastic viewers who like to test their limits.

 

 

 

1. A Clockwork Orange (1971)

 

 

 

Stanley Kubrick directed the dystopian crime film based on the novel, A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess.

 

He adapted the book into his film and portrayed the brutal means adopted by the juvenile correctional facility in the name of justice.

 

Alex is an antisocial juvenile delinquent with a charming and slick personality. He and his gang engage in brutal, and gruesome torture and rape of several victims.

 

When he is betrayed by his gang and arrested by the cops, he is sent to the juvie.

 

After a few years of prison term, he takes a new experimental treatment that could supposedly cure his proclivity for rape and violence.

 

He is psychologically conditioned with harsh treatment to reject all kinds of violence. Once his treatment is finished, he is set free into society, where he has no friends, family, or support.

 

His past crimes isolate him and his present situation makes him vulnerable to those who seek revenge.

 

A Clockwork Orange was controversial due to its depiction of graphic violence and it inspired many copycat killers.

 

Despite that, it received several awards and nominations, including four Academy Award nominations. It was also inducted into the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.

 

 

 

2. Se7en (1995)

 

 

 

Seven (written stylistically as Se7en) is a David Fincher film. It is a neo-noir psychological crime thriller that was written by Andre Kevin Walker.

 

Lieutenant Somerset is a detective with the police department and is set to retire shortly.

 

He is assigned to a case of homicide and Detective Mills is his partner. They both set up a good friendship and start to investigate a serial killer.

 

His murders cover the seven deadly sins and he sermonizes the police through them. For gluttony, he kills an obese person by forcing him to eat till his stomach burst.

 

For greed, he kills a defense lawyer by forcing him to eat a pound of his own flesh.

 

As pride, he severely disfigures a model’s face and convinces her to commit suicide. The most disturbing murders, however, are his attempts at wrath and envy.

 

The film was a considerable commercial success. Even the critics were favorable towards the shockingly brutal and grimy thriller.

 

The taut performances and gory special effects along with the haunting finale made the film memorable.

 

 

 

3. The Exorcist (1973)

 

 

 

The Exorcist is a supernatural horror that is based on a novel of the same name, written by William Peter Blatty.

 

The novel was a best seller and it was turned into a screenplay for director William Friedkin.

 

Chris MacNeil is an actress who is working in Washington on a film for her good friend, Burke Dennings.

 

While working there, Chris notices many odd behavioral changes in her daughter Regan, who also becomes physiologically stronger.

 

During a party at her home, Chriss sees Regan come in and start commenting on the guests rudely and ends up urinating herself.

 

After that Regan is given a battery of tests to evaluate her health and nothing is found to be amiss.

 

Finally, Father Karras who is a Jesuit priest is contacted to see if Regan is possessed.

 

While speaking to Father Karras, Regan starts speaking backward and in different languages, and she even taunts him.

 

This confirms his fears and he brings in Father Merrin who is aware of the demon possessing Regan.

 

The film had a few teething problems with none of the major actors willing to take up the roles.

 

The production company, Warner Brothers, was unhappy with the casting choices. There was also a major fire accident on the set that injured Linda Blair and Ellen Burstyn.

 

But the movie turned out to be a major hit and it is considered one of the greatest horror films ever made.

 

 

 

4. Oldboy (2003)

 

 

Oldboy is a South Korean neo-noir action thriller. It is based on the Japanese manga series of the same name, created by Garon Tsuchiyo.

 

The film was directed by the renowned Korean director, Park Chan-wook as a part of the Vengeance trilogy.

 

Oh, Dae-Su is a businessman who goes out to drink and loses track of time, and misses his daughter’s birthday party.

 

Sadly, he is arrested the next day and does not get to wish her before he is kidnapped.

 

He is kept in a private prison for 15 years without any knowledge of why he was abducted.

 

Finally, after getting a chance to escape, he tracks down his daughter and the kidnapper.

 

In the meantime, he finds love in a waitress at a sushi restaurant, who helps him look for both.

 

After a long-drawn search and after killing a torturing quite a few people, Dae-soo finds out that his daughter is the waitress he loves, and the kidnapper set up the whole game to torture him for an old betrayal.

 

The film premiered internationally at the Cannes Film Festival and received many accolades. It was listed as one of the favorites of Quentin Tarantino.

 

The film was praised for how well it depicts the depth of the human heart and emotions, both positive and negative.

 

 

5. Requiem for a Dream (2000)

 

 

 

Requiem for a Dream is a psychological drama that is based on a novel of the same name written by Herbert Selby Jr.

 

The film was directed by Darren Aronofsky and it received high critical praise. The story is about the destructive results of addiction in the lives of people.

 

Harry Goldfarb is a young man who dreams of opening a clothing store for the designs of his girlfriend, Marion.

 

His good friend, Tyrone, also supports his ideas. The problem is Harry and Tyrone are heroin addicts and they have no way of controlling their addiction.

 

They also get Marion addicted to the drug and to fund their habit, they each degrade to a new low in their life.

 

While Tyrone and Harry sell drugs and get caught in the drug bust, Marion turns to prostitution and forgets her dream of being a designer.

 

We see a gradual and painful decline of each of them from a bright future to absolute desolation.

 

The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and received positive reviews. Ellen Burstyn, who plays Harry’s mother, was nominated for an Academy Award for her role.

 

The direction, style, acting, screenplay, and musical score were all highly acclaimed.

 

 

6. Psycho (1960)

 

 

 

Psycho is the most famous Alfred Hitchcock film. It is a psychological crime thriller that was based on a novel of the same name, written by Robert Bloch.

 

This Hitchcock film made psychological issues and crimes related to mental health issues more acceptable.

 

Norman Bates runs a small motel along the highway and appears to be living with his domineering and jealous mother.

 

When Marion Crane embezzles money from her employer and hides out in the Bates motel, she is killed in her shower.

 

Bates appears to be shocked and flustered, yet he quickly cleans up the mess and disposes of her body.

 

Later, people come around looking for Crane, including the police, a PI, and Crane’s family members.

 

They are all fooled into thinking that Mrs. Bates is a grouchy old woman who bullies her son, Norman.

 

In the end, it is revealed that Mrs. Bates had been dead for many years.

 

Psycho is hailed as one of the greatest Hollywood films of all time. It was highly praised for strong performances by the cast and slick direction, but the camerawork, and music score have equally contributed to the movie’s success.

 

 

7. Funeral Parade of Roses (1969)

 

 

Funeral Parade of Roses is a Japanese art film that is based on the hard life and struggles of the gay and transvestite community in Tokyo in the 1960s.

 

The film was written and directed by Toshio Matsumoto. The film is a combination of different styles of filmmaking like arthouse, documentary, and experimental movie.

 

Eddie is a transvestite child, who is abused by his father. He then abandons Eddie and his mother to fend for themselves.

 

In the present day, we see Eddie working at a gay bar in Tokyo. The owner of the bar is having a secret affair with Eddie, much to the chagrin of the madame of the place.

 

While Eddie hopes to become the madame of the gay bar, he also hopes for a better life for transvestites like him.

 

He closely follows the works of Guevara, an avant-garde short filmmaker, who calls for change.

 

The film was released in the USA in 1970 and got a limited release only.

 

This film is said to have inspired Stanley Kubrick’s style of filmmaking in his film, The Clockwork Orange.

 

 

8. Nightcrawler (2014)

 

 

 

Nightcrawler is an American film. It is a neo-noir psychological thriller based on the cutthroat world of crime journalism.

 

The film is written and directed by Dan Gilroy in his directorial debut. Lou Bloom is a small-time thief living in Los Angeles and dreams of making it big.

 

As earnings are low, he enters the world of crime journalism, or as they call it stringers.

 

He follows police sirens and snaps photos of crime scenes and victims etc and sells them to primetime news shows.

 

He is helped in his endeavor by Nina Romina of the local news channel. What starts off as coverage of crime scenes, soon escalates into participation and even staging crime and starring in it.

 

Soon the lines between ethical reporting, crime, and perpetrating the crime are blurred. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

 

Many critics were in consensus that the movie has dark and thought-provoking thrills. Jake Gyllenhaal received special praise for his restless, sleek, and lithe performance.

 

 

9. I Saw the Devil (2010)

 

 

I Saw the Devil is a South Korean action thriller, directed by Kim Jee-Woon. The film was shown at the Sundance Film Festival and got a limited release in the USA.

 

Even for its R-rating, the director had to make seven cuts before release. Jang Joo-Yun is pregnant with Kim Soo-Hyun’s child, and he deeply loves her.

 

One night, while returning home, Joo-Yun is waylaid by a serial killer, Jang Kyung-Chul. He brutally attacks her, tortures and kills her, and dumps her body.

 

When Soo-Hyun finds out about it he is devastated. Being a NIS agent, he requests to be included in the investigation.

 

He helps them track down the serial killer, but he uses the knowledge to rain down hell and torture him.

 

He repeatedly catches him, tortures him, and lets him go without ending his troubles. The film has been criticized for being too graphic, violent, and gruesome.

 

It brought back the successful working combo of Kim Jee-Woon and Lee Byung-hun. They worked earlier in A Bittersweet Life.

 

 

10. Night and Fog (1956)

 

 

“Night and Fog” (French: Nuit et brouillard) is a 1956 French documentary short film directed by Alain Resnais.

 

The film focuses on the Nazi concentration camps, particularly Auschwitz and Majdanek, ten years after their liberation.

 

The title refers to the Nacht und Nebel program implemented by Nazi Germany for abductions and disappearances. Through a combination of contemporary and archival footage, the film depicts the abandoned camp grounds and describes the lives of the prisoners.

 

Resnais collaborated with scriptwriter Jean Cayrol, a survivor of a concentration camp, and the soundtrack was composed by Hanns Eisler.

 

Despite facing challenges from censors and the German embassy, the film was released to critical acclaim.

 

It alternates between past and present, using both black-and-white and color footage, to explore the rise of Nazi ideology, the suffering of prisoners, the horrors of the gas chambers, and the liberation of the camps.

 

“Night and Fog” continues to be highly regarded for its depiction of the atrocities of war.

 

 

11. The Seventh Continent (1989)

 

 

The Seventh Continent is an Austrian drama that was written by Michael Haneke and Johanna Teicht.

 

The film was the debut directorial venture of Haneke. It chronicles the last few years of a family in the last years of the 80s.

 

We see a small family of Georg, Anna, and their daughter Eva going through daily life.

 

Georg is an engineer and his wife Eva is an optician they both earn a comfortable living and Eva is a young girl.

 

Although they live a seemingly normal life with hardly any major events or altercations, we can see that the family is not happy.

 

They go through the daily chores in an apathetic way that is almost robotic. They keep regular correspondence with their grandparents to keep up appearances.

 

One day, the parents suddenly quit their jobs and cash out all their savings under the pretext that they are moving to Australia.

 

But, what they do next is a complete shocker. The film was critically acclaimed in Austria.

 

It was also the official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards.

 

It won the Bronze Leopard at the Locarno International Film Festival.

 

 

12. Deliverance (1972)

 

 

 

Deliverance is a survival movie that was written by James Dickey and directed by John Boorman.

 

The film is a tale of survival in the wild and doing what it takes to make it out of the wilderness.

 

Four businessmen plan an outdoor trip to enjoy the rapids in Northern Georgia, Out of the four, Lewis and Ed are experienced in trekking and other outdoor activities, while Drew and Buddy and typical city-bred men who have never been in the wild.

 

The first part of their trip is smooth sailing along the river on two canoes.

 

Although they are able to manage the wilderness, the four friends have trouble with the locals and the mountain men.

 

When one of the mountain men sodomizes Drew and attacks Ed, the other two friends kill them.

 

This antagonizes the group and the friends are chased down the rapids. In order to survive, they have to dig deep into themselves.

 

The film was a critical and commercial hit. The musical duel between Buddy and the locals was memorable.

 

Graphic violence and sodomy were also landmark scenes. The film was nominated for three Academy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, and a New York Film Critics Circle award.

 

 

13. Happiness (1998)

 

 

 

Happiness is a black-comedy drama, written, and directed by Todd Solondz. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and was highly praised.

 

The film follows the unhappy lives of the Jordan family members, giving us a brief look into all the unfulfilled hopes, and desires.

 

Trish is a seemingly happily married woman, with three kids. But, soon it is revealed that behind her back, her husband indulges in pedophilia.

 

He is soon caught, and Trish leaves him. Next, we meet Helen, who is a successful writer, but she feels that all her admirers only like the feeling of loving her, and no one knows the real person that she is.

 

The youngest sister, Joy, is a telemarketer, a teacher, and basically a directionless person. She is always rejected or left behind.

 

The film was controversial for its theme of sexual attraction, pedophilia, rape, and molestation, etc.

 

Yet, many critics have also agreed that the characters are more common, and real despite the depravity depicted.

 

 

14. The Machinist (2004)

 

 

 

The Machinist is a psychological thriller that was directed by Brad Anderson. The film gained a lot of publicity for the drastic weight loss of Christian Bale for the role of Trevor Reznik.

 

But, if we look past the weight loss, the film has a very disturbing story.

 

Trevor Reznik is a factory worker, he is a machinist and he is not very well-liked by his co-workers.

 

He suffers from insomnia and hasn’t slept in a year. While working, he accidentally causes a mishap that results in his co-worker losing his arm.

 

However, Reznik thinks it is the mistake of a new worker called Ivan. Slowly, Reznik gets into more and more trouble due to Ivan and no one seems to understand.

 

So, he plans to stalk Ivan and get rid of the guy. The more he looks into him, Reznik sees more troubling things.

 

Until the truth finally comes out. The film was praised for its dark psychological story of a sleepless man who is tied down by his guilt and his own mental block.

 

The performance of Bale as Reznik brought weight to the role (no pun intended).

 

 

15. The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989)

 

 

The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover is a crime drama, written, and directed by Peter Greenaway.

 

The film is a British production and has gained notoriety for its graphic violence and nudity.

 

Spica is a feared gangster, and he has earned a lot of money. He uses this to buy out a renowned French restaurant in England and frequently visits it with his gang of mobsters.

 

The restaurant staff and cook are very displeased with it as he is driving away patrons, and the profits are declining.

 

Along with the gangsters, Spica’s wife visits the restaurant daily, and she is a very elegant, and polished woman.

 

During her visits, she meets another patron who is a reserved bookstore owner. Sparks fly and their affair begins with the help of the restaurant staff.

 

But when Spica gets wind of this, the torture begins. The film has been called a powerful one with a romantic, and crime drama.

 

It has deeply impacted director Ari Aster with its portrayal, and direction. Many critics opined that the film remains with you long after it ends.

 

 

16. Mysterious Skin (2004)

 

 

Mysterious Skin is a coming-of-age film that is based on the novel of the same name, by Scott Heim.

 

It is directed by Gregg Araki, and it premiered at the Venice International Film Festival.

 

Two young boys, Neil, and Brian play for the little league in their hometown. Both of them suffer child abuse at the hands of their coach and come out of it with different results.

 

While both boys come from dysfunctional families, they both deal with the event very differently.

 

Neil becomes a prostitute with no understanding of love. At 18, he meets a client who makes him rethink his lifestyle, and change himself.

 

Brian on the other hand has blacked out the incident from his memory and suffers from recurring nosebleeds, and blackouts.

 

As young adults,  both Neil, and Brian meet, and discuss that night, in a way, reconciling their past.

 

The film was given an NC-17 rating for dealing with topics of pedophilia, and prostitution.

 

Critics have argued that if a paedophile would watch the film, he would understand the far-reaching impact of his actions, and feel ashamed.

 

 

17. The Skin I Live In (2011)

 

 

The Skin I Live In is a Spanish psychological thriller that is based on the French novel, Mygale, written by Thierry Jonquet.

 

The director of this film is Pedro Almodovar. A renowned plastic surgeon, Robert Ledgard is researching an innovative new artificial skin called GAL.

 

He is shown to have illegally tested it on a burn victim, whom he has kept at his secluded mansion.

 

At the mansion, the lady is taken care of by a lone housekeeper, but her son visits unexpectedly and tries to assault her.

 

The son is killed by the doctor, and slowly the history behind the mysterious doctor is revealed.

 

We find that he has a long tale of murders, death, grief, and mental suffering in his life.

 

We are also given shocking details about the identity of the burn victim. Almodovar described his movie as a horror without any frights or jumpscares.

 

The film premiered at the Cannes film festival. It won the BAFTA for Best Foreign Language Film, and 16 Goya awards too.

 

 

18. Funny Games (1997)

 

 

Funny Games is an Austrian psychological thriller about a pair of Viennese men who torture a family with abusive, and sadistic games.

 

The film was directed by Michael Haneke, who remade this movie in English for American audiences.

 

The film starts with a wealthy family who comes to their vacation home. Georg, Anna, and Georgie meet their neighbor Fred, who introduces them to Peter, and Paul.

 

Soon after the introduction, both Peter and Paul intrude on them requesting some help or the other.

 

They accidentally break the phone and even kill the family dog. After this, they completely move in with the family and start torturing them with sick, and sadistic games.

 

They break Georg’s leg, and when Georgie tries to escape, they shoot him dead. Coincidentally, the family’s friend Eva meets them, a potential target to them.

 

 

19. Man Bites Dog (1992)

 

 

Man Bites Dog is a black comedy by a Belgian director. The film was written, directed, and produced by  Rémy Belvaux, andré Bonzel, and Benoît Poelvoorde.

 

They also worked on the film as co-editor, cinematographer, and actors. The film was made in a mock documentary style.

 

A film crew of a documentary plan to give a fly on the wall view of a serial killer named Ben.

 

He is a charming, and witty person who can talk at length on any topic from the murders he commits to architecture, poetry, and even classical music.

 

The film crew gets more, and more involved with his personality. Ben takes the crew with him on all his grizzly, and gruesome murders that the crew film, and telecast.

 

Ben, proudly,  explains how, and where he killed his victims, and where he dumped them.

 

There comes a point where the crew starts helping Ben in his murders too. The film was given the NC-17 rating for all the gruesome, and gory murders.

 

The critics highly praised the film for combining humor, charm, and violence in a nightmarishly funny way.

 

Another critic said that the movie was a sick joke, and appalling, but there are some who love such movies.

 

 

20. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

 

 

 

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is a slasher movie that was co-written, directed, and produced by Tobe Hooper.

 

It was publicized as a real-life incident, however, it was a largely fictionalized account of the murders of Ed Gein.

 

A group of teenagers takes a road trip to visit the old home of their grandfather and his gravesite.

 

Along the way, they give a ride to a weird hitchhiker and stop by for a meal, and fuel.

 

On the way to the home, they stop at an old barn where one of the friends is killed by Leatherface.

 

One after another, each of the friends enters the buildings as the other did not return, and finds a horrific, and gruesome fate.

 

As it gets dark, the last two also enter and find a family of cannibals.

 

The scary Leatherface man dresses up as a woman, and the hitchhiker is also a part of the family.

 

The film was shot on a very limited budget with local, unknown actors. Since the movie was very graphic, and violent, the producer found it difficult to get distributors.

 

However, the film turned out to be one of the biggest successes. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is listed as one of the most influential horror movies of all time.

 

 

21. We Need To Talk About Kevin (2011)

 

 

 

We Need To Talk About Kevin is a psychological thriller, directed by Lynne Ramsay. The film is based on a novel of the same name, written by Lionel Shriver.

 

Eva is a travel writer, and she is married to Franklin. They have a child, Kevin, and Eva has trouble adjusting to her role as a mother.

 

She is a reluctant mother, and cannot connect with Kevin. Kevin also seems to cry a lot when he is around Eva, and he is rebellious about everything that Eva does.

 

Eva has a second child Celia, who is a happy, and cheerful girl, and this makes Kevin resentful of her.

 

As he grows up, Kevin becomes more, and more violent, and aggressive around Eva while pretending to be calm around his father.

 

He blinds his sister in one eye, shoots all his classmates in the gym, and he finally kills his father, and Celia too.

 

He is diagnosed as a psychopath and sent to prison. The film received generally positive reviews.

 

It premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. Tilda Swinton, who plays Eva, was nominated for a Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild Award, a BAFTA for her role in the film.

 

 

22. I Stand Alone (1998)

 

 

I Stand Alone is a French parallel cinema or art film that was directed by Gaspard Noe.

 

He also wrote the script based on an earlier short film, Carne. The story is about a butcher who has suffered a lifetime of abuse, rejection, betrayal, and disappointment.

 

He was an orphan who was abused by a priest as a child. Due to a lack of better opportunities, he becomes a horse butcher, and after hard work, he sets up his own shop.

 

His wife gives birth to a daughter and abandons both of them. Due to his overprotective nature, and anger issues, the butcher is arrested, and he loses his shop and daughter.

 

After being released from jail, he works hard again and finds love, but his girlfriend again betrays him.

 

After losing his job, and constant rejections from everyone, he became mentally unstable. The film won accolades as it was selected as the favorite of John Waters at the Maryland Film Festival.

 

It won the International Critics Week Award at the Cannes Film Festival. The film was also included in the official selection at film festivals at Telluride, Toronto, New York, Rotterdam, San Francisco, and Sundance.

 

 

23. Angst (1983)

 

 

Angst is an Austrian horror film that was loosely inspired by Austria’s most dangerous mass murderer, Werner Knesek.

 

The film was considered too violent, and brutal in 1983, and hence it was banned in most European countries.

 

A murderer is released from prison on parole. As he roams the streets he is overcome by the urge to kill on several occasions.

 

After a failed attempt to kill a cab driver, he escapes into a rural home.

 

He finds a young woman living with her sick mother and disabled brother. This becomes his playground as he tortures, and abuses them.

 

Finally, after killing the family, he goes out to the diner where he is apprehended by the cops.

 

He revels in the look of horror on the face of the onlookers as his crime is unearthed.

 

The film was banned in several countries, but it worked as an inspiration for horror film directors of this decade, like Gaspard Noe.

 

The cinematography, musical score, and performance of Erwin Leder were highly praised by all.

 

 

24. Hereditary (2018)

 

 

 

Hereditary is a psychological horror written and directed by Ari Aster. The film premiered at the Sundance Film festival and received critical praise and audience approval.

 

The film starts with the funeral of Ellen, Annie’s mother. We get to know that Annie was not close to her mother, but she was close to Annie’s daughter Charlie.

 

As Annie seeks grief counseling, a support group approaches her and slowly starts to put ideas in her head.

 

One night, Annie’s son Peter goes to a party with Charlie where she has an allergic reaction to nuts and dies on the way to the hospital.

 

Through a series of mishaps, her husband also dies. This unleashes a demon, Paimon. It is now revealed that all these events were pre-planned to bring the demon onto the earth.

 

The film was a commercial hit, and the critics were full of praise for the film.

 

One critic said that the movie was unsettling, and remained in their mind long after they left the theatre.

 

 

25. Kim Bok-nam salinsageonui jeonmal (2010)

 

 

Kim Bok-Nam salinsageonui jeonmal is a South Korean thriller. In English, the film goes by the name Bedeviled.

 

The film is directed by Jang Cheol-soo. Hae-won is a successful single woman, who works in a bank.

 

When she witnesses a murder and faces some trouble at her workplace, she is forced to take a vacation.

 

Hae-won plans to go to a remote island where her grandparents lived. She has a friend, Bok-Nam, who still keeps in touch with her.

 

After reaching the island, Hae-won is shocked to see the state of affairs. Bok-Nam is the slave of the entire island, and she is constantly bullied, abused, and molested by her own family.

 

Bok-Nam attempted to escape several times but failed. When she meets Hae-won, she begs her to help her escape, but Hae-won is indifferent to her pleas and abandons her.

 

When her daughter is killed, Bok-Nam reaches her breaking point and slashes everyone who betrayed her.

 

The film was the first movie by director Jang Cheol-soo, he worked with Kim Ki-Duk as his assistant director on a few of his films.

 

The film won several accolades in South Korea for its direction, acting, and cinematography.

 

 

26. Irreversible (2002)

 

 

Irreversible is a French psychological thriller that was written, and directed by Gaspard Noe. The film plays out in reverse chronological order, starting with the ending as it makes its way toward the start of the story.

 

Marcus, Pierre, and Alex are on their way to a party. Alex is pregnant with Marcus’s child but was in a relationship with Pierre before dating Marcus.

 

So both men love and care for Alex. At the party, she is upset with Marcus’s behavior and leaves the party alone.

 

On the way, she is brutally raped and beaten within an inch of her life by a pimp.

 

When Marcus and Pierre find out about it, they get very enraged. Immediately they start their own investigation and track down the pimp.

 

They go to his club to kill him, and this brings us to the opening scene of the film.

 

The film competed for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. At the Stockholm International film festival, it won the Bronze Horse.

 

However, all the critics were not impressed with the movie. The critics from the Chicago Sun-Times felt the movie was too violent, and cruel that it was unwatchable.

 

Some also felt it was homophobic.

 

 

27. Enter The Void (2009)

 

 

Enter The Void is an experimental drama set in Tokyo about a drug dealer who died in a drug bust, The film is co-written and directed by Gasper Noe, and it is filmed in the first-person perspective of Oscar.

 

The film starts with Oscar going for a drug deal that was actually a setup to have him arrested.

 

He dies in the subsequent shootout, but as he is always high on the psychedelic drug DMT, he continues to experience out-of-body experiences even after he dies.

 

The rest of the film is a mish-mash of his out-of-body experiences as he observes his life, and of those around him.

 

In a similar way, as described in the Tibetan Book of The Dead, his soul stays behind and experiences all the sorrows of his sister, and friends.

 

The film was a box-office failure. The critics were divided on their opinion, some felt that the movie was innovative and captivating.

 

Others felt that the movie was childish and boring.

 

 

28. Natural Born Killers (1994)

 

 

 

Natural Born Killers is an Oliver Stone film that was based on a story by Quentin Tarantino.

 

The original story by Tarantino was modified by Stone, and the screenwriter, David Veloz, to such an extent that Tarantino disowned the story.

 

Mickey and Mallory are two people who suffered extensive childhood abuse. They connected over their troubled past and fell in love, turning into psychopaths.

 

They toured the country killing people randomly, everywhere they went. They started with Mallory’s father, who abused her and killed people in every town, leaving only one witness to the crime.

 

As the body count increased, news media outlets picked on this story and started to extensively cover them.

 

In their rush for exclusive stories, some outlets sensationalized their childhood abuse and almost turned them into heroes.

 

Gale, an unscrupulous news reporter contacts, and tries to gain fame by getting their first personal interview.

 

The film was a commercial success, but the critics had very strong opinions about it.

 

Some praised the acting, directing, story, and all. While many included the film in their worst film list.

 

The film gathered quite a few controversies, with critics calling out Stone for blaming American culture of sensationalistic news for his own private opinions.

 

 

29. Ringu (1998)

 

 

Ringu is a Japanese horror film based on a novel of the same name written by Koji Suzuki.

 

The film is about a cursed videotape that will kill its viewers within one week of viewing it.

 

A journalist for a newspaper, Reiko Asakawa, researched the news about a cursed videotape that will kill the viewers within a week of watching it.

 

Incidentally, her niece and her friends also saw the video while on a trip to Izu, and they all died of heart failure with horrified looks on their faces.

 

To research the story, Reiko also watched the video. She copies the tape and gives it to her ex-husband for help in solving it.

 

They both look into it and find that the lady in the tape is the psychic, Shizuko Yamamura, who died after slanderous comments were made about her in the media.

 

Her daughter Sadako is also a psychic, who was murdered. They both race to resolve the curse before they die.

 

The film was highly praised in western media, and it was remade in other languages.

 

The film also has a few sequels. Critics praised the movie for combining old folk demons, and contemporary moral panic to create a horror film for all.

 

 

30. Dogtooth (2009)

 

 

Dogtooth is another psychological drama by the Greek director, Yorgos Lanthimos. He wrote the movie along with Efthymis Filipou.

 

It was inspired by a discussion he had about how far a man would go to protect his family.

 

Three grown-up children and their parents live an isolated life, where the adult son and two adult daughters have never set foot outside their property.

 

The father is the only person who travels outside the compound wall of the house, and his colleague, Christina is the only outsider who visits them.

 

She comes to relive the son’s sexual urges. The parents reward good behavior with treats and punish disobedience with violent beatings.

 

They psychologically scare the children about the death of a cat and convince them that their other brother had died due to it.

 

The film was highly commended by critics. It was the first Greek movie in ten years to be nominated at the Cannes Film Festival, and it won the Prix Un Certain Regard.

 

It was also nominated for Best ForeignLanguage Film at the Academy Awards.

 

 

31. Audition (1999)

 

 

Audition is a Japanese horror film based on a novel of the same name as Ryu Murakami.

 

Audition is another film by the director Takashi Miike, who is famous for his style of horror filmmaking.

 

Shigeharu Aoyama is a widower, who single-handedly raised his son, Shigehiko, after the death of his wife.

 

Now that the son is an adult, he asks his father to remarry, and be happy.

 

Shigeharu’s long-time friend, Yasuhisa Yoshikawa is a film producer, and he suggests that they conduct fake auditions to interview young female candidates for him to date.

 

Agreeing with the plan, they finalize on Asami Yamazaki, and Shigeharu is very taken with her.

 

After a first date, he proposes marriage, and from here starts his torture. Asami is a jealously psychotic person, who inflicts brutal, and cruel torture on him.

 

The film premiered at the Vancouver International Film Festival, and later at the Rotterdam International Film festival.

 

Here, it won the FIPRESCI Prize, and the KNF Award. It was received positively by many of the critics in the USA and the UK.

 

 

32. Bone Tomahawk (2015)

 

 

 

Bone Tomahawk is a western horror film about a cannibalistic Indian tribe. The film was written, and directed by S. Craig Zahler. The film premiered at the Fantastic Fest in 2015. A burglar runs into trouble with the law when a deputy reports him to the Sheriff.

 

He takes them on a chase across the wilderness, and into the territory of a cannibalistic tribe called Troglodytes.

 

These Troglodytes take the doctors hostage and force the town, and the Sheriff to launch a rescue mission.

 

Though the white man has superior firepower, the Indians have the advantage of a coordinated strike, and a better understanding of land along with a cruel, and brutal drive to kill.

 

The film received positive responses from critics for its gritty acting talents and Zahler’s direction.

 

The actors also enjoyed making the film, particularly Matthew Fox. Zahler stated that he purposely kept the mysticism of the film as ambiguous as possible to retain the mystery.

 

 

33. Midsommar (2019)

 

 

 

Midsommar is a folk horror based on a Scandinavian pagan ritual. The film uses an unstable relationship at its core and weaves the ritual around it to create horror with emotional trauma.

 

Dani is having a very traumatic time in life with the suicide of her sister, and the death of her parents.

 

At this junction, she feels estranged from her boyfriend too. When he plans to go on a trip to Sweden to attend a Scandinavian pagan ritual, without informing Dani, she has a big argument.

 

Finally, Dani accompanies her boyfriend, and his friends to this ritual. The festival starts as a happy event and slowly descends into horror as all other guests are sacrificed one after another to their pagan god.

 

In the end, Dani has to choose between her boyfriend, and a native to become the last sacrifice.

 

The film was praised by all critics and described as ambitious, impressively crafted, and unsettling.

 

Variety magazine described the film as admirably strange, and thematically muddled curiosity from a talented filmmaker.

 

 

34. Eraserhead (1977)

 

 

 

Eraserhead is an American surrealist horror film. David Lynch wrote, directed, produced, edited, and even worked on the music of this film.

 

It was funded by the American Film Institute, and it is shot in black, and white to create the ambiance.

 

Spencer has a job in a factory where he works as an industrial worker. His girlfriend has had a child recently, and both of them are pressured into marrying each other.

 

Then the girlfriend and baby move in with Spencer. Both of them together are unable to take care of the child as he refuses to eat anything and cries all day long.

 

The girlfriend leaves the baby with Spencer and goes away. He has a tough time taking care of things.

 

Everything appears to be falling apart in life as the girl across the hall that he likes is with someone else.

 

The film was a commercial success as it was played at the midnight run in New York, San Francisco, and more.

 

It became a cult film, but many critics gave negative reviews. Some called it a sickening film, while another compared it to Lynch’s next film, and denounced it.

 

 

35. Cold Fish (2010)

 

 

Cold Fish is a Japanese serial killer movie that was directed by Sion Sono. It is loosely based on the real-life murder case of Sekine Gen, and Hiroko Kazama.

 

Nobuyuki Shatomo owns a tropical fish shop, and lives with his second wife, and daughter.

 

His daughter is rebellious and often abuses her stepmother. One day, she is caught shoplifting, and the father is called in.

 

While the manager threatens to send the kid to jail, a patron intervenes and diffuses the situation.

 

The patron invites the father to his tropical fish shop which is bigger. There, the father meets his first wife, and his troubles start.

 

He is coerced to collaborate with the patron who has some nefarious hobbies. The film is inspired by the real-life murderer pair of husband, and wife, who killed four people.

 

It premiered at the Venice film festival and won an award at the Fantastic Fest 2010.

 

 

36. Hard Candy (2005)

 

 

 

Hard Candy is a psychological horror about a vigilante who takes revenge on a pedophile.

 

The film premiered at the Sundance film festival and received positive reviews. A fourteen-year-old girl, Hayley Stark, chats up a 32-year-old fashion photographer, Jeff Kohlver, and agrees to meet him.

 

After she agrees to a photoshoot, she drugs Jeff and ties him up in the kitchen.

 

From here, the horror for Jeff begins, as Hayley reveals that she knows about his pedophilic behavior.

 

Jeff tries many ways to free himself, but always ends up captured again. He tries to bully her, scare her, plead with her, and more to ensure his release, but all attempts fail.

 

The film was praised for its strong lead performances. A critic said that the movie was so good, it stayed with us long after leaving the theatre.

 

It won multiple awards at the Sitges film awards, Phoenix film critics society awards, Austin Film Critics Association Awards, and more.

 

 

37. Martyrs (2008)

 

 

Martyrs is a French-Canadian psychological horror. It has been described as a new-era French horror film, similar to movies like Inside.

 

The film is written and directed by Pascal Laugier. Lucie is brutally abused, and tormented as a child, for a year, by a secretive organization.

 

After she escapes, she gets placed in an orphanage. Here, she befriends Anna, who was also abused as a child.

 

While Anna is able to retain her sanity despite the abuse, Lucie falls prey to it and suffers from repeated nightmares and hallucinations.

 

Finally, she tracks down a family as the perpetrators, and kills them all, after that she kills herself to escape the madness.

 

As Anna mourns her, a strange group of people abduct her and reveal that they are experimenting on them to find the secrets of the afterlife by creating Martyrs through torture.

 

The film was described as graphic torture, brutal, nasty, gruesome, and not to everybody’s taste.

 

Other critics stated that Martyrs is the single most divisive film ever to be screened at the Cannes Marche du Film.

 

 

38. Raw (2016)

 

 

Raw is a French horror drama that revolves around the initiation ceremonies that awaken cannibalistic cravings.

 

It is a coming-of-age drama about a family of cannibals. The film was written, and directed by Julia Ducaumou.

 

Justine is a staunch vegetarian, and she joins a veterinarian college that her parents met at, and even her sister studies there.

 

After joining the college, there are a series of initiation ceremonies and a week of hazing where she is forced to eat raw meat and bathe in blood.

 

Although Justine is reluctant at first, her sister, Alexia forces her to participate. This ritual awakens a taste for meat in Justine, and she slowly realizes that she not just loves raw meat, but loves human meat too.

 

Her cannibalistic tendencies disturb her until her roommate is killed, and half-eaten. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.

 

There, the director, Ducaumou, received high praise for her direction, and screenplay. Some critics called the movie too gory, but commended it, nonetheless.

 

 

39. Titicut Follies (1967)

 

 

“Titicut Follies” is a 1967 American direct cinema documentary film directed by Frederick Wiseman.

 

The film focuses on the patient-inmates of Bridgewater State Hospital for the Criminally Insane in Massachusetts. The title refers to a talent show organized by the hospital staff.

 

The documentary exposes the harsh conditions and mistreatment faced by the patients, including their confinement in barren cells, infrequent bathing, public nudity, and force feeding.

 

Using the techniques of direct cinema, the film adopts an observational approach without intervention from the filmmakers.

 

“Titicut Follies” marked the beginning of Wiseman’s career as a documentary filmmaker and paved the way for his exploration of various social institutions in the United States.

 

The film was recognized for its cultural and historical significance and was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 2022.

 

 

40. Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989)

 

 

Tetsuo: The Iron Man is a cyberpunk horror made by Shin-ya Tsukamoto in a low-budget underground production style.

 

The film gained a cult following for the director for this style. The film is written, directed, edited, and produced by Tsukamoto.

 

A metal fetishist is run over by a car, outside his workshop. Later, a white-collar worker, strangely, starts dreaming about metalwork, and industry, he even gets chased in a subway by a woman who has turned into a mental zombie.

 

This nightmare of his turns scarier when the worker starts to turn into metal himself.

 

With his metal body, he becomes Iron-man and finally meets the metal fetishist. It turns out that Iron man was responsible for the fetishist’s death, and together, they plan to turn the whole city into metal.

 

The film appeals to a very niche category of fans who love body horror. It was praised for its obtuse sense of humor, hyper-kinetic sense of pacing, and contorted acting style.

 

 

41. The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)

 

 

The Killing of a Sacred Deer is a psychological horror co-written and directed by Yorgos Lanthimos.

 

T is based on the ancient Greek tragedy, Iphigenia in Aulis by Euripides. Dr. Steven Murphy is a renowned cardiologist, who lives with his wife, and two children, Kim, and Bob.

 

He befriends a young boy, Martin, who is the son of a patient that died ten years back.

 

Initially, Martin is happy to befriend Dr. Murphy, and they visit each other’s families. One day, Martin tells him that he is aware of the real reason behind his father’s death.

 

It was due to Murphy’s negligence, hence he should repay with the life of one of his family.

 

Then he explains that if he does not repay, then his children will be paralyzed in their legs, stop eating food, bleed from their eyes, and die.

 

The father has to decide which child he will sacrifice. The film competed at the Cannes Film Festival for the Palme d’Or.

 

It opened to, generally, positive reviews from all critics. The film was nominated for many awards, including at the Cannes Film Festival, European Film Festival, Independent Spirit Awards, London Film Critics Circle, and more.

 

 

42. Noroi (2005)

 

 

Noroi is a Japanese horror film that is made in a mock-documentary style. The film is directed by and co-written by Koji Shiraishi, and it follows the research of a documentary filmmaker who is investigating the supernatural events surrounding the death, and disappearance of people.

 

The film starts with an image of a burnt-down building of Masafumi Kobayashi, where the remains of his wife Keiko are found.

 

He has been missing since then. In the footage of his latest documentary that he was working on, we see him researching a series of strange suicides, and disappearances.

 

While studying one of the victims, he hears the name of Kagutaba when the possession starts.

 

He checks the local historians and finds that the word Kagutaba refers to a demon that was not properly exercised.

 

They plan to exorcise him and appear to have done it, but it comes back.

 

The film was commended for the documentary style of filming, and the screenplay was excellent.

 

Outside Japan, the film received only a limited release, and it can be viewed on the streaming platform, Shudder.

 

 

43. Hellraiser (1987)

 

 

Hellraiser is a supernatural horror, written, and directed by Clive Barker. It is based on the supernatural novella written by Barker, The Hellbound Heart.

 

The film has spawned up to 9 sequels since it was first released in 1987.

 

Frank is a depraved, and greedy man who practices supernatural rituals in his childhood home.

 

As part of it, he opens a puzzle box that unleashes a group of demons called Pinhead and the Cenobites.

 

They require a blood sacrifice to free Frank from their clutches. So Frank lures his brother to the home.

 

Larry is a good man, who moves into the house with his second wife, and daughter.

 

They soon start to experience the weirdness of the house and witness these demonic creatures.

 

Frank has bribed Larry’s wife to bring in the blood sacrifice to free himself, and she is ready to kill even Larry for it.

 

Critics have been divided on their opinion of this movie. While in the UK, Time Out London praised the film, and its director for a dazzling debut movie, and called the movie an intelligent, disturbing horror film.

 

In the US, The New York Times stated that in the film the cast appeared very uninterested, and the special effects were good but damp.

 

 

44. Gozu (2003)

 

 

Gozu is another Japanese crime-horror-comedy film. Takashi Miike is the director of this film too.

 

The title of the film, Gozu, literally means Cow’s Head. This film, too, is steeped in the world of Yakuza enforcers.

 

The film starts with Ozaki, a yakuza hitman, behaving erratically in a restaurant, and shooting a chihuahua, claiming that it is an attack dog.

 

His mental instability becomes a liability to the mob boss, and he orders Minami to secretly assassinate him.

 

While on the trip to kill him, Minami feels remorse and is reluctant to kill his brother.

 

During a stopover at a small town, Ozaki is about to kill a woman, and Minami pushes him away to stop him, and accidentally kills Ozaki.

 

The weirdness only increases from there. The film received average reviews. A critic said that the film story makes little sense, but when it is seen on screen it is very hilarious and disturbingly bizarre.

 

It was nominated at the Cannes Film festival. It also won awards at the Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film, and the Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival.

 

 

45. Ichi the Killer (2001)

 

 

Ichi the Killer is a Japanese action film made by Takashi Miike. The film is based on a manga series of the same name, created by Hideo Yamamoto.

 

It is about the world of Yakuza hitmen, and enforcers. A Yakuza boss has disappeared with a load of money, and his gang is searching for him.

 

The Yakuza’s enforcer who is a sadomasochist is leading the search. After a few wrong leads, and misses, they realize that Jijii and his psychotic killer Ichi are behind the disappearance.

 

From here on THe enforcer, and Ichi begin a chase that becomes increasingly more brutal, violent, and gory.

 

The final showdown between them is melee real fight, and hallucinations. The film was banned in several countries for being too gory, and violent with a graphic depiction of cruelty.

 

When the film was screened at Toronto International Film Festival, and the Stockholm International film festival, viewers were given barf bags before they entered.

 

 

46. Altered States (1980)

 

 

 

Altered States is a science fiction psychological drama that is based on a novel of the same name, written by Paddy Chayefsky.

 

Later in the movie, the director, and Chayefsky had disagreements that led to him removing his name from the credits.

 

Dr. Jessup is a psychopathologist who is conducting experimentation by depriving sensory inputs to activate other states of consciousness.

 

Through this study, he meets his wife and builds a family. On one occasion, he learns about a Mexican tribe that practices shared hallucinatory states, and Dr. Jessup goes there to experience it.

 

What he learns from them he tries to replicate in his lab with his fellow researchers.

 

They notice that through the experiment, Jessup regresses more, and more into a primordial form.

 

Once he reaches the last stage he turns into a vortex of energy, and cannot seem to revert.

 

The film was praised for being extraordinarily daring by confusing viewers with inventive, and aggressive sensory inputs, and pyrotechnics.

 

The film achieved its desired effect. It was also the first film by William Hurt and Drew Barrymore.

 

 

47. Taxidermia (2006)

 

 

Taxidermia is a co-production between France, Hungary, and Austria. It is a dark comedy-body horror film that gives a glimpse into life in Hungary post World War II until the present day.

 

The film starts in the WWII era, where a military orderly lives a depressing existence where he is limited to doing menial, and unsatisfactory jobs for his superior.

 

His only escape is his fantasies that feel so real that he ends up impregnating his superior’s wife.

 

Once discovered, the orderly is executed. His son grows up with the superior as his own, and trains in the sport of speed-eating.

 

He hopes that it will become an Olympic sport, and his soviet trainer pushes him hard.

 

Even after his son is born he trains for a long until he becomes excessively obese.

 

In the present day, his son is a depressed taxidermist who loses all hope in life after his parents die and embalms himself while alive.

 

Taxidermia is described by a critic as surreal, and disturbing with its graphic imagery. It is difficult to watch at times but full of disturbing images, and wit.

 

 

48. Nymphomaniac: Vol I (2013)

 

 

 

Nymphomaniac: Vol. I, is the first part of the two-part film written, and directed by Lars Von Trier.

 

The film was originally meant to be one long film with eight chapters describing the life of a self-diagnosed nymphomaniac.

 

It is a part of the Depression trilogy made by Von Trier. The film starts with Seligman, a middle-aged bachelor, who finds Joe, the nymphomaniac, battered and bruised in an alleyway.

 

He takes her home, tends to her injuries, and asks her what happened. Initially, Joe is reluctant to speak about her life but slowly starts to open up.

 

Seeing the various decorations, images, and items scattered around the house, reminds her of the different instances of promiscuity, and she starts to narrate them.

 

We get a clear indication that Joe is not happy with her life, but we also start to understand why her sex addiction has come to this point.

 

The film received generous praise for being dark, funny, bold, fearless, and challenging us in its own way.

 

The film premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival.

 

 

49. Eden Lake (2008)

 

 

Eden Lake is a British slasher movie that has been described as a hoodie horror.

 

It deals with the issue of the rebellious, and unlawful behavior of the youth in the early 2000s.

 

It cashes in on the fear of the lawless hoodie-wearing youth. A school teacher, Jenny, and her boyfriend Steve go on a vacation to a remote English wooded countryside village.

 

There they meet a gang of young people who ride around on bikes and disrupt the peace, and quiet of the place.

 

When the gang steals their belongings, Steve confronts them. In the fight that follows, Brett, the gang leader, loses his dog.

 

This enrages him to target, and torture Steve, and his girlfriend till they die. The film strikes the right balance between slasher horror and gang behavior without going overboard.

 

It was praised by Variety magazine calling it an effectively harrowing Brit horror cum thriller film.

 

 

50. Sinister (2012)

 

 

 

Sinister is a supernatural horror film directed by Scott Derrickson. Robert Cargill had a nightmare that inspired him to create the story for Sinister.

 

He worked along with Derrickson, who co-wrote the script and directed Sinister. A true-crime writer, Ellison Oswalt, is researching a murder case where an entire family was hanged, and their daughter went missing ever since.

 

To help with his case, he moves his family into the house where the murders took place.

 

As with all good horror movies, he starts to see weird clues and sights soon afterward.

 

One night he finds a box full of home videos in his attic, left behind by the murdered family.

 

In these videos, Oswalt finds evidence of not just this murder but also a string of many more murders dating back to the 60s.

 

Slowly he pieces together what happened and finds that his family is the next victim of a pagan demon called Bughuul.

 

The film did very well commercially. It was praised for a good plot with great acting and sufficient twists to keep us engaged and tense.

 

However, a few critics felt that the film used unnecessary jump scares that were not unique.

 

 

51. The Devil’s Rejects (2005)

 

 

 

The Devil’s Rejects is a slasher movie by Rob Zombie, and it is the sequel to his first film, The House of 1000 Corpses.

 

In this film, we continue with the exploits of the Firefly family. It has been seven months since the incidents of the last movie.

 

Sheriff Wydell has discovered a total of 73 murders and disappearances that are linked to the Firefly family.

 

Along with a large group of deputies, and officers, the Sheriff arrives at their house to investigate.

 

The firefly family finds out about it and tries to escape. Although Mama Firefly is arrested, Rufus is killed, Baby, Otis, and Captain Spaulding have escaped the cops.

 

They go on a rampage at the nearby motel and continue their killing spree. At one point, Wydell captures them with the help of bounty hunters and tortures them severely, yet they still get out of it with the cops chasing them.

 

The Devil’s Rejects did better business than the first film. It also got better reviews than the first one.

 

This film was the last to feature Mathew McGrory, who played Tiny. The actor sadly passed away after this.

 

 

52. High Tension (2003)

 

 

High Tension is a French slasher movie released in the UK under the name Switchblade Romance.

 

This movie is directed by Alexander Aja and has been associated with the New French Extremity movement.

 

Two best friends Marie and Alex, go to a remote farmhouse for the weekend, along with Alex’s family.

 

It all starts out fine until midnight, there is a doorbell. As Alex’s father answers the door, a serial killer slashes his face and decapitates him on the staircase.

 

He then proceeds to kill every member of the family. Marie hides from him and tries to free Alex, but when he takes her in his truck, Marie follows them.

 

He then kills many more people along the way before it is revealed who the actual murderer is.

 

The film was described as a good enough slasher film, but the dubbing and the voice-over were bad.

 

Other critics complained about the major loopholes in the plot. It was unnecessarily violent and gory.

 

 

53. Dumplings (2004)

 

 

Dumplings is a Hong Kong Chinese film by the director Fruit Chen. It has been adapted from a horror short film in the compilation, Three… Extremes from 2004.

 

Mrs. Li is an aging actress who strives desperately to protect her youth and beauty.

 

She is ready to go to any limits, so she visits Aunt Mei, who is famous for her dumplings.

 

Despite repeated requests to know the contents of her dumplings, Mei keeps it a secret.

 

Mrs. Li spies on her and finds out that dead fetuses are used to make the dumplings, which give them the age-defying quality.

 

As her husband continues to have a roving eye on younger women, Mrs. Li gets more desperate and agrees to eat the fetus-filled dumplings, and they work.

 

What happens when Mei is discovered, and Mrs. Li loses her source of dumplings? The film got a Category III rating in Hong Kong, which is equal to NC-17.

 

It premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival. It also won three awards at the Chinese Film Media Awards, Golden Bauhinia Awards, and more.

 

 

54. Goodnight Mommy (2014)

 

 

Goodnight Mommy is an Austrian psychological horror film. It is about a boy who suffers from dissociative identity disorder and believes his mother is an imposter.

 

Elias and Lukas are twins waiting for their mother to return from the hospital after cosmetic surgery on her face.

 

After returning, they realize that the mother is not her usual self and is harsher and more punishing towards Elias.

 

Moreover, she refuses to acknowledge Lukas. This disturbs the twins. They suspect their mother is an imposter from an old photograph.

 

Things come to an impasse when they forcibly try to make her confess and tie her up.

 

They even set the house on fire to make her confess. It is then we are told that Lukas is not a real person.

 

He had died earlier. The film was well-received by critics. It was also the official entry from Austria at the Academy Awards for the Best foreign film category, though it was not nominated.

 

The film won several awards, and it was selected for many more.

 

 

55. Inside (2007)

 

 

Inside is a French horror film that revolves around a grief-stricken pregnant woman. She is subjected to a tense home invasion by a crazy person.

 

The film was praised as being a part of the new wave of French horror cinema.

 

Sarah is heavily pregnant and due to go for delivery on Christmas eve when horror strikes in the form of an unwanted visitor.

 

A stranger visits her home and demands to enter the house. During the argument, Sarah realizes that she was being stalked by her and informs the police.

 

They promise to check on her through the night. However, the stranger manages to gain entry into the house and attacks Sarah demanding that she wants her baby at any cost.

 

The stranger then proceeds to brutally kill everyone who comes for help. Despite the many pleas and reasoning, the stranger is adamant to take away the child.

 

The film received rave reviews. It was not commercially a hit, but the film was praised as a traumatically entertaining experience and off-the-hook awesome.

 

 

56. Gummo (1997)

 

 

 

Gummo is an experimental movie by the American director Harmony Korine. This drama is Korine’s first film as director, and it received praise from art directors like Werner Herzog, Gus Van Sant, and more.

 

The film starts in a small town in Ohio devastated by a tornado. The different people in the town adopt different means to keep themselves occupied and entertained.

 

We see snippets of their life surrounded by substance abuse, animal cruelty, bullying, homophobia, and more.

 

Werner Herzog, Lukas Moodysson, Megan Spencer, David Stratton, and more praised the film and the iconoclastic imagery.

 

But, many critics also complained about the movie being too violent and gory for normal taste.

 

 

57. The Loved Ones (2009)

 

 

The Loved Ones is an Australian horror movie by a first-time director, Sean Byrne. Byrne also wrote the script for this twisted teen horror movie.

 

Brent is a high schooler who was recently in a car crash that killed his father.

 

To overcome his grief, he gets addicted to cannabis, and the only one stopping his suicidal thoughts is his loving girlfriend.

 

However, Brent has a secret admirer who is a psychotic killer. Lola has a crush on Brent and asks him to the prom.

 

When he rejects her, she plots with her father to kidnap Brent and take him to their home.

 

Here they plan to torture and lobotomize him like their previous victims. The Loved Ones received positive reviews for successfully mixing teen and horror genres to make a horror film with a twist.

 

The film inspired a real-life crime where the killer tortured and killed another person who looks like a character from the film.

 

 

58. The Snowtown Murders (2011)

 

 

The Snowtown Murders often called simply Snowtown, is a biographical crime movie. This Australian movie is based on the serial murders in the town of Snowtown, near Adelaide.

 

The film was directed and co-written by Justin Kurzel. It was his directorial debut film.

 

Jamie is a 16-year-old who lives with his depressed mother and abusive brother, Troy. He is often raped by his brother, and the stepfather is also a pedophile.

 

At such a difficult time, John enters their life. He is an aggressive man who hates pedophiles and is homophobic.

 

With his teachings, Jamie and the neighborhood become his followers. What starts as aggressive heckling and taunting of pedophiles soon turns violent.

 

John and another man killed two people for being gay. They save Jamie from his abusive brother Troy by torturing him and killing him.

 

By the time the police found out, the trio had killed eight other people. The Snowtown Murders received positive reviews from critics, despite not being successful at the box office.

 

Describing the film, a critic wrote that it starts off slowly but, towards the end, it takes a very dark turn.

 

The gruesome violence in sporadic bursts makes the film very disturbing.

 

 

59. May (2002)

 

 

 

May is a psychological horror, written and directed by Lucky McKee. The film explores the psyche of a lonely and shy young lady who faces rejection one too many times.

 

May is a young assistant to a veterinarian. She is very good at stitching up wounds after surgery for the vet.

 

Due to her lazy eye, May suffered a great deal of childhood trauma and grew up lonely.

 

One day, she meets Adam and falls in love with his hands, and they date for a while.

 

Due to May’s weird behavior, he dumps her. May dates her lesbian co-worker, Polly, who has a beautiful neck before getting rejected again.

 

May has a breakdown when her most prized possession, a doll, is broken. She decides to make a new friend by picking the parts she likes.

 

May kills all her acquaintances, takes the body parts she likes, and makes a patchwork human.

 

She names it Amy and gives it her lazy eye to see. May became a cult film that has a niche fan base.

 

The critics also loved it upon release and gave it positive reviews. The film, however, was a box-office failure.

 

It won several awards at the Brussels International Festival for fantasy films, Fangoria Chainsaw Awards, Malaga International Week of Fantastic Cinema, and more.

 

 

60. Mother! (2017)

 

 

 

Mother! is a psychological horror, written and directed by Darren Aronofsky. The film was selected to compete for the Golden Lion at the Venice International Film Festival.

 

At the start, we are shown a dispirited poet, who suffers from writer’s block, coming into a burned-out, and dilapidated building.

 

He takes a crystal from the drawer and places it on a pedestal in the study immediately, the house magically rebuilds itself, and we see a beautiful woman wake up in the bedroom looking for the poet.

 

She lovingly rebuilds the entire house. One day, a man enters the house looking for shelter.

 

The poet allows him in against the wishes of his wife. With him, the man brings a load of troubles like his wife, disputing children, their relatives, hordes of fans, and zealots, etc.

 

It becomes chaotic, and in this melee, the poet’s wife loses their child. In a fit of rage, she burns down the house she lovingly built.

 

The film received high praise for its superb acting performances and direction. It received good reviews but also courted controversy.

 

The story was seen by many as an allegory of biblical stories, and they were upset with it.

 

 

61. The Girl Next Door (2007)

 

 

 

The Girl Next Door is a horror film based on the novel by Jack Ketchum.

 

It was, in turn, inspired by the case of torture and murder of Sylvia Likens in Indiana.

 

The movie is dedicated to her. The story is narrated by David Moran in the flashback about his neighbors Meg and Susan.

 

They were orphans and sent under the care of Ruth Chandler. Ruth, along with her three sons, Ralphie, Willie, and Donny, ruthlessly beat up, torture, and abuse Meg and her disabled sister Susan.

 

They even invited other children from the neighborhood to abuse and beat up Meg. On one occasion, David could not tolerate the brutality and called in the police, but Ruth intimidated the others into keeping silent.

 

Later that night, unable to take more torture, David and Susan start a fire. They accidentally kill Ruth and call the police.

 

The film received both positive and negative reviews. Stephan King praised the movie for being an authentically shocking film and said he had not watched such a film in over 20 years.

 

 

62. Visitor Q (2001)

 

 

Visitor Q is a Japanese dark comedy-erotic-horror movie. The film is part of an experimental series of six low-budget movies made with video cameras.

 

The film follows the events happening in a dysfunctional family when a stranger visits them.

 

There are a series of challenges each of the family members performs, and as they successfully complete it, they plunge into chaos.

 

However, through this chaotic situation, the family comes together, and they thank the visitor for it in the end.

 

The film can only be described as disturbing and bizarre cinema by the Japanese director, Takashi Miike.

 

The whole film was shot in just seven days. The film has an R-rating for strong sexual content, violence, drug use, and foul language.

 

 

63. Antichrist (2009)

 

 

Antichrist is a psychological horror that alludes to religious themes of Abrahamic religions. The writer, and director of the film, Lars Von Trier, suffered from depressive episodes during the period.

 

In fact, he made two more films that are psychological horrors under this theme. A couple loses their son, and the mother becomes increasingly disturbed.

 

The psychiatric care given at her hospital does not help her. So, the husband takes her away on a retreat to a cabin in the woods.

 

He aims to make her face her fears. This move ends up a mistake as the wife worked on her thesis on gynocide or femicide at this cabin.

 

She has developed genocidal beliefs from there. She becomes increasingly violent during their stay. She eventually tries to kill her husband.

 

The film was highly praised for its artistic quality, and the performance of Charlotte Gainsbourg was highly acclaimed.

 

Yet, critics were divided on the religious messaging in the film.

 

 

64. Society (1989)

 

 

 

Society is an American body horror film, and it is the director, Brian Yuzna’s debut movie.

 

Yuzna stated that he was inspired by the film The Spiral Staircase and Rosemary’s Baby when he read the script.

 

Bill Whitney comes from a high-society family, but he never fits in with that crowd.

 

Slowly he starts to find pieces of evidence of something sinister and weird happening around him.

 

As soon as he is warned by someone, they end up dying, or the evidence is lost.

 

Finally, he walks in on a formal party at his house and witnesses for himself the disturbing scene of shunting or body morphing that occurs when the people absorb the life out of his friend.

 

Luckily, his girlfriend, Clarissa, truly loves him, despite being one of those people. She helps him escape.

 

The movie was not successful in the US, and this disappointed Yuzna. But, it became a hit in the UK and gave him hope.

 

Later, the film gathered a cult following in the US too. Critics felt the movie was way ahead of its time, and the satirical take on the wealthy people in society was well appreciated.

 

 

65. Gerald’s Game (2017)

 

 

 

Gerald’s Game is a psychological horror based on a novel of the same name, written by Stephen King.

 

King felt that his 1992 novel could not be turned into a film due to its premise, yet Mike Flannagan directed the movie and released it on Netflix.

 

Jessie and Gerald are a married couple who go on a holiday to rekindle their romance.

 

Their holiday home is an isolated place in Alabama. During a romantic night, Gerald handcuffs Jessie to the bed.

 

Later, he suddenly dies of a heart attack. From here, the nightmare of Jessie begins as she is handcuffed, and there is no one to help them.

 

While chained to the bed, Jessie suffers dehydration and fatigue, which soon turns into hallucinations of her dead husband.

 

She is forced to face her past demons and fight her way back to freedom.

 

Through this, she encounters a ‘Moonlight man’. Later, it is revealed that he is a grave-digging serial killer.

 

The film was highly acclaimed by critics. They praised Carla Gugino’s performance and called Stephen King’s story ‘hypnotic, horrifying, and terrific’.

 

The film has many references and characters from other Stephen King novels, like Cujo the dog, Moonlight man, the laser glass from Oculus, etc.

 

 

66. Compliance (2012)

 

 

 

Compliance is a suspense thriller inspired by a real-life incident of a ‘strip search phone call scam’.

 

It took place in Mt. Washington in Kentucky. The director, Craig Zobel, also wrote the script for the film.

 

The manager of a restaurant, Sandra, receives a call from a person calling themself Officer Daniels, who requests her to detain an employee, Becky.

 

Soon, the officer makes increasingly outrageous demands. He asks for Becky’s belongings to be searched and for her to be strip-searched.

 

As Sandra has to manage the restaurant, she places another employee in charge of handling Becky.

 

This person refuses to cooperate, and he runs a check on the caller. When the call is tracked by the cops, it is identified as a fake call.

 

The film received rave reviews for the stunning portrayal of Sandra and the sensible and sensitive handling by the director, Zobel.

 

Ann Dowd, who plays Sandra, won the award for Best Supporting Actress at the National Board of Review Awards.

 

 

67. The Last House on the Left (2009)

 

 

 

The Last House on the Left is a remake of the Wes Craven movie made in 1972.

 

The director, Dennis Iliadis, remade this revenge-slasher-horror, where the parents of a victim seek vengeance on the perpetrators.

 

The Collingwoods move to their vacation home, and their daughter Mari goes out to party with her friend Paige.

 

They meet Justin and go to his motel to smoke pot. Unexpectedly, Justin’s father, uncle, and Sadie return to create a big ruckus.

 

They kidnap both the girls and rape Mari after killing Paige. As Mari tries to escape, the father shoots her and leaves her for dead.

 

Coincidentally, they seek refuge in Mari’s home for the night. As Justin feels remorse, he hints to the Collingwoods about the truth.

 

They proceed to avenge the abuse reaped in their daughter. The film did better business than the original.

 

Wes Craven was also happy as he was able to depict all those scenes that were previously removed due to budget constraints.

 

The critics, however, found the movie to be excessively violent and gory.

 

 

68. Under the Skin (2013)

 

 

Under the Skin is a science fiction horror that was inspired by the 2000 novel by Michel Faber.

 

The director, Jonathan Glazer, and Walter Campbell worked on the story for over ten years and simplified it into an alien perspective on the man.

 

The film starts with a woman being shifted into a van where she clothes herself in the latest fashion with make-up and picks up men.

 

We are shown various instances of the woman flirting with men and taking them into her home.

 

Later, it is revealed that in her home, the men are taken into a void, where they end up suspended in a viscous liquid.

 

One day, on the beach, the woman witnesses a swimmer risk his life to rescue a man, who then goes back into the sea to rescue his wife, and both die eventually.

 

The woman starts to think about her body, and in other instances, she experiences pleasure that makes her explore herself.

 

As she is finding herself, a lumberjack finds out about her and immolates her. The film was a box office failure, but it received many accolades.

 

The acting of Scarlet Johansson, Mica Levi’s music, and Glazer’s direction was highly acclaimed. Many critics called the movie the best film of the year.

 

 

69. Kill List (2011)

 

 

Kill List is a disturbing psychological horror/crime movie. This British movie was directed by Ben Wheatley, who also co-wrote, and co-edited it with Amy Jump.

 

Jay, a British soldier, returns after a difficult mission and finds it hard to move on.

 

His friend, Gal, and wife, Shel, encourage him to take on a new mission as a hitman.

 

The client gives them a kill list of three people and makes them sign the deal in blood.

 

Unwillingly, Jay and Gal kill the first and second targets, where they find that something more sinister is at play.

 

They refuse to continue the job of killing M. P., who is the last hit.

 

When threatened, Jay agrees to do it but loses Gal during the job. He unwittingly becomes the head of a cult and loses his family to it.

 

The film is a dark and slow-burning mystery thriller that was expertly executed, as per the general consensus on Rotten Tomatoes.

 

The film was described as a dreamily, unhurried, arthouse- realist style film that captures the texture, mood, and moment.

 

 

70. The People Under the Stairs (1991)

 

 

 

The People Under the Stairs is a Wes Craven movie that The New York Times has described as an affirmative action-horror movie.

 

It is a horror comedy that was partially inspired by a real-life incident. Fool is a young boy whose family is being evicted by the Robesons.

 

This pushes Fool to plan, along with Spencer and Leroy, to steal from the Robesons.

 

Spencer enters the house and does not return, prompting Leroy and Fool to enter, as well.

 

They see that daddy Robeson has killed Spencer and dumped him in the basement where there are a bunch of cannibalistic children.

 

After daddy kills Leroy as well, it is left to Fool to fend for himself.

 

He also finds their daughter Alice, who is just a hostage living in fear, so now Fool devises a plan to expose the Robesons and rescue everyone.

 

The film was a surprise hit, and it received mixed reviews. The plot was inspired by a real case of a family who was exposed by a burglar for ill-treating their children.

 

The Austin Chronicle described the film as a typical Wes Craven film that we all admire.

 

It has creepy situations that are surprisingly funny.

 

 

71. Incident in a Ghostland (2018)

 

 

Incident in a Ghostland is a slasher horror film made by Pascal Laugier, and it is his second film in English.

 

It was shown as part of the competition at the Festival international du film fantastique de Gérardmer.

 

The film starts with a mother and her two daughters moving into an isolated home that they inherit.

 

After settling in the new home, they are attacked by two men. One of whom dresses up as a woman.

 

These men beat up the mother and drag the daughters, Beth and Vera, into the basement, where they rape and abuse them.

 

Some time has passed since the incident. Presently, Beth is now living as an author in Chicago.

 

When she receives a call from Vera, asking for help, she returns to the old home.

 

Strange incidents start to occur, with ghostly people tying them up and mysterious bruises on their bodies, etc.

 

What is occurring and who is doing it is the mystery of the movie. At the competition, the film won three awards, including the Grand Prize.

 

The critics, however, felt the plot was shallow without any reasoning behind the attacks or a proper backstory.

 

They felt the slasher movie was all just mindless violence.

 

 

72. The Collector (2009)

 

 

 

The Collector is a horror/slasher/exploitation film written and directed by Marcus Dunston and Patrick Melton.

 

This film is the first part of The Collection. A mysterious killer, called The Collector, is shown torturing and killing the married couple Larry and Gena Wharton.

 

Later, he attacks the Chase family, where Arkin plans to steal a priceless ruby. Although he comes there to steal the ruby, Arkin ends up trying to help the Chases as he sees the brutal actions of the Collector.

 

The Collector lays various traps and weapons around the house to assault, torture, and kill anyone he comes across.

 

The film is just one gory murder after another. The film was criticized for its mindless gore, brutality, and excessive violence.

 

The script for this movie was meant to act as the prequel to the Saw film series.

 

At the last minute, they changed their mind and made it a different movie.

 

 

73. Sleepaway Camp (1983)

 

 

 

Sleepaway camp is a slasher movie with a surprising twist at the end. Over the years, the film has garnered a cult following and has three sequels to it.

 

The film was a surprise hit and earned 30 times its cost. Angela is shown as a shy and very introverted girl.

 

Her family has passed away, and she lives with her Aunt Martha and cousin Ricky.

 

One summer, the kids are sent to Camp Arawak, and here Angela is badly bullied by other kids, while Ricky does his best to protect her.

 

Mysteriously, everyone who bullies or hurts Angela ends up dead in some of the most brutal ways.

 

Although they are brushed off as accidents, initially, the frequency and brutality attract the attention of everyone.

 

Soon it becomes a game of whodunit. The film received positive reviews, but the LGBTQ+ community slammed it for spreading transphobia, homophobia, and misinformation.

 

 

74. The Blackcoat’s Daughter (2015)

 

 

Entity	Detail
Title	The Blackcoat’s Daughter
Release Year	2015
Watch time	93 mins
Directors	Oz Perkins
Cast	Emma Roberts, Kiernan Shipka, Lucy Boynton
Domestic Box office	$38,348
IMDb	5.9
Metascore	75
Writers	Oz Perkins
Music By	Elvis Perkins
Cinematography By	Julie Kirkwood
Costume By	Jennifer Stroud

 

“The Blackcoat’s Daughter,” directed by Oz Perkins, is a chilling psychological horror film that weaves a haunting narrative of isolation and malevolence. 

 

Set in a desolate boarding school during winter break, the film follows two students, played by Kiernan Shipka and Emma Roberts, as they grapple with sinister forces that emerge in the eerie silence. 

 

Perkins masterfully builds an atmosphere of dread, blending slow-burning tension with unsettling imagery. The film explores themes of possession, sacrifice, and the supernatural, leaving audiences on the edge of their seats. 

 

With its enigmatic storytelling and atmospheric cinematography, “The Blackcoat’s Daughter” is a mesmerizing descent into darkness that lingers long after the credits roll.

 

 

75. In My Skin (2002)

 

 

In My Skin is a French body horror movie. This type of movie has been referred to as New French Extremity horror films as they refer to some form of extreme violence and psychosis.

 

The story is written and directed by Marina De Van. Esther is a young and successful woman who has a loving boyfriend.

 

Her life seems perfect until one day, she has a minor accident at a party where she hurts her leg and does not realize it.

 

Later, after she gets the treatment for it, the doctor is puzzled by her lack of concern.

 

Esther’s boyfriend is also puzzled and worried about her lack of response to pain stimuli.

 

He notices her injuries and the blasé attitude. Even Esther seems fascinated with her body and purposely cuts it, stabs it, etc.

 

The film was met with excellent reviews from critics. Although the audience liked the character and her psychosis, there is no explanation for her behavior or any understanding of why it happened.

 

The ending feels quite abrupt.

 

 

76. American Mary (2012)

 

 

American Mary is a black comedy about body modification surgeries. The film was made by the Canadian sisters Jen and Sylvia Soska, based on a script that they wrote.

 

Mary is a destitute surgical student who is cash-strapped. She decides to work as a stripper to fund her education.

 

At this place, Mary meets with and embarks on a new profession of illegal surgeries to earn fast cash.

 

She performs some risque and illegal body modifications for one of the stripper friends. As she starts to gain appreciation from her seniors at her surgical residency, she attracts the attention of Dr. Walsh. He takes her to a Surgeon’s meeting where the teacher rapes her and films it.

 

This enrages her, and she has him kidnapped and uses him as her guinea pig to build her portfolio in the illegal body modification profession.

 

The film was plagued by financial woes, and the directors had to mortgage their homes for the film.

 

The critics praised the acting and the plotline, but they were disappointed with the abrupt ending.

 

They critiqued the uneven pacing in the narrative and the sudden climax.

 

 

77. Love Object (2003)

 

 

 

Love Object is an American horror film that is written and directed by Robert Parigi.

 

It is based on a man’s twisted fascination for his sex doll. The film starts with a shy and introverted technical writer, Kenneth.

 

He is shown to struggle with interpersonal communication, much less dating or flirting. Kenneth buys a realistic-looking sex doll and calls her Nikki.

 

His fascination for her takes a weird twist as he embarks on a love-hate relationship with the sex doll.

 

After a point, Kenneth befriends Lisa at his work but does not lose his fixation on Nikki.

 

He starts to turn Lisa into his Nikki. His obsession goes to the extent that Kenneth even plans to drain Lisa’s blood and fill her with embalming fluid.

 

The film was described as a guide to all that one should not do while dating.

 

Some critics have called the movie vacuous. Desmond Harrington and Melissa Sagemiller did their own stunts in the movie.

 

Melissa even hurt her ankle during a fall while filming.

 

 

78. I Spit on Your Grave (2010)

 

 

 

I Spit on Your Grave is the remake of the original released in 1978. This rape and revenge plot follows along the same lines as the original and is written by Stuart Morse.

 

A writer books a remote cabin to work on her second novel, and along the way, she antagonizes Johnny, who works at the local gas station.

 

When she gives a kiss to his mentally retarded, plumber friend, Johnny feels insulted. He takes his group of friends to her cabin and starts taunting and insulting her.

 

The local sheriff joins in the group, and they brutalize her and leave her for dead in the nearby river.

 

The novelist comes back for revenge. She tracks down each man and kills them brutally and sadistically.

 

The film received a lot of negative reviews for its exploitation content. The mindless violence, brutal, and sadistic behavior were not liked by many of the audience members.

 

Despite the poor performance of this movie, they made two more sequels to it.

 

 

79. Hagazussa (2017)

 

 

Entity	Detail
Title	Hagazussa
Release Year	2017
Watch time	104 mins
Directors	Lukas Feigelfeld
Cast	Aleksandra Cwen, Celina Peter,     Claudia Martini
Domestic Box office	$21,487
IMDb	5.8
Metascore	93
Writers	Lukas Feigelfeld
Music By	Mmmd
Cinematography By	Mariel Baqueiro
Costume By	Katrin Wolferman

 

“Hagazussa,” a 2017 German horror film directed by Lukas Feigelfeld, is a harrowing journey into the realms of folk horror and psychological torment. 

 

Set in 15th century Austria, the film follows Albrun, a lonely woman ostracized by her community, plagued by suspicion and the supernatural. As she grapples with the trauma of her past, Albrun becomes entangled in a world of superstition and witchcraft. 

 

Feigelfeld’s atmospheric direction, coupled with haunting visuals and a foreboding score, crafts a slow-burning descent into madness. 

 

“Hagazussa” is a visually arresting and thematically rich exploration of isolation, paranoia, and the blurred lines between folklore and horror, leaving an indelible mark on the viewer’s psyche.

 

 

80. The Eyes of My Mother (2016)

 

 

 

The Eyes of My Mother is the directorial debut of Nicholas Pesce, who also wrote and edited the movie.

 

The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and received positive reviews. Francisca and her parents live on an isolated farm taking care of farm animals.

 

One day, a traveling salesman comes to their farm and bludgeons Francisca’s mother to death.

 

This deeply affects Francisca, who proceeds to chain the salesman in their barn. He describes his fascination for killing people to Francisca, and she surgically removes his vocal cords and eyes.

 

Years later, her father also dies, and out of loneliness, she starts to lure people passing by to murder or mutilate them.

 

The film transforms the trauma of a devastating nightmare into an even more devastating nightmare with disturbing finesse.

 

The Portuguese spoken by each of the main characters has a different accent, ranging from Brazilian to Azorean, and continental accents.

 

 

81. Vacancy (2007)

 

 

 

Vacancy is an American horror movie. It is a movie that avoids gore and uses more psychological horror to create scares.

 

A couple on the verge of divorce is returning from a party. They take a wrong turn to end up in a deserted part of the town.

 

As their vehicle breaks down, they approach a motel to spend the night there. Here, they encounter a series of unexplained noises and events that alert them that all is not well.

 

They try to call 911 multiple times, but the hotel manager and his accomplices interrupt or deviate their calls.

 

It is evident that the group of people are all working on a nefarious plan to kill them and make snuff movies.

 

The film did decent business at the box office despite its R- rating. The home video and DVD versions of the film have extra footage of all the snuff films that were made in the hotel room that the couple stayed in.

 

 

82. Frontier(s) (2007)

 

 

Frontier(s) is a French/Swiss horror movie that was one of the 8 films to die for at the Horrorfest 2007.

 

The script for this independent film was written and directed by Xavier Gens. A group of Muslim youth plan to escape from France as a far-right candidate is winning the election.

 

In the chaos, they rob a large sum of money. They plan to settle in Amsterdam, but one of them is shot.

 

While two members go with the injured guy to get treatment, the other two make it to the border and stay in an inn.

 

The actual horror starts in the inn as it is run by a Nazi-sympathizing ex-SS officer.

 

He and his family capture strangers to torture and kill for sadistic pleasure, while they keep a few for breeding a new batch.

 

The film got an NC-17 rating for extreme and sadistic violence and gore. There are several references and mentions of Nazi and the SS-corp’s mottos and slogans.

 

 

83. Freeze Me (2000)

 

 

Freeze Me is a Japanese revenge movie directed by Takashi Ishii. It follows a rape victim who decides to avenge her rapists and kills them.

 

The film was appreciated for being well-thought-out rather than an exploitation film. Chihiro lives a simple life in a village outside Tokyo.

 

One day, her childhood friend Noboru, and his two friends, Minoru Baba and Atsushi Kojima, rape her and film it.

 

To escape her fate, she decides to relocate to Tokyo. She has built a life for herself with her work and boyfriend.

 

She appears to have moved on from that sad episode. Noboru tracks her down again and visits her house.

 

He shows her images of her being raped and tries to force himself on her again.

 

He alienates her from her friends and calls the other two conspirators. In a fit of rage, she kills Noboru.

 

Later, when Minoru Baba, and Kojima visit, she kills them too. The Japan Times praised the film and called the director Ishii’s effort “nothing childish about his vision of evil”.

 

He has a clear vision of what he wants to depict. Although Chihiro’s actions were extreme, they indulged the male ego, which is common in Japanese society.

 

 

84. Tourist Trap (1979)

 

 

 

Tourist Trap is a typical 70s-style slasher horror movie with some elements of the supernatural involved.

 

The film has loads of violence, and macabre images, yet it received a PG rating and got a normal release in theaters.

 

The film starts with a group of friends driving through a deserted town looking for a gas station.

 

Mysteriously both their cars break down in the town, and they are forced to stay there.

 

The first friend, who goes in search of the gas station, is mobbed by mannequins and impaled on a metal bar.

 

The other friends are slowly separated from one another at the tourist trap and killed by a man with telekinetic powers.

 

While some are killed straight away, two others realize that though they survived, they are turning into mannequins themselves.

 

That explains the abundance of mannequins in the museum. The film makes good use of music and special effects to cause thrills and jump scares.

 

Yet, many critics felt the movie was unimaginative and filled with too many cliches.

 

 

85. Pieles (2017)

 

 

Pieles is a Spanish film that can be translated to Skins in English. The film is literally about being comfortable in ourselves however it may be.

 

The film follows the lives of seven characters who suffer from different insecurities that they need to embrace.

 

It is set in a world where many people are born with abnormal deformities that do not exist in the real world.

 

As each of the characters goes through life with these deformities. They face difficulties due to their abnormality, but they learn to accept it and find love in return.

 

The director, Eduardo Casanova, takes the idea of deformities to the extreme. If you are uncomfortable seeing abnormal and deformed people, the film is not for you.

 

One of his characters has her mouth and anus exchanged….quite literally.

 

 

86. Splatter: Naked Blood (1996)

 

 

Splatter: Naked Blood is a Japanese horror film. It is inspired by another film made by the same director, Hisayasu Sato.

 

However, unlike the first movie, Splatter: Naked Blood is not a pornographic movie. A scientist, Eiji, is researching a drug that will release endorphins when a person feels pain.

 

Instead of discomfort and trauma, a patient feels pleasure from pain. He interferes with his mother’s scientific study and administers his new drug to three subjects.

 

The results of the trials puzzle Eiji as the number of endorphins released is so high that the patients seek pain.

 

They start to inflict it on themselves. While one patient cuts up her own body parts and cooks them to eat them, another patient takes body piercings to another level.

 

The film was rumored to have some of the most appalling scenes in Japanese film history.

 

It is gory and hard to watch, but some critics have opined that the director has explored the concept that a young man should follow in their father’s footsteps and be the man of the house.

 

 

87. Excision (2012)

 

 

 

Excision is an American horror film. It was adapted from a short film from 2008 with the same name.

 

Richard Bates Jr. wrote and directed the film, and it is his first film. Pauline is a disturbed young girl who aspires to be a surgeon but has an unhealthy fascination for blood and gore.

 

She has many weird dreams filled with blood and gore that give her great pleasure and satisfaction.

 

Even her friends at school are annoyed with her behavior. At home, her sister is suffering from cystic fibrosis and needs a lung transplant.

 

When Pauline hears this, she drugs her father and sister. Then, she kidnaps her neighbor and goes ahead to perform the lung transplant in the garage.

 

The film is a strange mixture of teenage angst, horror, and medical horror that is not to everyone’s taste.

 

The film tries its best to make the character relatable and human, but the insanity and gore are not easy to understand.

 

 

88. Pink Flamingos (1972)

 

 

 

Pink Flamingo is described as an exploitation comedy that is a part of the Trash trilogy.

 

This film was written, directed, narrated, produced, and edited by John Waters. The tagline of the film describes it best – An exercise in poor taste.

 

The family of Divines under the alias Babs Johnson is considered the filthiest family ever.

 

They live in a caravan and are proud of their legacy as filthy people. Soon, the Marble family enters the scene and threatens their position as the filthiest family.

 

This kicks off a war of who is filthier. Both families engage in a litany of nasty and depraved activities like voyeurism, exhibitionism, gluttony, vomiting, rape, sodomy, incest, cannibalism, murder, and more.

 

There is no limit to how low the film can go. The film was surprisingly met with warm appreciation from critics.

 

It became a cult classic with an underground following despite the NC-17 rating and the ban in many countries.

 

 

89. Valhalla Rising (2009)

 

 

Valhalla Rising is a medieval action movie that is based on Norse mythology. The main character of One-Eye can be likened to Odin, the Norse god, who gave up his eye for wisdom.

 

A settlement of Norwegian warriors are having gladiatorial fights with their star warrior, One-Eye. Although he seems to win every fight, the chieftain abuses and ill-treats him.

 

Soon the warrior uses the guidance from his visions and kills the chieftain. He escapes with a young boy.

 

One-Eye runs into a group of Norse Christians who take him along on a ride to the Holy land.

 

One-eye is again ill-treated for being a pagan, but he escapes from the ship as it lands on the shores of North America.

 

The film was met with generally positive reviews, the performance of Mads Mikkelson being praised.

 

Yet, some critics were disappointed with the lack of warrior action as expected from Viking movies.

 

They bemoaned the lack of gore.

 

 

90. The Collection (2012)

 

 

 

The Collection is the sequel to The Collector. The film brings back Josh Stewart, who plays Arkin.

 

This dark humor-horror flick was co-written and directed by Marcus Dunstan. The film starts with Elena Peters, who escapes a car accident with her father, Dr. Peters. Later, at a party, she unwittingly releases Arkin from a red trunk and sets off the traps of The Collector.

 

Most of the people at the party die due to this. The police arrest Arkin for his past crimes and Elena is kidnapped by the Collector.

 

Elena’s father sends a team to rescue her, and they release Arkin on the condition that he leads them to the Collector’s base.

 

From here, the gory carnage and mindless horrors continue till the police rescue them. Critics have praised the movie for having more grisly thrills and twisted humor than the first part.

 

However, if you are not a fan of this genre of movies, you will surely not enjoy the humor in it.

 

 

91. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)

 

 

 

“Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer” is a 1986 American psychological horror crime film directed by John McNaughton.

 

The story follows Henry, a nomadic killer, as he goes on a random crime spree across America with his prison buddy, Otis, and Otis’s sister, Becky.

 

The film is loosely based on real-life serial killers Henry Lee Lucas and Ottis Toole. Initially facing distribution challenges, the film gained attention and controversy after successful showings at film festivals. It was eventually released in 1990 in an unrated version.

 

The movie depicts Henry’s psychopathic tendencies, his disturbing past, and his bond with Becky. As their murderous activities escalate, tensions rise, leading to a climactic and violent confrontation.

 

The film ends with Henry leaving Becky behind and continuing his deadly journey alone.

 

 

92. Men Behind the Sun (1988)

 

 

Men Behind the Sun is a Chinese war movie. It depicts the human experimentation conducted by the Japanese Imperial Army on Chinese and Russian civilians during World War II.

 

The film received a rating similar to NC-17 which severely restricted its shows. Dr. Shiro Ishii is a Japanese microbiologist who works with the Japanese Imperial Army and heads Unit 731.

 

He is conducting several human experiments to create a biological weapon using a strain of the Bubonic Plague.

 

He and his team conduct many cruel and inhumane tests on Chinese citizens. As the star of the Japanese army declines, they have to abandon their research.

 

Doctor Ishii is captured by the Americans, but he cooperates with them and agrees to work for the United States government.

 

Due to this, he gets away easily. The director, T. F. Mou was heavily criticized for making a historical exploitation film.

 

His depiction of footage of a human autopsy, and the scene where a cat is eaten alive by frenzied rats, garnered further controversy.

 

 

93. The Woman (2011)

 

 

 

The Woman was another movie from the Bloody Disgusting Selects line. The film was directed by Lucky McKee, and it is based on the novel of the same name by McKee and Jack Ketchum.

 

A feral and cannibalistic woman is shown to be wandering around the wooded area, foraging, and fishing for food.

 

A country lawyer, Chris Cleek, captures her with a net. He vows to civilize her under the guise of rescuing her.

 

He brings her to his home and ties her up in the basement. Contrary to his claims of helping her, Cleek and his son start to abuse, torture, and ill-treat her.

 

When his daughter intervenes, they turn against her and her only friend. Their cruel behavior pushes the daughter to release the feral woman, who attacks the lawyer and his son.

 

She ruthlessly kills them and escapes with the female members of the family. The Woman is the sequel of the horror flick, The Offspring.

 

It was lauded as a strange, aggressive, and audacious film that has a wild and bloody finale.

 

 

94. V/H/S/2 (2013)

 

 

 

V/H/S/2 is the sequel of V/H/S and runs in the same format. We get to watch an anthology of horror short films that are tied to a narrative that is another horror story.

 

We have many directors who work on each short film, with a different story. The narrative starts with a mother who reports her son as missing.

 

She requests the help of a private investigator and his girlfriend. As the both of them enter the son’s house, they find a collection of horror films that the son was watching before his disappearance.

 

The investigator asks his girlfriend to watch the videos as he looks around the house.

 

From here we are shown four horror short films. As she watches each film, she gets more and more entranced.

 

She attacks her boyfriend in the end. After both are killed, we see the mother and son comment to the camera that their plan to create a horror film was a success.

 

The film was made by Bloody Disgusting, a horror channel, and it received, generally, favorable reviews.

 

Critics felt that the theme, similar to the first part, offers a roundup of enough horror filming talent to be satisfyingly nasty with a dose of gore.

 

 

95. The Poughkeepsie Tapes (2007)

 

 

 

The Poughkeepsie Tapes is a mock documentary-style film about the videotapes of a serial killer in action.

 

The film is based in the town of Poughkeepsie, hence the name of the movie.

 

The film starts with the discovery of a collection of videotapes. There are over 800 videotapes at the house of Edward Carver, and these tapes are a recording of all the murders, tortures, and assaults committed by Carver.

 

Based on the victims shown, the police try to investigate and piece together a sequence of events.

 

Throughout the movie, we are shown witness accounts, family interviews, and police interviews, but there is no conclusive evidence to apprehend Carver.

 

The cases remain unsolved till the end. In the post-credits scene, we are shown that Carver has found a new victim and is torturing them as we speak.

 

The film has been described as creepy and frustrating. We are not given any background information about the murderer or the reasons for the crime.

 

Moreover, even the ending is inconclusive. This makes the whole movie more disturbing than ever.

 

 

96. Baskin (2015)

 

 

Baskin is a Turkish film. It was remade based on a short film of the same name.

 

The film is a surrealist horror that follows a group of five police officers as they unwittingly enter a hellish place.

 

Five police officers, Remzi, Yavuz, Apo, Seyfi, and Arda, are shown having a leisurely breakfast when they receive a distress call from another squad.

 

In spite of knowing that the call came from a police squad that went to investigate a town where weird incidents have occurred, they go there.

 

In the town, they reach an abandoned building that used to be a police station.

 

There, they find the squad missing. As they go further, they notice many horrifying images and bizarre occurrences.

 

They are all captured and killed brutally. One of the policemen escapes and runs out, only to be hit by a passing vehicle.

 

It happens to be the vehicle they came in, and it is being driven by themselves.

 

The film premiered at the Toronto International film festival, and it was the debut film of the director, Evrenol.

 

The complete cast was also new. The role of the Father was played by an actor with a rare skin condition.

 

It contributed to the eerie effect in the film.

 

 

97. Begotten (1990)

 

 

Begotten is an experimental horror film by the American director Edmund Elias Merhige. He not only directed it, but he also wrote, edited, and produced the film.

 

Due to the nature of this experimental film, they were not able to get any distributors for almost two years.

 

The film opens with a scene where a robed man, who is supposed to be god, is killing himself and disemboweling himself.

 

From this arises a woman, who is supposed to be Mother Earth. She brings forth the son of earth.

 

Initially, she leaves this son of the earth to fend for himself. As a group of faceless nomads encounter the son of earth, they take his gifts and burn him alive.

 

Later, Mother Earth approaches the son and resurrects him, and together they are again killed by the faceless nomads.

 

From the grave of the mother and son, plants and trees start to develop. The film has been praised by many as an allegorical tale of death and rebirth.

 

It is the cycle of life. Many avant-garde filmmakers list this movie among their influences.

 

It was shown mostly in the underground circuits and in a few film festivals due to the experimental nature of the script and the style of filmmaking.

 

 

98. Cannibal Holocaust (1980)

 

 

Cannibal Holocaust is a cannibal film, as the name suggests. It was made by the Italian director Ruggero Deodato.

 

It faced a lot of backlash for its highly objectionable content, and it was banned in many countries too.

 

The story is basically the attempt to rescue a documentary film crew that aimed to cover the cannibalistic tribes in the Amazon rainforests.

 

Initially, an American anthropologist, Harold Monroe, believed that the film crew was in trouble with the cannibal tribes and agreed to lead a rescue team.

 

After reaching the cannibal tribes that the documentary was covering, Monroe makes some shocking discoveries.

 

He realizes that the cannibal tribe was not the aggressor, but in fact, it was the filmmaker whose questionable behavior and unethical attitude led to the team’s demise.

 

The film raised many questions about who was more depraved, the cannibal tribe or the modern man.

 

Deodato, the director, was slammed for graphic violence, animal cruelty, and multiple counts of obscenity.

 

Even during filming, many of the cast members could not stomach the level of cruelty that was being filmed.

 

 

99. Deadgirl (2008)

 

 

 

Deadgirl is a zombie movie. This horror film was written by Trent Haaga and directed by Marcel Sarmiento and Gadi Harel.

 

Two teenage boys, JT and Rickie, skip school and hang out at the local mental asylum that has been abandoned.

 

While exploring the place, they find a mute girl who is chained up. JT plans to sexually assault the girl while Rickie feels remorse and walks away.

 

As JT rapes the girl, he finds that she is, in fact, a zombie and takes another friend, Wheeler, to see her.

 

One thing leads to another, and JT and Wheeler plan to turn Rickie’s crush Joann into a zombie too.

 

The film was shown at multiple film festivals across the world. A critic described the movie as a glossed-over version of a deranged juvenile male fantasy.

 

The film was also criticized as misogynistic and unbearable to watch.

 

 

100. The Green Inferno (2013)

 

 

 

The Green Inferno is a cannibal movie that harkens to the cannibal boom of the early 80s and late 70s.

 

The director Eli Roth aimed to make a different film that will stand out and created the Green Inferno about cannibalism and student activism.

 

A group of student activists plans to protest in the Amazon jungles where a petrochemical company is chopping down trees.

 

They plan to make viral videos of themselves chained to bulldozers as the crew razes the trees.

 

The group caught the attention of a nearby tribe with their presence. They are captured and imprisoned by the tribe to be eaten as food.

 

When the group discovers this nerve-wracking truth, they all want to escape, but only one person manages to escape and not get caught again.

 

The film got a fabulous review from Stephen King. He called it a glorious throwback of the drive-in movies of his past.

 

It was bloody, gripping, hard to watch but hard to look away either. There were other reviews too, that had mixed responses.