| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Sean |
Posted - 08/18/2010 : 00:04:25
The 25 Most Disturbing Movies Ever
An interesting batch. Some omissions, and some I don't think belong but I can see the point in most of those being on the list. Some I haven't seen, so naturally I've added them to my watch-list.  A few aren't available in NZ so I guess I'll have to download... 
Anyway, here's the list for those who don't want to flick through:-
Antichrist (2009)
Blue Velvet (1986)
Shivers (1975)
Martyrs (2008)
Man Bites Dog (1992)
Begotten (1991)
Aftermath (1994)
The Human Centipede (2010)
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Flowers of Flesh and Blood (1985)
The Last House On The Left (1972)
Irr�versible (2002)
Nekromantik (1987)
Men Behind The Sun (1988)
I Spit On Your Grave (1978)
Happiness (1998)
Funny Games (1997)
Visitor Q (2001)
Sal�, or 120 Days Of Sodom (1975)
Cannibal Holocaust (1980)
In A Glass Cage (1987)
Eraserhead (1977)
Audition (1999)
Threads (1984)
The Exorcist (1973)
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| 15 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Sean |
Posted - 09/22/2010 : 12:46:26
Have now seen them all. 'Review' post updated.  |
| Beanmimo |
Posted - 09/22/2010 : 00:38:15
Apologies this seems to have been a link to my fytch! Pleaase understand that this was a mistake.
For your viewing teror...Penance.
Antichrist without the style or substance.
(a little jealusy to get me through my day, thanks thefoxboy!!)
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| thefoxboy |
Posted - 09/21/2010 : 22:58:55
quote:
Originally posted by damalc
i figure, anyone who knows anything about Irreversible knows what makes it so unwatchable, but for courtesy's sake:
SPOILERS BELOW!!!
"Irreversible" is a good film but once is more than enough. The sequence of presentation is what makes it so horrible to watch.
we see MB after what she's been through. so when the other character tells her to take the underpass, i was almost yelling, DON'T TAKE THE UNDERPASS.
It's kinda like "Funny Games," in that, you have a chance to get out, but if you stay, you're an accomplice.
It's been a couple years since I watched Irreversible, If I remember correctly that scene went for like 8 or 9 mins? It was a tough scene to watch.
On a side note, I help design and build Dior Cosmetics counters.
I have plenty of Monica Bellucci promotional posters in my office. She's staring at me right now :)
We also do Revlon amongst others....so Halle Berry pics as well (that's just to get Beanmimo jealous)
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| damalc |
Posted - 09/21/2010 : 18:48:32
i figure, anyone who knows anything about Irreversible knows what makes it so unwatchable, but for courtesy's sake:
SPOILERS BELOW!!!
"Irreversible" is a good film but once is more than enough. The sequence of presentation is what makes it so horrible to watch.
we see MB after what she's been through. so when the other character tells her to take the underpass, i was almost yelling, DON'T TAKE THE UNDERPASS.
It's kinda like "Funny Games," in that, you have a chance to get out, but if you stay, you're an accomplice. |
| ChocolateLady |
Posted - 09/20/2010 : 10:44:05
Coming in late on this discussion, it occurred to me (and forgive me if someone already mentioned this, and I missed it) that there is comfort in the fact that these types of movies are fiction. In light of the way the world is going in real life, having something ultimately more disgusting than reality to view has the "thank heavens it is fake" factor. By seeing these as what we haven't actually become, we can feel at least slightly better about the messes we see around us. It also gives us an opportunity to speculate that, if such a situation actually did arise in real life, we would act differently - better, more humanely and with more caring than what we see on screen. We can therefore feel better about ourselves as we believe that we are better than those characters we are watching.
Just a thought.
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| Sean |
Posted - 09/20/2010 : 03:30:20
Thanks to demonic, we now have an accolade for this topic.
Total Film's 25 Most Disturbing Movies Ever
I'm not gonna 'review' these as such, merely make brief comments on their suitability for this list and mention a few things that make them stand out from the crowd. My scores out of 10 follow each review. (I score on 'watchability' only, if a movie glues me to the screen then I score it highly. If a gore flick transfixes me in the way that 2001: A Space Odyssey does then I'd give it 10.)
NOTE ON SPOILERS
Naturally - for those who want to watch a movie knowing nothing about it - there are minor spoilers in these comments. There are no major spoilers, I think anyone can safely read this post.
The Nasties
These are the ones that in my view didn't pretend to do anything other than cater for those who want gore/torture/shit/nudity/sex etc in their movies. The value of the nasties to society is always going to be debatable, I've put six in this category but others might add quite a few more and perhaps subtract one or two.
Sal�, or The 120 Days Of Sodom
As I've said in an earlier post, I believe Pasolini made this movie as he liked the subject matter; fascism + Marquis de Sade was just his excuse. If you don't take this movie seriously then you're going to want to like torture, degradation, shitting, shit-eating and plenty of exposed butt-cheeks. 7
The Human Centipede (First Sequence)
If Tom Six had set this movie in Germany 1943 (instead of the present) and named the villain Dr Mengele then perhaps it would be considered a serious nasty rather than just a nasty nasty? Either way the acting, direction and many (most?) plot elements are clearly B-grade. It's not terribly violent but it's sicker than most gore-porn. I gave it an extra point for originality. 6
Guinea Pig: Flowers of Flesh and Blood a.k.a. Slow Death: The Dismemberment
The titles say it all. It's only 42 minutes but I was bored after 25. There's essentially no 'story' other than the slow dissection of a live woman. Dialogue consists of the killer periodically explaining to the camera his next move and it's purpose and beauty. The gore looks as realistic as you'd want/expect and it has fooled people in the past who reported it as a snuff movie.* This one is supposedly the 'best' in the Guinea Pig franchise, guess I'll skip the rest. 6
*That Snopes link contains discussion on this movie. Also, IMDb erroneously calls this a 'video game', I'll report the error shortly.
Nekromantik
A couple like to 'play' with the dismembered remains of accident or murder victims, and that includes one in an advanced state of decomposition. Gore, sex and decay are the focus here. It also contains the real slaughter and butchery of a rabbit. Some may argue that this is a socially insightful and provocative but sensitive movie about those who 'suffer' from repulsive perversions, but I suspect most will take it at face value. 7
Aftermath
Only 30 minutes, which gives the viewer time for a few autopsies. There is also time for a mortuary attendant to 'have his way' with one of the corpses while her innards are strewn everywhere prior to her chest cavity being sewn back together. No dialogue. 7
Cannibal Holocaust
You know about this one. Violence, gore and real animal slaughter. 7
Rape
Rape in movies commonly involves the beginning and after-effects but not the deed itself. A common thread among the movies here is the refusal to sanitise rape; it's shown as the prolonged, vicious assault that it is. They also contain other serious violence; the last three have a rape/revenge theme.
A Clockwork Orange
You've all seen this one. 9
Last House On The Left
Perhaps shocking at the time, but it's a bit dated. 6
I Spit On Your Grave
The rape scene (or scenes, actually) remain among the nastiest I've seen. I didn't find the revenge violence as shocking as it would have been in 1978 though, I've been de-sensitised. 7
Irr�versible
I challenge anyone to sit through that rape scene twice. I don't know how Monica managed it. 8
Paedophilia and the sexualisation of children
People are shot or beaten to death on the screen virtually every day, but as soon as someone gets a hard-on over a child then it's shocking, upsetting, angering and disturbing.
The Exorcist
Twelve-year-old girl is 'raped' by a demon with a crucifix. 'Nuff said... 10
Happiness
Take your average Woody Allen flick about people with hang-ups and multiply it by 1000. Everyone in this flick is perverted but none of them implausibly so; people like this actually exist. Child rapists and dirty-phonecall-masturbators, but perhaps even more worrying was that screwed-up kid who didn't know that wanking in public and telling everyone about it wasn't a good idea. I found this harder to watch than any of the decaying-corpse-raping gore-porn. 8
In A Glass Cage
(See fuller review at the end of this post.)
The Rest
The rest of these don't seem to fall firmly into the above categories. There's a mixture of gore-porn, psycho-killers, thriller-horror, post-nuclear-apocalyptic realism and sexual perversion.
Antichrist
I physically squirmed at two parts in this. Yeah, those parts. I guess that's why it has to be in this list. 8
Visitor Q
Perversions include incest, necrophilia, scatophilia and a whole lot more. There is actually a story there though, and it's very watchable, principally for it's unpredictable weirdness - typical Miike. You could call it a black comedy. Some parts are ridiculous but deliberately so. 7
Shivers
I'm unsure why this is in the list. Perhaps if the parasites just killed people it wouldn't be disturbing, but because it makes them want to have sex then it is? 6
Threads
I missed the 1984 TV showing of this and it had bugged me ever since. No more. If the point was to show a post-nuclear-apocalyptic society in all it's grimness and decay and eventual social breakdown then it succeeded absolutely. This makes The Day After look like a Sunday picnic. 8
Begotten
Disturbing? Why? I'd just call it weird and provocative. I guess the extreme graininess (it looked like it was made in 1891, not 1991) created a major level of detachment for me. Sometimes I wasn't even sure what I was supposed to be seeing. I'll probably watch it again. 7
Man Bites Dog
Killer kills at random followed by film crew. I've seen a lot of 'killer kills' movies but didn't see anything in this that made it more 'disturbing' than usual. However, the absorption of the film crew into the life of the killer elevated this into a genre of it's own - black mockumentaries. 7
Martyrs
I've forgotten a lot of this one, I just remember it being a torture/gorefest with some plot elements that everyone argues about. 8
Audition
Your typical Japanese brooding thriller/horror, but most famous for the vicious ending that people don't tend to forget in a hurry. 8
Funny Games
Very entertaining, but I don't recall aspects of this that elevate it to 'most disturbing' level. Perhaps it's the apparent 'normalness' of the killers? 8
Eraserhead
I don't remember much about this at all. Guess I'll have to see it again. <no score>
Blue Velvet
Guess I'll have to see this one again too. <no score>
Forgotten 'Gems'
Last but certainly not least, these two are well worth seeking out.
Men Behind The Sun
A very solid war drama based on a shameful episode in Japan's wartime history. Torture and war horror, grim and nasty as it should be. A dead boy was used in the autopsy scene - be warned folks, it's real. Also contains real cat/rat cruelty and death, hence it's ban on various websites specialising in 'nasties'. If that sounds too much for you then give this a wide berth. 8
In A Glass Cage
I don't know where to start with this one. Psycho-thriller involving a Nazi paedo-sadistic killer. You can safely read the first two paragraphs here (there are no spoilers) for an idea of what it's about. I could sum the movie up by saying that monsters create monsters, but there's far more to it than that. I will definitely be watching this one again. Strongly recommended. 9
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| demonic |
Posted - 09/19/2010 : 18:49:49
quote:
Originally posted by Se�n
quote:
Originally posted by demonic
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts- can you give us a brief run-down per film a la Mr. Blevins?
I'm writing it now. Nice work on the accolade by the way, that makes my life easier. Not sure why I didn't think of it. 
No problem. It only occurred to me last night - basically it seemed worth it given the interesting discussion the list has generated and also because it seems to be a pretty well considered selection of how far cinema has gone (so far).
Interesting that you highlight "In a Glass Cage" as that definitely looked like the one film I'd never heard of on the list that intrigued me the most and looked like it could be a quality film and not just an experiment in pushing boundaries. I probably won't go out of my way to watch "Cannibal Holocaust" or "Flowers of Flesh and Blood" but probably will look into the 'Glass Cage'. |
| Sean |
Posted - 09/19/2010 : 05:26:48
I've updated a few of the movies in my review post (forgot some important things like the real autopsy in "Men Behind The Sun" etc) so it's on the next page now. |
| Sean |
Posted - 09/19/2010 : 02:54:11
quote:
Originally posted by demonic
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts- can you give us a brief run-down per film a la Mr. Blevins?
I'm writing it now. Nice work on the accolade by the way, that makes my life easier. Not sure why I didn't think of it. |
| demonic |
Posted - 09/19/2010 : 01:23:28
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts- can you give us a brief run-down per film a la Mr. Blevins? |
| Sean |
Posted - 09/18/2010 : 13:21:51
I've just finished watching these 25 movies (apart from "The Human Centipede - DVD comes out here next month). Wow! It's certainly one of the most 'interesting' lists I've worked my way through. I've got a lot more to say about these, but it's bedtime here, so perhaps tomorrow. |
| randall |
Posted - 09/06/2010 : 22:13:04
quote:
Originally posted by damalc
quote:
Originally posted by demonic
... why anyone would pay to see it knowing the premise? ...
that is a good question and for me, the answer is memorability (pretty sure that's not a word ). the absolute worst thing a movie can be for me is forgettable. did i feel like mentioning it, even to say it was a horrid experience, to anyone after i left the theater? or was it out of my head as soon as a familiar song came on the radio?
none of these are forgettable. still, reading some of the descriptions of the 25 films, that's not quite enough to make me want to watch. they may be. i want to see Salo, but can't bring myself to rent it. i think in addition to being repulsive, it has something to say.
i also think Irreversible, Funny Games, and A Clockwork Orange also had something to say, but just said it too hard for most people. i really liked all those.
Gamer, starring Gerard Butler, had some relevance but was just bad, but i haven't forgotten it.
p.s. i just remembered Pink Flamingos. there's one that could have made the list. i own the dvd, have watched it once, and don't plan to again. i keep the case turned around backwards on the shelf so no one even asks what it is and what it's about.
I agree with your points, including A CLOCKWORK ORANGE ["just said it too hard for most people"], but I'd like to try and rescue that film from the offal-infested "disgusting" shelf. First, for those of us who had already read and noted the novel, this was like presenting a film of ULYSSES: "it can't possibly be shot comprehensibly!" Yet it was done! The ethical issue -- a very Christian one, one might perversely add -- is that morality comes from inside, not from what is forcibly fostered. Also, as all Burgess fans know, Kubrick cut the narrative off prematurely; the right choice for his film perhaps, but not the end of Alex the Burgess character.
IMHO Brits -- at least the ones I've talked to over the years -- have a much sterner view of this picture because it was forbidden fruit for so many years. I think it's weirdly beautiful a la Lynch, and an absolute master class on pre-digital filmmaking. |
| damalc |
Posted - 08/31/2010 : 22:20:51
quote:
Originally posted by demonic
... why anyone would pay to see it knowing the premise? ...
that is a good question and for me, the answer is memorability (pretty sure that's not a word ). the absolute worst thing a movie can be for me is forgettable. did i feel like mentioning it, even to say it was a horrid experience, to anyone after i left the theater? or was it out of my head as soon as a familiar song came on the radio?
none of these are forgettable. still, reading some of the descriptions of the 25 films, that's not quite enough to make me want to watch. they may be. i want to see Salo, but can't bring myself to rent it. i think in addition to being repulsive, it has something to say.
i also think Irreversible, Funny Games, and A Clockwork Orange also had something to say, but just said it too hard for most people. i really liked all those.
Gamer, starring Gerard Butler, had some relevance but was just bad, but i haven't forgotten it.
p.s. i just remembered Pink Flamingos. there's one that could have made the list. i own the dvd, have watched it once, and don't plan to again. i keep the case turned around backwards on the shelf so no one even asks what it is and what it's about. |
| BaftaBaby |
Posted - 08/31/2010 : 09:52:02
quote:
Originally posted by Se�n and others above
I think it's time to ask a different couple of questions. Not about why would anyone choose to see these films, or even about the qualitative difference between films like Bouffe or 'Pede.
Say you're musing on man's inhumanity to man. Or how our little boxes lives ain't all that satisfying as we Dilbert off to yet another same old same old. Or the way we're manipulated to do another's bidding.
Say you're a filmmaker. Say you've been shocked and awed by the surreal images recorded by Dali and Bunuel, hot on the heels of the surrealism of Goya and going way way back of the surrealism of Hieronymous Bosch, whose Garden of Earthly Delights, painted about 1500, showed a geezer shitting gold coins, a pig dressed as a nun, people living in a hollowed out human body, and other disturbing images illustrating the questions he wrestled with in justifying his religious beliefs.
Say you can see that a cool intellectual presentation of your musings may need to be delivered in a different way, a more arresting way, a way that cannot be ignored, or brushed away on a late-night talk show like some lapel crumbs.
I'm not saying any of the films mentioned above had such a genesis. I'm just saying some people carve out their own processes.
Then again, some mofo moviemakers just wanna smear shit on some girl's tits and make the class dweeb lick it off while they giggle in the corner, and charge a fiver for their mates to see it, and ... fill in your own blanks.
Just saying  
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| Sean |
Posted - 08/31/2010 : 05:53:07
IMDb lists those movies as his "favourite all-time films", not 'influences' (although for some they may be much the same thing). I'm not disputing the importance of those movies at all, but it comes as no surprise to me that someone who has a film about torture, degradation, butt-cheeks and shit-eating under his all-time favourites would willingly make The Human Centipede.
I agree that The Human Centipede is unlikely to stand the test of time in the way Salo has. However, as relevant and socio-political as Salo is supposed to be, I recall reading a plausible-sounding analysis somewhere that Pasolini's prime motivation for writing Salo was probably a 'liking' for the subject matter.
BTW I've just bumped The Idiots and La Grande Bouffe to the top of my queue. Also, when I speak French everything is somewhere between 'la' and 'le', I find it's safer that way! 
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