I love disturbing movies. I put this list together of my top 20 most disturbing movies ever made. I don't know why XP

List – top 20 disturbing movies

20. Battle Royale (BR)

Trailer = [link]

At the dawn of the millennium Japan collapsed. Millions were out of work but still hundreds of thousands of students boycotted school. The adults lost confidence in their youth and became afraid of them - they passed the BR act.

Disturbingness:
One high school class per year is kidnapped and taken to a deserted island and forced to participate in a game: they get three days to kill each other until only one is left or they will all die via explosive collars around their necks. There are all kinds of different weapons to help them play the game but not everyone is lucky enough to get one - can you kill your best friend to save yourself? This film really made me think about Human nature.

19. Human centipede #2

Trailer =  [link]

A British man watches the first Human Centipede and decides to make his own "centipede" consisting of 12 people.

Disturbingness:
He surgically connects the people mouth to ass so only the one in front can eat real food and the others get fed via their now joined GI tracts (i.e. they eat poop). He also severs the ligaments in their knees so they can only move by crawling – like a 48 legged centipede thingy. The scenes that look into his private life are quite creepy and depraved.


18. Sweet movie

Clip = [link]

This movie follows two women: Miss Canada, who represents a modern commodity culture, and Anna, a failed communist revolutionary who captains a ship laden with candy and sugar.

Disturbingness:
Miss Canada is adopted by an artist community. This commune practices re-birth sessions where a member urinates and defecates like a baby while the others are cleaning and pampering him (this is real).

Anna 'seduces' children into her world of sweets and revolution; literally (this scene made me very uncomfortable). She is apprehended and arrested by the police who lay down plastic sacks containing children's bodies on the riverside.

17. Martyrs

Trailer = [link]

Lucie and Anna become friends in an orphanage. Lucie is a very quiet and mysterious girl, having suffered extensive abuse. Anna takes on the role of Lucie's mother and tries to help her cope with the repercussions of her past as they grow up together.

Diturbingness:
The method of Lucie's (and other character's) abuse is revealed throughout the movie. The intentionally pointless cruelty and violence force the victims to go through several psychological states. The final phase of the torture is an exceptionally painful one and the make-up is pretty convincing (the feet are especially well done).

16. Happiness

Clip = [link]

This story revolves around three sisters. Not much to the plot.

Disturbingness:
Psychiatrist Bill, who is married to one of the sisters, is a closet pedophile. They seemingly have a perfect marriage. Bill has several uncomfortable conversations with his 11 year old son regarding puberty and masturbation. Then he develops an unhealthy attraction to his son's friends. Some very awkward scenes in this one.

15. The girl next door (Jack Ketchum)

Trailer = [link]

Based on the true story of Sylvia Likens, who was tortured to death by her foster mother and the neighborhood kids.

Disturbingness:
This is one of those movies where you want to yell at the TV. Meg, representing Sylvia, slowly deteriorates throughout the movie. The abuse escalates and the children watch and some begin to participate. No one tries to stop it and the innocent girl pays the price – the end is difficult to watch. This is an ugly reminder of some of the worst parts of human nature.

14. Cannibal Holocaust

Trailer = [link]

This film is about the search for a documentary film crew who had gone to the Amazon to film the indigenous tribes and ended up missing for two months. The rescue crew finds their cameras and watches the footage.

Disturbingness:
This movie is very controversial. It has been banned in several countries for obscenity – it depicts graphic footage of violence, sexual violence and animal cruelty (they really kill several animals, including a scene involving tearing apart a turtle alive). It was widely believed that some of the cast were really killed during filming because those scenes look so real. The director was even arrested on charges of making a snuff film - later he was cleared though.

13. Eraserhead

Trailer = [link]

I don't know what this movie is about. Something about a deformed baby.

Disturbingness:
This movie is more haunting than disturbing, I'd say. It's a surrealist movie with strange images and sounds, strange dreams. It's disconnected and weird. I loved it - it's a cult classic.

12. Butterfly, a Grimm love story (Rohtenburg)

Trailer = [link]

Based on the true story of Armin Meiwes, who found a lover online that wanted him to bite off his penis then eat his body.

Disturbingness:
Some dude answered an ad on the internet to get some other weird dude to bite off his dick and eat him! And he does! And it's real! And he tapes it! That shit's crazy! This is a hard one to finish (heh heh hard), especially if you're a guy.

11. Pink flamingos

Trailer = [link]

This is one of the most notorious cult films ever made and highly controversial for its taboo and perverse content. Red neck family vs. black market baby adoption agency - they compete against each other for the title of "the filthiest people alive." The acting is truly horrendous.

Disturbingness:
This movie is nothing but disturbing. Everything in it is meant to be filthy and degenerate. This movie is infamous for the scene at the end when Divine eats dog poop (this is real).

There is one scene where a flasher ties a huge sausage to his penis that I found hilarious, the music accompaniment is perfect for that scene.

10. Maniac

Trailer = [link]

This movie is about creepy Frank, an emotionally disturbed and traumatized serial killer who scalps his victims.

Disturbingness:
Frank brings the scalps and clothes of his victims home and uses them to dress his growing collection of mannequins. He sleeps with his mannequins for several days after he finishes decorating them. When he gets tired of them he poses them around his apartment and gets another one – his apartment is full of dolls. He has very strange thoughts in his head that we get to listen in on and has one-sided conversations with his deceased mother, a prostitute who abused him before dying in a car accident.

9. Begotten

Trailer = [link]

This film is a strange depiction of Genesis.

Disturbingness:
I would call this film more creepy than disturbing but I have frequently seen people describe it as 'traumatizing.' This film has no dialogue and uses harsh images of human pain and suffering to tell its story – there's a lot of disemboweling. It has no music but a strange background track of crickets, grunting and thrashing sounds. (I found it pretty boring).

8. Cutting moments

Clip = [link]

This is a short film, only 25 minutes long. Sarah and Patrick have been married for years and have grown distant from each other. Sarah has run out of options for trying to bring back the spark in their marriage so she performs self-mutilation to get Patrick's attention.

Disturbingness:
This film plays with your emotions. Patrick is cold and harsh by ignoring Sarah's existence. His sexual urges manifest in his actions toward his son. There is a lot of awkwardness in the beginning of this movie. The makeup effects look pretty real. It is a powerful little film, very well done.

7. Nekromantic

Trailer = [link] (graphic)

Rob and Betty are necrophiliacs. Not much to the plot.

Disturbingness:
This movie is very controversial. It has been banned in several countries for its audacious imagery. Betty and Rob live seemingly normal lives except they like to bring home dead bodies and hang them on the wall so they can watch them decay. They collect the fluids that drip out and have sex with them too. There are also a few scenes with animal cruelty. Not for those with weak stomachs.

6. Salo, 120 days of sodom

Trailer = [link]

This film is based off of the writings of Marquis de Sade. A group of very wealthy people subject young men and women to their own twisted desires for 4 months.

Disturbingness:
This movie is very controversial and banned in several countries. These people are completely depraved. They have no concern for the men and women they abuse and subject them to horrors and atrocities from which they cannot escape. This movie is infamous for the scene where the entire group feasts on human poop. Mmm.

5. Men behind the sun

Clip = [link]

This movie is a graphic depiction of the medical experiments committed against the Chinese and Soviet prisoners during WWII by the Japanese. This film is pretty over the top.

Disturbingness:
This film is extremely controversial and is banned in some countries due to its graphic content. It caused public outcry in Japan to the point where the director received death threats. There are instances of animal cruelty and one scene in particular where some type of living animal was really autopsied (maybe a pig). The director claims it was a human boy - I have a hard time believing that.

4. Dumplings

Trailer = [link]

Mei cooks up dumplings from her home for her exclusive clientele – aging women who want to look young and beautiful again. She uses human fetuses she imports from an abortion clinic she works for.

Disturbingness:
Just going by the plot of this movie I don't know that I would score it as more disturbing than some of the other movies on this list but what brought it to position 4 for me was the sound effects. They did a wonderful job at making these dumplings sound truly repulsive. I cringed at every scene when they were being eaten. This is one where instead of covering your eyes in horror you cover your ears – it is not a movie for those with weak stomachs.

3. Aftermath

Trailer = [link]

This is a short film about a creepy, necrophiliac mortician. I think it's about 30 min.

Disturbingness:
It's gross, it's bloody but what put it over the top for me, again, are the sound effects. There is no dialogue but still it's a very hard movie to listen to. Most people wouldn't be able to make it through the first few minutes. Not for those with weak stomachs.

2. August underground mordum/Slaughtered vomit dolls

Clip (SVD) = [link]

I put these movies together because they are disturbing and gross in the same way. Neither has a plot or a script. They both are shot as if they were home-movies. They both have murder and people making themselves vomit. They were both made just to be gross and shocking and are pointless

Disturbingness:
The vomiting is real. There are some pretty messed up rape scenes in AUM too. Not for those with weak stomachs.

1. The Bridge

Trailer = [link]

This film will forever haunt me. It is the most terrible documentary I have ever seen. A camera was set to film the Golden Gate Bridge for one year (2006) for the sole purpose of recording the final moments of people who committed suicide by jumping off of it. I never wanted to watch this film – it was played against my protests when I was working on something very important in a room which I couldn't leave. I will never watch it again. Don't watch it.

Disturbingness:
During the filming of this a person jumped off of the bridge an average of once every 15 days. This movie shows the jump, the fall, the splash and worst of all the people who walk by and do nothing to stop it. The creator did not tell the family members at the time that they had that footage of their loved one's death when they interviewed them for the film. The permit the creator had was intentionally misleading and he had to hide the project in order to be able to finish it. Shady.

Honorable mentions

1. Gummo

Trailer = [link]

Weird film depicting the hopeless, nihilistic lives of the residents of an Ohio city that had been previously stricken by a tornado.

2. Bad boy Bubby

Trailer = [link]

Bubby's mother tricked him to stay locked at home for thirty years, during which she abuses him. Then one day Buddy must leave his home all alone and wanders the streets groping random women and trying to adapt to life outside. I found Bubby to be quite lovable, in an awkward and tragic way. The film became notorious for pushing the boundaries of good taste with its strong scenes featuring violence, incest and blasphemy amongst other taboo topics.

3. A Serbian movie

Trailer = [link]

A retired porn star gets a new gig, but it ends up being more than he bargained for. I thought this movie was stupid so it's hard for me to take it seriously as 'disturbing', but lots of people say it's disturbing so I put it as an honorable mention.