Most Disturbing Movies/TV Shows/Books

[Squizree]

Dead Ringers - It's rather subtle but it's disturbing in a creepy crawly way. It's disturbing not because it's graphic, but because it's not. It's not what happens, it's what is implied, which is even worse.

 

[xPedro]

I just saw Funny Games (Michael Haneke) and I have to say it's one of the most disturbing movies I have ever seen. The raw cruelty of the killers and the way that every murder was shown (actully not shown) just made the movie even more disturbing!

 

[Belowen]

^ Oh yes! The original Funny Games (not the english spoken remake, despite being made by the same director it lacked a lot of the strength of the first) really disturbed me and left me feeling sick for a few days afterwards. It was beautifully horrific, and the anticipation of everything that could happen, and how real it felt was truly awful.

 

[dorien]

uhm, let's see
movies that have not been

Oldboy: some might find it disturbing, but i thought it was brilliant. Definitely Park's best work to date. add to the list the whole revenge trilogy.

C'est arrivé près de chez vous really well done. film crew follows a serial killer for a couple of days. nuff said.

Ichi the Killer (Koroshiya 1 sat through it once, never again. WTF was going on there. my sis couldn't even sit through the trailer
sick, sick ,sick, sick. now that is disturbing!

 

[*Bianca*]

I found Haneke's commentary about the viewer and violence in films, most disturbing and key. For instance, I didn't find the actual film, on the surface, that disturbing nor scary, in fact, as a viewer, I felt it was seriously lacking for its genre, and found myself wanting more - to see the violence or killings on screen - to actually make the film worthwhile and satisfying. That was what was truly disturbing.

The remote control and addressing the audience all play into this. For example, when one of the killers turns to us and asks, "you're on their side, aren't you?". Of course we'd all like to think we are - but are we? If we were, we wouldn't have chosen to watch this film about a family invasion/torture (or any other thriller/horror film), for entertainment in the first place.

 

[kLx026]

What happened during the mourning?

She grew so depressed after writing it that she shot herself.

I remember seeing this book on my father's bedside table when I was in middle school. I flipped through the photo portion and was utterly disturbed. I read it years later; its still one of the most powerful books I've ever read. Amazing that it happened less than a century ago.

 

[Squizree]

Has anyone seen Splice? It's quite recent and kinda disturbing.

 

[rayoflight]

Has anyone seen Splice? It's quite recent and kinda disturbing.

Not really, it reminded me of Species. In fact, Species was way more fierce (1st movie), Splice was just... meh... Usual sci-fi thriller stuff.

 

[Neely]

I saw it mentioned on the first page, but Earthlings was very hard for me to watch all the way through. I reacted with so much anger and hurt...I was shaken up for days.

 

[Alvedansen]

^i just tried to watch it, but i had to quit at minute 17 (when that dog gets killed) i just can't go on. i can't understand how people can treat animals like that
are there any more scenes like that or is it save for me to watch the rest? it sounded really interesting, i just can't deal with graphic scenes like that.

 

[Vega Magnus]

How about music? Lots of death metal bands have blood and guts lyrics, most notably Cannibal Corpse, who are well known mostly because of their controversial lyrics. Here's a link to a site containing the lyrics to all of their songs:

http://www.darklyrics.com/c/cannibalcorpse.html

I really can't see any reason why anyone would want to listen to music with lyrics like that. Granted, they use death growl singing, so you can't really understand them very well, but it's still really atrocious, and I haven't even mentioned their album covers. While they're all disgusting, I came very close to vomiting the first time I saw the cover of their ninth album, The Wretched Spawn.

There's also a genre of music called goregrind that has lyrics solely about murder, torture, r*pe, autopsies, and general blood and guts. Now, the lyrics for all of these bands are tongue-in-cheek and are meant to be more funny than anything, but I don't see them as anything other than really sick, especially the songs about r*pe. It takes a really screwed up individual to think that r*pe is funny in any capacity.

 

[Squizree]

^ The majority of these bands (if not all of them) produce this music simply for the shock factor, nothing else. The easiest way to attract infamy and controversy is by doing something shocking. This is why goregrind is very popular amongst these bands. Body horror (which became especially popular during the 80s and 90s in film) is obviously the most convenient outlet for the bands you've mentioned. Body horror CAN be meaningful - on the previous page I listed Dead Ringers as a disturbing film, which makes really interesting use of body horror.

 

[Vega Magnus]

^ The majority of these bands (if not all of them) produce this music simply for the shock factor, nothing else. The easiest way to attract infamy and controversy is by doing something shocking.

Precisely. Still, I find them repulsive.

 

[Alvedansen]

i find rap music to be much more disgusting tbh

 

[Squizree]

^ Yeah rap can definitely be gross, but it never really pretends to be more than what it is. But if you listen to some heavy metal bands they actually believe that their music or "art" lol

 

[sobriquet87]

I've been scarred by the lyrics to some rap songs, but it's not all bad.

 

[SMKelly]

Brilliant, yet totally disturbing movie: Titus with Anthony Hopkins and Alan Cumming.

 

[lostgirl]

I have no problem with something being disturbing in order to make a point, but I don't like when something is disturbing only for the sake of shocking an audience. Granted that can be a fine line (sometimes an artist can make a statement regarding that desire to shock/be shocked) in general that's how I differentiate the good kind of disturbing from the bad.

With that in mind I think these films stand out in my mind as good but disturbing/unsettling:

Dogville- I was afraid that this was going to be self indulgently artsy when I first saw it, but as it progressed I got wrapped up in the narrative and throught about the ending for days afterwards.

Hard Candy- I think a few people have mentioned it on this thread but it bears repeating. Personally I think one (of the many) reasons that it got to me was the inversion of the Red Riding Hood story.

Freaks- I found most of the more sad than disturbing (or disturbing in the sense that people really are/were so dehumanized by other people) but the last 10 minutes got under my skin in an odd way. Nothing that shocking happened but it was unsettling

Audition- Depending on my mood this might err a bit too far on the "disturbing for it's own sake" side of the line, but I think there's more to it than just that. Not something I'd want to watch again though.


As far as books go:

Flowers in the Attic by VC Andrews- I don't know how disturbing I'd find it now but my 12 year old self read this book in a sort of horrified fascination.

House of Leaves by Mark Z Danielewski- Sort of envelops you in a multi-layered trippy narrative. (check out Poe's companion album, Haunted)

Carrie by Stephen King- The book was far more disturbing than the movie, but also for different reasons. Maybe it just felt more real being that it was written as a combination of newspaper articles and academic essays written after the prom.

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood- Again this choice may have to do with when I read it but I thought it was a chilling portrayal of misogynistic rule.

The Collector by John Fowles- I read this in college and I immediately saw how it inspired the likes of Misery and Silence of the Lambs. FYI it also inspired several real life crimes.

The Cement Garden by Ian McEwan- Sort of like Lord of the Flies meets Flowers in the Attic. If you can picture that.

Twins by Bari Wood and Jack Geasland- the film Dead Ringers is loosely based on this book. The book is more disturbing. Elements of the story actually felt like they were "cleaned up" for the film.

TV Shows:

Dexter- One of my favorite shows but I guess the way that it makes a mass audience feel sympathy for it's serial killer protagonist is kind of disturbing!

The Twilight Zone- There are a few episodes that definitely got under my skin.

Are You Afraid of the Dark? Probably mild by today's standards but when I was a kid several episodes scared the living daylights out of me!

 

[Squizree]

House of Leaves by Mark Z Danielewski- Sort of envelops you in a multi-layered trippy narrative. (check out Poe's companion album, Haunted)

Oh I LOVE Poe's work. He's such a genuis. He never fails to create meaningful suspense and engaging material. I highly recommend his short stories collection. Especially The Pit and the Pendulum and The Black Cat. Both disturbing in their own Gothic ways.

Also The Turn of the Screw by Henry James is quite creepy, in a lunacy sort of way

 

[purplethistle]

2:37 (2006) film. The story goes through the last day before some commits suicide. Actual suicid scene with the method technically shouldn't have been possible it really got me feeling sick. But what really got me was that one of the characters had been raped by their sibling in the middle of the night.