The likes of Martyrs, Eden Lake, The Poughkeepsie Tapes. Recommendations for movies that leave you "broken" for a while. Doesn't matter if they're psychological, body horror or possession movies....anything that messed you up
Men Behind the Sun, about the real-life atrocities that the Japanese perpetrated against the Chinese at Unit 731 during World War II. To ramp up the realism, they used actual cadaver parts as special effects, and included footage of a real vivisection. It’s nightmarishly intense.
They used real cadavers because they couldn't afford special effects.
Whatever the rationale, the end result is grotesque in the extreme.
I can't argue with that. I went through an extreme cinema phase in my 20s. I watched Salo, A Serbian Film, Irreversible and others but Men Behind the Sun I could never bring myself to fully watch.
Thanks for saying this so I can skip. I am going down this rabbit hole for the second time in my life but still have some hard passes and I think this might have to be one of them if you were good with those watches but couldn’t get fully through this one. Genuinely appreciate when people are honest. For me it’s A Serbian Film. I can watch everything else in your list but that one is always a hard no for me
Just watched this on YouTube (the full thing is on there). You weren’t lying.
There's this amazing interview with the director of men behind the sun. He talks about the autopsy footage and some of the stuff that I thought was real like the grainy pressure chamber footage that turns out not to be. Its worth a look
T.F. Mous : The Man Behind the Sun, part 1 – Offscreen https://share.google/gSSVJmk8UFgJunTtd
The Borderlands (2013), aka Final Prayer.
That is one horror film that truly nails the ending. Genuinely disturbing.
Yeah, but Borderlands (2024) was way scarier. Kevin Hart as Roland? Cate Blanchett as Lilith? Terrifying.
woah this looks really cool. i love found footage (as above so below is my fav) so hopefully this scratches that itch
oh man. can people stop reminding me of this movie. the memories give me the willies.
You've all made me curious, I'm about to watch the movie. Wish me luck lil' crumpets.
it was a pleasuring knowing you, pre-that movie. good luck where you will be in the future.
😂😂😂
The Coffe Table, apologies in advance for possibly traumatising you!
It keeps getting mentioned. This and red rooms. I’ll have to watch those next !! As long as there’s nothing portraying harm to babies I SHOULD be ok,,,,👌
I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not, and I don’t want to spoil anything. But if you don’t want to see any babies involved, one of those movies should be taken off your list.
I’m serious so please dm me and tell me which one to avoid. I have a hard line at that content (I couldn’t watch Mother! because of this)
DMed you
😱 That movie!
It’s so widely known that it seems redundant to even mention, but Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer remains a litmus test. The home invasion sequence alone is soul crushing.
I recently watched this and the way it is filmed is very voyeuristic and sickening. So much that I've forgotten most of the movie, except the suitcase...
I recently watched this. The worst part for me was seeing the sister gut the fish in the dirty sink. That sink was filthy
Speak No Evil (2022). The original.
As someone who could see my parents as the victims, this movie fucked me up tenfold. I recommend ONLY the original.
I didn't even bother with the remake. I waited to hear everyone's take on how bad the Americanized version was going to be before making up my mind. It's pretty sad that this is usually the general consensus when it comes to remakes, especially ones that get the American remake.
This is the one I came to recommend.
If you want to be left with another feeling of helplessness and the sense that the Earth is a really awful place to be sometimes, watch the new All Quiet on the Western Front.
Or better yet, watch the original.
Fuck, man. This movie didn't let me sleep for days. Still giving me the chills(..)
The Coffee Table. I'd recommend not watching it.
Red Rooms was effed
Irreversible is gross
So is Anti Christ
Night Of The Hunter has scary cinematography
High Tension was my first French Horror. Oh boy
Yes great list. Id say lrreversible is probably the best movie in that list. Its a sick movie but Gaspar Noe knows how to direct sick twisted movies with disturbing scenes
The Coffee Table was hard, but had enough dark humor that I didn’t find it irredeemable. And yes, I’m a dad, and yes, I did worry about dropping or otherwise injuring my newborn in a sleep-deprived haze.
I loved red rooms, it was disturbing without showing much of anything graphic. They did a really good job with that one.
The Night of the Hunter is phenomenal, and you’re right, that cinematography is second to none.
Me, an old school Hammer afficianado. Nosferatu, Metropolis junkie. First time I saw Night was at a party with the sound turned off. I was like holy jesus fjn christ wtf, this is the scariest stuff I've ever seen in my life.
The 1955 version, which one?
That’s the one!
Okay, I have to check it out. Thanks!
Irreversible has one really stomach churning scene but other than that it's actually a great film
Guinea Pig 2
I don't even know if you can actually watch this thing anywhere now.
Try archive.org- I found Mermaid in a Manhole there (Guinea Pig 5). It has many of those extreme underground horror films that get named on this sub)
This one is pretty tame compared to the other options presented here, but The Mist (2007) is one that stays with me no matter how much time passes.
Here's two that aren't the most disturbing but were really interesting watches with a bigger message behind them rather than just providing shock value: Fresh (2022) and The Ugly Stepsister (2025)
The Ugly Stepsister was a crazy ride...
Snowtown
100%…had to watch it in parts. So fucking bleak and more so because it’s based on real case.
Easily one of the most unsettling movie experiences I've ever had. Just brutal.
The sadness
I Saw The Devil. The ending is heartbreaking.
Baskin
The step stool tho
Wait till you see Sayara.
Just tell me where to watch it or what ocean to sail 😉
I’m just hoping it gets released here soon. I saw it at a fest last year and almost all the other movies I saw there have been released(Jenny Penn, Deadmail, Grafted, etc.).
Possession
Nekromantik 1 and 2
Der Todesking
Singapore Sling
I Stand Alone
Cannibal
Antichrist
Mother!
The House That Jack Built
The Devil's Bath
The Begotten is a good fun time for families too!
The Devils Bath made me cry :(
The Devil’s Bath was my favorite movie from last year
The answer to this question from me is always Baskin
This is not a horror film but Dogtooth is very unsettling.
The Vanishing (1988)
Salo. Closest I ever came to turning off a film halfway.
It was chocolate cake covered with orange marmalade.
The Sadness is bonkers.
Trauma (2017) is absolutely immoral from the first scene and I can’t recommend anyone watch that.
I can, people should definitely watch trauma. Alot of the people on this sub are literally asking for movies like that.
You aren't wrong.
Agree. Horrific scene, that unfortunately stayed with me.
Bring Her Back
is one of the new ones that i'd put up there. Good Watch and got to me a little bit.
Totally. I had to take breaks it was written really well in my opinion.
Didn’t read all the comments but The Sadness is fucked up. Based on the comic The Crossed by Garth Ellis.
It's interesting how divided people are on the Poughkeepsie tapes. Some people think it's the most dumb boring thing and other people are haunted by it. I'm in door two
first door for me and it's not even close — it was so corny!
Snowtown and possession
Angst (1983)
The Coffee Table, Speak No Evil (original), Soft & Quiet, Angst, Red Rooms, Funny Games, Coming Home in the Dark, Irreversable all fit the bill.
Soft & quiet STUCK WITH ME STILL
The Golden Glove, a German movie about Fritz Honka, a German serial killer. It's just disgusting and uncomfortable to watch, but still worth it.
The OG Blair Witch Project is a good one
I Stand Alone by gaspard noe.
Technically not a horror movie. But an uncomfortable watch that stuck with me.
Also his most stomach turning movie is lrreversible. A sick movie
Just listening to the narration alone is a journey into hell.
I saw the devil for sure. A South Korean revenge masterpiece! From Japan, l recommend lchi the Killer, and Tetsuo as disturbing movie candidates. Another overlooked disturbing nightmare of a horror movie from Japan is Haze https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0491399/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_5_tt_4_nm_4_in_0_q_haze
Also, Salo from Pasolini, albeit not a horror movie, is a sick, twisted, disgusting and disturbing movie. You will probably puke halfway through if you cannot stomach it. I have heard someone killed Pasolini because of this movie
Edit: Also, lrreversible from Gaspar Noe with that infamous sick and very long rape scene with Monica Bellucci in it!
Pasolini was killed but not due to the disgusting content, rather because his movies had strong marxist messages and in 70s Italy it wasn't well received.
Bone Tomahawk
The girl next door, snowtown murders, under the skin.
Snowtown Murders is something else, damn.
Under the Skin. That last scene. That whole thing!
The girl next door is one of the most disturbing films I’ve seen. Because it’s horrific torture that actually happened. If you read the actual accounts it’s even worse 😢
An American Crime ( 2007 ) is a better representation of Sylvia Liken's story, The Girl Next Door isn't a direct representation of her story, the author was inspired by Sylvia's case but the movie/novel itself doesn't represent what she actually went through by those monsters and they tortured her for a different reason in The Girl Next Door.
She had no one by her side in real life, and she was falsely accused of things she didn't do, in the Girl Next Door movie she had at least a boy that wanted to save her, cared for her, and remembered her for the rest of his life which makes the movie slightly beautiful in a tragic fictional sensel.
An American Crime is more disturbing because it's more based on Sylvia's story than The Girl Next Door.
Excellent list.
Michael Haneke's The Seventh Continent.
Like some of the other mentions, not technically a horror film but the second half is an honest depiction of self-destruction in response to mundane existence. But of of all the scenes depicted, the one that apparently got the most walkouts was the footage of the characters tearing up bank notes and flushing them down the toilet.
I adore Haneke and this was the first film I saw from him that made me a fan. So absolutely mundane and then so seriously mind-blowing.
The Divide, Threads, Last Shift are some I have seen that left a LASTING impression on me--and not a good one either.
Urgh The Divide. Yep that one lingered in the back of my brain for awhile too. Esp the fate of one character 🤮😭 One time watch for me that one
Just watched the trailer for the divide it looks like it could be good but also looks like it could be cliche as fuck and ive seen just about every disturbing movie you can think of and they dont really do much for me some are good and all but im pretty desensitized im more into thrillers with good storys or twists is the divide really a good movie and what makes it good no spoilers please...
the kitchen knife scene has been forever etched into my brain
The Divide is one of those movies where you want to take a long shower after watching it.
How many of these same exact “what’s the most disturbing movie” posts are we gonna get in this sub? Jfc
I joined this sub a few weeks ago because one caught my attention but they exist basically daily at this point and I wish people would just search even just a little
It would be easier if reddit search wasn't crap
Bring Her Back, and it ain't just recency bias
It's not the MOST disturbing horror film, I've seen worse, but it really is up there. Brutal, fucked up, evil movie. Loved it.
Nothing Bad Can Happen
Nothing bad can happen: https://letterboxd.com/film/nothing-bad-can-happen/
Kotoko:
These are my 2 as well. They're both excellent, but Kotoko is one of the best movies I've watched in the past 5 years.
Lake mungo really stayed with me, I’m a slow burn type, I think the best horror follows a less is more approach which I find makes things a lot creepier. I prefer eerie over gore and blatant jump scares. I think leaving the imagination of the viewer to fill in the gaps gives a lot more room for horror. The whole Doppelgänger thing really stayed with me and haunted my thoughts long after I had watched the film. I’ve heard mix feelings about the movie but that’s just my two cents.
Hated pooughkeepsie tapes, so much random screaming, it tried too hard to be scary
The Audition by Takashi Miike. The most disturbing movie I have ever seen and I've seen some shit. It takes a minute, but it gets there. Also by him, Ichi The Killer: that's super disturbing violence but not really genre horror.
Atroz - movie from Chile
Grotesque - Japanese. Torture porn in the literal sense, nothing but torture with establishing context but no real plot.
The eyes of my mother
The Exorcist 3
Henry portrait of a serial killer
The eyes of my mother
Ghoulies III: Ghoulies go to College
A lot of good movies here. One that might not technically be labeled horror, but should be. The Treatment (2014). Just watched it, brutal film.
The Sadness was pretty fucked up. Threads made me feel real bad.
The Sadness (Taiwanese)
Trauma (2017)
The first ten minutes alone made me feel sick
For me, Honeydew. Absolutely sickening imo. I don't think I'll ever get the courage to watch it again lmao
The Medium - 2021 a Thai Horror film.
“I saw the TV glow” absolutely left me wrecked for days. There’s a scene in it that is one of the most upsetting scenes I think I’ve ever seen.
The Strange Thing About the Johnsons
Red White and Blue...bleak Indy flick that def stuck with me. Felt super realistic.
Mum & Dad (2008) will always be my answer to this. I've seen better, I've seen much scarier, but this movie is FUCKED. Huge trigger warning for... basically everything. It's actually really difficult to find to even watch. I saw it free on some streaming app over a decade ago. (btw it is NOT the 2017 movie with Nicolas cage.)
THE LODGE
My partner introduced me to The Lodge. She said it sucked and hated it to the point that she regularly introduced friends to it to show them how much it sucked.
Turns out I thought it was actually pretty alright and she did not expect me to have that reaction. Not winning any Oscars, but like, it wasn't the worst movie I've ever watched which is what I was led to expect.
Alicia Silverstone!
fuck yeah
Bring her back
come and see, the devil, the fly, salo, a serbian film, deep end, mad god, possession, hereditary, red rooms, the shout, midsommar, get out, black christmas, anti christ, the house that jack built.
various levels of quality and it really depends on what you consider disturbing/scary. a lot of these also arent horror, per se, just disturbing or with uncomfortable themes.
Honestly I still haven’t gotten over the human centipede
We Need To Talk About Kevin
Don't even.
Coffee Table - this one is mentioned above, but geez. Leaves you with total uncomfort. It took me three atrempts to get through it.
Of course, you have Guinea Pigs, August Underground, Grotesque (Japanese), Serbian Film... all snuff based gore porn.
Midsummer is well done but quite disturbing.
Terrifier series is slasher but every film has a gut wrenching scene that sticks with you.
Turistas (2006) isn’t great but it’s peak body horror to me. Very disturbing.
Ex-Drummer is the most disturbing movie ever.
August Underground 2: Mordum
Most extreme film ever made in my opinion. Not sure if I'd recommend it but I certainly respect the energy and visceral realism they managed to capture.
That film is just stupid. Yeah it’s extreme and messed up.. but honestly, it’s not interesting
Does the movie need to be good? If not, Atroz. I fucking hated this movie but it’s definitely disturbing.
Just from the trailers, I'm going to say the upcoming movie together. It looks to be pretty dosturbing
Inside (2007 French horror film). One of the most disturbing movies I've ever seen.
Melancholie der Engel...........
Henry a portrait of a serial killer is pretty jarring imo
Serbian film
August unground
8mm
First two are made for shock value.
8mm is fked up but actually a good movie
I'd say The Lodge.
The House That Jack Built is really fucked up. Enjoy.
Funny Games1997
A darker reality,a very disturbing movie
The Inside
Threads. This movie took away my ability to feel happy for a while.
The Eyes of My Mother is a twisted movie that’s hard to describe.
Watched Eden Lake with the wife tonight and we were both unimpressed. Main character was incredibly dumb and just destroyed any immersion. We watched Bring Her Back a few days ago and we were shook. That kid on there creeps me tf out! Incredibly tragic story overall but one that fills you with dread.
In A Glass Cage. Not really "horror"...but horrific, indeed!
Irreversible
Climax pissed me off, dunno if that counts but it made me really angry and even now I’m getting mad thinking about it. So you could say it stayed with me, dunno if it messed me up but it makes me wanna mess someone up!
Newsest one i’ve seen is Bring Her Back (2025). Definitely a great horror flick, extremely disturbing and sad
If you’re looking for actually good disturbing movies and not complete shock value, i’d suggest the following;
A Clockwork Orange
The Devils
Eraserhead
Possession
Videodrome
Angst
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
In a Glass Cage
Jacob’s Ladder
Natural Born Killers
Funny Games
Happiness
Audition
Requiem for a Dream
Martyrs
We Need to Talk About Kevin
The Skin I Live In
Salò. What was the point of all that. 🥲
A Serbian Film .After that movie nothing can traumatize you ever again .
Come and see, Men, Saló
when evil lurks
Incident in a Ghostland was like that for me.
I think it’s called Torso. A movie about a group of women kidnapped and tortured by paramilitary maniacs
Here I am again to say... Bring Her Back.
The treatment 2014
The sadness
The innocents
Gonjiham haunted asylum
You could try A Serbian Film, and then you could start Trauma as that picks up right where A Serbian Film ends in terms of depravity.
Cannibal is another one which IIRC depicts the true story of Armin Meiwes.
August Undergrounds Mordum is a good choice as well.
Salo is another one worth mentioning, I found the story tellings were very disturbed in this movie.
Another movie I like to recommend in these lists is Antichrist, that one had me feeling pretty disturbed.
The Human Centipede deserves mention here as well for some disturbing viewing experiences.
Enjoy!!
The whole movie is pretty good. But the first like 10 minutes of the eyes of my mother are some of the most unnerving for me I've watched.
Final Prayer / Borderlands
I would put bring her back and the original speak no evil in this category
“Speak No Evil” (the Danish original) is one of the bleakest horror thrillers I’ve ever seen. Also try both versions of Michael Haneke’s “Funny Games”. Not for the squeamish but incredibly well done.
Midsommar
Miss Violence. It isn’t exactly violent or graphic but I’m sure it’ll stay with you.
This question or a variation gets asked everyday.
Time to make it a sticky.
nekromantik
Not a conventional horror film but I found it super disturbing, is Threads from 1984. About what happens when full scale nuclear war breaks out. It’s beyond bleak.
"Inside" fucked me up hard. I finished it at 1am and immediately had to watch the wonderful romcom Blast from the Past to cleanse my pallet
Beau is afraid
Serbian 😰
Ichi the Killer
Threads, it’s just so fucking bleak.
Lockdown Tower(French;2022)
This is slept on but it nails the depravity of humanity.
Evil Dead (2013)
Glad you asked I need a good movie to watch
Bring her back
The Last House on the Left (1972)
The Hills Have Eyes (2006). Couldn't eat the rest of the day.
The original (1977) also has a brutal burning at the stake scene.
Wake in Fright
Cheap Thrills (2013) I don’t see mentioned too often and not sure if it’s considered horror per se but definitely messed up. It’s a fun ride though in an odd way
"Hereditary" was one of the best newer movies I've seen that's unsettling.
"Sorgoi Prakov / Descent into Darkness (2013)" French found-footage type horror about a YouTuber tourist guy sightseeing Paris who slowly descends into depravity/madness etc..... I randomly caught in on Tubi late one night with zero expectations and it surprisingly disturbed me.... 😐 Some images were etched into my brain over the next few days.... Dark
I’m watching this with a friend tonight, so we’re looking forward to a scary time!!
Yesterday we watched Be My Cat : A movie For Anne, Descent is apparently the only movie that has similar vibes.
Temper your expectations. Scary isn't the vibe, and it takes a long time to get going.
Be my cat was really bad and just plain aggravating
Capture, kill, release is another one with an interesting take with it following a couple and one of them is more into the idea of murder as the other
Loved Be My Cat! Excellent film!
Totally forgot about this until just now. Same, caught it randomly and was definitely not expecting that, haha.