Monday, October 29, 2012

The 10 Most F**ked Up Movies We've Seen

In honor of Halloween, and The Most F**ked Up Movies I've Ever Seen blogathon hosted by Nick at Cinematic Katzenjammer, I took a family-wide poll and compiled this list. Some of the movies on this list are high-quality films. Others not so much.

In no particular order:




1. Audition (Sarah) -- I haven't seen this Japanese horror film, but Sarah assures me that it's thoroughly fucked up. One blogger referred to it as "Takashe Miike’s masterpiece, the film that, reportedly, was too hard to watch for Rob Zombie."



2. Silence of the Lambs (Steph & John) -- Maybe this can't hold a candle, in sheer depravity, to many of the movies out there, but the hubby and I both cast a vote for this one. The hubby's a cop, and he's seen some crazy shit. But cannibalism? Sewing clothing with human skin? And what about that little dance Buffalo Bill puts on in front of the mirror? (Yes, the one with the special junk-tuck.) It took me a while to scrub all the disturbing images in this movie from my brain.



3. The Living & the Dead (by group consensus) -- This isn't a horror movie. It's a somewhat experimental indie film about a mentally ill young man desperately trying to prove he's capable and earn his father's respect. The disturbing nature of the story, surreal hallucination sequences, and scenes in which the cinematography seems to be on crack ... they all add up to an unsettling and bizarre movie.



4. The Last Circus (Sarah) -- I'm not sure whether she liked the movie but it was undoubtedly violent and bizarre. One reviewer panned it thus: "You’re left with the vague recollection of an interesting movie you were watching before you got kidnapped and subjected to over an hour of torture porn starring a fat, sadistic clown." Well. How many movies can you say that about?



5. The Return of the Living Dead (Steph) -- Lest I insult any of our gentle readers by bashing this movie, understand that I am rarely a fan of camp and gore. And sometimes horror comedy works for me ... sometimes, not so much. This recycled zombie film was mostly disturbing to me in the sense of "Oh my God! I can't believe I wasted hard-earned money on a movie ticket!" I saw this in the theater when I was 19, right at the peak of my misspent youth. I was completely hammered. And the movie was still too stupid for me. 'Nuff said.



6. Dead Alive (Steph) -- John and Sarah like this campy horror comedy, but I am not a fan. O.K., so it has a few catchy lines, like "I kick ass for the Lord!" and "That's my mum you're pissing on." But for the most part, I thought it was just pointless and disgusting -- an opinion which continues to be a point of contention between my daughter and me. But seriously? Zombies copulating and producing an baby who looks like some sort of mutant kewpie doll? Who wreaks havoc on the playground and is later pureed in a blender? I rest my case.




7. The Clockwork Orange (John) -- He's the only member of this household who's seen this movie, but it is famously fucked up and bizarre -- it's also considered a masterpiece.




8. American Psycho (Steph) -- O.K., I cheated a little bit on this one. Part of the reason I found it disturbing is that it reminded me of the novel, which contains scenes of bizarre brutality I am actively trying to repress. There are right and wrong ways to play with your power tools, kids, and there are place rodents are just not meant to go. That's all I'm gonna say. But the movie is pretty disturbing, as well as darkly humorous, in its own right.



9. Red White and Blue (Steph and Sarah) -- The two most important parts of the unholy trifecta we're told to watch out for, when assessing children who may develop antisocial personality disorder, are cruelty to animals and starting fires. So as a child, Nate got his life started on the right foot by setting his sister's parakeet on fire. It goes downhill from there. And if you're going to be a psychopath, a little military training -- say, in interrogations -- never hurts.

And Now the Grand Prize Winner:

(drum roll, please)


10. "Bitch" in Little Deaths (Sarah) -- This short film definitely made an impression on her. One reviewer summed it up this way:
“Bitch” begins with a peek into the (a-hem) domestic bliss of couple Pete (Tom Sawyer) and Claire.(Kate Braithwaite).  Their relationship is, you could say, strained and is one based on power and domination.  You’d think the title was referring to Claire, but then in a shocking scene we see that Pete is living in a big doghouse in the living room and eats out of a dog dish and even has a doggie mask for those “special” times they have together.

5 Honorable Mentions: 
  • American History X (That curb-stomp scene alone was enough to give me a lifetime subscription to nightmares.)
  • Dead Man Walking (From what I recall, the violence wasn't graphic, but I still had to pause the movie and leave the room several times.)
  • The Accused (Because of the long, intense rape scene)
  • Requiem for a Dream (The disturbing bits that stick with me are the infected arm and the notorious "ass to ass" scene. Oy!)
  • Trainspotting (Mainly because of the baby tragedy. Though the "worst toilet" in Scotland and Begby going ape-shit in the pub are also unforgettably fucked up. This movie definitely put me off the idea of experimenting with heroin -- or using public toilets.)
What's the most insane, disturbing, and/or gratuitously stupid film you've seen?

31 comments:

  1. Wow. Out of the top 10, I've only seen The Silence of the Lambs, A Clockwork Orange, and American Psycho, but I've heard of most of the other films. They look quite disturbing.

    The most disturbing film I've seen is Irreversible because of THAT scene.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Irreversible is one of those movies I avoid, because it's undoubtedly too extreme for me. :-) I've heard about it though. Are you talking about the fire extinguisher scene?

      Delete
    2. No, the nine-minute rape scene. It literally takes up almost 10% of the film.

      Delete
  2. American History X! Agh! I had forgotten about that film. Ed Norton was brilliant, but man oh man, yes, that curb-stomping scene.
    Silence of the Lambs is the only other one I've seen. I tend to run screaming before a horror movie even starts. And if it's too much for Rob Zombie? Holy shit!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know ... Edward Norton was magnificent in that movie -- but damn! :-)

      Delete
  3. Only reading about Pink Flamingos (1972) is revolting enough, I have yet to see it as watching someone eat feces, for real I might add, isn't want I want to be watching

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've never heard of that movie, but seriously ... unstimulated eating of feces? I think I'll pass. :-)

      Delete
    2. You'll want to skip the movie Salo then, too.

      Delete
  4. Great list! Irreversible and Inside both top any of these in my opinion but I can't blame you for not watching them. Requiem for the Dream is my favourite on your list. Absolutely harrowing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yup, I'm definitely not brave enough for Irreversible. :-)

      I didn't like Requiem for a Dream as much as most people seemed to, but it was definitely memorable and disturbing, with some good performances.

      It freaked me out when Jared Leto's character got his arm infected from shooting up. I immediately figured out where that part of the storyline was going. ("Dude! Get yourself to an emergency room! You're going to lose your arm!") Yup, I'm one of those people who shouts at the T.V. screen.

      And I've been unsuccessfully trying to scrub that "ass to ass" scene from my memory for the past few years. :-/

      Delete
  5. I'm not very familiar with some of the items on the list, but they look sick indeed! Audition is such a disturbing movie! Glad to see American Psycho on the list too. I'd probably include Irreversible and Antichrist, those were tough to look at.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've vowed not to watch Irreversible. A friend of mine who likes stuff that's way too fucked up for me (e.g. I Spit On Your Grave) said it's almost too extreme for him. :-D

      I'm also completely freaked out by the premise of Antichrist (that's the one where grieving parents carve up each others' genitalia, right?) :-) I'm kind of scared of/put off by the idea of watching Lars von Trier's films in general, though I did like Breaking the Waves, mostly because of Emily Watson's splendid performance. I do have An Element of Crime on my wish list, though.

      Delete
    2. I really hate Von Trier but I always watch his movies, just so his fans wouldn't say I hate him and I didn't even see his films :) Antichrist is total woman hating garbage, it is beautifully shot but it's one sick film.

      Irreversible is 10x worse than I Spit on Your grave, really hard to watch.

      Delete
  6. Great list of disturbing, completely f*cked movies. Is it crazy that some of my favorite flicks are listed here haha?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Crazy? I don't know. I'd be surprised (and a bit disappointed) if that weren't the case. :-P

      Delete
  7. I looked up Audition and The Last Circus on wikipedia...and I decided that my favorite way to watch fucked up movies is to read about them on wikipedia. Yikes!!!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's completely understandable! :-)

      Delete
  8. I don't really have a taste for disturbing films so not surprised I've only seen 2 on this list, Silence of the Lambs and American Psycho. I consider the rest to be a warning, ahah.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Audition is certainly one and I just watched Red White & Blue the other night. I can't get it out of my head. Very disturbing. It was a really well made film but I really didn't care for the material much.
    I'd probably add Funny Games to that list.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I haven't seen Funny Games, but it sounds like a very appropriate choice. :-)

      I agree with you about Red, White & Blue being well-made but not caring for the material. It would have worked for me a lot better if there'd been at least one main character with whom I could have some sympathy.

      On the other hand, Simon Rumley does a great job with moral ambiguity in his characters -- he creates people who are basically loathsome but whom you can't dismiss altogether. And I thought Noah Taylor's performance was awesome. Totally fucked up and disturbing, but awesome. :-)

      Delete
  10. If you think these are bad you should probably never watch "Human Centipede" or "A Serbian Film" # 1 and #2 on my list. Amazingly well written and acted but deff. very disturbing movies.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. *Smile* I read a review for A Serbian Film, and I've heard *a lot* about The Human Centipede I & II. It's safe to say these movies are way out of *my* comfort zone. ;-)

      Delete
  11. This list is f--ked! In a good way.

    I've seen about half of the list (is that a bad thing? ) and there aren't many glaring omissions that I can recall.

    Anonymous mentioned 'A Serbian Film' and that happens to be my kid sister's favorite movie.

    Now, that's f--ked up.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh dear. How old is your "kid" sister? :-) Just reading a review of that movie traumatized me a bit.

      Delete
    2. She's 21. Not sure if that's good or bad. I guess bad would have been 7, or 67. Something like that.

      Delete
    3. *LOL* I guess 21 seems about the right age for hard-core horror. When you said "kid sister," I wondered if she was around 12. ;-)

      Delete
  12. Oh yeah … the baby scene in Trainspotting haunts me to this day. Can't think about that.

    And I had to leave A Clockwork Orange because it just disturbed me so.

    I'd also put Caligula up there. I went to see it in college with some friends and it reduced frat boys to getting up and walking out. Will ruin sex for anyone.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I almost got Caligula as part of our homeschool history curriculum, then I read how fucked up it was. Though probably not as twisted and disturbing as the actual historical events. I'm gonna skip that one. Anything that might ruin sex for me is something to avoid. ;-)

      I haven't see A Clockwork Orange yet. Hmmm ...

      And I am COMPLETELY with you on still being haunted by the baby in Trainspotting. I will probably continue to be disturbed by that until the day I die. :-)

      Delete
  13. Most of the choices and suggestions seem to be more movies that have gross scenes in them than anything else.

    For something more in the insane category I'd suggest the movie Repo: the Genetic Opera. I haven't written a review of it yet, but here's what I wrote to a friend that I recommended it to:

    It's not the greatest movie in the world, so why might you want to watch it? Because I absolutely, positively, double your money back guarantee, you have never seen anything like this before.

    It's The Rocky Horror Picture Show meets the Saw movies meets Baz Luhrman's Moulin Rouge meets Classic Opera meets an ancient Greek tragedy. Cast in it are award-winning actor Paul Sorvino, Spy Kids' Alexa Vega, Buffy's
    Anthony Stewart Head, horror movie staple Bill Moseley, Ogre from the band Skinny Puppy, world renowned opera singer Sarah Brightman, and in the category of "why the hell not" - Paris Hilton (who actually does a decent job) - all of them singing songs that are something like what would be produced if Nine Inch Nails collaborated with Andrew Lloyd Webber.

    Oh, and it's science fiction.

    And it's not a spoof.

    It's the kind of movie where you find yourself saying, "wait a minute - was that Joan Jett?" I also at one point said to myself (in a good way), "what the fuck am I watching?"

    You may love it, you may hate it, but one thing it definitely will be is an experience. It will also give you grist for cocktail parties - "That's nothing. You should see this movie I once watched...."

    ReplyDelete

Hello, and thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts -- reader comments make this blogging gig worthwhile. :-) Due to excessive spam, we are now moderating all comments. Like that dude in the Monty Python skit, we just Don't ... Like ... Spam. I will try to post and respond to your comments as quickly as possibly.