20 Most Disturbing Horror Movies Challenge

As an avid reader, writer and watcher of all things horror, when I spotted a list of the 20 most disturbing horror movies of all time, of course I knew I had to see what the movies where. I was quite surprised that The Exorcist didn’t make the list – it’s a movie I love and although I personally don’t find it all that disturbing, it seems that a lot of people do.

After a quick browse through the list, I noticed that a lot of people were taking up the challenge to watch all of the twenty movies and get to the end of them all. I’ve watched a lot of horror movies, and I’m yet to find one that disturbed me to the point where I couldn’t finish the movie, so I knew I had to do this challenge and see if any of these push me to that point.

Here’s the list and my pre-challenge thoughts on each of them. My main thought is where the hell am I going to find time to watch them all, so I’m setting myself the challenge of having them all watched by Christmas. I’m going to start with the ones I haven’t seen, and then I can skip any I have seen if time is running out.

Antichrist

I’m not sure what to make of this – the name sounds like a typical possession movie, but the write up implies that nature is the danger here. Intriguing.

Mother

I haven’t seen this, but I already know roughly how it goes, and let’s just say I’m thinking I might see Jennifer Lawrence in a different light after this one.

Martyrs

I’ve heard a lot of good things about this revenge movie and I’d be surprised if I wasn’t rooting for the girls rather than being repulsed by their actions, but only time will tell.

Excision

I’ve already seen this one, and I found it mesmerising. The weird storyline overshadows the gore and I found it quite gripping.

Hostel

I’ve watched all three Hostel movies and while they’re gory and kind of brutal, I think disturbing is probably a stretch, especially by the third movie, which is so far fetched as to be ridiculous.

Cabin Fever

I must admit to being surprised to see this on a list of disturbing movies. I always thought it was meant to be a tongue in cheek piss take kind of a movie in the same sort of way Scream is. For that reason, I’ve never bothered watching it, so maybe it will surprise me.

The Ring

I love this movie. It’s funny because I did find it kind of creepy until I watched the second one. I won’t give away any spoilers but if you’ve seen them both, then you’ll probably know what I mean. Did anyone else think the little boy in it looked way creepier than Samara? As American remakes of Japanese movies go, I found The Grudge way more chilling than The Ring.

Audition

Shocking visuals and depraved nightmares are the words that jumped out at me on this one. A Japanese original, it’s going to be gory and yeah, probably kind of twisted.

Cannibal Holocaust

Apparently when this was first released, the director was charged with multiple murders as no one could believe the footage wasn’t real. I’m thinking that’s probably an urban legend used to make the film more appealing. I’m not really bothered by the gore factor so I’m hoping there’s a bit more to it than just blood and gore.

Mum and Dad

This is a weird one to say the least. I haven’t seen it in a long time, so I’m quite looking forward to revisiting it. From what I remember of it, it is pretty shocking, but not in a “you’ll have nightmares for weeks” kind of way.

A Serbian Film

I’m kind of on the fence about this one. While I’ve read numerous reviews that liken it to a snuff film, something I really have no interest in watching, and even go so far as to post warnings not to watch it because it’s that horrific, I’ve also read loads of reviews that say it’s all hype and the movie is no worse than something like Hostel or Saw.

The Human Centipede

This movie is gross, there’s no getting away from that, and on some levels it’s disturbing, but personally I found the second movie way more disturbing than the first one.

The Green Inferno

This is basically a remaking of Cannibal Holocaust. Eli Roth movies are known for their graphic gore and violence, but I think this will just be a toned down version of the original.

American Mary

The write up of this one makes it sound cheesy enough that I probably wouldn’t have bothered with it if it wasn’t on this list. Hopefully it’ll prove me wrong.

Raw

Aside from the gore factor, this doesn’t really sound like a horror movie to me. It sounds more sad than scary.

Cube

I remember watching this a long time ago when it first came out. I can’t really remember much about it, but I’m guessing if it had been hugely disturbing, I’d remember it. I do seem to remember enjoying it though, so hopefully it will have stood the test of time.

Salo (120 Days of Sodom)

This is the only movie on the list I’m actually dreading watching. It’s basically a torture movie, and not something I want to see, but I guess that’s the point of the list, and to not watch it would defeat the object. If there are any movies on this list I won’t get to the end of, I’d be willing to bet it will be this one.

The Last House on The Left

Another one I vaguely remember watching but can’t really remember much of. Maybe it will make more of an impression this time around.

Saw

I love the Saw franchise, although I think the later movies are actually better than the first one, although the first one perfectly sets the scene for what’s to come in the others.

The Girl Next Door

I haven’t seen this, but I have read the book and I found the book incredibly disturbing. What is at first glance just another torture movie is made very disturbing when you find out it’s a true story.

Bite

This sounds more sci-fi to me and I’m guessing it’s only made the list due to the gore factor, but I’m hoping it’s better than it sounds.

The Skin I Live In

This sounds like kind of an arty horror movie. Not something I would usually go for, but it does sound intriguing.

So that’s the list. It seems that whoever decided these movies are the most disturbing horror movies is basing this more off the blood and gore factor than actually scary movies. As I said above, the only one I think I’ll have trouble with will be Salo.

Am I crazy for even thinking about watching some of the more extreme ones? I guess only time will tell. I will be sharing my thoughts on all of the movies after I’ve completed the challenge.

Update: I have now watched all of the movies, and you can read my thoughts on them all here.

Have you seen any of these? Let me know in the comments 🙂

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