Movies that genuinely disturb me

I don't really know how to feel about this film. Films that deal heavily with rape don't sit well with me, but unlike some other pictures that deal so strongly with the subject - it at the very least didn't feel like it was merely for the sake of exploitation, and there's no denying that the film is done well and shot quite well. I "liked" it in the sense that I can recognize it is a good film, but you probably won't find me watching it again.

This is one of those movies that just messes with your mind in a lot of uncomfortable ways. I do admittedly feel like it straddles the barrier of exploitation and true art, there's no denying that it has an incredible artistic drive but there are times where it certainly appears to be "enjoying" what it is doing a little too much. Regardless, I actually happen to quite like this film as an incredibly well made, visually stunning and unique little horror/drama film.

I love Korean films, and I especially love their revenge films. While I can't say this picture lives up to the stunning drama of Lady Vengeance or the giddy insanity of OldBoy, it manages to stand out due to being one of the most raw and brutal revenge films I've ever seen, and it shy's not from detailing the complete and utter cruelty of the films villain and the dark depths the hero is willing to delve to. It can be genuinely disturbing at times, but there is some kind of raw emotion to it at times and as basic as the motive for vengeance is, it feels unique due to its thrilling idea of having the protagonist understand that merely torturing or killing his foe would not truly hurt his foe, and that he has to play "catch and release" and study his foe to try and find the one single thing that could genuinely hurt and frighten him, make him feel before his demise - and it is undeniably thrilling all the way.

Begotten is an incredibly uncomfortable and strange experience; though if the filmmakers claims are to be believed, it was inspired by a near death experience - not something known to be precisely pleasant. There are times where you can pull yourself out of the experience and it is admittedly a tad pretentious (Or maybe it's just the way people read into it.) but if you want to see something genuinely unique and unsettling, well, here you go.

This is an amazing thriller, and if you haven't seen it - shame on you. It is one of the best thrillers made in recent memory. Now I will admit, it is VERY far from the most "disturbing" film on this list, but it does manage to get under your skin and it feels authentic and real which is what manages to send the chills up your spine, the film is so claustrophobic and tight that you do get a genuine sense of the anxiety, fear, and crushing asphyxiation of the protagonists predicament.

Believe it or not, this film is not on this list solely for its infamous final scenes. Granted they helped it make it here and are genuinely unsettling, but the reason this film is on this list and the thing I feel so many people overlook about the picture is that it toys with some very volatile, and very real, psychology. Asami is not just a monster in a beautiful disguise, she still has humanity and beauty within her and the film paints the road to her madness with her physical, emotional, and psychological trauma and it is not unbelievable that a man or woman that has gone through what Asami had could end up twisting into something so heinously cruel due to it. Much like Buried, the film feels like it could all really happen at times - even the nightmare sequence isn't a stretch if you consider the drugs in Aoyama's system - and these merits are the reasons as to why it is an incredible tragic character study as well as an incredible horror film, and if you want to see a film that can get really under your skin, you might want to give this one a try if you haven't already.

I won't lie, I was rather skeptical of putting Gozu on this list. Truthfully, Gozu is more of an undeniably dadaist Gothic comedy. But even though I find myself smiling at its non-linear insanity, I ultimately do feel a bit..... uncomfortable when watching the film and when you try to think about the film hard enough, it does have some scenes that are rather disturbing when taken out of their otherwise silly presentation; hell, the birth scene is pretty disturbing in its concept, the way it is shot, and the hideous displays of the woman's pain as she (somehow) births a fully grown man is all there - it just manages to lighten the mood with how silly the scene actually ends, take out the silly *pop!* noise and the following scene of the woman somehow getting better by merely taking a bath and it's pretty unsettling. I may laugh at this films insanity, but it does undeniably have the power to chill your bones at times alongside its absurdest dark comedy.

David Cronenberg is my all time favourite director; and while my personal favourite Cronenberg is actually his incredible re-imagining of The Fly, Videodrome comes pretty close and I feel that VideoDrome is his most disturbing and atmospheric picture and one of his most artistically accomplished films as well. There are some silly scenes in the films final act that relish in gore and effects, but even then they don't kill the film's overall distressing and unpleasant ideas. Couple that with an interesting subtext and the only James Woods performance I can stand - and you've got a classic.

If you haven't seen this film, you are probably wondering how a "musical," even one as non-traditional as The Wall, could ever be considered "disturbing" - but let me tell you, it is. It's a decidedly expressionist film and it manages to express many uncomfortable emotions and is unafraid to show genuine, mind numbing insanity. It delves incredibly deep into the psyche of a troubled man that it manages to inflict his emotions upon you. One of the scenes that has always gotten me is when Pink is behind The Wall and finds himself reverting into his childhood self, and wanders a trench stuffed with the bodies of dead soldiers - including his father, whom he never got to meet - and then wanders into a mental hospital to find himself as an adult cowering in a corner and cutting himself with his own nails and grinning an the smile of a madman; and let's not forget other unsettling images such as a train filled with faceless prisoners that invokes the image of the trains that hauled the Jews to extermination camps or Pink sitting alone in his trashed apartment as his cheating wife's shadow appears on the wall before transforming into a hideous, dragon like creature to torture Pink emotionally. It feels like a constant nightmare of pure insanity, and that's why this film makes the list.

This is one of my all time favourite movies, and next to the aforementioned "The Wall" - this is my favourite picture of Alan Parker's. This is a fantastically scripted and unnerving psychological horror film, and of the thousands of attempts to portray demonic entities or actions on film - I think this is one of the most potent ones. Admittedly the portrayal of the Devil, while a very well acted and good one, is cliche - but the rest of the film manages to avoid that and feels fittingly diabolical and unpleasant. Give it a chance if you have never seen this underappreciated flick.