Extreme and disturbing films

[Tricky]

I wont watch films that are purposefully extremely disturbing, back in my teens I might have done out of morbid curiousity, but now I just think its sick & would question the mental state of both the directors & the people who buy/download this shit because they get kicks out of watching people being tortured,raped & murdered. These are the same kind of people who would have got jobs as concentration camp guards in Hitlers Germany so they could gleefully watch all that went on there, most of them wouldnt partake in the killings but they sure as hell would get a kick out of watching them

[MinionZombie]

I've got one to add to the pile... August Underground ... saw that flick once, took me about three viewing sessions to get through the whole thing, felt actually nauseus afterwards, and have never watched it since. Only got about 25 minutes into August Underground Mordum (the sequel - there's even a third one) before switching off with a dizzy head and queasiness, and not just because of the videocamera aesthetic. It does surprise me how rabid the (albeit small) fanbase of the AU movies are for them, and the DVDs are packed with extras, so it seems from the website anyway ... watching that stuff just felt like being assaulted. This said, I wouldn't be pro-banning it at all, I don't believe it should be banned, but I'm not unhappy with it being a little-viewed niche movie left lying in the grotty, damp corner of indie horror cinema.

[major jay]

I disagree. It's a film that's as important as it is hard to watch. My government gave them immunity in exchange for the test results, too. Don't get me wrong Purge I'm not doubting that these things happened, but did the director have to go to these lengths for realism? Having a live cat killed by a horde of rats, real rats being burned to death, an actual human corpse disemboweled by decompression, and maybe worse of all a real childs corpse used for an autopsy.

[shootemindehead]

'Men behind the Sun' isn't based on any reality, for god's sake. It's a pure exploitation movie.

[krakenslayer]

'Men behind the Sun' isn't based on any reality, for god's sake. It's a pure exploitation movie. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_731 Sure they hammed it up a lot, but it was besed on real events, many of them just as atrocious (and moreso) as what you see in the film.

[shootemindehead]

I know about Unit 731 already Kraken. 'Men behind the Sun' is about as much a document of that, as 'Ilsa: She wolf of the SS' is on German concentration camps.

[Doc]

I've heard about these kinda films and just reading about the content they contain gets me nervous and disgusted. I don't think I can handle watching these type of films and probably never will. This why I don't like viewing any kind of explortation at all and basically, ignore that part of film.

[krakenslayer]

I wont watch films that are purposefully extremely disturbing, back in my teens I might have done out of morbid curiousity, but now I just think its sick & would question the mental state of both the directors & the people who buy/download this shit because they get kicks out of watching people being tortured,raped & murdered. These are the same kind of people who would have got jobs as concentration camp guards in Hitlers Germany so they could gleefully watch all that went on there, most of them wouldnt partake in the killings but they sure as hell would get a kick out of watching them Dang, I had a whole 1000-word, well-thought out response detailing my ponderings on this, until I accidentally closed my browser and lost it all! Basically - the jist was that I agree with you to an extent: anyone that enjoys that sort of thing at face value is dangerously close to psycopathy. However, not everyone watches these films for the same reasons. In fact, I'd say that the majority of people watch this sort of thing because it gives them a brief and relatively safe jolt out of their cosy little modern, comfortable lives, reminds them what it's like to be frightened and disturbed, and reminds them how horrible and undesirable TRUE brutality is (unlike "safe" Hollywood films, that actually make violence seem more appealing and "cool"). That's certainly the case for me. My sympathy always lies with the victim. For example, watching films like Last House on the Left and Salo actually makes me feel MORE sympathy for the victims of rape and brutality, because after watching the atrocities acted out so convincingly on film I feel like part of me has been through the ordeal with them. In a nutshell, coming face to face with evil strengthens my urge to resist it, not the other way around. It's not "entertainment", but I think it can be good for the psyche (although not for everyone). For millions of years our ancestors lived in a world where fear of stark violent death was a constant presence, but that sense of sickening horror at the world has been somewhat quelled in the West by modern civilisation. But it's still there, ingrained deep within us, and sometimes I think it likes to stretch its legs.

[capncnut]

Salo: 120 Days of Sodom - This one was made by a mainstream(ish) European director with a large budget and lavish sets and distributed by United Artists. Nonetheless, it's probably one of the sickest movies I've ever seen. It's also a very, very good anti-fascist allegory. But this list isn't about quality - it's about grossing you out. And the film does the very well too - it's packed with scenes of torture, sexual perversion, violence, dehumanisation, murder, voyeurism, insanity and, of course, the famous forced poop-eating scene. Not a film to watch with the in-laws. I thought Salo was wonderful too. Proud to have it in my collection.