If you’re in search of some stomach-churning gruesomeness, look no further than these brutal films. From cannibalism to gore to sentient tires to psychological torture, we’ve got it all.
Creep (2014)
Beware seemingly innocuous Craigslist ads. Produced by and starring Mark Duplass, Aaron (Patrick Kack-Brice) drives to a stranger’s house to film him for the day under the guise that the man is seeking to make a movie for his unborn child. However, his requests and behavior become increasingly deranged as the day goes on.
Eraserhead (1977)
1977 was certainly the year for otherworldly horror, huh? To this day, Eraserhead still baffles critics and audiences alike. The experimental body horror film was directed by David Lynch and soon became a cult movie. Has anyone actually figured out what was up with that lizard baby?
The VVitch (2015)
This A24 supernatural horror period film follows a Puritan family encountering evil forces in the woods beyond their New England farm. Whatever you do, don’t talk to the billy goat.
The Strangers (2008)
A couple expects a relaxing weekend at a family vacation home, but their life soon unravels as three masked intruders taunt and torture them to the brink of sanity.
Get Out (2017)
Jordan Peele’s directorial debut made serious ripples throughout the cinematic universe. The film was revered for its expert harmonizing of social commentary and traditional horror tropes.
Rubber (2010)
No, this isn’t the sequel to Flubber. In fact, far from it. Rubber follows the story of a bloodthirsty tire (yes, you read that correctly) who develops romantic feelings for a human woman. Although it’s unclear how or why this movie was ever greenlit in the first place, it certainly made for some interesting cinema.
Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
Rosemary’s Baby marked a new frontier for high-class horror. The film disturbed and shocked audiences, who had never witnessed something this grotesque on the silver screen.
Annihilation (2018)
Annihilation is a science fiction psychological horror film based on Jeff VanderMeer’s novel of the same name. It follows a group of scientists who enter a mysterious quarantined zone called “The Shimmer” where plants and animals become inexplicably mutated.
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of Anthony Burgess’ dystopian crime novel A Clockwork Orange uses violent, disturbing imagery as a means of sociopolitical commentary in futuristic Britain. If nothing else, the eye clamps will make you squirm.
Hereditary (2018)
Toni Collette shines in Ari Aster’s directorial debut. Annie Graham is a miniature artist who lives in Utah with her family. After the death of her cold and mysterious mother, Graham’s life begins to unravel at the seams. For those with nut allergies, Hereditary serves as one hell of a warning.
Hausu (1977)
This Japanese cult classic is half animated, half live-action. Hausu, otherwise known as House, is a bizarre and disturbing horror-comedy film from 1977. Its cast was also exclusively comprised of amateur actors.
The Babadook (2014)
If you liked Hereditary (2018), you’ll enjoy The Babadook just as much. A single mother is plagued by the violent death of her husband while her young son fears the presence of a terrible monster lurking in their house. Soon, sinister presences are discovered all around them.
Saw (2004)
The first installment in the Saw franchise follows two men who wake up to find themselves chained inside a bathroom. One of the men is ordered to kill the other or his family will die. Compared to its meager budget, Saw actually performed very well at box offices, becoming one of the most profitable horror films since Scream (1996).
The Shining (1980)
The Shining is another example of Stanley Kubrick’s unparalleled directorial skills. Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall give critically renowned performances as Jack and Wendy, a couple staying with their young son, Danny, in the Overlook Hotel. Supernatural forces allow Danny to see into the past while Jack’s sanity steadily deteriorates.
We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)
This tragic psychological thriller follows Eva (Tilda Swinton), Kevin (Ezra Miller), and Franklin (John C. Reilly), who are all dealing with the aftermath of a terrible tragedy for which the sociopathic Kevin is responsible.
Akira (1988)
Akira is a Japanese animated post-apocalyptic cyberpunk film featuring lots of body horror. Shotaro Kaneda, the leader of a vigilante biker gang, navigates Neo-Tokyo alongside his childhood friend, Tetsuo Shima, who acquires telekinetic abilities after a motorcycle accident.
mother! (2017)
Jennifer Lawrence stars in this creepy and disturbing biblical allegory. mother! tells the story of Him, an acclaimed poet struggling with writer’s block, and mother, Him’s wife and muse.
The Ring (2002)
The Ring is a classic early-aughts supernatural horror remake of the 1998 Japanese film. Both are based on The Ring, a novel by Koji Suzuki. Naomi Watts plays a journalist investigating a cursed videotape that appears to kill the viewer exactly seven days after watching it.
Videodrome (1983)
David Cronenberg’s science fiction body horror film follows the CEO of a small television station who loses touch with reality after he discovers a terrible secret. The cult film is now frequently cited as one of Cronenberg’s best works.
It Follows (2015)
If you scare easily, this one might not be for you. Carefree teenager Jay’s boyfriend passes on a fatal curse through sexual intercourse. Soon, she realizes she’s being followed; it’s up to Jay and her friends to make sure this paranormal force doesn’t get too close.
Alien (1979)
Ridley Scott’s Alien franchise basically invented space horror. The classic tale of a starship encountering an alien egg nest inside their vessel… it’s just as freaky as the H.R. Giger artwork from which it derived.
Caligula (1979)
Originally, Caligula was intended to be political satire, but it soon became a much less savory erotic historical drama about the rise and fall of Roman Emperor Caligula.
They Live (1983)
John Carpenter’s They Live is based on the 1963 short story “Eight O’Clock in the Morning” by Ray Nelson. A nameless drifter discovers that the ruling class is aliens in disguise, manipulating humans with subliminal media messages to spend money, procreate, and follow the status quo.
Funny Games (2007)
This movie was so violent that the theatrical release was severely limited, causing it to bomb at the box office. Two men taunt and murder an unsuspecting family who arrive at their lake house.
Jacob’s Ladder (1990)
This psychological thriller scared the pants off veterans and civilians alike. Jacob Singer returns home from the Vietnam war, where he learns that he and his platoon are simultaneously experiencing extreme paranoia and haunting hallucinations.
Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975)
A group of fascists gather nine adolescent boys and girls in a remote castle and subject them to 120 days of physical, mental, emotional, and sexual torture.
A Serbian Film (2010)
This one is not for the faint of heart. Please. Heed the warning. A Serbian Film is a pornographic thriller about an aging pornstar who agrees to participate in an “art film” to help quell his financial struggles, only to learn that he has been drafted into a violent and horrific snuff film. A Serbian Film‘s themes of necrophilia and pedophilia have led to it being banned in seven countries.
The Human Centipede II (2011)
The sequel to cult classic The Human Centipede is no stranger to gore, torture, and disturbing imagery. A depraved fan of the film attempts to recreate the original experiment, and the results are even more nauseating.
The House That Jack Built (2018)
Lars von Trier’s psychological horror art film follows failed architect and vicious sociopath Jack, a serial killer, over the course of 12 years throughout the 1970s and 1980s in Washington state. He perceives each elaborated-orchestrated murder as a work of art defining his life’s work.
Cannibal Holocaust (1980)
Masquerading as a found footage film, Cannibal Holocaust looked so real that the director was arrested for both obscenity charges and murder. Seriously.
Perfect Blue (1997)
This Japanese animated psychological thriller follows retired Japanese idol pop star Mima Kirigoe. She seeks to pursue an acting career, but a stalker causes Mima to lose her grip on reality.
Veronica (2017)
This Netflix original was dubbed “the scariest horror film ever made” by critics. During a solar eclipse, Verónica and her friends try to summon the spirit of Verónica’s father during a solar eclipse. Enter: evil demons.
Excision (2012)
A psychologically disturbed teenage outcast with aspirations of a career in medicine lives out violent psychosexual fantasies while practicing her surgical skills.
Antiviral (2012)
If needles make you uncomfortable, you might want to take a rain check on this one. Syd March works for a clinic that purchases pathogens from sick celebrities and injects them into clients who wish to have a connection to those celebrities.
Requiem for a Dream (2000)
Darren Aronofsky’s critically acclaimed Requiem for a Dream is a psychological thriller than follows four characters whose drug addictions cause them to be imprisoned in a deluded and reckless world.
The Vanishing (2018)
Three lighthouse keepers arrive on a remote island off the coast of Scotland and come across an object that catalyzes their struggle for survival as the men grow increasingly unhinged and paranoid.
Green Room (2015)
A band of punk rockers is trapped in a secluded venue after making a violent discovery. The band then has to escape a gang of white supremacist skinheads who want to eliminate every trace of evidence of the crime they witnessed.
Revenge (2017)
A woman seeks vengeance after her boyfriend and his friends violently attack her and leave her stranded in the middle of the desert. A gory chase in the name of retribution ensues.
Hannibal (2001)
Seven years after Dr. Hannibal Lecter has escaped from custody, he remains at large in Europe. The only tool capable of baiting Lecter out of hiding is his obsession: Clarice Starling.
Raw (2016)
A vegetarian veterinarian tastes meat for the first time and is driven to disturbing new heights to satiate her need for raw flesh. Raw features lots of medical horror, cannibalism, and dismemberment.
The End of Evangelion (1997)
Make sure to watch Neon Genesis Evangelion first. The End of Evangelion is one of history’s most celebrated animated works, chronicling NERV’s faceoff against humanity itself.
Enemy (2013)
Loosely adapted from José Saramago’s 2002 novel The Double, Jake Gyllenhaal stars in a dual role as a mild-mannered college professor hunting down his own dopplegänger.
Baskin (2015)
Baskin is a Turkish-surrealist horror film based on director Can Evrenol’s 2013 short film of the same name, centering around five police officers with their own secrets who accidentally wandered into Hell.
The Green Inferno (2013)
The Green Inferno was inspired by and serves as an homage to Italian cannibal films of the late 1970s and early 1980s during the “cannibal boom.” The movie follows a group of activists who fight for survival after their flight crashes in the Peruvian jungle.
The Woman (2011)
A lawyer jeopardizes the life of his family when he tries to capture and forcibly tame the last surviving member of a violent, cannibalistic clan that roams the northeastern coast.
The Girl Next Door (2007)
A deeply unsettling movie about child abuse loosely based on a true crime case from 1965 in which a girl was tortured and killed by her next-door neighbor. You might want to avoid this one on a first date.
Meet the Feebles (1989)
If you can stomach the nastiest puppet movie in history, Meet the Feebles might be for you. Fame-hungry puppets from the animal kingdom learn about the less glamorous side of showbusiness.
Bite (2015)
After she’s bitten by a waterborne insect in Costa Rica, a young woman transforms into an insectlike creature who needs human flesh to feed her eggs. The first viewers of the film were offered vomit bags upon entering the theater due to the excessive amount of body horror.
Antichrist (2009)
A married couple is having sex when their infant son in a nearby room falls out the window and dies. The wife suffers a psychotic break and is subsequently hospitalized, but her husband, who is a psychiatrist, tries to treat her himself.
Natural Born Killers (1994)
Two young, attractive serial killers become tabloid darlings thanks to sensationalist journalism. The press follows the couple as they go on a 52-person murder spree. The film is a controversial commentary on the way the media portrays criminals.
I Spit on Your Grave (1978)
A writer rents an isolated cabin in the country to focus on her latest novel, but a gang of local thugs break into the cabin and attack her. After she’s left for dead, the writer seeks revenge on each of the men, trapping them one by one.
Snowtown (2011)
A charismatic and violent predator makes his girlfriend’s teenage son an accomplice to his murder spree. The murders took place in Australia from 1992 too 1999 and are considered the most tragic in Australian history.
Pig (2010)
A psychotic man decides what to do with three captives he’s chained on his land. The movie was so gruesome that it only had two public showings despite positive critical reception.
Martyrs (2008)
Two survivors of child abuse embark on a quest for revenge, but one of them finds herself plunged into a terrible nightmare where people are identified as either martyrs or victims depending on their reaction to systematic torture.
The Bunny Game (2010)
This low-budget American horror film depicts the actual life of its protagonist and co-creator Roldeen Gestic. A drug-addicted prostitute is abducted by a murderous truck driver who inflicts humiliating physical and sexual torture upon her.
Gummo (1997)
Teen friends navigate the destroyed ruins of tornado-ravaged Ohio town that is solely populated by the deformed, disturbed, and perverted. This one will churn stomachs.
Attack of the Adult Babies (2017)
Yes, you read that correctly. A group of perverse men transforms from “adult babies” into disgusting pig creatures. It’s like if Spirited Away was much, much grosser.
Valhalla Rising (2009)
One Eye, an enslaved man in 11th-century Scandinavia, stages a violent uprising against his imprisoners. He teams up with Christian Crusaders to eradicate indigenous peoples. Lots of decapitation.
The Act of Killing (2012)
This documentary is partially directed by Anwar Congo, a former gangster involved in the mass genocide of over 1,000,000 people. The Act of Killing exposes the horrifying executions of communists in India.
Goodnight Mommy (2014)
Twin boys welcome their mother home after reconstructive surgery. However, because her face is wrapped in bandages, the twins start to fear that she’s not who she says she is.
Audition (1999)
This disturbing Japanese cult thriller follows a widower who decides to start dating again. She stages a fake production to function as a dating service where she meets a beatuiful, withdrawn woman who isn’t as reserved as she appears on the outside.
A Field in England (2013)
Two men capture a small group of deserters during the English civil war. The witch doctor-slash-alchemist doses his slaves with hallucinogenic mushrooms and forces them to search for buried treasure in the hot sun.