10 Of The Most Stomach-Churning Horror Films To Watch (Or Not)
Horror is not a genre for the ambivalent. You either love them, or you hate them. However, even for fans of the genre there are limits to what they can stomach. All horror films rely on some combination of psychological, existential or physical horror, but goriness is optional. Here are some of the grossest horror films to watch... or avoid.
10. Visitor Q
Japanese director Takashi Miike is a horror icon. He's responsible for some of the most iconic films in modern Japanese cinema from Yakuza masterpiece “Ichi the Killer,” to J-horror favorite “One Missed Call” and of course slow-burn horror “Audition.”
“Visitor Q” is not one of those iconic films.
The story is simple enough; a strange visitor throws a family's world into chaos. The content is bizarre and disgusting. With gag-inducing scenes including incest, necrophilia and, worst of all, human milking, “Visitor Q” is not for everyone. In fact, it's for almost no one.
Yes, human milking.
9. The Fly
David Cronenberg is the unrivaled master of the body horror subgenre. His body of work, no pun intended, includes “Scanners,” “Videodrome,” and “The Brood.” Just amongst those three films you can find exploding heads, human-machine sex hybrids and a woman that births demon children from pustules on the outside of the body.
“The Fly” tops them all. In his most gruesome role ever, Jeff Goldblum plays an ambitious scientist that resort to using himself as a test subject for his cutting edge project. Unfortunately, the experiment goes terribly wrong and Goldblum finds himself slowly morphing into a giant fly. Audiences are treated to watching his body slowly fall apart, piece by piece. If you long to watch a man remove his own fingernails or dissolve his food with his vomit, check out “The Fly.” Disgustingness aside, “The Fly” is a horror great and deserving of acclaim in the annals of horror filmmaking.
8. The Midnight Meat Train
You might be surprised to see Bradley Cooper, four-time Academy Award nominee, in this 2008 scare flick. The film itself is a solid psychological horror, buttressed by an actor of Cooper’s caliber. But it’s the moments of gross out gags that will linger in your mind when you’re done with this one. In a role that will send chills up your spine, Vinnie Jones plays a mysterious butcher whose midnight rides on the New York subway draw the attention of freelance photographer Cooper.
As Cooper tumbles down the rabbit hole, you’ll witness Jones’ daily routine of cutting curious boils from his body, and his nightly routine of popping eyes from the skulls of public transportation patrons with a meat mallet. I’ll leave you to discover the shocking climax for yourself, but suffice it to say it’s repulsive.
7. The Last House on the Left
The 1977 exploitation film by Wes Craven is undoubtedly his most gruesome film. Craven went on to have more commercial success with his “Nightmare on Elm Street” franchise, as well as the huge success of the “Scream” franchise.
However, “The Last House on the Left” is stylistically quite different. The film almost plays like a PSA against drugs after the protagonists fall into the grasp of psychopaths whom they mistake as marijuana dealers. Scenes of sickening violence are juxtaposed with comic relief of the bungling detectives that are on the case. Those moments of comic relief are much needed, because the violence is very hard to watch. Rape, disemboweling and severed genitals are bad enough, but the accompaniment of a cacophonous score seems to amplify the violence.
Don’t be fooled by the B-movie style of “The Last House on the Left.” The film gets its story from Ingmar Bergman’s 1960 film “The Virgin Spring,” which can be found on the lauded film library Criterion Collection.
6. Excision
Sure, a film about a teenager obsessed with surgery is clue enough for what you’re getting into. Yet, “Excision” is so much more. The underlying themes of sexual autonomy and misogyny elevate the film beyond its shock factor.
But shock it does. Dream sequences laden with blood-slathered sex and murder set the tone for the protagonist’s obsessions. While the majority of the film’s grosser imagery has to do with the combination of blood and sex, its climactic open-chest surgery is the one that will really have you diving for the trash bin. Be forewarned, this is a film for fans of the strange and unsavory.
5. Imprint
Here we have another entry from Japanese master Takashi Miike. “Imprint” was actually an episode in the series “Masters of Horror,” not a feature film, but it is no less terrifying.
The film starts in the same way many Japanese parables do, with many retellings of the same story to show varying perspectives. However, there is only one storyteller in this film, whose story changes the more she is pressed for the truth.
This episode was actually banned from television, despite being on premium network Showtime. Its horrifying depictions of bamboo fingernail torture and aborted fetuses is likely responsible for that. Or perhaps it was the tiny hand growing from the side of a prostitute’s head that tells her what to do. Either way, it’s hard to watch “Imprint” and makes you wonder what is going on inside the melon of Miike.
4. Human Centipede II (Full Sequence)
While every film I’ve mention so far has merits worthy of exploring, “Human Centipede 2” does not share that trait.
A follow up to Tom Six’s cult horror hit “Human Centipede,” “Human Centipede 2” takes a weird turn. The protagonist is inspired to make his own eponymous human centipede after watching the first film. That’s right; Six references the first film within the second film. Vainglorious aspirations aside, the film itself is a joyless trek through abuse and misery, replete with shameless gore and unnecessary death. At every level, the film is repugnant and stomach-churning. For example, I checked out after a newborn baby was needlessly crushed beneath a gas pedal by its own mother. There is nothing of values within the minutes you’ll spend watching this nightmare.
3. Martyrs
An entry into the movement of New French Extremist horror cinema, “Martyrs” might well be the greatest of the subgenre. Aside from the shock factor of blood and gore, the 2008 film is pack with twists and turns that keep the audience wanting more, despite what they’re seeing.
“Martyrs” is the story of a young girl bent on revenge, searching for the people that abducted and tortured her in her youth. The protagonist is desperate for an answer to the great “why,” which is ironic because that’s exactly what her captors were after as well. Members of a creepy cult, her captors believe in the concept of a Martyr; a woman that, driven to the brink of death by torture, can see what lies beyond this mortal coil.
Though the moments of torture are difficult to watch, bordering on unwatchable, it’s the fascinating questions about existence that will linger in your mind long after you finish “Martyrs.”
2. Dead Alive
Fans of “The Lord of the Rings” series might be surprised to discover that New Zealand director Peter Jackson has a healthy résumé in gross out horror.
“Dead Alive,” also known by the title “Braindead,” tells the story of a town overwhelmed by a deadly primate virus that turns victims into zombies. Though it sounds like the plot to “28 Days Later,” “Dead Alive” couldn’t be more different in tone or content. The absolutely revolting practical special effects are paired with physical comedy, a combination that has audiences clutching their guts from laughing and disgust.
The film boasts what online pundits call the goriest scene in cinema history. Think about a protagonist taking on a town of zombies with an upturned lawnmower. But it wouldn’t be a Peter Jackson film without a creature of horrendous size and repellant appearance, and he delivers exactly that in the film’s insane climax.
This film, though likely the nastiest in the list, is easier to swallow given its humor. Though you probably won’t want to swallow anything after watching the dinner scene…
1. A Serbian Film
Let’s start with a disclaimer: I have not seen this film. I do not want to see this film. I will never see this film. And as you may have determined from this list, I’ve seen some disgusting stuff.
However, “A Serbian Film” takes it to a different level. For some context, the film is made by Serbian filmmaker Srđan Spasojević and is allegedly intended as commentary on the overly restrictive censorship in Serbian filmmaking, hence the name “A Serbian Film.” And though I lack the context of in depth understanding of the Serbian film world, I imagine he could have found a different way of standing up to the censors.
How bad could it be? After everything on this list, what could make this the worst? Let me paint a picture with words for you. Murder by copulation with an eye-socket. Newborn porn. Forced inces-
Okay that’s good. Just read the film’s Wikipedia page and decide whether you want to watch this repulsive, abhorrent film for yourself. I for one cannot and will not. Ever. My stomach is turning just thinking about it.