I hated Clockwork orange, controversial opinion I know.
Man Bites Dog was pretty flipping disturbing, I loved that though – even if I don’t want to watch it again.
As for the animals thing, I watched Weekend again the other day – that’s got a fair bit of nastiness to animals, I hate that film too, not that I found it disturbing or controversial at all.
I seriously do not want to go anywhere near Funny Games or Salo
I have read synopsis’s of quite a few of these filsm, and they do actually sound really disturbing, I mean who thinks of this kind of film, they must be seriously messed in the head!
I remember seeing TIE ME UP TIE ME DOWN and THE COOK THE THIEF HIS WIFE AND HER LOVER when they were first released, at the height of all the controversy, and didn’t see what all the controversy was about. Rather dull films, the pair of them.
That’s been pretty much my reaction to these controversial films: what’s the big deal?
I remember seeing BASIC INSTINCT, and thinking that the wrong people were protesting it. The film winds up being a far more stinging condemnation of heterosexual men and women than of gays.
ANTI-CHRIST, well, I still don’t really see what the point of all of that was.
And the one time I got through SALO, too, the point of the film just escaped me. The big banquet scene was revolting, certainly, mission accomplished on that score, but, well.
“This was my reaction to Martyrs. While the content was itself revolting, it was what the film appeared to say that I found even worse.”
I second that. Rarely I’ve seen something so pretentiously loathsome – the filmmakers don’t even seem to understand what’s a martyr. The stylized metaphor for self-mutilation and the insistent beatings made me literally sick to my stomach. There was so much wrong with that movie, I don’t ever wanna see anything like it again.
Man, I must be totally demented because I love A Clockwork Orange, Man Bites Dog and Funny Games. Those films don’t bother me one bit. I will admit the Audition really freaked me out but not necessarily in a negative way.
Fat Girl dir Catherine Breillat is a film that I pretty much despised especially the ending, but again I have to respect any film that can make me want to puke in a thoughtful way. Most of the mindless schlock churned out by Hollywood is far more offensive then Demon Lover or Funny Games.
Try watching 27 Dresses, He’s Just Not That Into You or I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry. These films are disturbing on a much deeper level because they are seen by millions of people around the world and serve to prop up despicable stereotypes.
The fact that a film like Mall Cop can be number one at the box office shakes me to the core. I shudder to think and I weep for the future when all Hollywood films will be in 3D. The horror, The horror…
@Filmstress: The masses liking Hollywood “consumption product” is sad I agree with you when you say “the horror”. Hollywood knows how to tap into desires created by the media and then get the masses to flock to the movie theaters. It’s the way of the world. They say democracy gives us freedom, but we are so manipulated by the media that the only true freedom we have is the freedom to purchase. We are like puppets who believe they have no strings attached. It was the infamous Leo Strauss that said that masses are dumb and a ruling elite must take care of the government (democracy). And to control the masses manipulation through symbols must be used (the media).
There is a book called “El Hombre Light” by Dr. Rojas that speaks of the “light” man of the 21st century. “Light” in reference to those diet products that have no “substance” as this “light” man that has no substance either.. This man appears in developed countries of North America and Europe. He doesn’t understand idealism, has no taste for thought-provoking literature or films and his values are based on acquiring material things to show signs of status, getting pleasure and adhering to relativism as a moral mast. He prefers to read magazines instead of books and watch meaningless television and/or Hollywood blockbusters. Rojas called our times, the end of the era of the revolutions. It’s pretty sad, but it is what it is.
I often wonder what the future of art (films and music) will be in the midst of all this.
Anyway, I digress. But I had to put it out there… =)
Tittycut Follies: This film really creeped me out the way the patients were treated. Fiction films generally don’t disturb me; However, it’s the factual films that have really rocked me. I remember watching a film about Nazis in university last year, watching bodies of gassed men, women and children, being dumped into mass graves, that left a lump in my throat days after seeing it.
CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST. The actual killing of animals repulsed me though otherwise I liked the film.
Alain Resnais’ Night and Fog. Seeing it is the explanation.
hello everybody, BORN FROM PAIN our short controvertial movie is now available on VOD on mubi for only 1$. we are waiting for your review.
I recently saw Haneke’s THE PIANO TEACHER.
It was pretty shocking. The XXX moments, I confess, shocked me—- I’ve never seen XXX in a “legitimate” film before… had you?
But I also got tired of that crazy bitch (Huppert’s character) and by the end I just wanted to get away from her. I don’t want to get into the kinky sex fantasy world of ANY person, fictional or non!
I’d have to say In the Realm of the Senses
My “disturbing-list”:
1. Cannibal Holocaust
2. Saló
3. Martyrs
4. Requiem for a dream
@Alex and Nico: I cannot get the Mubi engine to accept the credit card, but I’ll keep trying. It’s available to watch in my area though, so it’s a start. Thanks for the update. I think it’s great that we have a chance to watch other member’s films. It’s a privilege! I hope the people on the forum will go and watch your film. They should. :)
@David: I haven’t watched “The Piano Teacher” yet. … I’m a big fan of Isabelle Huppert. I love watching her on screen. Regarding your question, Yes, I’ve seen an XXX moment in film… Pink Flamingos (John Waters) had one. Super distasteful. So much that my friends turned it off! And one of them was a very underground-type filmmaker (he made the oddest shorts, but he is super talented), I never thought he would be affected by a John Waters film. Or maybe it was out of respect for me, the only female in the group. Anyway, John Waters stated that this particular scene (between Divine and Danny Mills) was a regret of his and difficult to shoot as they were all friends, but he intended it to be a critique of the Porno Chic trend in the film industry at the time (early seventies). And don’t even get me started on Divine in the last scene of the film… But again, I tried to take it in stride as it was after all, John Waters in all his “let’s-break-the-norms-and-be-super-taboo” glory. You know, I should have included it in my list of Most Contoversial films… Somehow it slipped my mind. =)
@AUGUSTINA
thanks you , hope you ll enjoy it ..
Audition for most disturbing.
Battle Royale for most controversial.
I separate the two since while Audition is controversial, it is disturbing because it is an effective movie. Battle Royale for all its controversy and depicted violence against minors the movie is nothing more then a very poorly made dead teenager movie.
Eric Stanze’s film Scrapbook (raped and stuffed into a garbage can filled with sour milk! sick!) and Brett Leonard’s Feed (basically put me off food for a few days).
I’ve got to say Pasolini’s ‘Saló’ too. I do not regret watching it however, as it is a wonderful piece of filmmaking despite some of its incredibly distressing scenes.
I also have to mention Lars Von Trier’s “Dancer in the Dark” (utterly devastating) as well as Takashi Miike’s “Audition”. I imagine that when I get the courage to finally watch it, von Trier’s “Antichrist” will be up there too!
Filmstress: I agree with your call about the majority of Hollywood films being more disturbing than any on this list. It scares me that many young girls consider the protagonists of “Sex in the City” symbols of female empowerment!
My vote goes to Suspiria, but I have never seen Salo, Martyrs, Funny Games, Cannibal Holocaust, Audition, Irreversable, or A Clockwork Orange. I plan on watching some of them eventually. As for Suspiria, I saw that movie almost two years ago, bought it almost a year ago, and yet my memory of it still scares me so much that I can’t bring myself to watch it again. Goblin’s score is easily the most haunting I’ve ever heard, and it still gives me chills to this day.
And I don’t know, something about the way a girl screaming sounds when recorded with 70s audio equipment really shakes me to my core.
I’m a little behind on discussion, but here we go anyway.
AGUSTINA, you mentioned a lot in your posts that you have a sensitive mind and that you think a lot of these films could do serious damage to someone’s mentality. You’ve even said that you’d like to protect your own mind from all of these disturbing films, yet you still say you are “curious” about these movies, and, not to mention, you were the one that started this thread. You’ve got an interesting duality to your film preferences. Would you care to elaborate a bit more on this? Now I’m the one that’s curious ;)
Also, here’s my list of disturbing movies:
1) Terror Firmer (Troma)
2) Citizen Toxie 4 (Troma)
3) All Troma I’ve seen thus far, where not only does the bad guy wins but the innocent, defenseless underdogs are often exploited beyond redemption. Ugly people are put on display as horrifying wonders of the world, men with small penises are laughed at by beautiful women, handicapped people are hit by cars and crushed under the wheels for sport, etc…
4) A Clockwork Orange. I saw this when I was in high school, and although I have since become desensitized to its overall amorality, I have to admit it does retain an unimpeachable spot on the disgust-o-meter.
5) Visitor Q. I like the part where he rapes the dead body and it poops, and he’s totally cool with that. (Kidding, I don’t really like that part)
6) Gozu. Takashi Miike sure does like pools of breast milk, doesn’t he?
7) Salo. A particularly disturbing trope is humans treated as dogs, complete with leashes and eating off the floor.
8) A Year of 13 Moons. It’s a Fassbinder, and the first 10 minutes take place at a slaughterhouse where cows are killed and step-by-step taken apart.
Irreversible
Martyrs
No other films (including Salo, I Spit On Your Grave, or Cannibal Holocaust) had this effect on me.
I actually had to watch each of these again on consecutive days just to convince myself I’d seen what I thought I’d seen. Of course, I made sure the wife wasn’t around.
These are two films I love, the former being a much more important film, but Martyrs is an incredible horror film.
Both will stay with you.
I hate it when KJ brings up Aftermath. I know he hates it (and for good reason, so do I) but that film is just wrong. There’s no reason for it. Stay away from that one. I kid you not.
and I liked Martyrs, Irreversible, Visitor Q, Gozu, Last House on the Left etc.
Does Aftermath involve actual cadavers, or are they effects?
Very convincing effects. But the film is repulsive, there was no meaning behind it, no reason for it to be made other than to shock, and it didn’t shock me as much as make me want to punch the director square in the face.
^ That’s how I felt about Cannibal Holocaust. I would very much like to punch those unbelievably cruel idiots.
SUSPIRIA? That was a walk-in-the-park. The story so confabulated, the characters so impossibly unrealistic…. that how could anyone take anything seriously at all about this movie?
@HARRY
Yes, Resnais NIGHT AND FOG is a special kind of horror—- real in every imaginable way—— and really does not deserve to be compared with some of the “Saturday Afternoon special-FX grue” fiction we are discussing on this thread…
Very convincing effects. But the film is repulsive, there was no meaning behind it, no reason for it to be made other than to shock, and it didn’t shock me as much as make me want to punch the director square in the face.
There are reasons for it other than shocking people – maybe some people find it entertaining, or a turn-on, or delight in what is happening. People create their own reasons for a film’s existence and as long as no one is being abused for real in the film I don’t really see what the problem is. I haven’t seen the film, but hey if people enjoy it people enjoy it and that’s what matters.
@ CECIL WILL BURCHETT
Gotcha. But just what is “horror”? What is real horror? To me you cannot have horror unless the film has a specific Philosophy of Horror and a Philosophy Of Evil.
The stuff that TOETAG PICTURES is churning out (Mordum, etc.) do not explicate a real socal context of evil.
There has to be, as I see it, some real social context for the horror. It can’t be just grue for the sake of grue.
This is why A CLOCKWORK ORANGE still works: because it is presented in a genuine, believable social context.
THE EXORCIST definitely takes on the Catholic Church as a venue for evil, and that’s why the film is so good and has lasted.
There has a to be a real-world philosophy and context of the evil……….IF the horror is truly to be horrifying.
The HELTER SKELTER story of the Mansons is so horrifying because it touches upon so many subjects—- Hollywood movies, sex appeal, the music industry, the New Age movement, the Law and the Military, psychedelic drugs, wealth & poverty, The Beatles and Polanski (A British and European connection).
Context is what makes horror, horrifying.
Bostonluna
Bad Boy Bubby (Australia dir by Rolf deHeer)
This movie was pretty disturbing-incest, animal torture. Glad I kept watching, the film actually had some endearing qualities to it. Can a film be endearing?