The Woman (2011)
This story has every “ordinary family in the backwoods hiding a secret” horror trope imaginable. Those are accompanied by brutal torture scenes leading up to a bloodbath that pretty much decimates 75 percent of the characters in the film.
And in (probably purposeful) irony, the real monsters in the film are the men, not the eponymous woman. Photo: Bloody Disgusting
Saw (2004)
The players: two men. The stakes: Only one gets out alive. The twist: One has to kill the other to survive. Add in plenty of torture and you’ll soon understand why Saw is one of the most infamous torture porn films to date. Photo: Lions Gate Films
Antichrist (2009)
With one of the most graphic and infamous self-mutilation scenes in the history of filmmaking, Lars von Trier’s controversial work stars Charlotte Gainsbourg and Willem Dafoe as a grieving couple trying to get their relationship on track following the death of their child.
Of course, they decide to do this in a cabin in the woods, and from there things just go so, so…wrong. Photo: Zentropa Entertainments
Martyrs (2008)
Three words: French torture porn.
Child abuse survivor Lucie sets off on a quest to take vengeance on her former torturers. In the process, she and fellow survivor Anna must endure a house of horrors.
Featuring a scene where one character is flayed alive, the gruesome flick packages two philosophical questions: What is true transcendence? And what happens after death? Photo: The Weinstein Company
Deadgirl (2008)
Part coming-of-age film, part zombie movie, part ewwwwwww, this dark interpretation of teenage hormones throws together an undead captive girl, an abandoned mental asylum, and two indolent high school boys.
The result: One horrifying scenario. It’s so grisly that its attempt at black comedy is lost in all the wince-worthy moments on screen. Photo: Dark Sky Films
Cannibal Holocaust (1980)
The title pretty much explains what this 95-minute film is filled with: people eating people, and in the most gruesome of ways. Framed as “found footage” from a documentary team researching a tribe in the Amazon rainforest, this movie should not be watched while you are eating…anything. Photo: Grindhouse Releasing
Hostel (2005)
Pretty much every backpacker’s nightmare, Hostel is all about a vacation gone to hell. The brainchild of horror guru Eli Roth, the story features backpackers Paxton, Josh and Óli, who have no idea what they’re heading into when they enter a hostel in Slovakia. What happens to them when they get there will make you want to scrub your brain. Photo: Lions Gate Films
The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence) (2011)
Take the original Human Centipede and quadruple the most important elements: You know. The people. In the human centipede. In short: Ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ewwwwwwwww. Photo: IFC Midnight
Strangeland (1998)
This horrorfest was written by Dee Snider, who also stars as the mentally unbalanced Captain Howdy.
Howdy, a sadist and a schizophrenic, lures teenage victims via chat rooms. Briefly reformed after a stay in an institution, he soon becomes unbalanced again and wreaks havoc in a small town. It’s pretty much every parent’s nightmare come true. Photo: Artisan Entertainment
The Thing (1982)
Eighties horror at its best, the remake of the 1951 original has become something of a cult classic itself. Starring Kurt Russell in his glory days and featuring alien possession, this story, with its gore and goo, might seem a little kitschy to today’s viewer. However, props to director John Carpenter for pulling off a story about an enormous, nigh-unstoppable parasite that’s still fairly scary. Photo: Universal Pictures
Event Horizon (1997)
A classic in the science-fiction horror genre, this is the stuff of nightmares come to life. When the rescue crew of Lewis and Clark investigate what went wrong at the starship Event Horizon, they discover an evil sentience that hurls people into insanity and horrifying hallucinations. It’s one heckuva mind-trip, and you don’t want to watch this one alone. Photo: Paramount Pictures
A Serbian Film (2011)
This is the kind of movie whose plot description will scar your soul before you can even see the first frame. Dutch filmmaker Tom Six pulls out all the stops, including necrophilia, pedophilia, and plenty of gore. Rated NC-17, this is not a viewing experience for the faint of heart. Photo: Invincible Pictures
The Skin I Live In (2011)
With Antonio Banderas in perhaps his creepiest performance to date, this psychological horror thriller by Pedro Almodóvar centers around a plastic surgeon gone mad, the woman trapped as his guinea pig, and the secrets behind their relationship. Photo: Sony Pictures Classics
Audition (1999)
No list of sick and twisted horror movies would be complete without something from Takashi Miike, and this one’s a doozy. Probably the worst dating experience ever conjured in the history of mankind, the movie features middle-aged widower Shigeharu, who learns that love the second time around can be a killer. Literally. Photo: Lionsgate Home Entertainment
You’re Next (2011)
Ax-wielding murderers crash a family reunion in this slasher flick, where only those brought up in a survivalist compound survive. Does anything make sense? No. Does bloody gore abound? Yep. Photo: Lionsgate
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