DISTURBING
15 Unsettling Movies
It may upset you or make you worry, but you will definitely not forget them. 15 must-watch titles to feed your morbidness
D O G T O O T H
Yorgos Lanthimos (2009)
The only movie in which the butchering of a cat with garden shears carries some semblance of rationality. Dogtooth is a modern cult classic brought to the world by Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos. The film centers around an abusive and controlling father who raises his teenage children in isolation, with the belief that beyond their garden fence, is an evil world filled with dire consequences. Events take a turn when the eldest daughter’s curiosity for the outside world becomes too much to bear.
““Do you know what dad will do if he finds out I lick your keyboard?””
L E O L O
Jean Claude Lauzon (1992)
A young boy with a great imagination is surrounded by an insane and brutal family. One day the balance between his fantasy world and the real one cracks, revealing the truth. Living in the middle of the caos decay and the insanity, leolo try hard to find a way out.
““My grandmother had convinced my father that good health... came through shitting.””
S A L O : 1 2 0 D A Y S O F S O D O M
Pier Paolo Pasolini (1975)
Drawing from the Marquis de Sade ideas as inspiration as, Pasolini created one of the most criticised movies of all times. A scream of rage against the human race and the horrifying excesses of the Second World War. 120 days of mental and sexual torture.
““It is not enough to kill the same person over and over again. It is far more recommendable to kill as many beings as possible.””
V I S I T O R Q
Takashi Miike (2001)
A whole family falling apart. Extreme scenes of decay, bullies and disturbing behaviour recorded in VHS. Takashi Miike, director of the classic Ichi the Killer definitely knows how to surprise the Spector.
““This isn’t a mystery of life! It’s a shit.”
”
T E T S U O : T H E I R O N M A N
Shinya Tsukamoto (1989)
This low budget, self funded masterpiece of bizarre cinema is a testament to the determination of its director, Shinya Tsukamoto. Painstakingly shot over a period of more than 18 months in the director’s apartment, with many members of the crew giving up through frustration; Tetsuo tells the revenge tale of a twisted “metal fetishist” who is run over by a “salaryman” and his girlfriend. With it’s grainy cyber-punk infused visuals and it’s mutilated body horror Tetsuo: The Iron Man has left a lasting legacy.
““Fuck you! Don’t you understand? Your future is metal””
T H E L O B S T E R
Yorgos Lanthimos (2015)
In an alternative dystopian world, people have 45 days to find a partner, failing to do so results in them being turned into an animal of their choice. A social thought experiment of a film made by the same director of Dogtooth. The Lobster asks us to ponder the meaning of our relationships and the expectations that society has of said relationships. Social satire, with a razor sharp edge.
“You can be alone here as long as you like, there is not time limit. Any romantic or sexual relations are punished.”
UPSTREAM COLOR
Shane Carruth (2013)
Is love a parasite? Upstream Color a film, written, directed and shot by Shane Carruth, is a notoriously difficult film to pin down. From an initial viewing, it is a bombastic blend of genres refusing to be labeled in conventional terms, yet within this rubix cube of a film, is a piece of art that will leave you feeling disturbed for a long time after viewing it.
“I have to apologize. I was born with a disfigurement where my head is made of the same material as the sun.”
A S E R B I A N F I L M
Srdjan Spasojevic (2010)
A retired porn star with economic problems is offered to work in an “art-movie”. What he doesn’t expect is that pornography, brutality and human cruelty are merged within this deal.
“A real, happy Serbian Family. Life — Art”
B R E A K I N G T H E W A V E S
Lars Von Trier (1996)
IIn a documentary-style born from Dogme 95, this piece follows the love story between Jan and Bess in a small, very religious community. A jittery camera will show you the sexual sacrifices Bess has to do in the name of love. You might not find the most disarranged shot in this Lars Von Trier film from 1996, but it will disturb your existence as a human being, will hammer your morality, and will challenge you emotionally and spiritually.
A story of outsiders that makes you wince.
“Everyone has something they’re good at it. I’ve always been stupid, but I’m good at this.”
S N O W T O W N
Justin Kurzel (2011)
Based on a true story, Jamie, a teenager become the torture and murder sidekick of his father in law, a notorious Australian serial killer. A raw and disturbing portrait of reality.
“It’s not fuckin’ mean if you kick the shit out of some diseased prick. He fuckin’ deserves it. It’s an Australian fuckin’ tradition, anyway. Eh?”
G O O D N I G H T M U M M Y
Veronika Franz (2014)
Two brothers are waiting for their mother to come back from a plastic surgery operation. Things start getting weird once she is back, she doesn’t seem to be the same person. Disturbing, horrific and twisted.
“She’s so different. How would you feel if you’d had an operation like that?”
G U I N E A P I G : F L O W E R O F F L E S H A N D B L O O D
Hideshi Hino (1985)
One of the most controversial films in Japanese history, banned in several countries and reportedly influencing a number of “copycat” crimes. Guinea Pig 2: Flower of Flesh and Blood depicts a demented Samurai who kills and dismembers a young woman for his collection of body parts. So horrific in it’s details, it led to a criminal investigation which was only dropped when the filmmakers were able to demonstrate the legitimacy of the special effects. Truly disturbing.
“When crimson blood crawls over a white woman’s skin like a living thing, she blossoms into a flower of flesh and blood whilst drowning again and again in a bloody sea of rapture and ecstasy”
D A S E X P E R I M E N T
Oliver Hirschbiegel (2001)
Based on the novel titled Black Box, probably the most disturbing fact about this one is that Mario Giordiano’s novel was based on a real story. But not all.
How deep what we wear determine our human behaviors? Can a simple uniform transform our psychological tendencies?
By describing a dark world, the film analyzes cruelty as an intrinsic component of human nature. Enter a psychological experiment in a prison. There are victims and there are perpetrators. And then, you, the viewer who, in a claustrophobic environment will find it very difficult to find distance as you become more absorbed by the violence and the roles.
“Test subjects wanted. Earn 4,000 marks for a 14-day experiment in a simulated prision.”
A N T I C H R I S T
Lars Von Trier (2009)
A film met with boos and cheers at it's Cannes Film Festival opening, Antichrist is a profane concoction of genres, at times art-house, at others a bitter psycho sexual thriller, before finally descending into a “meat on the wall” gore fest. A classic example of provocateur cinema from the ultimate prankster Lars Von Trier.
“Nature is Satan’s church”
B E G O T T E N
E. Elias Merhige (1990)
A film that would make a David Lynch film seem commercial. Begotten weaves the gory tale of monochrome Gods indulging in acts of mutilation, stuck in a cycle of death and rebirth. Visually arresting and confusing, but never ordinary.
“You with your memory are dead, frozen. Lost in a present that never stops passing. Here lives the incantation of matter. A language forever. Like a flame burning away the darkness, life is flesh on bone convulsing above the ground”
Curated by Marta Espinosa, Aki Kurasaki, Vloek & SAMO
