7. Caligula
The 1979 Italian-American horror film is produced by Penthouse magazine founder, Bob Guccione making it an explicit pornographic film but with stronger narratives and suspense. Caligula (Malcolm MacDowell) plays the young heir to the Roman Empire who murders the Emperor Tiberius (who is ill of syphilis and venereal diseases) after an attempt to poison him.
The movie contains many scenes of unsimulated sex orgies and degrading sex shows with young children and deformed people that the cast observes in awe and disgust. Incest was the common practice in Rome as Caligul wants to marry his sister, though she insists that he marry a priestess instead. Though the movie resulted with offended reviews, MacDowell received much praise for his performance and has become a cult classic.
6. Anti-Christ
Starring Willam Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg and directed by Lars von Trier, the film is about a grieving couple who just experienced the death of their young son.
After the mother collapses at the funeral, the father (who is a therapist) decides to take her psychological treatment into his own hands after much skepticism of her current therapy. They decide to seek refuge in a cabin in the woods in hopes to find solace in nature.
Little do they know, however, that nature is a beast that can turn well-rounded humans into uncivilized savages. The woman begins to experience strange hallucinations, which manifests into sexually violent behavior. The narrative is divided into chapters and the couple is not given names besides “he” and “she”.
5. Martyrs
The French-Canadian drama horror film directed by Pascal Laugier has been associated with the new French Extremity Movement. This is a special type of horror film that bears no humanity, not even in consolation for the sexualized ugliness and disembodiment. Not to mention that the two female protagonists give a progressive representation for 21st century film.
Lucie, who has suffered an abusive childhood still carries her PTSD into her young adult years. Her lover, Ana notices that her descent into madness through her vicious flashbacks and delusional psychological manifestations.
The movie is sharply divided into segments of stories from each of the girl’s pasts that is connected into framed sub-movies of shorts. When Ana comes to terms with Lucie’s past abusers, she discovers a more insidious secret that they had been planning all along. The ending scene will leave you crawling in your skin.
4. The Human Centipede
A retired surgeon who used to perform operations that separated Siamese twins decides to hunt down exactly three victims to do the reverse procedure: to conjoin three humans into one. This works by attaching their mouths to anuses and making one long intestine so that they share the same digestive system.
It was almost like there was a contest to see who can come up with a film about the most deranged type of dismemberment and The Human Centipede was the winner.
Directed, written and produced by Tom Six, the film was inspired by the Nazi medical experiments carried out during WWII by infamous surgeon Dr. Josef Mengle at the Auschwitz concentration camp. This was just the first of two subsequent features. This genre is considered more realistic horror over “monster” horror.
3. Irréversible
The French art drama directed by Gaspar Noé will leave you conflicted and flip-flopping as to whether you should stare some more or look away.
The film is shot in reverse chronological order and captures the human condition of intense love and fierce vengeance. With jerky camera movements and illegible cinematography, it gives the viewer a feeling of being assaulted. Starring Monica Belucci and Vincent Cassel, a couple explores the avant-garde nightlife of Paris.
After a disagreement at a party, Alex (Belucci) leaves and gets brutally raped in an underground subway station. The long rape scene will horrify you, but you will not look away. Not for the faint of heart. Be careful if you are drunk or epileptic.
2. Salo or the 120 Days of Sodom
Taking place in 1944 Republic of Sálo (the fascist-occupied area of Italy), this film is a parable about the vicious intent of the aristocratic society of a World War II era. Four of the wealthiest men of power decide to marry off their children and kidnap nine teenagers.
The captives are thrown though a series of physical and sexual torture in the most sadistic form of bizarre acts. They then hire young Italian soldiers (called “studs”) and prostitutes to arouse the young men. Not only is this movie shocking, but the sexual deviance challenges every stretch of the imagination.
Definitely do not watch this movie while you are eating. This was Pasolini’s last film he directed because he was murdered shorty after the Sálo’s release. This film has been banned in many countries.
1. A Serbian Film
A Serbian Film is a horror film directed by Srđan Spasojević (who also stars as the main character) in a grainy, sleazy, red light district type of environment. One of the first scenes is a young child watching a porn film which his father was the star of.
Now, the former porn star is given an offer that he feels afflicted with. The gig would pay well enough to support him and his family for a lifetime, but it is unlike any porn he has ever done before in his career.
The porn film features the most grotesque forms of deviance including pedophilia, necrophilia, murder and sheer torture. He has one last chance to pull a last hoorah on his porn career and to never be remembered as a wash-up. If you can imagine the aristocrats joke, except not funny, that would be this movie in a nutshell.
Author Bio: Allison is a native of Madison Wisconsin and got her B.A. in Global Studies and Spanish at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. She is about to graduate the Palm Beach Code School with emphasis on Web Development and has marathon binges on foreign movies and cult classics when she isn’t busy being a computer nerd. She resides in West Palm Beach with her pitbull, Maui. You can follow her on Twitter at @allisonck19.