Are there any great films that you'd never watch again because of how depressing/intense they are?

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by acemachine26, Jan 10, 2018.

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  1. The Hud

    The Hud Breath of the Kingdom, Tears of the Wild

    There is still time for mockery, you might hate it after your next viewing. :)

    Robin Williams is a doctor in What Dreams May Come, and I believe it came out around the same time as Patch Adams, which would explain why you thought that.
     
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  2. agaraffa

    agaraffa Senior Member

    It's funny, a lot of people I know love this movie. I'm with you though, I saw it once and found it incredibly disturbing and depressing... Never again. Don't like the album either, or most Pink Floyd for that matter, their music has the same effect on me.
     
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  3. Lonson

    Lonson I'm in the kitchen with the Tombstone Blues

    We are of like minds sir.
     
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  4. Grower of Mushrooms

    Grower of Mushrooms Omnivorous mammalian bipedal entity.

    Location:
    Glasgow
    A film from 2012 called Ill Manors about London gangland. Brilliant film, plot and soundtrack, but I don't know if I could bring myself to watch it again. Brutally heartbreaking.
     
  5. HGN2001

    HGN2001 Mystery picture member

    THE EXORCIST

    I recognize it as the huge film that it was, but it was so intense that I have no desire to ever see it again.
     
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  6. geoffr

    geoffr Lifeguard in a carwash

    Location:
    Pittsburgh, PA
    Buffalo 66
     
  7. ramdom

    ramdom Hoarder Hearing

    Location:
    Perth ON, Canada
    It's on Netflix these days and I've been meaning to revisit it. So much I missed when I saw it decades ago – like a fine album it would be interesting to see if it holds up. Long one though!
     
  8. Neil Anderson

    Neil Anderson Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    I thought "The Phantom Thread" was good, but I've no desire to see it again.
     
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  9. ramdom

    ramdom Hoarder Hearing

    Location:
    Perth ON, Canada
    Not that film specifically but I do recall the title, and if I did see it then there was little impression made – beyond the sensationalism you mentioned – as it probably wasn't done well enough to remember viewing. I'll watch most movies and have always enjoyed the weird, original and horror movies in general. The stakes have definitely been upped in terms of what is to be (literally) endured the last decade and a half though.

    I've always found it quite interesting what an entire crew –from assistants, gaffers, make-up, lighting, editors, etc.– allow themselves to rationalize as a story worth being told in such graphic, nihilistic fashion and for what reasons they see it as justifiable "art" or a viable contribution to humanity. There's usually dozens of people 15' away or closer from whatever you're seeing (blood and gore), and others who have to edit sections of the same carnage for hours on end, just to get that cruelty on film/digital.

    I just watched a newer, hopeless piece of depressive avoid-ism about fictional New Zealand serial murdering on Netflix called 'Killing Ground' that was entirely devoid of reason for existing. Not in a goofy horror movie kinda way but in a realistic, 'Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer' way that was so disturbing but also infuriating because of certain protagonist's complete cowardice and others sadism. Like watching someone getting hit over the head w/ a hammer repeatedly...until I realized it was metaphorically, myself. On Netflix.

    But deeply disturbing Crap World movies like 'Martyrs', 'Feast', 'The Green Inferno', 'Hostel (1 & 2), etc. just don't deeply disturb me much. I enjoy watching the evolution of special effects and the de-evolution of decent human sensitivity/values under duress. Even 'The Walking Dead' has become such a bloody, grim slog that I wonder sometimes why I even bother anymore. The latest 'Sense8' and 'Altered Carbon' (and 'Fargo', 'Bloodline', 'Ozark', 'Dexter'...) although occasionally excellent story telling and great cable series making (or, 10-20 hour movies, essentially) have such fabulous stunts, blunted morality and explicit violence that I realize that the stakes raised by Peckinpah, Tarantino, Raimi, Romero, Fincher, etc. have possibly desensitized us as viewers quite a bit. Sometimes I feel like just another mob member going to watch the guillotine or hanging 300 years ago–

    stylized, but again, I realize that these "sadistic" or extreme movies or cable series all have so many people/companies enabling such stories to be made and shown. It's a strange fascination but ultimately, unreal and just somebody's idea of sharing a nightmare. It's just the movies after all. Sometimes I take a break but even that becomes more difficult as breaking bad seems to be the order of the day – it's just a matter of degree. Narratives require conflict but their attention to detail is off-putting on many levels is a gross understatement. In the last decade I cannot recall seeing so many actors puking in technicolor, so often in so many titles. Although I have never agreed w/ censorship I wish there were some better metric to control who is exposed to what, and when in their life stages.

    Now the internets: that's really something one has to watch out for. There are some pretty deep holes that can't be unseen and it does concern me that being in almost my 6th decade and experienced much in Life, that so many children and young adults are being exposed to such extremism so early in their development. Playboy to PornHub, Cowboys & Indians to Call of Duty and BulletStorm, 'Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte' to the Saw movies is quite a leap for a developing 10 year old mind, one that can't read cursive, read a novel or dial a rotary phone. This can't be good. Even some of the animé I've seen lately is off the charts: sexualized and violent. Interesting times we live in: I wonder often, what it all means and where we're truly going...

    Sorry, rambling. But I was in a mood to answer, possibly to myself?
     
  10. Rocker

    Rocker Senior Member

    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
    I had heard about Testament for a long time, and was really curious to see it, but was never able to find a DVD copy until just 2 or 3 years ago. When I finally watched it, I thought it seemed rather tame and not particularly disturbing... at least in comparison to some of the other "nuclear apocalypse" films I've seen. I should give it another viewing one of these days.
     
  11. Barnabas Collins

    Barnabas Collins Senior Member

    Location:
    NH
    Have you seen Threads yet? I think it just came out a couple weeks ago from Severin Films. I've been meaning to check it out.
     
  12. Hightops

    Hightops Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bay Area, Ca
    Virgin Spring? Oh geez, just the thought of watching that again makes me want to crawl to a corner and sit for some therapeutic rocking.
     
  13. Rocker

    Rocker Senior Member

    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
    I saw it once back in highschool and have been waiting for a DVD or Blu-ray release forever.... definitely going to grab the new Severin edition ASAP. :)
     
  14. Mainline461

    Mainline461 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tamiami Trail
    The Exorcism Of Emily Rose - To me makes The Exorcist seem light weight. There is something about that film that struck a nerve with both my wife and I, we will never watch it a second time. We saw it at the theatre on release and had it not been for some high school kids cutting up and breaking the tension I may still be sleeping with the lights on.
     
  15. Barnabas Collins

    Barnabas Collins Senior Member

    Location:
    NH
    Interesting. I saw The Exorcism of Emily Rose at the theater as well. Like with your situation, I remember there were a lot of kids in the theater. I also remember before the movie started how everyone was all hyper and I was wondering if everyone would eventually stop talking when the film started. Anyway, by halfway through the film, you could hear a pin drop. I actually thought it was because everyone was so terrified. But when the credits rolled at the end, there was a collective loud groan as if they'd all sat through the most boring lecture they'd ever attended and were finally leaving! I kind of felt the same. I just remember the courtroom drama stuff more than the intense scenes. I haven't had the urge to revisit it all, but for very different reasons from you.
     
  16. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    I liked "Emily Rose" but didn't think it was particularly scary! :shrug:

    The Exorcism Of Emily Rose: Unrated Special Edition (2005)
     
  17. Midnight Cowboy-great performances but too depressing for me.
    Schindler's List-Again, to dark for my taste. Saw it once, thought it was brilliant (except the third act) didn't see to see it again.
     
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  18. LitHum05

    LitHum05 El Disco es Cultura

    Location:
    Virginia
    The Deerhunter. It’s a great movie, but guaranteed to depress. I don’t even want to buy the soundtrack, which I’ve seen for a few bucks.
     
  19. Talk about timing. I'm watching it on Cinemax right now and I just thought the same thing before changing the channel!
     
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  20. Standoffish

    Standoffish Smarter than a turkey

    Location:
    North Carolina
    Nice review. I really like how that movie takes a courtroom drama and adds horror elements, along with a philosophical discussion of the relationship of faith and science. It helps that Laura Linney looks great :).

    I was squirming when I first saw it, because Jennifer Carpenter was screaming and contorting her body throughout, that it actually made worry for her as an actress. I saw an interview later on where she said it was really no big deal. Very good movie.
     
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  21. Bathory

    Bathory 30 yr Single Malt, not just for breakfast anymore

    Location:
    usa











    yes MARTYRS was totally F'd up film.
    may not watch again.

    Ichi The Killer was out there, the flowing blood spirts were funny, yet it fit the film well.
     
  22. Midnight Cowboy.
     
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  23. delmonaco

    delmonaco Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sofia, Bulgaria
    Many WW2 movies. The most recent one I saw that crushed my senses is the Polish film Wołyń.
     
  24. joefont

    joefont Senior Member

    You haven't seen a more moving or more depressing movie than Johnny Got His Gun (1971). This one will stick with you long after the final credits roll. If you haven't seen it, check it out!
     
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  25. fluffskul

    fluffskul Would rather be at a concert

    Location:
    albany, ny
    The Wrestler.
     
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