That film should be on the agenda as part of a drug aversion health program of every high school. I only saw it once , years ago -the film is on my shelves - but the scenes of rotting gangrene from drug abused limbs - stay strong in my mind. Sometimes . people need to be shocked about what can really happen.
"River's Edge" ('86) was seen as disturbing when it came out. I remember at least one critic in a major publication ("New Republic, National Review"?) hand wringing when it came out. I wish I had kept the review. I have never seen "I Spit On Your Grave", but wonder if it's excess after excess or a straight-on vengeance flick.
I always joke that they should show this film in school once a month and put a picture of Courtney Love in every classroom and drug abuse would be a thing of the past.
Traffic-watched it when it came out and recently, still very disturbing. Has anything changed in 13 years? I don't think so.
Can I request that people posting in this thread not give away important plot details of the movies they discuss? I know it's difficult, because members have every right (given the topic of the thread) to write about "disturbing" aspects of these films. There's got to be a balance in there somehow. I would have wanted to see Steve Martin's "Novocaine," for instance, dammit !!! John Vancouver PS: just a friendly nudge, mr. vidiot! I enjoy your posts about the movie biz...
To be fair, the gangrene was a result of being thrown in a jail cell by the cops, who then refused to offer any medical care, or even pay attention to an inmate who could have gone to an emergency room if he hadn't been arrested. Maybe the film wasn't as explicit about it as the book was, but the blame certainly seemed to be on a system that's more interested in criminalizing or profiting from behaviour (depending on if the drugs in question are legal or illegal at the time) than in offering any medical attention. Not so much "don't do drugs" as "don't get arrested."
With all due respect to anyone who's watched this. Why? I don't believe there's any way someone can watch that and not have made a grave decision. You can't unwatch something. Letting a movie like that take momentary residence inside of us has a permanent impact, imo. I have fun with crazy stuff like The Evil Dead or Kill Bill but I can clearly see that there are a handful of movies out there that are vipers, and despite my curiosity, I don't want to get bit.
Don't know. The only time I worked on the movie was on a 1984 compilation called Terror in the Aisles, which had a lot of clips from Marathon Man in it. Of all the horror movie clips in that show, the Marathon Man ones were by far the hardest for us to watch. It took the producer about 10 tries to get the MPAA to release the movie with "only" an R rating, despite the fact that the film only used clips from PG and R-rated movies. Their explanation was, "all these disturbing scenes used together are so intense, the violence rating goes up to X." I'd rather cut off all my limbs than see that film. That was the other film I mastered in the 1980s that gave me nightmares -- that and Last House on the Left. I swear, I did them with a month of each other. Very unpleasant.
I really didn't know what I was getting myself into. I hadn't read the reviews and only knew the barest details about the story, which as a sketch sounded interesting. It's not just what happens that's disturbing (which is pretty awful), but also where this film seems to be coming from regarding the director. Its message appears to be severely simplistic and reactionary, implying that if we condone regular run of the mill porn we also condone bizarre snuff films and all other manner of horrible things. Or something. I really don't like to think about it very much.
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer with Michael Rooker (Merle of The Walking Dead). Disturbing to say the least, especially when he and his equally psycho friend dispatch the poor family. Those who have seen it will know of what I speak.
Oh my, you worked on Terror In The Aisles? Now THAT would make my list, considering it scared and disturbed me when it was shown on cable TV in the '80s. A very well done compilation, man! To this day, the clip in the compilation where Angie Dickinson is cut up in an elevator messes me up. Isn't the movie it's from called Dressed To Kill?
I'm surprised it took this many posts before Irreversible was mentioned. A couple real unpleasant scenes in that one. I'd add the Australian flick, Bad Boy Bubby. Also, Thriller: A Cruel Picture. Really disturbing. Gummo was disturbing, but I found it fascinating, too. I Spit On Your Grave is really disturbing, but the vengeance parts help, except for one. Anyone who has seen it knows what I mean. That one made it more disturbing.
I saw Irreversible at a film fest and the theatre owner came out, explained to people what they were in for, and told us that they would give a full refund if anybody wanted to leave at any time. (Side note: After the violence started, I saw one elderly guy get up and walk out, but I had to laugh when he came back with two bags of popcorn.)
I have I Spit On Your Grave on blu-ray, which is worth it for the Joe Bob Brigg's commentary (in fact, all his commentaries are worth owning, but I digress). It's brutal, yes, but also a pretty well-done movie. Another blu-ray I own is Faces of Death. I remember it being a little disturbing (and cool) as a kid, but when I rewatched it all these years later, it was hilariously cheesy. I guess it helps knowing that a lot of the segments were staged. As far as recent-ish movies go, Audition is one that made me cringe a bit.
I also purchased the Faces Of Death Blu Ray and still found it a bit crazy in spots. I primarily got it to see the footage from the PSA Flight 187 crash that happened here in San Diego. Other than that, the internet has definitely changed the impact FOD must've had. There's another disturbing documentary from that era called The Killing Of America. It's pretty brutal, and doesn't skimp on the imagery.
a lot of these horror films don't bother me that much, but one classic film that I've never been able to watch all the way through is Straw Dogs (1971), it just upset me too much and I have no desire to ever try and revisit it.
Don't believe I saw that one, but I've seen others in the Faces of Death series that had actual footage. Grim stuff.
Oh yes, big time grim. The hard part for me to watch involves the scenes with animal cruelty and slaughter, especially in FOD II and IV.
I think if you saw the trailer, you did. When Schindler's List came out a friend gave me a ticket to see it. I knew nothing about the film except for the subject matter. I had no idea it would play out as a you-are-there experience. Disturbing.