15 Disturbing Movies That Are Too Creepy to Watch Twice
Martyrs (2008)
A young woman’s quest for revenge against the people who kidnapped and tortured her as a child leads her and her best friend, also a victim of child abuse, on a terrifying journey into a living hell of depravity. This French horror film delves deep into themes of suffering and endurance.
Average Rating: 3.5
Watch MartyrsYou Won't Be Alone (2022)
In an isolated mountain village in 19th century Macedonia, a young feral witch accidentally kills a peasant. She assumes the peasant's shape to see what life is like in her skin, igniting a deep-seated curiosity to experience life inside the bodies of others. This film artfully blends folklore with haunting visuals.
Average Rating: 3.3
Watch You Won't Be AloneThe Nightingale (2018)
In 1825, Clare, a 21-year-old Irish convict, chases a British soldier through the rugged Tasmanian wilderness, bent on revenge for a terrible act of violence he committed against her family. She enlists the services of an Aboriginal tracker who is also marked by trauma from his own violence-filled past.
Average Rating: 3.5
Watch The NightingaleDear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008)
In 2001, Andrew Bagby, a medical resident, is murdered not long after breaking up with his girlfriend. Soon after, when she announces she's pregnant, one of Andrew's many close friends, Kurt Kuenne, begins this film, a gift to the child.
Average Rating: 4
Watch Dear ZacharyIrreversible (2002)
A woman’s lover and her ex-boyfriend take justice into their own hands after she becomes the victim of a rapist. Because some acts can’t be undone. Because man is an animal. Because the desire for vengeance is a natural impulse. Because most crimes remain unpunished.
Average Rating: 3.9
Watch IrreversibleRequiem for a Dream (2000)
The drug-induced utopias of four Coney Island residents are shattered when their addictions run deep. This cult classic by Darren Aronofsky captures the devastating impact of addiction through its raw storytelling and haunting visuals.
Average Rating: 4.3
Watch Requiem for a DreamCome and See (1985)
The invasion of a village in Byelorussia by German forces sends young Florya into the forest to join the weary Resistance fighters, against his family's wishes. There he meets a girl, Glasha, who accompanies him back to his village. On returning home, Florya finds his family and fellow peasants massacred. His continued survival amidst the brutal debris of war becomes increasingly nightmarish, a battle between despair and hope.
Average Rating: 4
Watch Come and SeeGrave of the Fireflies (1988)
In the final months of World War II, 14-year-old Seita and his sister Setsuko are orphaned when their mother is killed during an air raid in Kobe, Japan. After a falling out with their aunt, they move into an abandoned bomb shelter. With no surviving relatives and their emergency rations depleted, Seita and Setsuko struggle to survive. This animated film is a deeply moving experience.
Average Rating: 4.5
Watch Grave of the FirefliesClimax (2018)
When a dance troupe is lured to an empty school, a bowl of drug-laced sangria causes their jubilant rehearsal to descend into a dark and explosive nightmare as they try to survive the night—and find who's responsible—before it's too late.
Average Rating: 3.5
Watch Climaxmother! (2017)
A couple's relationship is tested when uninvited guests arrive at their home, disrupting their tranquil existence. Directed by Darren Aronofsky, this psychological horror film evokes a strong mixture of fascination and repulsion.
Average Rating: 3.4
Watch mother!Tusk (2014)
When his best friend and podcast co-host goes missing in the backwoods of Canada, a young guy joins forces with his friend's girlfriend to search for him. Their quest leads them into dark and bizarre territory. Kevin Smith’s horror-comedy blends the grotesque with dark humor.
Average Rating: 2.6
Watch TuskSalò, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975)
Four corrupted fascist libertines round up 9 teenage boys and girls and subject them to 120 days of sadistic physical, mental and sexual torture. Pier Paolo Pasolini’s adaptation of the infamous work by the Marquis de Sade is often cited as one of the most controversial films ever made.
Average Rating: 3.1
Watch Salò, or the 120 Days of SodomThe Road (2009)
A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind and water. It is cold enough to crack stones, and, when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the warmer south, although they don't know what, if anything, awaits them there. This adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s novel captures the grimly poetic essence of a dystopian world.
Average Rating: 3.5
Watch The RoadBone Tomahawk (2015)
During a shootout in a saloon, Sheriff Hunt injures a suspicious stranger. The doctor's assistant, wife of the local foreman, tends to him in prison. That night, the town is attacked and they both disappear—only the arrow of a cannibal tribe is found. Hunt and a few of his men go in search of the prisoner and the foreman's wife. This horror-western hybrid delivers shock and unrelenting tension.
Average Rating: 3.5
Watch Bone TomahawkHotel Rwanda (2004)
Inspired by true events, this film takes place in Rwanda in the 1990s when more than a million Tutsis were killed in a genocide that went mostly unnoticed by the rest of the world. Hotel owner Paul Rusesabagina houses over a thousand refuges in his hotel in an attempt to save their lives. This unforgettable story of resilience and heroism is profoundly moving.
Average Rating: 3.9
Watch Hotel RwandaGummo (1997)
Solomon and Tummler are two teenagers killing time in Xenia, Ohio, a small town that has never recovered from the tornado that ravaged the community in the 1970s. This experimental film by Harmony Korine offers a disturbing and fragmented glimpse into rural American life.
Average Rating: 3.2
Watch GummoDeliverance (1972)
Intent on seeing the Cahulawassee River before it's turned into one huge lake, outdoor fanatic Lewis Medlock takes his friends on a river-rafting trip they'll never forget into the dangerous American back-country. John Boorman’s survival thriller remains a potent and haunting tale of human endurance and terror.
Average Rating: 3.8
Watch DeliveranceWatching these films is a testing experience that lingers long after the screen goes dark. Each movie delves into the darker aspects of the human condition in unique and provocative ways, making them truly unforgettable, if not a bit too tough to endure more than once. Nevertheless, their impact is powerful and their artistry undeniable.