Five Films, Five Disturbing Halloween Scares
Happy Halloween my friends! In the spirit of this ghoulish holiday, I have assembled FIVE titles containing five of my favorite 'disturbing' scenes! While I fully acknowledge there are countless titles containing some gruesome and disturbing goodness, these are just a few films that are representative of my genre consciousness and will inevitably simmer nicely into my elderly ages.
5) The Neon Demon (2016)
I'm probably in the minority when it comes to labeling Nicholas Winding Refn's The Neon Demon (TND) his crowning achievement. Refn's glam exploration in freak-show violence and consumption is a take or leave proposition carried out with superb performances by Elle Fanning and Abby Lee. But make no mistake, this is Jena Malone's show. Stay until the very end.
4) 'Pulse' (Kaïro) 2001
After 17 years, Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Pulse is still the most effective sub-genre to delve deep into the consequences of 'social connection' and our obsession with the world wide web. Kurosawa's slow-burning supernatural thriller offers a bleak look into a future where our online existence permeates 'fear' and 'confusion', rendering human condition in a metaphysical state of solitude and isolation.
Kurosawa's lens is atmospheric, featuring darkly lit scenes with subtle but unsettling imagery that weigh deep long after viewing. Pulse's central theme - No matter the technological advances, humans live alone, and remain alone after death. There are no happy endings.
3) V/H/S/2 - Safe Haven (2013)
Two years after Gareth Evans commanded our attention with 2011's The Raid, he followed up with a short titled 'Safe Haven' in a segment for the found-footage V/H/S 2 anthology series.
Evan's co-directed the short with Indonesian filmmaker Timo Tjahjanto which follows a documentary crew and their horribly doomed attempt to interview an apocalypse-cult leader at his Indonesian compound. Think, Indonesian Jim Jones or David Koresh whose sinister deeds give way to something even more sinister.
As far as the gif...I haven't seen a short, let alone a full length feature, illustrate this blend of macabre violence since...well, never.
2) Audition 1999
Google "top 50 disturbing movies of all-time" and you're bound to see Takashi Miike's Audition (and Ichi The Killer!) pop up in virtually all top ten lists. Audition's tale of two moods will lull you into two extremes with the latter transforming into one of the most unsettling and dreadful finales that will test every sensory nerve in your body.
1) Bone Tomahawk (2016)
In my three decades of watching film, I can't say there's another film experience that comes close to Bone Tomahawk. Director S. Craig Zahler's narrative exposition engrosses from the opening scene and crescendos effortlessly throughout the film's horrific final act. Much like Audition and Safe Haven, Tomahawk's horror beats go hard (HAM) and infiltrate your soul long after viewing.
You like dread? Zahler sets up what will inevitably go down as the most horrific scene in the last quarter century. You'll want a chaser after this one.
Three shots fired.
