Street Fighter II: The World Warrior (1991)

Matt Damon and Casey Affleck in Gerry (2002)

"What is the most disturbing movie you've ever seen?"

This is a list that I've put together over the years by posing a simple question on various movie related forums (IMDb, Dead-Donkey, Rotten Tomatoes & Letterboxd). That question was: What is the most disturbing movie you've ever seen? The answers I received from these sources were varied but now comprise the backbone of this list of extreme cinema. The inspiration for the question I asked was from a horror website that I found and was a fan of when both the internet and myself were far younger.

Losman's Legacy: When I was a far younger horror fan, I found a website online called Losman's Lair of Horror while looking online for obscure science fiction and horror films that I could then rent at Scarecrow Video and watch. This website was strictly dedicated to the genre of Horror and the various eras of horror and its history. It was a glorious website that was obviously made by someone who loved the genre of horror and that is what made it so compelling. One of the unique aspects was sections dedicated to things such as history of horror, lists of best of for the sub-genres of horror, a section dedicated to the "Faces of Death" series and finally an ever growing list of vile and disturbing films. He also took suggestions for the website and various lists through his e-mail address. I can't explain how awesome it was when some of my suggestions started showing up on the site. Then sometime during mid-2003 the website disappeared (or at least I thought it had). The damage had been done though, I had become a hardcore fan of the horror genre and had watched many of the films on the list. I wanted to do my part to my part to keep the spirit of the original list going. I recently rediscovered Losman's site in all of it's glory at losman.com The Compendium: I took what I could remember from Losman's original list and then I went to film forums and compiled a list of answers from the question I had posed and put together a list on IMDb. I have now transferred the list over to Letterboxd where I can keep, collate and expand it in a far more efficient way. All the while using the social aspect of this site so the list can keep growing and changing and be ever expanding through the suggestions and recommendations of others. So now I would like to pose a question to anyone reading this: "What was the most disturbing and unsettling movie you have ever seen?". If you can't find yours on the list then let me know. If you are interested in reaching out and giving me your opinion, please do. Reaching out over Letterboxd is preferable but IMDB also works. The original Compendium list can be found here on IMDB. This list is in alphabetical order, is ongoing, and always open to new suggestions and recommendations! If you have an idea, suggestion or submission for the list, please reach out and let me know on Letterboxd!

Compendium of Disturbing, Eccentric and Unsettling Cinema

Paolo Bonacelli in Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975)

All watched movies that have been given a rate.

Anil Kapoor, Irrfan Khan, Mia Drake, Shruti Seth, Faezeh Jalali, Dev Patel, and Freida Pinto in Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

Joan Fontaine and Cary Grant in Suspicion (1941)

Cate Blanchett and Judi Dench in Notes on a Scandal (2006)

Kevin Costner in Dances with Wolves (1990)

Robert De Niro, James Woods, William Forsythe, Brian Bloom, Adrian Curran, James Hayden, Rusty Jacobs, and Scott Tiler in Once Upon a Time in America (1984)

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