The following films could certainly make the argument that their only intention was to venture into the morally ambiguous world of gray, to question society and all of its norms for the sake of a greater good. Then again, they could simply have been made to up-end the audience's understanding of reality and force upon them iconic visions of the world gone horribly wrong just for the sake of being mean...
Here are the Top 10 Most Disturbing movies for your consideration:
10. American Beauty, 1999: Welcome to the suburbs where unhappy housewives like Annette Benning leave depressed house-husbands like Kevin Spacey to teenage girls and expensive pot. The result is an all-out creep-frenzy full of sex, drugs, hallucinations, and general deviance. (White picket fences included.)
9. American History X, 1998: We all know that history is not at all like what they tell us in kindergarten. It’s grittier, dirtier, and so much darker. Edward Norton plays a neo-Nazi skinhead who finds peace, reform, and Jesus in prison (well, maybe not Jesus). But just like in any worthwhile redemption story, there is more at stake than his own life.
8. Requiem for a Dream, 2000: More sex. And drugs. And hallucinations. And deviance to the extreme as we watch four separate (but obviously connected) individuals battle their way through addictions. The results will make you shy away from all types of medication for about six months.
7. Deliverance, 1972: Do you like camping? White-water rafting? Savage hillbillies with sawed off shotguns? This movie is an adventure just waiting to make you detest all that is southern. By the way, you got a pretty mouth boy…
6. Lord of the Flies, 1990: Think of a deserted island in the middle of the ocean. Ooh, pretty. Now think of little innocent children. Aww, cute. Now mix in the kind of primitive, animalistic savagery that comes with no parental supervision. Are you crying yet? Well the kids in the movie are.
5. Lolita,1962: Some people say this is a love story. Some people say it’s about a sick pedophile and his 14-year old victim. Humbert Humbert says there’s no real distinction between love and victimization. Parents beware.
4. Tommy, 1975: Rock n' roll, at its core, is a button-pushing genre, and this rock-opera by The Who certainly pushed quite a few buttons. Between the eerie, electrically altered music to the psychedelic colors that might induce seizures in some folks to (especially) the sequences when deaf, dumb, and blind Tommy gets abused by every person around him. Is this what family is about?
3. The Hills Have Eyes, 2006: This might depend on your definition of 'disturbing' because this movie is not particularly gory (no more than Saw) and not really all that scary (like Paranormal Activity). But there’s a deformed, horny mutant, a sleeping teenage girl, her breastfeeding sister, and screaming. Lots of screaming.
2. Strange Circus, 2006: The Japanese are known for this little sub-genre – incest and horror. “Strange” is the biggest understatement ever.
1. A Clockwork Orange, 1971: A classic. It has the deeper film-noir type themes of moral ambiguity (and sometimes complete absence) and sexual motivations. Sure it isn’t black and white, but it will drain the color from your face.
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