TRUE SHOCKERS BEWARE
by Zulfmanauthor | created - 12 Apr 2012 | updated - 19 Jul 2020 | PublicTrue Shockers are not those with the most blood and guts, but are those movies which can shock the viewer with explicit imagery and horror filled sequences. The great ones allow those who are watching to feel the shocks themselves. A truly great horror film allows the imagination of the viewers to add to the fear being generated by the on screen mayhem. Check out my list of truly sophisticated horror thrillers.
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1. Martyrs (2008)
R | 99 min | Horror
A young woman's quest for revenge against the people who kidnapped and tormented her as a child leads her and a friend, who is also a victim of child abuse, on a terrifying journey into a living hell of depravity.
Director: Pascal Laugier | Stars: Morjana Alaoui, Mylène Jampanoï, Catherine Bégin, Robert Toupin
Votes: 106,255
The shocking French-Canadian film featuring scenes of immense torture and violence. Brilliantly made with unrelenting horror throughout. There are horror films and then there is 'Martyrs'.
2. I Spit on Your Grave (1978)
R | 101 min | Horror, Thriller
An aspiring writer is repeatedly assaulted, humiliated, and left for dead by four men she systematically hunts down to seek revenge.
Director: Meir Zarchi | Stars: Camille Keaton, Eron Tabor, Richard Pace, Anthony Nichols
Votes: 31,157
This is the original shocker following the unfortunate ordeal of a writer who is raped repeatedly by a gang of local men and left to die. She survives and pursues revenge against them. Truly shocking experience for even the hardened viewer with the rape sequence being perhaps the most disturbing ever captured in a movie. Easy to understand how this film was originally banned.
3. Grimm Love (2006)
R | 87 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
In Germany, as graduate student Katie Armstrong researches cannibal killer Oliver Hagen for her thesis, she becomes obsessed with her subject and ultimately plunges into a lifestyle similar to Hagen's and the thousands of people like him.
Director: Martin Weisz | Stars: Thomas Kretschmann, Keri Russell, Thomas Huber, Rainier Meissner
Votes: 3,598
Shocking story aka 'Grimm Love' follows the unsettling true story of two German men, who formed a disturbing and ultimatley tragic alliance. One man fantasized about eating another and his willing volunteer, wanted to be eaten. The film is bleak and difficult to watch, following their fact based background through the eyes of a fictional American student right upto the gruesome finale. Deeply dark and disturbing!
4. Audition (1999)
R | 115 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A widower takes an offer to screen girls at a special audition, arranged for him by a friend to find him a new wife. The one he fancies is not who she appears to be after all.
Director: Takashi Miike | Stars: Ryo Ishibashi, Eihi Shiina, Tetsu Sawaki, Jun Kunimura
Votes: 89,108
Extreme violence in this Japanese shocker about a widower who in search of a perfect wife, finds a young woman with a terrifying past. This film goes from being calm and slow paced to being brutal and very scary. In fact its shocking and disturbing content goes where very few films have gone before.
5. Antichrist (2009)
Not Rated | 108 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A grieving couple retreat to their cabin in the woods, hoping to repair their broken hearts and troubled marriage, but nature takes its course and things go from bad to worse.
Director: Lars von Trier | Stars: Willem Dafoe, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Storm Acheche Sahlstrøm
Votes: 136,405 | Gross: $0.40M
This disturbing and dark film features the breakdown of a couple who lose their young child in a tragedy. This film is very unsettling to watch with explicit sexual content and brutal scenes of violence. The film lacks the finesse of 'Martyrs' as it seems to detiorate along with the mental health of the lead character. Difficult to watch!!
6. Deadgirl (2008)
R | 101 min | Horror
Two high school boys discover an imprisoned woman in an abandoned mental asylum who cannot die.
Directors: Marcel Sarmiento, Gadi Harel | Stars: Shiloh Fernandez, Noah Segan, Candice King, Eric Podnar
Votes: 19,828
Shockingly horrific film with pro-longed scenes of sexual violence. Two teenagers find a girl chained in the basement of an abandoned asylum with harrowing consequences. The film is a powerful insight into the modern male and the de-humanisation of females in modern society.
7. Bled (2009)
R | 95 min | Horror
After trying a mysterious drug, young artist Sai enters a dreamlike space and develops a thirst for blood. As Sai's cravings grow, she unwittingly attracts a dimensional vampire trying to cross over into the real world.
Director: Christopher Hutson | Stars: Sarah Farooqui, Chris Ivan Cevic, Alex Petrovitch, Michele Morrow
Votes: 1,013
Deeply disturbing film about an artist who is given a potion, taking her into a hellish world that lurks beneath.
8. Ju-on: The Grudge (2002)
R | 92 min | Horror
A mysterious and vengeful spirit marks and pursues anybody who dares enter the house in which it resides.
Director: Takashi Shimizu | Stars: Megumi Okina, Misaki Itô, Misa Uehara, Yui Ichikawa
Votes: 48,016 | Gross: $0.33M
This version of 'The Grudge' is the original Japanese story and is truly scary. A murdered woman and her son curse anyone who comes into contact with their home. As a horror film it remains a classic.
9. The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)
PG-13 | 119 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A lawyer takes on a negligent homicide case involving a priest who performed an exorcism on a young girl.
Director: Scott Derrickson | Stars: Laura Linney, Tom Wilkinson, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Campbell Scott
Votes: 139,971 | Gross: $75.07M
Classic horror at its best, following a young girl seemingly possessed by an unknown entity requests the family priest to perform the exorcism. This film based on real events, takes the viewer to dark places where the true faces of evil exist. Turn the lights off, watch the film alone and believe!
10. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
R | 83 min | Horror
Five friends head out to rural Texas to visit the grave of a grandfather. On the way they stumble across what appears to be a deserted house, only to discover something sinister within. Something armed with a chainsaw.
Director: Tobe Hooper | Stars: Marilyn Burns, Edwin Neal, Allen Danziger, Paul A. Partain
Votes: 183,314 | Gross: $30.86M
The original classic featuring the infamous 'leatherface' remains the most brutal and realistic of this franchise. As with all timeless classics it shocks even now.
11. The Hills Have Eyes (2006)
R | 107 min | Horror, Thriller
A traveling family falls victim to a group of mutated cannibals in a desert far away from civilization.
Director: Alexandre Aja | Stars: Ted Levine, Kathleen Quinlan, Dan Byrd, Emilie de Ravin
Votes: 183,089 | Gross: $41.78M
This brutal film features a family who fall prey to disfigured cannibals. The film features sexual violence as well as gruesome horror.
12. I Saw the Devil (2010)
Not Rated | 144 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A secret agent exacts revenge on a serial killer through a series of captures and releases.
Director: Jee-woon Kim | Stars: Lee Byung-hun, Choi Min-sik, Jeon Gook-hwan, Chun Ho-jin
Votes: 145,977 | Gross: $0.13M
The brilliant Korean thriller features a serial killer who preys on young women. The film contains explicit violence throughout which never lets up as well as sexual violence. However its a clever and stylish film which has to be amongst the best.
13. Bug (2006)
R | 102 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
An unhinged war veteran holes up with a lonely woman in a spooky Oklahoma motel room. The line between reality and delusion is blurred as they discover a bug infestation.
Director: William Friedkin | Stars: Ashley Judd, Michael Shannon, Harry Connick Jr., Lynn Collins
Votes: 37,780 | Gross: $7.01M
This dark and disturbing tale features exceptional performances as a drifter's obsession and paranoia of being infected by bugs, begins to affect his mentally fragile girlfriend. Unsettling scenes of hysteria as well as brilliant camera work creating a very atmospheric film.
14. Saw (2004)
R | 103 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Two strangers awaken in a room with no recollection of how they got there, and soon discover they're pawns in a deadly game perpetrated by a notorious serial killer.
Director: James Wan | Stars: Cary Elwes, Leigh Whannell, Danny Glover, Ken Leung
Votes: 466,207 | Gross: $56.00M
Brilliant and shocking film exploring the basic instinct of human survival.
15. Wrong Turn 2: Dead End (2007 Video)
R | 93 min | Adventure, Horror
A group of reality show contestants find themselves fighting for their survival against a family of hideously deformed inbred cannibals who plan to ruthlessly butcher them all.
Director: Joe Lynch | Stars: Erica Leerhsen, Henry Rollins, Texas Battle, Aleksa Palladino
Votes: 45,551
Disturbing sequel adding even more gruesome scenes of violence and horror as a film crew fall victim to a twisted family of cannibals.
16. The Last House on the Left (2009)
R | 110 min | Horror, Thriller
After kidnapping and brutally assaulting two young women, a gang unknowingly finds refuge at a vacation home belonging to the parents of one of the victims: a mother and father who devise an increasingly gruesome series of revenge tactics.
Director: Dennis Iliadis | Stars: Garret Dillahunt, Monica Potter, Tony Goldwyn, Michael Bowen
Votes: 100,257 | Gross: $32.75M
Brilliantly made thriller in which a couple take revenge against the family who attack their daughter and best friend. Shocking and disturbing scenes in a tense thriller
17. Hostel (2005)
R | 94 min | Horror
Three backpackers head to a Slovak city that promises to meet their hedonistic expectations, with no idea of the hell that awaits them.
Director: Eli Roth | Stars: Jay Hernandez, Derek Richardson, Eythor Gudjonsson, Barbara Nedeljakova
Votes: 190,821 | Gross: $47.33M
This bloody and brutal film shows the demise of two American backpackers who travel to Slovakia for fun. What awaits them is terrifying!!!!!
18. Them (2006)
R | 77 min | Horror, Thriller
Lucas and Clementine live peacefully in their isolated country house, but one night they wake up to strange noise... they're not alone... and a group of hooded assailants begin to terrorize them throughout the night.
Directors: David Moreau, Xavier Palud | Stars: Olivia Bonamy, Michaël Cohen, Adriana Mocca, Maria Roman
Votes: 32,055
This French shocker is both disturbing and unsettling, based on a true story of a young couple and their terrifying ordeal as intruders break into their countryside home. The film never lets up with its tension and suspense, bringing to surface our own worst fears. The climax makes this film even more chilling.
19. After... (2006)
R | 80 min | Horror, Thriller
Urban Explorers are extreme sports' answer to computer hackers: a growing breed of thrill-seekers who thrive on infiltrating the planet's most dangerous man-made structures... Just because they can.
Director: David L. Cunningham | Stars: Daniel Caltagirone, Flora Montgomery, Nicholas Aaron, Madi Grace Cunningham
Votes: 836
This visually disturbing film explores the mind of a person who is battling guilt and grief. Based on urban explorers who enter into places that are forbidden, its claustrophobic atmosphere takes the viewer onto an unsettling journey.
20. A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)
R | 114 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
After being institutionalized in a mental hospital, Su-mi reunites with her sister, Su-yeon, and they return to live at their country home. But strange events plague the house, leading to surprising revelations and a shocking conclusion.
Director: Jee-woon Kim | Stars: Lim Soo-jung, Yum Jung-ah, Kim Kap-su, Moon Geun-young
Votes: 68,210
This excellent and chilling film tells the story of two sisters and their strange relationship with their stepmother and father. The build up throughout the film gives many frights with unnerving twists as the reality unfolds.
21. The Loved Ones (2009)
R | 84 min | Crime, Horror
When Brent turns down his classmate Lola's invitation to the prom, she concocts a wildly violent plan for revenge.
Director: Sean Byrne | Stars: Xavier Samuel, Robin McLeavy, John Brumpton, Richard Wilson
Votes: 44,014
‘Imagine Sam Raimi directing a cross between ‘Carrie’ and ‘Misery’’. This is how Film 4 described this brutal and shocking movie. Australian cinema competes with Korea and France, with this bloody tale of a twisted young girl who along with her father exacts merciless revenge on anyone who rejects her. Contains strong scenes of torture which almost force you to look away.
22. Borderland (2007)
R | 105 min | Crime, Horror, Thriller
On a trip to a Mexican border town, three college friends stumble upon a human-sacrifice cult.
Director: Zev Berman | Stars: Brian Presley, Jake Muxworthy, Rider Strong, Beto Cuevas
Votes: 10,632
This extremely violent film follows three young US tourists who crossover the US-Mexico border entering into 'Borderland'. However their hunt for late night entertainment in Mexico leads them to a shocking discovery of satanic rituals and mayhem. Loosely based on real events, which have not been solved completely to this day, its savagery and explicit violence will shock even the hardened viewers.
23. Creep (I) (2004)
R | 85 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Trapped in a London subway station, a woman who's being pursued by a potential attacker heads into the unknown labyrinth of tunnels beneath the city's streets.
Director: Christopher Smith | Stars: Franka Potente, Sean Harris, Vas Blackwood, Ken Campbell
Votes: 31,713
British films can never match their counterparts in Europe but this extremely violent and disturbing film is worth watching. A charming young lady goes up against a deranged and deformed killer in a deserted London Underground. Excellent performances and chilling atmosphere keeps the viewer on the edge of their seat.
24. Compliance (2012)
R | 90 min | Crime, Drama, History
A normal Friday service at a fast food restaurant becomes interrupted by a police officer who claims an employee stole from a customer, but something more sinister is going on.
Director: Craig Zobel | Stars: Ann Dowd, Dreama Walker, Pat Healy, Bill Camp
Votes: 37,251 | Gross: $0.32M
This is a shocking and genuinely disturbing film based on real events, of the terrible consequences of a hoax call to a fast food restaurant. Without a single blood drop being spilled or even a single scream, it takes the viewer on an uneasy journey of despair and frustration as a young waitress suffers in silence.
25. Evil Dead (2013)
R | 91 min | Horror
Five friends head to a remote cabin, where the discovery of a Book of the Dead leads them to unwittingly summon up demons living in the nearby woods.
Director: Fede Alvarez | Stars: Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez, Jessica Lucas, Lou Taylor Pucci
Votes: 197,070 | Gross: $54.24M
This horrific remake to an iconic horror classic more than lives up and goes beyond the original. A group of friends staying in a remote cabin discover a pre-historic book, only to unwittingly awaken something evil deep inside the woods. This brutal and bloody film will make you look away at times but keeps you gripped throughout.
26. The Conjuring (2013)
R | 112 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren work to help a family terrorized by a dark presence in their farmhouse.
Director: James Wan | Stars: Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Ron Livingston, Lili Taylor
Votes: 554,167 | Gross: $137.40M
Real life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren have investigated thousands of cases of hauntings and possession, but now they have finally revealed their most shocking case. The film is based on the true story of the 'Perrons' who moved into a farmhouse which was inhabited by something evil.
27. Once Were Warriors (1994)
R | 102 min | Crime, Drama
A family descended from Maori warriors is bedeviled by a violent father and the societal problems of being treated as outcasts.
Director: Lee Tamahori | Stars: Rena Owen, Temuera Morrison, Mamaengaroa Kerr-Bell, Julian Arahanga
Votes: 36,809 | Gross: $2.20M
This brutal film uncovers the shameless face of domestic abuse and violence against women and children. A dis-functional family's life spirals out of control slowly and systematically at the hands of the violent male of the house. Upsetting and disturbing film, which stays in the mind long after it finishes!!!
28. Dream Home (2010)
Not Rated | 96 min | Horror
Cheng Li-sheung is a young, upwardly mobile professional finally ready to invest in her first home. But when the deal falls through, she is forced to keep her dream alive - even if it means keeping her would-be neighbors dead.
Director: Ho-Cheung Pang | Stars: Josie Ho, Ching Wong, Helen To, Man Jan San
Votes: 5,888
This Hong Kong thriller 'Dream Home' is based on a young woman and her psychotic obsession with purchasing an apartment with a sea view. This obsession develops based on her childhood experiences and over inflated property market prices. The film fails to make any real impact as a social statement but is one of the most brutal and explicitly violent films, even for Far East standards.
29. The Woman (I) (2011)
R | 101 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
When a successful country lawyer captures and attempts to "civilize" the last remaining member of a violent clan that has roamed the Northeast coast for decades, he puts the lives of his family in jeopardy.
Director: Lucky McKee | Stars: Pollyanna McIntosh, Brandon Gerald Fuller, Lauren Ashley Carter, Chris Krzykowski
Votes: 25,824
Disturbing horror about a man who captures a savage woman found roaming the wild. He aims to 'civilise' her with harrowing consequences. The film is brutal and focuses on the animal that dwells inside every seemingly civilised man. Contains violence against women.
30. Rogue River (2011)
R | 81 min | Horror, Thriller
While spreading her father's ashes, Mara meets Jon who offers to give her a ride. Risking everything to escape this hell she's entered, she won't stop running until she finds safety.
Director: Jourdan McClure | Stars: Michelle Page, Art Alexakis, Chris Coy, Michael Cudlitz
Votes: 2,014
This journey into terror for a young woman is abit routine for the most part but does contain scenes of extreme sadism and torture. A young lady grieving the loss of her father comes to the 'rogue river' to pour her father's ashes and there she meets a pleasant stranger. After accepting a lift from him, she is imprisoned and is subjected to a merciless fate. The film could have been better but it's brutality is quite shocking and unrelenting.
31. The Ruins (2008)
R | 90 min | Adventure, Horror, Thriller
A leisurely Mexican holiday takes a turn for the worse when a group of friends and a fellow tourist embark on a remote archaeological dig in the jungle, where something evil lives among the ruins.
Director: Carter Smith | Stars: Shawn Ashmore, Jena Malone, Jonathan Tucker, Laura Ramsey
Votes: 84,141 | Gross: $17.43M
Extremely violent movie with scenes of terrible injury, as four American backpackers arrive at a Mayan temple in Mexico. However there they are trapped by the wilderness that has a thirst for human blood. Better than average film with scenes that are unsettling and disturbing.
32. The Divide (2011)
R | 112 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
Survivors of a nuclear attack are grouped together for days in the basement of their apartment building, where fear and dwindling supplies wear away at their dynamic.
Director: Xavier Gens | Stars: Lauren German, Michael Biehn, Milo Ventimiglia, Courtney B. Vance
Votes: 38,538 | Gross: $0.02M
Disturbing and harrowing as eight people who survive a holocaust are unable to survive each other. The film is unsettling and tense as the survivors lose all humanity as they battle each other and their own demons to stay alive. Contains scenes of torture, sexual degradation and violence.
33. Cyrus (II) (2010)
Not Rated | 87 min | Crime, Horror, Mystery
An independent TV reporter and her cameraman interview a man in regards to a serial killer the man knew by the name of Cyrus. The man traces back through the story of the serial killer and why he became the monster he is.
Director: Mark Vadik | Stars: Tiffany Shepis, Max Lesser, Brooke Parker, Danielle Harris
Votes: 1,108
Enter the mind of a serial killer, this film is gruesome and shocking throughout. It takes the viewer to places he doesn't want to go portraying a profile of what makes a sadistic serial killer like 'Cyrus'. Contains immense scenes of torture, sadistic violence, cannibalism and sexual abuse.
34. The Bay (II) (2012)
R | 85 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Chaos breaks out in a small Maryland town after an ecological disaster occurs.
Director: Barry Levinson | Stars: Will Rogers, Kristen Connolly, Kether Donohue, Frank Deal
Votes: 29,579 | Gross: $0.03M
Disturbing and shocking as this 'found footage' movie follows the events of the 'fourth of July' celebrations in a small harbour town. A strange virus begins to spread infecting the residents as a novice reporter tries to piece together the events with her cameraman. The film makes you cringe and is brutally real as this very unique movie about environmental disasters makes you reflect on how true this could actually be.
35. Julia (I) (2014)
R | 95 min | Horror, Thriller
A neo-noir revenge thriller centering on Julia Shames, who after suffering a brutal trauma, falls prey to an unorthodox form of therapy to restore herself.
Director: Matthew A. Brown | Stars: Winter Williams, Tahyna MacManus, Jack Noseworthy, Joel de la Fuente
Votes: 1,836 | Gross: $0.00M
A shy young girl is brutally attacked and left for dead before she enters into a nightmarish world of brutal vengeance and unlimited power. Shocking film where the viewer sees the world of the victim.
36. Penance (I) (2009)
Not Rated | 85 min | Horror, Thriller
A young mother decides to become a stripper to earn some fast cash, only to find her worst nightmares are about to begin.
Director: Jake Kennedy | Stars: Marieh Delfino, Jason Connery, Michael Rooker, Graham McTavish
Votes: 1,197
Aka 'Penance'. A true shocker about a single mother who tries to make ends meet by reluctantly taking work as a stripper. One night she is called into a derelict hospital where she is held captive and forced to seek penance for her sins. Below average movie with shocking scenes of torture and genital mutilation. Not for the easily shocked !
37. House on the Edge of the Park (1980)
91 min | Horror, Thriller
Two low-life punks invite themselves to a party at a posh villa and after being taunted by their snobbish hosts, hold everyone hostage and subject them to various forms of torture and mayhem.
Director: Ruggero Deodato | Stars: David Hess, Annie Belle, Christian Borromeo, Giovanni Lombardo Radice
Votes: 5,930
Sexploitation completely unleashed as two mechanics hold a party of guests hostage, only to rape and torture them. The film contains strong scenes of torture yet remains interesting due to the characters involved. One scene towards the end is particulary shocking and the film as a whole seems a tribute to 'Last house on the left' except that it is cranked up a notch or two!
38. Irreversible (2002)
Not Rated | 97 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Events over the course of one traumatic night in Paris unfold in reverse-chronological order as the beautiful Alex is brutally raped and beaten by a stranger in an underpass tunnel.
Director: Gaspar Noé | Stars: Monica Bellucci, Vincent Cassel, Albert Dupontel, Philippe Nahon
Votes: 147,501 | Gross: $0.75M
39. Baskin (2015)
Not Rated | 97 min | Horror, Thriller
A squad of unsuspecting cops go through a trapdoor to Hell when they stumble upon a Black Mass in an abandoned building.
Director: Can Evrenol | Stars: Mehmet Cerrahoglu, Görkem Kasal, Ergun Kuyucu, Muharrem Bayrak
Votes: 12,424
40. Seven Days (1998–2001)
42 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
An ex-CIA is the point man for a government organization dedicated to time traveling to correct errors that occurred in the previous week.
Stars: Jonathan LaPaglia, Don Franklin, Justina Vail, Nick Searcy
Votes: 3,946
41. 7 Days (2010)
Not Rated | 105 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
A doctor seeks revenge by kidnapping, torturing and killing the man who raped and murdered his young daughter.
Director: Daniel Grou | Stars: Claude Legault, Rémy Girard, Martin Dubreuil, Fanny Mallette
Votes: 8,631
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