So what are a few of the movies that left you a bit disturbed after watching them over the years?
Let's start by thinking 80's, but you're welcome to venture out to any decade. What I'm looking for are movies that gave you a weird.. almost disturbing feeling and even stuck with you for awhile after they were over.
What brought this on? I was watching "Black Swan" a few nights ago and the subject matter was rather disturbing in my opinion, but I quite enjoyed the movie anyway. However, the uneasy feeling it gave me, reminded me of other movies throughout the years that left me feeling this way as well.
Probably the first movie I truly remember as a kid that freaked me a bit was "A Clockwork Orange". I also remember being glued to the screen .. but the movie just shocked me overall and especially after it was over.
So here are two from the 80's that kind of brought back those same awkward feelings as I watched them:
Blue Velvet (1986)
Returning home to visit his father who is in intensive care at the hospital, Jeffrey Beaumont stumbles upon a human ear he finds in a field. With local police detective Williams and the local police department unable to investigate, Jeffrey and Sandy, Detective Williams's daughter decide to do their own investigation. But what Jeffrey and Sandy's investigation leads them to discover that a dark underworld exists in their hometown. Jeffrey becomes suspicious of nightclub singer Dorothy Vallens, who is involved with Frank Booth, a violent and evil man.
Miracle Mile (1988)
In Los Angeles, when the musician Harry Washello meets Julie Peters in the museum, he immediately falls in love with her. They schedule a date late night in Miracle Mile, but the alarm clock fails and Harry misses the date and he arrives three and a half hours late. Harry accidentally hears a mistaken phone call and a man tells that the United State has just started a nuclear war sending missiles against Soviet Union and in two hours Los Angeles would be hit by the enemy back missiles. Harry seeks out Julie and frantically tries to find a helicopter pilot to leave Los Angeles. Meanwhile the rumor is spread out and brings chaos to the city.
And here's one that is more recent:
Donnie Darko (2001)
Troubled adolescent, Donnie Darko, receives a disturbing vision that the world will end in 28 days. With the help of various characters, including a 6 foot rabbit called Frank, he slowly discovers the mysterious physical and metaphysical laws that govern his life and that will lead up to the destruction of the universe.
I could name several more.. but I'm more interested to hear some of the movies that affected you this way.
Posted by the young warrior (Member # 9554) on :
i'm going to have to get round to seeing miracle mile,hear a lot of good things about it! valley have you ever seen 1994's heavenly creatures by peter jackson,i found that quite disturbing plus the fact it was based on true events made it even more harrowing! as 80s films go ,one that i found not overly disturbing as such but did get under my skin a bit was 1981's the entity when i first watched it,my own fault really,watched it in the dead of night and got to admit it did give me the hebbie jeebies,plus i kept thinking about it for the next few days! that's the sign of great film if you ask me!
[ 23. June 2011, 12:52: Message edited by: the young warrior ]
Posted by kevdugp73 (Member # 5978) on :
Maybe not quite what you are looking for Valley, in terms of being "freaked out", but several of the 80's movies that chronicaled some heavy topics and left my heart heavy were Mississippi Burning, Places In The Heart, and The Color Purple, each tackling the topic of racism in an emotional way. Certainly these movies made me cringe and think about them for a while after watching them.
In terms of heebie jeebies....Silent Rage w' Chuck Norris scared the crap out of me. Likely due to my age (fairly young and stayed up late to watch this without Mom and Dad knowing). Maybe more creepy because the killer was not a masked villian which sometimes gives an aura of make believe...this was a real dude.....and creeeepy!! Nightmare city..... Posted by JAY LEE (Member # 6345) on :
Saw that you just bought Cruising..... talk about disturbing
But a good film, nonetheless!
Posted by the young warrior (Member # 9554) on :
kevdugp73 the killer in silent rage(very underated chucky film) freaked me out when i first watched it as a youngster back in the 80s,that bloke who played the killer sure was some creepy dude! the late ron silver really didn't stand much of a chance against the killer,where as the killer really didn't stand much of a chance against chuck norris! no one messes with the chuck!
[ 23. June 2011, 07:05: Message edited by: the young warrior ]
Posted by Valley (Member # 1322) on :
Warrior .. totally agree that "Heavenly Creatures" is a bit disturbing .. great movie.
Kev.. your choices were excellent. You went more for a disturbing effect because it is hard to believe people can be so cruel to one another. And "Silent Rage" is an awesome film.. the scene at the house is just wicked!
How about:
River's Edge
A high school slacker kills his girlfriend and shows off her dead body to their friends. However, the friends' reaction is almost as ambiguous and perplexing as the crime itself.
Posted by Jamie Sommers (Member # 9815) on :
Rosemary's Baby (never saw it until just a few months ago), Panic in Needle Park, Salem's Lot, Deliverence, The Shining, and I agree with Silent Rage. The other movies that are mentioned, I have never seen.
Posted by Crash (Member # 7484) on :
Eraserhead, Pink Flamingoes, and Santa Sangre. I've been championing Miracle Mile for years, an excellent choice!
Posted by Valley (Member # 1322) on :
Crash .. I agree that "Eraserhead" is even more disturbing than "Blue Velvet".. but I went for the 80's shocker instead.
Plus, so many people view "Blue Velvet" as a masterpiece.
Posted by Crash (Member # 7484) on :
Including me! Posted by Helen_S (Member # 5804) on :
And me
Oh this is ridiculously hard to narrow down Valley I live for disturbing Posted by Pyro (Member # 7658) on :
When I was very young (around 7 or 8 I think), One of the very first movies I ever saw that really disturbed me was:
VIDEODROME (1983)
Now I absolutely love the movie and it's among one of my favs..but back then it freaked me the Hell out.
[ 23. June 2011, 14:41: Message edited by: Pyro ]
Posted by the young warrior (Member # 9554) on :
the most disturbing films i tend to find are the ones based on factual events (bully,alpha dog,rivers edge,heavenly creatures, etc.). like valley said i think it has a lot to do with the fact you just can't believe how cruel and wicked some humans are capable of being towards each other! another very disturbing film was 2007's the girl next door based on the torture and murder of young sylvia likens in indiana in 1965. it is a great film but is also hard going!
Posted by pettyfan (Member # 2260) on :
Less Than Zero disturbed me. I'm not sure exactly what it was about the movie, but I refuse to watch it a second time.
The movie Wolf Creek also disturbs me. That was supposed to be based on a true story...creepy stuff.
Posted by Valley (Member # 1322) on :
Petty.. I still watch "Less Than Zero" occasionally .. but the whole uncomfortable ride with Robert Downey Jr's character is what makes it disturbing to me. I was never exposed or experienced the 80's the way it is depicted in this movie .. so it has always felt out of sorts to me. But overall another good movie that I agree on the disturbing attributes.
Any word if the new Brett Easton Ellis book "Imperial Bedrooms" is going to be made into a film?
Awesome stuff everyone!
Posted by Muffy Tepperman (Member # 1551) on :
quote:Originally posted by JAY LEE: Saw that you just bought Cruising..... talk about disturbing
But a good film, nonetheless!
I just watched this last year, I was on a Pacino kick........and seriously, it was disturbing and quite good!
gotta agree on Blue Velvet and River's Edge.
Posted by Ronnie (Member # 465) on :
quote:Originally posted by pettyfan: Less Than Zero disturbed me. I'm not sure exactly what it was about the movie, but I refuse to watch it a second time.
same here, Petty. unfortunately..i've seen it more than once but not a fan of this movie at all. blech..
something about it just irked me to no end, in a disturbing way.
Posted by Riptide (Member # 457) on :
The beast within (1982), Deathwish, the New Kids.
Posted by Valley (Member # 1322) on :
Hey Riptide!! When you check back in a year...
Know that I was totally going to say "The New Kids" at some point too. Excellent selection.. that movie just pushes my buttons. It has that uncomfortable hard to watch feel to it.
Posted by Earl Keese (Member # 7986) on :
You hit on one of the most disturbing for me of the 80's which was Silent Rage w/Chuck Norris. I bought it last year to try to figure out why it was so disturbing as a 12 year old who had already seen Jaws at age 5, Poltergeist, The Exorcist (VHS by that time) and a host of others and yes, it was the whole this is just a guy with a family (not for long) next door type of set up which was wholly terrifying. It meant that this could actually be three doors down from you or up the next block.
The scene at the beginning was terribly realistic and sparse, not played over the top which made it almost documentary in feel. I was completely disturbed by how casually he flipped too and picked up the axe. By the end, he seemed so completely unstoppable and I thought he was really out there somewhere and couldn't be stopped that I was full on crying and it was one of the few times the old man thought he was going to have to run me out of the theatre before the end.
Another one that I saw a couple minutes of only a couple years ago for the firt time was Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986) with Michael Rooker. I tuned in right when they were assaulting someone that was obviously in their home and filming it. The imagery was so disturbing I clicked away almost immediately and have never had a desire to go back and watch, but can still remember the scene in my head from only a couple minutes.
Wow...bad mojo! Posted by the young warrior (Member # 9554) on :
be cool if someone could upload a decent pic of creepy guy from silent rage,then we could all have nightmares together then! there's all of us freaked out by him,then there's chuck norris who doesn't even break a sweat!
Posted by Valley (Member # 1322) on :
Warrior.. this almost freaked me out downloading it:
The darkness of that pic is even freakier than just a normal shot. Uh.. I'm looking behind me right now as I post this .. like totally. Posted by the young warrior (Member # 9554) on :
valley, new kids is a classic in my book but your right it definitely has a nasty edge to it,my parents were always very easy going as to what i could view in my young teens back in the mid 80s when striking back(aka new kids) as i first saw it as came out on vhs,i remember watching it with them and they both detested it,i think they both found it a bit to mean spirited for there liking,i can see there point,attempted rape,psychological abuse,animal cruelty etc and with some very colourful language to boot! it is a classic but definitely not one for the whole family! so mums and dads beware you might not like it!
[ 26. June 2011, 05:42: Message edited by: the young warrior ]
Posted by the young warrior (Member # 9554) on :
[ 25. June 2011, 16:05: Message edited by: the young warrior ]
Posted by kevdugp73 (Member # 5978) on :
Just watched Silent Rage the other night Valley....creeeepy indeed!!
Posted by JAY LEE (Member # 6345) on :
quote:Originally posted by Muffy Tepperman:
quote:Originally posted by JAY LEE: Saw that you just bought Cruising..... talk about disturbing
But a good film, nonetheless!
I just watched this last year, I was on a Pacino kick........and seriously, it was disturbing and quite good!
gotta agree on Blue Velvet and River's Edge.
Well, one thing's for sure, you'll definitely have a gay ole' time watching it Posted by Johnny Roarke is reckless (Member # 9826) on :
As a kid i was disturbed by several horror-comedies.. I just didn't get the black humour at that age. Films include Evil Dead, Fright Night, and especially Return of the Living Dead.
At a more mature age, i would say Dead Ringers.
Posted by Orwell76 (Member # 9832) on :
quote:Originally posted by pettyfan: Less Than Zero disturbed me. I'm not sure exactly what it was about the movie, but I refuse to watch it a second time.
I think Less Than Zero is pretty cool movie... The "follow on" Informer is very good too...
Posted by Hooligomy (Member # 9837) on :
Well when I was younger like Howard the Duck.. Just recently went back and watched it. Oh my that movie is bad.. It is now on the disturbed list for me..
Posted by Valley (Member # 1322) on :
Hooligomy.. that was funny!
I know "Howard The Duck" is a cult classic, but it is just bizarre. I've watched it a few times hoping to change my opinion.. but I can't even give it a 'so bad, it's good' rating. I will say that Lea Thompson is 80's styling in it though.
Posted by the young warrior (Member # 9554) on :
valley i had howard the duck on my rental list listed as high priority in the order of dispatch, i've never seen it before and just wanted to watch it out of curiositys sake,i'm always one to make up my own opinion of a movie but after reading yours and atomiks less than glowing reviews of it and a few others dubbing it howard the turkey i must admit it has now dropped down my list a fair old way!
[ 02. July 2011, 17:55: Message edited by: the young warrior ]
Posted by Valley (Member # 1322) on :
Warrior.. please still watch it sometime.. "Howard The Duck" is a cult classic and some people just adore it. You definitely need to at least watch it once to know what all the fuss is about.
There is a ton of cool 80's fashion in it and Howard is a nice guy. ha
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I live for disturbing ![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
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who doesn't even break a sweat!
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