Director:Adam Green
25.Hatchet II(2010)
Director:Adam Green
Picking up where the firstHatchetleft off, Marybeth faces off against homicidal monster Victor Crowley. TheHatchetseries is an awesome throwback to classic slasher films with some disgustingly gory additions, thanks to new innovations in makeup and special effects.Hatchet IIis the best of the trilogy, but theyre all fun
24.I Saw the Devil(2010)
Director:Kim Ji-woon
National Intelligence Service agent Soo-hyun seeks revenge against Kyung-chul, the man who killed Soo-hyuns fiance.I Saw the Devilis more of a crime thriller than a horror film, but its bleak and gory enough to qualify for this list. Its also over two hours long, which makes it a serious undertaking not for the faint of heart.
23.The Loved Ones(2009)
Director:Sean Byrne
Social outcast Lola kidnaps Brent, the boy she wants to take to prom. Instead of dancing, she and her family spend the night brutally torturing their victim. This dark Australian film walks the fine line between horror and comedy, but no matter how comedic it becomes, its always horrific.
22.The Midnight Meat Train(2008)
Director:Ryuhei Kitamura
Bradley Cooper stars as a photographer tracking down a serial killer known as the Subway Butcher. Everything aboutMidnight Meat Trainis extreme, from the way the butcher kills his victims to the method with which he prepares their bodies. Its completely horrific and effective, even if the supernatural twist is silly.
21.Martyrs(2008)
Director:Pascal Laugier
Revealing too much aboutMartyrscan ruin the experience the less you know, the better. All you really need to know is that the film is another entry into the New French Extremism genre, which means it pushes the limits of onscreen violence and will almost certainly make you squirm in your seat.
20.The Ruins(2008)
Director:Carter Smith
When a group of tourists explore a Mayan ruin, theyre trapped by plants that quite literally get under their skin. Evil vines might not sound like the most compelling basis for a horror film, butThe Ruinsis equal parts scary and gross. Its not for the squeamish, or anyone with house plants.
19.Inside(2007)
Directors:Julien Maury, Alexandre Bustillo
A pregnant woman named Sarah is tormented by a relentless assailant who wants to cut out her unborn child. The cat-and-mouse game between the two women plays out with shockingly violent consequences: The film is brutal from start to finish, but worth the emotional trauma it takes to endure.
18.Hostel: Part II(2007)
Director:Eli Roth
Its a pretty straightforward conceit: A group of girls is tortured by a secret club whose members pay exorbitant fees for the thrill of killing innocent people. Like the firstHostel, youre forced to identify with both the torturers and their victims, creating an uncomfortable but ultimately cathartic viewing experience.
17.The Hills Have Eyes(2006)
Director:Alexandre Aja
The 2006 remake of Wes Cravens classic sticks to the source material pretty closely, as a family on a road trip gets lost in the desert and attacked by bloodthirsty mutants. But Aja again shows that gore can be an art even the films bloodiest sequences are beautiful, if you can stomach them.
16.Saw II(2005)
Director:Darren Lynn Bousman
Serial killer Jigsaw once again forces his carefully chosen victims to mutilate themselves in order to survive. TheSawfilms became increasingly complicated and lost a little something in the process, butSaw IIis perhaps the best. And the pit of hypodermic needles is not easily forgotten.
15.The Devils Rejects(2005)
Director:Rob Zombie
The Firefly family fromHouse of 1000 Corpsesreturn to torture and maim more people and end up on the receiving end of some violence themselves. Far better than its predecessor,The Devils Rejectsis both disturbing and darkly comedic, with one of the finest endings of any horror film.
14.High Tension(2003)
Director:Alexandre Aja
Marie and Alex are two friends staying at Alexs parents house for the weekend when theyre attacked by a brutal serial killer.High Tensions graphic violence originally earned it an NC-17 rating in the U.S., but Ajas use of blood is actually quite stunning. Just try to ignore the unfortunate twist ending.
13.Trouble Every Day(2001)
Director:Claire Denis
All you really need to know aboutTrouble Every Daycan be summed up by its niche genre: French erotic cannibal horror. Add to that the incredibly intense Batrice Dalle and Vincent Gallo, and youve got a distressing cinematic experience that will make you not want to eat for quite some time.
12.Audition(1999)
Director:Takashi Miike
Aoyama thinks hes found his new wife in the alluring Asami, but he soon learns theres more to her than meets the eye.Auditionis a slow burn, culminating in a brutal torture sequence. The violence much of it done with needles is bad enough, but Asamis sadistic enjoyment of the ordeal makes it all so much worse.
11.Scream(1996)
Director:Wes Craven
You know the plot of this one:Screamis perhaps the most mainstream movie on this list, and the least violent. But the opening scene is sufficiently bloody not to mention gutsy and the film as a whole reignited the slasher genre. Where would modern horror be without it?
10.Dead Alive(1992)
Director:Peter Jackson
It all starts with the Sumatran Rat-Monkey and quickly becomes one of the funniest and most disgusting zombie films ever made.Dead Alive, known asBraindeadin its native New Zealand, is a bloody and bizarre mess, crafted by Peter Jackson before he went mainstream and started making movies about hobbits.
9.Hellbound: Hellraiser II(1988)
Director:Tony Randel
In a psychiatric hospital after the events of the first film, Kirsty must protect herself against Pinhead and her evil stepmother, back from the dead. The firstHellraiseris a classic, but there is way more Cenobite action and gore in the sequel. The two go hand in hand, of course, as the Cenobites traffic in torture.
8.Videodrome(1983)
Director:David Cronenberg
Max Renn is the CEO of a small TV station who discovers a broadcast of graphic violence and torture. He looks for the source and ends up in over his head, suffering from horrifying hallucinations. LikeThe Thing,Videodromeis a body horror classic, complete with some of the most memorable gross-out visuals ever depicted.
7.The Thing(1982)
Director:John Carpenter
An Antarctic research station is ravaged by a shapeshifting creature that can hide undetected in seemingly normal people. The monster is scary because it could be anyone, but also because its really, really gross. The body horror including a scene where a corpses chest collapses to form a giant mouth is unmatched.
6.Cannibal Holocaust(1980)
Director:Ruggero Deodato
A documentary crew heads into the Amazon to film cannibal tribes, and theyre never heard from again. Found footage horror has come a long way fromCannibal Holocaust, but theres something truly upsetting about this early entry. Some sequences were so realistic that the movie was condemned as a snuff film.
5.Zombie(1979)
Director:Lucio Fulci
Zombies attack New York. Its not a particularly original premise Zombiewas actually titledZombi 2in Italy, implying that it was a sequel ofDawn of the Dead. (It wasnt.) But the execution here is great, including the infamous sequence in which Paolas eye meets a giant splinter of wood.
4.The Texas Chain Saw Massacre(1974)
Director:Tobe Hooper
The cannibalistic clan at the center ofThe Texas Chain Saw Massacrebutcher their victims horribly but hey, at least they find good uses for the leftover parts. Ignore all the sequels and remakes: The 1974 original remains a classic for a reason. Its gleefully bloody and thoroughly bizarre.
3.The Gore Gore Girls(1972)
Director:Herschell Gordon Lewis
Strippers are being murdered, and its up to private investigator Abraham Gentry to find the culprit. Another splatter film and Herschell Gordon Lewis last for 30 years The Gore Gore Girlsups the silliness of the genre. The violence is still there, but its all that much more absurd.
2.The Last House on the Left(1972)
Director:Wes Craven
When a girl named Mari is raped and brutalized by a gang of murderers, her parents seek revenge against her attackers, turning into monsters themselves. The controversial rape-revenge genre has never been harder to watch: Even the 2009 remake, while more violent, wasnt nearly as perverse.
1.The Wizard of Gore(1970)
Director:Herschell Gordon Lewis
Magician Montag the Magnificent commits horrific acts of violence onstage, but nothing seems amiss to the audience until his victims die shortly thereafter. Herschell Gordon Lewis is the king of the splatter film, in which the extreme gore is secondary to the plot. Its a lot like porn, with violence instead of sex.
