In lieu of the new Netflix horror movie VERONICA, social media sites have been claiming that Veronica is “The scariest movie since The Exorcist” and “So Scary that people must turn it off halfway through”. Now, other sites are catching on to the new phrase “so scary that people can’t finish watching”. It’s nothing more but a marketing tactic and I would be so upset over it if the tagline was used for actual movies that make an average person have fear of the dark. The slogan sets a low bar for horror movies. I know that movies do not affect everyone equally but in this case, I am afraid that we are going to be seeing this slogan get used and abused until it has no power anymore. Anyway, I figure I could chime in and bring you some horror titles from past to present that will actually make a viewer turn off the television halfway through.
1:A Serbian Film
Come on, as if you didn’t think I was going to go here with ASF being first on this list of films. A Serbian Film is pretty intense, I won’t lie.
The story is about an aging porn-star in Serbia who has a family and cannot make ends meet in his decline to poverty. The porn star receives notice about a new hardcore movie that no one has ever seen before and the director wants him to star in it. Without spoiling too much of this horrifying gem, I will announce that if you are a parent, please view this title with caution.
2: Human Guinea Pig 4 ( Mermaid in a Manhole)
Fortunately, this is the tamer title in the group of Human Guinea Pig movies. Hold on, I’m sorry. Have you ever heard of The Human Guinea Pig movies? O.K. well, first thing’s first, they are gory. In fact, that’s basically why they’re made. Hideshi Hino ( who directed Flower of Flesh and Blood which we WILL discuss later down the list) made his second debut with The Human Guinea Pig films.
The story, (there IS a story in this one), follows a man who discovers a dying mermaid in a sewer. The man takes the mermaid home with him and as the mermaid begins to decay in grotesque ways, the man begins to use her from her pus to her organs to create paintings. That’s the plot so go check it out.
3: BEGOTTEN
Before Shadow of the Vampire and Suspect Zero, E. Elias Merhige made an experimental film in 1990 called Begotten. A black and white art-house horror film tells the story of a deity who kills himself in a very long and bloody matter. Definitely check this one out if you think you can handle it.
4: Garbage Pail Kids
Not a horror but it’s pretty hard to watch from start to finish. I warned you.
5: The Men Behind The Sun
This movie is extremely difficult to watch, especially if you couldn’t handle Hostel part 1 & 2. This movie is about the Japanese army during WWII doing experimental torture on Chinese and Russian war prisoners. The torture is slow and anxiety-inducing. If you love feeling like you shouldn’t be watching a movie alone, then you aren’t wrong to go with this one. Watch this movie alone before people start thinking you’re a complete psychopath.
6: Suicide Club
I am adding this movie only because I had to force myself to finish this one. Directed by Japanese gore director Sion Sono (Why Don’t You Play In Hell, Strange Circus) Suicide Club will take you to a dark place, with really brutal but awesome death scenes. Suicide is the new cool fad among Japanese teens and an investigator ventures into the dark world of why this fad is causing an epidemic, especially when adults start committing suicide as well. This movie is an assembly line of scenes featuring suicides including the awesomely gory train scene in the first 10 minutes.
7: American Guinea Pig: Bouquet of Guts and Gore
Stephen Biro, the president of Unearthed Films revamps this classic Japanese gore anthology with retro visuals, cam footage, and impressive mutilations. 
The plot is simple: two girls are abducted and dismembered by a guy in a mask. Go watch this movie if you love practical FX and terrifying visuals
8: August Underground
Fred Vogel and Allen Peters’ first movie of the August Underground trilogy feature two killers being documented on their kills. The movie looks like a straight to hard drive SNUFF movie. From IMDB “While traveling to Canada to attend a film festival in Toronto, director and co-writer Fred Vogel was arrested, pending charges of transporting obscene materials into Canada, when copies of August Underground and its sequel were found by customs officials among the merchandise he had intended to bring to the convention. The charges were eventually dropped, after Vogel had spent roughly ten hours in customs prison.” Yeah, it’s like that.
9: Nekromantic
A German horror film about a young couple who introduce dead corpses to their sexual activities. Things begin to go wrong when the wife enjoys necrophilia without her husband. Go see it, I bet you can’t finish it.
10: Human Guinea Pig 2: Flower of Flesh and Blood
This is the one that started it all folks. The plot: a woman gets drugged, taken back to a remote location where she is dismembered by a lunatic samurai. This movie is and always will be the goriest and most exciting movie you will never finish. This movie was such a hit that Charlie Sheen reported his copy to the FBI and caused mass controversy in the film world. Just like Cannibal Holocaust, director Hideshi Hino had to convince authorities that his movie wasn’t real. It’s just really fucking good.
** Honorable Mention** SALO: 120 Days of Sodom
Here you have it. So the next time you see an article about movies such as Veronica being almost unwatchable, go do your homework and check out these happy-go-lucky titles.
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