Human minds often manifest an interest towards the unknown, the horrific, and the distressful. People do not want to face these situations in real life, but the ever-present curiosity of human minds works as a catalyst for the thirst of experiencing such intense feelings through the help of imagination. That is why there is a huge fanbase of horror films.
However, horror movies are not our topic of discussion today. Sure, horror films can be disturbing, but the disturbing films that we want to discuss transcend in their impacts beyond the restrictions of the TV screen into the actual, living reality.
What do we mean by ‘Disturbing Movies’?
One thing should be made clear: I do not refer to generic horror films as disturbing movies in this discussion. In simple terms, a disturbing movie is a movie that makes audiences extremely uncomfortable or upset.
Disturbing Movies: Pure Gore or Deeply Meaningful?
Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma (1975) is a shockingly disturbing Italian film that shows the unspeakable tortures inflicted upon eighteen adolescent boys and girls by fascist Italian government officials during the Second World War. It is banned from many countries due to its horrible depiction of mental torment, sexual assault, pedophilic nature, and inhuman torture methods. The film is said to be a portrayal of political corruption and authoritarianism. The violent nature and serious subject matter addressed in the film has given rise to critical discussions. . This movie is considered to be a great piece of art by many.
An article about disturbing films seems incomplete without mentioning The Serbian Film (2010), an exploitation movie that portrays some of the most disturbing scenes in movie history. The story shows a porn star who accidentally gets drafted into a snuff film with pedophilic and necrophiliac themes. The creator of the movie says that it is a mockery of politically correct Serbian films which are supposedly boring, predictable and pathetic. That’s why they made a movie with the word ‘Serbian’ in the title as a cynical reference to this image.
Sadly, all the rebellious political agenda behind the film is not a matter of concern for the general public. They usually watch it because of the ‘shock’ factor. They watch it to scream and say, “how can someone make a film like that!” The film analysts claim that the film has lost much of its intended meaning, as large scale audiences only talk about its disturbing nature and have no knowledge of its so-called historical context.
Disturbing Movies: Child Exploitation and Violence against Women
I must admit that some of the disturbing movies made in Japan are very imaginative with the torture methods they show. However, sexualizing minors and torturing women are the most common themes of these movies.
In the movie Girl Hell (1999), a father is seen sexually abusing his young daughter, who is wearing bandages all over her body as she was in a road accident. In the now banned movie Imprint(2006), child abuse and rape are common themes followed by grotesque torture scenes that are too horrifying to be described. Although the movie Concrete is based on the real-life murder case of Junko Furuta, the main focus was on the rape and torture of the young girl. There was neither any character development nor any emotional appeal to it.
This theme of exploitation of women and children is common in many disturbing movies, not just in Japanese ones. Some of these movies are a playground for pedophiles and potential molesters. Regardless of the meaning that these movies want to portray, people watching these movies excessively might develop an objectifying mindset regarding women. The meaning, in the end, is lost, forgotten under the shocking scenes that “entertain” the audiences.
Mind-numbing Torture: Meant for Sending a Message, or Making Money?
If these types of movies are made with the sole intent of creating gruesome scenes – and consequently end up normalizing such content in movies – their impact on the mindset of the people in society can be irreversible and highly negative. Torture scenes are being created solely for the amusement of fans, but at what cost?
Making of a Disturbing Movie: What’s at Stake?
Men Behind the Sun (1988) is a Hong Kong film showing war crimes committed by Japanese troops who brutalized and experimented on prisoners to test new biological weapons. While the atrocities depicted in the movie is said to depict historical accuracy, many have criticized it for being nothing but an exploitation film. There’s a scene where a cat is clearly seen to be eaten alive by thousands of rats. I don’t know what kind of technology existed in 1988 to stage such a real depiction of the event.
Also, the justification stated by director T.F Mou is ridiculous. He said that the cat was tired after its scene in the film (I wonder why) and it got two fishes as a reward. He also said that the rats were only licking the cat because he was covered with honey.
The use of children in some of these movies is also questionable. The movie ‘The Serbian Film’ is notorious for its disgusting scenes involving kids as young as a new born baby. I cannot fathom how any parent would allow their children to act in a movie like that.
Sometimes these disturbing films want to show violence against children and make it look as real as possible. But I am not sure if the mental health of the actual child actor is ever considered.
There must be a counsellor present on set to make sure the kid is not traumatized. But for movies that use kids to only further their disturbing nature, it seems like artistic freedom is more important than moral obligation.
Can Disturbing Movies Have a Positive Impact?
Now the question might arise, violence is prevalent literally everywhere, so why can’t filmmakers show it in their movies? Of course, they can. But violence for the sake of causing excitement and adrenaline rush among viewers is not an effective way to make a telling difference. Context Matters.
For example, the 1997 film No Child of Mine is the true story of a girl named Kerry who was sexually abused all throughout her childhood. The movie has some extremely disturbing scenes of child abuse that is unbearable to watch. But the movie actually was able to display what it intended: the real life hardships a child has to face and her fight to get out of that toxic circle. It also ended on a happy note where Kerry finally finds a kind woman who shelters her.
Disturbing Movies: Why Intentions Don’t Matter
I agree that art is subjective and people who have an unfathomable understanding of serious subject matters might find such movies very deep. But any ordinary person would find it extremely repulsive to watch them and thus that viewer will never try to decipher whatever message the movie intends to portray. As critic Vincent Canby has rightfully said regarding the movie Salò,
“This type of movie can be acceptable on paper but becomes so repugnant when visualized on the screen that it further dehumanizes the human spirit.”
I believe that the ‘deep’ message of the movies gets side-tracked as they continuously show different methods of torturing humans and thus makes it difficult to appreciate it in any way possible.
I find it amusing to see directors trying to over-explain their controversial creative choices because their ‘art’ has not been clear enough to the general audience. Every individual coming across these movies will not have the patience neither the intellect to understand the ‘complex’ historical or social contexts behind the movies (if any). Most people do not watch movies to decipher the inner meaning of it, they just want to be entertained. So, this façade that “movie’s intentions were at the right place” don’t negate the audiences’ views about these movies. It must be kept in mind that the reach of movies is so widespread that the creators must take responsibility of the misinterpretation on the part of the general audience.
The casual portrayal of gore and violence is not new in the film industry. However, the problem arises when there hardly is a gripping story along with the shocking scenes to take away the concentration of the audience from the disturbing side of the movies to the message they try to portray. Even though a lot of these movies are either heavily censored or banned, their availability online makes it hardly any difficult for the people who are interested in such films.
What do We Do Now?
While researching for this article, I saw more than enough disturbing movie reviews to understand what I was getting into. After a while, the extremely brutal scenes didn’t seem too shocking. And that’s a huge warning sign.
When I was sensing that a deeply disturbing crime is about to happen, I was not flinching. I was disgusted but I was not affected. For me, that’s a major problem. Human emotions are there for a reason and the constant portrayal of inhuman criminal offences numbs people.
Although it’s not possible to stop curious people from watching disturbing movies, understanding how problematic these movies are is the first step for having a discussion regarding this. There is a plethora of criticisms against pornography, but I have not seen an ounce of that for disturbing movies made and sold around the world just like other mainstream movies. And it is high time we had a discussion about this.