MovieChat Forums > Megan Is Missing Discussion > Cruelest of movies?

Cruelest of movies?

posted 11 years ago by amkatz
19 replies | jump to latest

I'm hard pressed to think of a movie that depicts sheer cruelty in such a way.

Irreversible? More a depiction of rage.
A Serbian Film? Close, perhaps, but the protagonist is so disordered by the end that it's not clear how aware he is.
Antichrist? No. Too much prior psychopathology at play.
Martys? Close, but the motivation behind the savagery redeems ever so slightly.
Human Centipede? Too outre
Last House on the Left? Redeemed slightly by successful revenge.
Men Behind the Sun? Savagery that is ultimately bureaucratic, mechanistic.
I Spit on Your Grave? Same as Last House...
Funny Games? Again, close, but too obviously experimental, constantly reminding the viewer of the filmmaker's intent.
Salo? Not really a film of cruelty as much as an orgy of sexual extremes.
Audition? Again, ameliorated by vengeance.
The Girl Next Door? Again, close, but not quite.

[–] Mentor1 9 years ago

I would add Eden Lake (2008) to the list, perhaps to a lesser extent The Divide (2011)

[–] the-volleyballer 8 years ago

Philosophy of a Knife and Men Behind the Sun 4 - Nanking. Both deal with Imperial Japanese war crimes & atrocities, on par with the Nazis. And the worst part is realizing those things they show in both movies really happened, to real human beings. 😟

[–] silver_snail14 8 years ago

I have to agree. This film was not a good film by any stretch of the imagination, but the torture and rape scenes disturbed me to the core. Three years later and I still can't get them out of my mind. Irreversible was an arty head trip of a movie but this is just a slab of pure ugliness and pain.

You who wish to conquer pain, you must learn to serve me well.