Commentary Track
The 10 Best Ultra-Violent Films of All-Time
Posted by Fat Guys at the Movies (fatguys@filmschoolrejects.com) on June 11, 2007
Everyone loves a little violence, right? And we are not talking about Michael Bay car chases that end with a slow 360 degree camera pan around Will Smith and Martin Lawrence violence; this list is all about the most shocking, bloody and unbelievable gut-wrentching cinematic adventures in the history of film. It’s not just about slashing up unsuspecting victims, it is about leaving a lasting imprint of terror in the minds of audiences…
The following list was a featured discussion on this week’s episode of Fat Guys at the Movies. Take a listen below. The discussion begins at the 29:20 mark, which is about 2/3 of the way through the show .
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10. “The Hills Have Eyes†(2006)
While the original Wes Craven film is a classic, the 2006 remake pushed the limits on disturbing violence. It’s sequel the following year was arguably gorier and had more offensive scenes in it, but this modern smorgasbord of rape, murder and revenge had a bizarre level of class to it.
9. “Two Thousand Maniacs!†(1964)
Long before slasher films were chic, gore maven Herschell Gordon Lewis made this odd tribute to the old south. A group of snooty northerners stumble upon a small town only to be systematically eliminated by their hosts. Complete with red paint for blood, “Two Thousand Maniacs!†showed that Lewis was thinking of creative ways for people to snuff it long before Eli Roth was in diapers.
8. “Cannibal Holocaust†(1980)
Many horror films shock with fiction. “Cannibal Holocaust†has the notorious history for shocking with reality. Long before “Fear Factor,†the cast and crew of this cinematic violence spree gained infamy by slaughtering real animals. And it didn’t stop there. Some people thought the human murders in this film were real, prosecuting the filmmakers for making an honest-to-god snuff film.
7. “Saw†(2003)
Years from now, cinema historians will look back at the early 21st century and identify “Saw†as the movie that started it a modern horror movement. Gone were the days of zombies, vampires and werewolves. Filmmakers James Wan and Leigh Whannell kicked off the current trend of dirty-basement torture porno, for better or for worse.
6. “A Clockwork Orange†(1971)
Here’s a rare instance where an artsy film makes a list like this. Stanley Kubrick shocked filmgoers in the 70s with this bizarre and brutal adaptation of Anthony Burgess’s novel. It’s also notable for bringing the term “ultra-violence†into the mainstream vernacular.
5. “I Spit On Your Grave†(1978)
Also known as “Day of the Woman,†this often banned film from the 70s can be held up as a feminist classic. When a young woman is beaten, raped and left for dead by a bunch of hillbillies, she exacts a terrifying revenge. This ultra-low budget classic can be found remastered on DVD, despite the fact that it lacks a musical soundtrack.
4. “The Last House on the Left†(1972)
Before Freddy and before Jason, Wes Craven and Sean Cunningham teamed up to bring audiences a tale of rape, murder and revenge. This can be considered a companion piece to both “I Spit on Your Grave†and the original “The Hills Have Eyes,†since they all three follow similar storylines. There are countless versions of this film existing on VHS, DVD and as original theatrical prints. Due to heavy edits throughout the years, the film has evolved into various levels of violence.
3. “High Tension†(2003)
Who says the French are wimps? Alexandre Aja’s gender-bending horror flick “Switchblade Romance†was renamed “High Tension†for its American release. Not only does the film take the viewer through a series of grisly murders, it has one of the most shocking introductions of a villain ever recorded on screen.
2. “Hostel†(2006)
What assessment of shock cinema would not be complete without Eli Roth’s modern classic “Hostel.†Patterned after a 1980s slasher film, this film was reviled by critics but praised by gorehounds. Love it or hate it, no one can deny it’s impact on the horror genre.
1. “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre†(1974)
After more than 30 years, very few films can stand up against Tobe Hooper’s terrifying trip into the Texas countryside. Inspired by the killings of Ed Gein, this film was actually shot with the hopes of a PG rating. By avoiding on-screen blood and graphic horror, “Chain Saw†became one of the most disturbing films to watch because your imagination did all the work.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning†(2006), Not nearly as good as the original, but so horrifically violent that viewers wondered what would command an NC-17 rating in the future.
“House of 1000 Corpsesâ€/“The Devil’s Rejects†(2003/2005), Horror fanatic and hard rocker Rob Zombie invigorated legions of fans by making two films that were meant to recapture the spirit of the genre.
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70 Comments
June 12th, 2007 at 11:06 am
You totally forgot Takeshi Miike. What about Audition or Ichi the Killer those are two of the most gruesome films I’ve ever seen. Another mention is Oldboy.
June 12th, 2007 at 11:20 am
Audition really only has the one scene, so I wouldn’t count it. I think the violence in The Devil’s Reject is deserving of a top spot because its handled very well in a way that makes you cringe. None of the others really bother me because they’re all very theatrical and they don’t illicit any real feeling.
June 12th, 2007 at 11:59 am
Two films that should be mentioned are John Carpenter’s The Thing and Re-Animator.
June 12th, 2007 at 12:29 pm
Noticably absent from this list are the classic “Hellraiser” and “Hellraiser II: Hellbound”.
Shocking, bloody and unbelievably gut-wrentching?
Well, they have barbed hooks on chains tearing through flesh.
They have modern-primitive devils dressed in BDSM leather gear sewn into their bodies.
The first film had a man strung up and torn apart by those chains, with his final defiant act being to lewdly lick his lips (on a face already being stretched by hooks) and quip “Jesus wept”.
The second film had prolonged sequences featuring skinned people, and quite possibly the most horrible combination of a mental patient and a straight razor in film history.
Leaving a lasting imprint of terror in the minds of audiences?
Pinhead and the puzzle box.
A fetus sewing its own lips shut.
A skinless man writing a message on a wall with his own blood.
Hooks on chains. (complete with gruesome Foley work for the tearing sounds)
June 12th, 2007 at 12:38 pm
Taking this list in the direction of horror movies is entirely uninteresting. Of course horror movies are ultraviolent. It’s the violent non-horror flicks that broke the mold that would be more interesting to discuss. Yes, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE. And THE WILD BUNCH, BONNIE AND CLYDE, DIRTY HARRY, DEATH WISH, WALKING TALL, TAXI DRIVER, John Woo Hong Kong titles like THE KILLER and HARD BOILED, ROBOCOP, MAN BITES DOG, NATURAL BORN KILLERS, etc.
June 12th, 2007 at 12:45 pm
Nice list, except I disagree with the statement that “[g]one were the days of zombies, vampires and werewolves” in the wake of Saw. Better said perhaps, gone were the days of PG-13 “horror” films where whispering little boys or little girls with stringy black hair are considered scary. Good riddance.
Saw came out a few short months after the Dawn of the Dead “remake” and ought not to be viewed as a repudiation of the latter.
June 12th, 2007 at 12:49 pm
[...] Everyone loves a little violence, right? And we are not talking about Michael Bay car chases that end with a slow 360 degree camera pan around Will Smith and Martin Lawrence violence; this list is all about the most shocking, bloody and unbelievable gut-wrentching cinematic adventures in the history of film. It’s not just about slashing up unsuspecting victims, it is about leaving a lasting imprint of terror in the minds of audiences… [link] [...]
June 12th, 2007 at 12:51 pm
One cannot forget films like “Zombie”, “New York Ripper”, “Dead Alive”, “Street Trash” or “Burial Ground” which all featured over-the-top standard setting gore & violence….and that’s just for the horror genre. Check out “The Story of Riki” for an example of how the Japanese have created genre splicing gore of the highest order.
June 12th, 2007 at 1:03 pm
It’s worth noting that the fourth movie on your list “The Last House on the Left” is loosely based on Ingmar Bergman’s 1960 film “Jungfrukallan,” or “The Virgin Spring.”
Description from IMDB: “Set in beautiful 14th century Sweden, it is the sombre, powerful fable of peasant parents whose daughter, a young virgin, is brutally raped and murdered by swineherds after her half sister has invoked a pagan curse. By a bizarre twist of fate, the murderers ask for food and shelter from the dead girl’s parents, who discovering the truth about their erstwhile lodgers, exact a chilling revenge.”
Of course the Bergman film is not as graphically brutal, but it still does leave one with a sour feeling in their stomach by the end of it! :)
June 12th, 2007 at 1:12 pm
Kill bill,iche the killer,any Takeshi Miike film,tetsuo,100 days of sodomy… immediately come to mind.
guess I have a perverse taste in films.
June 12th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
Reservoir Dogs? Toxic Avenger? Re-Animator? Hellraiser? I agree with Texas Chainsaw Massacre at #1. Many younger folks may not get it, but you have to put each movie in perspective - what was it like for its time?
Anyway, I think there are some great violent but un-gory films that could be on this list.
June 12th, 2007 at 1:56 pm
I’m sorry but “Passion of the Christ” should really be on here. I mean all we did was watch the torture and then death of a man and we called it good!
June 12th, 2007 at 2:04 pm
I have to agree with J RICHTER, Zombi 2 by Lucio Fulci was wonderfully gruesome and is sadly missing from this list. Barf bags were handed out to audiences and it was ultimately banned from Great Britain and other countries.
June 12th, 2007 at 2:06 pm
Saw is more ultra-violent than Cannibal Holocaust? Whatever…
June 12th, 2007 at 2:09 pm
2 words : Brain Dead
June 12th, 2007 at 2:18 pm
Funny Games is a German version of A Clockwork Orange — unrestrained violence on a family. Hard to watch despite the lack of blood.
300 certainly qualifies, as does the opening scenes of Saving Private Ryan and several scenes in Braveheart.
June 12th, 2007 at 6:17 pm
Umm, you forgot about “Art of the Devil II” and of course “Hostel 2″ will probably bump someone on the list.
June 12th, 2007 at 6:29 pm
4, scarey movies as a young boy (9) Isaw the orginal movie THE THING (1951) Howard Hanks film and had the pa jeses scared out of me I brough the DVD 50 some years later just so I could see it with my eyes open in all the PARTS.
June 12th, 2007 at 6:29 pm
neil:
i dont know if you wrote this top ten or not, but how could you leave out irreversible? that movie is sick
June 12th, 2007 at 6:31 pm
Yeah some peter jackson films should make the list.
June 12th, 2007 at 6:37 pm
What about Seven with Morgan Freeman? How would you try to cut a pound of flesh off your body?
And no sci-fi? Alien was groundbreaking and devastating, with f*cking aliens bursting out of your f*ucking chest.
That, and the Thing, of course, gave me nightmares throughout childhood.
Top 10 lists are stupid. And trying to order the lists are worse. As if there is a best movie ever. Haha, how banal. Let’s just have a list of the best stuff.
June 12th, 2007 at 6:49 pm
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June 12th, 2007 at 6:59 pm
Your rankings are messed up, and you need to include foreign films. I did not even see you list anything from the Guinea Pig series
June 12th, 2007 at 7:08 pm
Hostel was the worst fucking movie ever in terms of ‘violence’. At least do some research before you make such ignorant claims. The Thing, Devils Rejects, hell even House of a 1000 corpses are much better films, and much more violent.
June 12th, 2007 at 7:10 pm
Scream, despite making fun of horror movies, is said to have jumpstarted the modern day horror movement. It’s well documented and stuff. It really hasn’t let up since then.
June 12th, 2007 at 7:19 pm
There must be something wrong with me. When things start getting violent I switch off or change channel. What are people getting from this stuff? It’s a mystery to me.
June 12th, 2007 at 7:35 pm
foreign films are for faggots
June 12th, 2007 at 7:55 pm
it’s stands for it is. for possessives, use its plz.
June 12th, 2007 at 8:22 pm
High Tension was nearly word for word a Dean Koontz novel called “Intensity, ” but there is never any mention of this in relation to the film. Does anyone know why?
June 12th, 2007 at 9:05 pm
Silver Bullet messed me up as a kid … all summer at a cottage in the woods …
June 12th, 2007 at 9:08 pm
A list of this sort really cannot be broken down into the top ten, especially when you leave out so many good ones. A top 20 or 50 would be better. The goriest movie I can think of would probably be Braindead (Dead Alive) or Ichi the Killer.
June 12th, 2007 at 9:11 pm
YOU ARE ALL FOOLS…
Try to watch “Irreversible”…
email if you find anything more violent
June 12th, 2007 at 9:12 pm
“Love it or hate it, no one can deny it’s impact on the horror genre.”
Wow. How naive and imbecilic of you to say that when it’s only been out for 1 year. Impact and influence requires the test of time, moron.
June 12th, 2007 at 10:21 pm
[...] The 10 Best Ultra-Violent Films of All-Time (tags: movies violence) [...]
June 13th, 2007 at 12:13 am
man, everyone commenting is really tough and smart.
June 13th, 2007 at 12:21 am
Hostel? You know, when I rented that movie, the girl I was with told me that it was so violent and bloody that people were vomiting in the theater during test screenings. I watched it, I wasn’t impressed. I have to disagree with you on that one.
June 13th, 2007 at 12:44 am
[...] best Ultra - Violent Movies The 10 Best Ultra-Violent Films of All-Time 10. “The Hills Have Eyes” (2006) While the original Wes Craven film is a classic, the 2006 remake [...]
June 13th, 2007 at 1:21 am
I agreee with other posters…how is Takashi Miike’s, Ichi the Killer not on this list?!?!?! And along with that where is Peter jackson’s Dead Alive?!?!? I usuallt never post on these things but I couldn’t help myself this time b/c of such glaring ommissions. Possibly the worst top 10 list ever
June 13th, 2007 at 9:55 am
Movies that deserve equal/similar recognition-
Anthropophagus: The Grim Reaper, Maniac, Rambo 2, Ravenous, Ninja Scroll, The Protector, Videodrome, Scanners, Death Wish 2, Rabid, Flesh for Frankenstein, Nekromantik 1 & 2, Evil Dead, Street Trash, Ichi the Killer, Riki-oh, Brain Dead, The Beyond, City of the Living Dead, Straw Dogs, Re-Animator, Hellraiser, Nightmare on Elm St., Friday the 13th Part 6 Uncut, Guinea Pig fliks, Bad Boys 2 (not a good movie, but violent as hell…slow-motion bullet impact to the head in vivid detail? corpses thrown from a moving vehicle as a weapon? stupid, but insanely violent for an action flik), Passion of the Christ, Predator, Aliens, Cannibal Ferox, Mountain of the Cannibal God, Tenebrae, Suspiria, Commando, Come and See, Dawn of the Dead, Fight Club, Fudoh, Halloween 2, Natural Born Killers, Robocop 1 & 2, Starship Troopers, Scarface, Sin City, Suicide Club, Tetsuo: the Iron Man, Bonnie and Clyde, The Church, Toxic Avenger, Class of Nuke ‘em High, Cemetary Man, Day of the Dead, Deliverance, Hard-Boiled, Hard Target, Face/Off, The Killer, A Better Tommorow 2, From Dusk Till Dawn, Hell of the Living Dead, Lady Snowblood, lots of Shaw Brothers fliks, Don’t Torture a Duckling (best death of a catholic priest ever)
June 13th, 2007 at 10:27 am
this is about the worst list i have ever seen all you do is take new movies that ruined the horror genre and make a list thier are so many more good ones out there then this crap.
June 13th, 2007 at 10:45 am
I watched Saw on Cable the other night (sciFi I think) BTW, the amount of self control I exhibited not to write “I saw Saw” is… oh damn!
Bout anyway, I hadn’t seen it and it works surprisingly well with the minimized gore, actually not showing stuff makes it worse, as surprisingly Reservoir Dogs shows. You didn’t see the ear being cut off.
June 13th, 2007 at 3:22 pm
[...] chases that end with a slow 360 degree camera pan around Will Smith and Martin Lawrence violence; this list is all about the most shocking, bloody and unbelievable gut-wrentching cinematic adventure…. It’s not just about slashing up unsuspecting victims, it is about leaving a lasting imprint of [...]
June 13th, 2007 at 3:28 pm
wow, it’s amazing how utterly clueless this list is
June 13th, 2007 at 3:34 pm
I watched “The Hills Have Eyes” the other night. When writers create a movie that does nothing more than attempt to capitalize on EVERY SINGLE HORROR cliche in the book it results in just that: a stupid, boring, cliche.
I kept hoping for a massive explosion that would instantly kill everyone, and leave nothing but a smoking crater and insure ZERO possibility of another shitty remake or sequel.
With the exception of a few selections of this list I have to agree that overall it was pretty terrible.
June 13th, 2007 at 10:53 pm
“story of riki oh” and braindead/dead alive by peter jackson
June 13th, 2007 at 10:57 pm
THE KILLER is the most hyper-violent film of all time. More people die in that movie than in most wars. the fact that it doesn’t even make the list is unacceptable
June 14th, 2007 at 1:43 am
this list is kinda…lame. you missed some movies and there are movies on here that don’t desreve to be on here, Saw? A Clockwork Orange? both very good movies but i would debate the ultra violent aspect of these movies. Instead you should have included Brain Dead, Ichi the Killer and possibly audition to your list.
June 14th, 2007 at 8:40 am
I A Clockwork Orange would be way up there on the Psychopath scale for sure.
June 14th, 2007 at 9:56 am
Great List! I would add Straw Dogs with Dustin Hoffman.
June 14th, 2007 at 1:51 pm
I don’t really think Hostel had that huge an impact on horror in general. All it really did was show that many horror fans are more interested in explicit gore than an enjoyable storyline.
Also, not that it’s not violent, but A Clockwork Orange is one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen. Sorry.
June 14th, 2007 at 4:27 pm
Natural Born Killers has to be number one on the list…that is a very messed up violent movie.
June 15th, 2007 at 2:49 pm
No Dawn of the Dead? That movie pretty much ruled my high school and early college nightmares. And only mentioned by one other commenter. Hmmm.
June 17th, 2007 at 3:11 am
ROBOCOP for pete’s sake!!
June 17th, 2007 at 4:55 pm
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June 17th, 2007 at 6:58 pm
There is no way Cannibal Holocaust is lower than Saw and Hostel. Tenement is a prime candidate. How The Hills have Eyes made this list is beyond me.
June 19th, 2007 at 7:05 pm
Irreversible thirded. That is some sick shit.
June 19th, 2007 at 7:21 pm
[...] The 10 Best Ultra-Violent Films of All-Time (tags: film horror horrorfilm) [...]
June 20th, 2007 at 7:58 am
[...] trasformazioni per entrare nel ruolo. (mi devo ancora riprendere che ho visto Jared Leto a TRL) I 10 film pi¹ ultra-violenti della storia. (attendo il film ispirato a Grand Theft Auto) Sono in programma 46 remake di film famosi che [...]
June 27th, 2007 at 3:39 pm
‘Irr©versible’ is indeed very hard to watch; try ‘The great ecstacy of Robert Carmichael’, by Thomas Clay, undeniably a step beyond Irr©versible…
June 30th, 2007 at 10:19 am
I think this list is a good one, and I understand why you have chosen these films as the most violent. Many have mentioned films such as Dead Alive or Ichi the Killer as being absent - both are certainly over-the-top gory. But the aforementioned movies are just splatterfests that that become farcical or downright silly, and intentionally so, hence they could also be considered black comedies. Dead Alive made me want to puke, but there was no question that it was just a movie with superb gore effects.
TCM and Last House on the Left, on the other hand, had a gritty realism to them that made me squirm more than buckets of blood and entrails ever could. Frankly I don’t need to see either of those movies ever again, they were so disturbing and effective. Whether or not they were good films is arguable, but we are discussing violence in films here.
If you compile a list of “Goriest films Ever Made,” then by all means many of the films criticized for not making your list here could be added. But as far as disturbing and realistic violence in films go, you’ve made an excellent compilation.
July 18th, 2007 at 10:06 am
hardly anyone mentions switchblade romance (haute tension)..maybe because many havent seen it..but watch it then come back to this list..it is by far the most ultra violent film on the list and some of them shouldnt have even been on the list ie the last house on the left; even for then it was shit alot of the original video nasties were better than that how about ss experiment camp and nightmares in a dammaged brain also the hills have eyes remake in my opinion is alot more gruesome than the original..and if people are compiling top 10 lists how about including men behind the sun; and its 2/3 sequels; the untold story..definitely audition for a 90 minute film the last 15 minutes make up for the 75 minutes before it of setting up the story ; talk about sadistic torture..and as mentioned irreversible (in my opinion most foreign language horror/torture porn/ psycho killer films blow away anything put out from the states and england who are a bit more conservative (i think) with the exception of clockwork orange and the saw trilogy..i could go on for ages but as people have allready said ;its hard to compile a best of anything top 10 really as soon as you finish it you remember something else you should have put on the list and so on…
July 22nd, 2007 at 12:46 am
i do not understand the whole “saw” devotion that has creeped into modern “horror” film fandom. it was a shittily written, acted, and directed ripoff of the vastly superior film se7en.
as far as “10 best ultra-violent films of all-time” this list sure does ignore the “ultra-violent” aspect of it’s title. sure, you’ve got some gore, but gore doesn’t equal ultra-violent. there are a lot of glaring omissions here, and the lack of non-american films makes this list read like it was written by a 20 year old with a blockbuster card and no imagination. i would really like to know how i too could make money from my baseless opinions of shitty films. do you just put on a nametag that proudly proclaims “I AM TEH MOVIE CRITICZ OMG”.
August 28th, 2007 at 10:48 am
I just saw The Beyond by Lucio Fulci and that should definitely be on this list, SAW was not a very good movie for me…it has its moments but classic gore like a faced melted by acid while being nailed to the wall, tarantulas eating your face, half your head blown off by gun shot, eyes being torn out of their sockets. Anyhow two that I feel should be on this list are:
1. The Beyond - Lucio Fulci
2. Demons - Lamberto Bava
October 27th, 2007 at 9:06 am
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November 27th, 2007 at 6:23 pm
wat about evil dead
November 27th, 2007 at 6:24 pm
wat bout evil dead
November 27th, 2007 at 6:29 pm
wat about saw IV and all
November 27th, 2007 at 6:32 pm
300 n’ deathsentence r gory and violent and freddy vs jason and hotfuzz had gory sceans
November 27th, 2007 at 6:44 pm
return of the living dead ain’t as gory as wat u all say buh its still a gore/fun fest
May 9th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
No offense but this is the worst gore list ever..