10 Horror Movies Audiences Couldn't Handle
You came, you saw, you vomited, then you ran away screaming.
Few genres are as geared towards getting a rise out of us as horror. In fact, one could say it is horror’s job to make audiences squirm, shudder, cry, jump, and feel sick to their stomach. But while most filmmakers know where to draw the line between tasteful terror and outright degeneracy, some definitely do not.
There is a cadre of talent working in the genre who are dedicated to bringing us the worst images and scenarios they can conceive of, pulling together their effects, audio, camerawork, and actors to batter us into submission. Anyone who has seen a movie from Gaspar Noé or Lars von Trier knows exactly what we mean. And some viewers simply cannot take it.
Indeed, audiences around the world have had some pretty serious reactions to challenging horror films over the years. Vomiting, passing out, shouting abuse at the screen, spitting on the director and running away. Whether at awards ceremonies or down the local multiplex - they’ve done it all.
So, which picture comes to mind when we say it might make you lose your lunch, or which movie do you screen for friends in an effort to see them chicken out? Chances are they’re among the following 10 features.
10. Crimes of the Future (2022)
David Cronenberg's much-hailed return to body horror (after over two decades away!), Crimes of the Future nabbed the title from one of the director's dubious early works and got Cronenberg's hitherto non-body horror star Viggo Mortensen onboard for a look into a disturbing yet pain-free future world where mutation is the norm and plastic is king.
Viggo Mortensen stars as Saul Tenser, a performance artist who crowds throng to see him operated on in real time. His partner Caprice is a specialist at tattooing and surgically removing Saul’s new and wonderful organs for paying audiences, and their celebrity appears to keep them safe from the revolution brewing outside their studio.
Now, that does sound like a lot. But nothing you can’t handle, right?
Well, when the film gets into its final 20 minutes, which includes the public autopsy of a child, some audiences couldn’t stay put. Viewers found this section hard to stomach, and people walked out of screenings. One critic even reported seeing a man on the verge of a panic attack. But, really, anyone who’s seen Naked Lunch should have gone in prepared.