8 Most Disturbing Horror Short Movies

8. Saw 0.5

It may not be common knowledge now but the Saw franchise started life as a self-produced short film. Made independently by future mega-directors James Wan and Leigh Whannell for only $2000, this feat of filmmaking is even more impressive when measured against the behemoth intellectual property that it ended up spawning.

Clocking in at under ten minutes, the short follows David - played by Whannell himself - recounting to the police how he was kidnapped, placed in the iconic reverse bear trap and forced to cut open his fellow captive to escape. The scene will be familiar to any fans of the franchise as it was reshot and recast to be used as a pivotal sequence in the feature-length version.

Given the shoestring budget and the future maestros’ lack of experience, the film is admittedly a bit ropey. It’s worth remembering, however, that this short film essentially kickstarted the Torture Porn genre.

This is back in 2003 long before audiences were desensitized to such graphic depictions of sadistic violence. In this era, the content of Saw 0.5 (as it was affectionately named after the fact) was disturbing enough to revolutionize the horror genre for the next decade. The impact this ten-minute knockout had on the industry simply can’t be understated.