10 Extreme Horror Movies That Try To Break Their Audience

Gaspar Noé's arthouse horror flick Climax is like Dante's descent into the Inferno, only without a Virgil to guide you safely through it.

Doubling as a psychological horror film and the most effective anti-drug PSA in the past ten years, Climax follows the cast of a dance troupe who, during their afterparty in an abandoned building, find that their punch bowl has been spiked with LSD. As the night goes on and both cabin fever and the drug set in, the troupe sink farther into the deepest depths of human degeneracy.

To get this out of the way first, if you have anxiety of any kind, stay away from this movie. The gradual build-up of tension is meticulous in how it aims to unnerve and build a sense of revulsion that leaks right through the screen.

One of the scenes that stands out involves the beating of a pregnant woman whose screams of pain are realistic enough as to activate your fight or flight response. Yikes.

Noé's camerawork deserves special mention here because of how it floats through the dance hall, forcibly locking the viewer on rails much like a roller-coaster. By the end of the ride, you'll want to find your nearest shock blanket and wrap yourself up tight.