10 Nastiest Horror Films Since 2000

7. Ichi The Killer

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You've got to have a Takasi Miike film (or two) on a list like this, and in Ichi The Killer he delivers what might be the most deranged live action manga adaptation of the 2000s. As is customary with this filmmaker, no subject – be it rape, torture or mutilation – is considered too shocking.

The film follows a series of oddball characters, none more oddball than Ichi (Nao Omori), a hapless loser who’s introduced to the viewer masturbating while watching a pimp slap around one of his girls. Ichi later kills them both, in part because of a false memory implanted by Jijii (Shinya Tsukamoto), who’s using him to play two rival gangs off against each other.

The amount of blood shed in the movie places it squarely in the splatter film category: faces are sliced off, a man is cut in half and, perhaps most memorably, a gang boss is tortured by being suspended from hooks. The enforcer responsible later slices off his own tongue as “punishment”, so if you want a traditional gangster picture, look elsewhere.

Contributor

Ian Watson is the author of 'Midnight Movie Madness', a 600+ page guide to "bad" movies from 'Reefer Madness' to 'Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.'