15 Most Disturbing Horror Movies Ever

Most of the films featured on this list justify their brutality with some recourse to political allegory or social commentary, but few are as authentically cutting as horror veteran Lucky McKee’s 2011 meditation on misogyny—well, maybe the similarly themed Deadgirl, but the pair would make for a pretty upsetting double feature.

Surprisingly slow paced at first, the film is an upsetting depiction of a family patriarch forcing his spouse and offspring, with varying levels of co-operation, to help him “civilize” a feral woman he happened across whilst walking. What proceeds is a graphic depiction of the upper class Americana’s dark underbelly, taking in numerous scenes of rape and torture before a breathtakingly violent—if undeniably cathartic—denouement.

The Woman was controversial upon release, with its brutality prompting complaints from an audience member during an early screening.