20 Horror Movies That Were Way Too Cruel

The Saw movies have always been as brutal as hell, sure, but the better ones toe the line properly by making the various grisly deaths the direct result of the characters' mistakes, thus allowing these movies to work as stories of karma. The lesser ones, on the other hand, indulge in too much unwarranted cruelty - none more so than 2006's Saw III.

The biggest issue is the movie's central game. In this case, a man named Jeff (Angus Macfadyen) is being tested, as Jigsaw feels he's allowed himself to be overcome by feelings of revenge following the hit-and-run death of his young child. 

First up, Jeff did not deserve to be tested at all, as he was a traumatized man facing the death of a child, perhaps the worst pain anyone can experience. Secondly, there's the horrible ending. He's put through a series of tests designed to teach him to forgive, and then... at the end, he murders Jigsaw (Tobin Bell), thus learning nothing whatsoever, and unintentionally kills his completely innocent wife (Bahar Soomekh) too. 

It's the most sour, infuriating conclusion imaginable. Everyone loses, both Jigsaw and Amanda Young (Shawnee Smith) are killed off way too early in the franchise's run, and it's ultimately nothing more than a load of shallow, gory nihilism. Also, we can't forget The Rack. That was unwatchable even by Saw standards.