20 Most Disturbing Japanese Horror Movies Of All Time

11. Jigoku (1960)

The Plot: A young theology student finds himself wracked with guilt after fleeing a hit-and-run incident which leaves one man dead, but along with the group of sinners he finds himself surrounded with, he's got a one-way ticket to Hell. Why It's Disturbing: The first hour of Jigoku actually isn't all that disturbing at all: it's a fairly familiar (if engaging) drama which gives way to something much more unsettling in its final 40 minutes, when the movie's core characters descend into the Underworld to receive their punishments. This results in a series of brutal torture scenes, including a spear being thrust through the protagonist's neck while other characters are burned alive until the end of time and dismembered and continually revived so the death can be repeated. It's visually stunning, boundary-breaking stuff for 1960, and has aged surprisingly well thanks to a focus on mood and atmosphere over outrageous special effects.