Shocking Films/Cinema

Former Member

My Film Studies A2 exam in the summer is on 'Shocking Cinema' so in preparation we have to watch one film that we find shocking every week and write up about it. Just wondering if you guys had any ideas for good shocking films that I could try and get hold of?

I'm thinking...
-Hostel
-Saw (1,2 & 3)
-American Werewolf in London
-Scum
-Schindlers List
-The Ring
-Train Spotting
-Clockwork Orange
-Battle Royale
-Alien
-Aliens

Former Member

Sympathy for Lady Vengeance is the most shocking film I've ever seen. It's pretty hardgoing.

Former Member

Ichi The Killer
Guinea Pig: Flowers of Flesh and Blood
August Underground's Mordum
Salo: 120 Days of Sodom

These will be unlke ANYTHING you have seen. US actor Charlie Sheen actually took the Guinea Pig video to the FBI because he thought it was a genuine snuff film. It's pretty grim stuff. You have been warned...

Former Member

Cannibal Holocaust.

Former Member

ichi the killer and the guinea pig film mermaid in a manhole should do it (the actor charlie sheen thought they were real) I recommend suicide circle and I hear pulse is pretty messed up.

Former Member

To be honest I'd only include Clockwork Orange, Schindler's List and Scum from the first list, the rest are just movies, but not shocking - Rise and Shine probably comes a lot closer to what I'd call shocking, though I wouldn't recommend going near Guinea Pig.

Devil's Rejects
The original Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Freddy Got Fingered
Sitcom (is that the name - the one with the two guys holding a family hostage?)
Weekend by Godart
Come & See
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
Irrevisable
Santa Sangre
Scorpio Rising by Kenneth Anger
1900 has some staggering shocks


But of course really shocking cinema doesn't really exsist in the context of narrative films - really shocking work is normal done by documentary film makers. If you want to be a real smart arse then look for real documentaries (not mondo explotation films) looking at any of the following - the contras crimes in Latin America, female gential mutilation, the treatment of single parent mothers in the UK (in particular the film for the BBC that looked at the number of women who became pregnant out of wedlock who were condemned to spend their whole lives in mental homes as a result and were only finally released, unable to cope with the world, post-community care) - and in particular track down -

Shoah and Titicutt Follies. One is a grinding unending film looking at the events of the Holocaust, the second is a film from (I think) the early sixties looking at the appalling treatment of people with mental health problems, and the basically free for all gladitorial pit they were left to live in. In addition John Huston's film on the rehabilitation of second world war soldiers suffering from mental collapse - Let There Be Light for scenes that remain absolutely unbearable to watch.

To be honest it depends how much you want to push the boundaries of what is 'shocking' - stay with narrative films if you just want to be surprised at what directors have done - what documentaries to see how cinema can enlighten and shock you into realising what mankind can truly be capable of doing to mankind

Former Member

pill 'ed wrote: »

-Hostel
-Saw (1,2 & 3)
-American Werewolf in London
-Scum
-Schindlers List
-The Ring
-Train Spotting
-Clockwork Orange
-Battle Royale
-Alien
-Aliens

shocking films?! ignore that lot then!

go straight to cannibal holocaust.

Former Member

legend has it that the guinea pig films is what set off 'the otaku murderer'

Former Member

Jim V wrote: »

To be honest I'd only include Clockwork Orange, Schindler's List and Scum from the first list, the rest are just movies, but not shocking.

But of course really shocking cinema doesn't really exsist in the context of narrative films - really shocking work is normal done by documentary film makers.

To be honest it depends how much you want to push the boundaries of what is 'shocking' - stay with narrative films if you just want to be surprised at what directors have done - what documentaries to see how cinema can enlighten and shock you into realising what mankind can truly be capable of doing to mankind

got to agree with all that.:thumb:

Skive

Romper Stomper.

Former Member

Ah, my specialty - watch these:

The Idiots (essential - trust me, I you watch no others, watch this one)
Irreversible
Autopsy
I Spit On Your Grave, and Last House On The Left (shocking in every sense of the word)
Weekend
Shivers
Un Chien Andalou (should be able to pick it up from your library - it's only 16 minutes long, so it's well worth a viewing)
Festen
Blue Velvet
Eraserhead
Natural Born Killers
Crash (the 1996 one)
Viridiana (though you'll probably need to read up on the historical context as to why this is shocking, because it won't be immediate to a modern audience - might be a good subject for an essay though.)

Skive

Brain Dead and Bad Taste
Both shockingly funny, gory, and bad.

Former Member

There's Audition too. Starts off as a romantic comedy, then gets very, very sick and dark very, very soon.

Former Member

very fucking boring film
fell asleep before then.

Former Member

johnnyboy503 wrote: »

very fucking boring film
fell asleep before then.

Granted the first wee while is a bit boring but it's worth watching to the end.

Former Member

Itchi the Killer is without a doubt the most violent (and therefore shocking) film i've ever seen. You might want to try "Scum" too.

Former Member

RiSe & ShIne wrote: »

Granted the first wee while is a bit boring but it's worth watching to the end.

haven't actually made it that far. reasons being:
A) too boring
Im not too keen on it because of what I heard.

Former Member

I can understand watching these films for work etc, but you people actually watch these films for fun?! I wouldn't sleep for weeks if i saw something like that.

Former Member

Jim V wrote: »

To be honest it depends how much you want to push the boundaries of what is 'shocking' - stay with narrative films if you just want to be surprised at what directors have done - what documentaries to see how cinema can enlighten and shock you into realising what mankind can truly be capable of doing to mankind

To be honest, I'd say it's important to discuss a range of films that are shocking for a range of reasons. Something like Eraserhead, for example, is shocking because of the way the director explores what would be a fairly standard topic. Something like The Idiots would be shocking because it explores a subject that is not mainstream, and perhaps would normally be off-limits. Something like Viridiana would be shocking because of the social and political content that clashed with that of the authorities at the time. Another film like South Park might be shocking purely because it attempts to offend and deliberately push the boundaries. And a documentary might be shocking because it gives us some facts from real life that are shocking. It's be great to try and get that whole range throughout the course.

Former Member

Thought of another (German flick) Das Experiment. It's a film about a social experiment that went horribly wrong. A group of people were split into two groups, prisoners and guards. The prisoners revolted and the guards abused their power to the point of rape and murder.

Former Member

Cheers for all the examples people, I'll try and get hold of as many of them as possible, I've already been reading some reviews from quite a few of your advised films on IMDB and I look forward to watching some of them. I want to see a wide variety of shocking films, ranging from gore to politics.

Former Member

The craziest movie I've ever seen was 13 Tzemeti. It is absolutely insane. It's not gory, the idea is just really sick. Also, its a really depressing movie.

Former Member

if you haven't seen B.R. you'll love it. The sequel isn't as great though but thats the case with most sequels.

Former Member

johnnyboy503 wrote: »

if you haven't seen B.R. you'll love it. The sequel isn't as great though but thats the case with most sequels.

I saw Battle Royale before it's UK release date, and yeah I agree it's a great film and the sequel really isn't anything special.

Former Member

i didnt think much of battle royale. maybe because i'd heard so much beforehand. i thought it was a decent idea for a film, but the ending and certain bits in in i just found a bit rubbish. like they could have done better. same with the (original) grudge.

i liked the chinese film 'the eye' better.

although them damned americans are making another remake of this. with jessica alba in it.

Skive

I don't find gore shoching really - more amusing than anything.

Things like Shindlers List, Scum and Romper Stomper are shocking because you know they're real or could be real.

Horror movies are generally jank.

Former Member

Skive wrote: »

I don't find gore shoching really - more amusing than anything.

Things like Shindlers List, Scum and Romper Stomper are shocking because you know they're real or could be real.

Horror movies are generally jank.

:yes: I agree, although some gorey films do make you cringe and shout out "fuck!" the first time you see them.

Former Member

films that have moved me in a shocking way include:

the wicker man
last house on the left
cannibal holocaust
Night of the living dead (the romero original one, the end gets me)
Schindlers list
Apocolypse now
Irreversable
Evil Dead

probably loads of others but i cant think and my dvd collection is upstairs

Former Member

Just thought of another shocking film, 'Child's Play', is the original still banned?

Former Member

no, and the original was only ever banned for release upon video during Ferman's days. It, along with Dollhouse, Bad Lieutenant and the rest were certificated for video with his replacement - at around the same time as many old video nasties (including important films such as the Exorcist) were released.

But not a very shocking film, just shocking how the media focused upon it - which is a different thing.

Former Member

I've never actually seen it, but I have heard that it isn't actually that shocking at all, it was just the media looking for something to blame for that unfortunate incident. Kind of like how Marilyn Manson was blamed for the Columbine massacre by the church.
Jim V, going back to your post on documentary films, I think 'Supersize Me' is kind of shocking in a way.