1. Under the Skin (2013)
An alien disguised as an attractive human woman lures in men with the promise of sex but instead submerges them in a strange liquid that turns their living bodies into deformed hunks of meat. This unsettling film isn't full of jump scares but instead plainly tells the story, which makes it all the more disturbing.
2. Eighth Grade (2018)
I don't know many people who can say that eighth grade was a time they enjoyed looking back to. The film Eighth Grade candidly portrays middle school kids' awkwardness and social disconnection. Anyone who's lived through eighth grade will often cringe while watching this movie.
3. Eraserhead (1977)
In a strange and vague dystopian world, a man accidentally impregnates a woman during a one-off fling. The two marry and have the child but soon discover their baby is a reptilian creature that screams constantly.
4. Good Time (2017)
After two brothers rob a bank, one is captured by the police while the other escapes, making it his mission to free his brother from prison. Good Time is uncomfortable because each moment is filled with stress that seemingly never ends.
5. Tideland (2005)
Tideland tells the story of a young girl who's raised in a traumatic environment. Her parents are addicted to substances, and she watches the two die and decompose from overdoses before her brother comes into the picture and things get even weirder.
6. Creep (2014)
This found-footage horror film follows a young videographer who finds an ad in the newspaper created by a dying man who hopes to film a video to keep his memory alive for his unborn son. But when the videographer arrives, he realizes that not everything is as it seems.
7. Tusk (2014)
This comedy horror film is about a podcast host who travels to rural Canada to interview an older man about his long and interesting life. Yet the podcaster soon discovers that the older man is plotting to sew his guest's body into the skin of a walrus to keep as a pet.
8. Oldboy (2003)
After a man is bailed out of jail for being unruly and drunk in public, he's abducted and locked in a strange hotel room for fifteen years with no contact with any human beings. Suddenly released one day, he embarks on a mission to find his captors and discover why they targeted him.
9. Irréversible (2002)
This unique film displays the events of a violent night, but instead of telling the story from start to finish, the audience watches the end of the story first, and the movie ends with the beginning of the chronology. When a woman is brutally violated, two important men in her life hunt down the assailant themselves.
10. Neon Flesh (2010)
As a young man awaits his mother's prison release, he gathers some friends to help him open a brothel. But the process is trickier than it seems, and the ragtag group of helpers often hinders the mission instead of helping.
11. The Untold Story (1993)
Inspired by a series of real murders, The Untold Story is a disturbing Hong Kong thriller about a team of police investigating a bag of severed human limbs that wash up on the seashore. When the police begin to connect the murder to a restaurant famous for pork buns, they realize the crimes may be worse than they could imagine.
12. Crimes of the Future (2022)
In a futuristic world, humans have evolved alongside technology to allow for a pain and disease-free existence for most people. Some have developed even further, like a performance artist whose organs can be removed and grow back on their own. He and his wife perform surgery in front of roaring crowds to make a living, but the job has its consequences.
13. Prisoners (2013)
Prisoners is a harrowing story for any parent to watch. When a man's daughter and her friend go missing under his care, he refuses to follow police protocol and targets a released suspect to bring his daughter home safely.
Maya (she/they) is a queer entertainment and culture journalist. They cover interviews, reviews, roundups, news, and more. She loves horror, history, and creativity. They hope their writing both entertains readers and inspires them to think critically. Her favorite pastimes include needle felting, gaming, and drawing.