# Most disturbing films **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 31, 1999, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-disturbing-films/8416 "1999-08-31T18:05:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Persephone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Persephone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Persephone)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 1999, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-disturbing-films/8416/21 "1999-09-01T01:26:00Z")
Not too long ago, A&E ran the silent version of “All Quiet on the Western Front.” Having never seen any version of this film (never read the book either–I’m such a cretin) I decided to watch. There’s a very brief scene in there, where a man is lifting some brabed wire to get under it. There’s an explosion where the man is standing. After the smoke clears, all you see is his hand, still clinging to the wire. That just creeped me right out. The end of that film, too, really depressed me. ---
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 1999, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-disturbing-films/8416/22 "1999-09-01T01:31:00Z")
OH! Forgot one…“The People Under The Stairs”…need I say more?? Yikes… * * * An optimist sees an opportunity in every calamity; A pessimist sees a calamity in every opportunity. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 1999, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-disturbing-films/8416/23 "1999-09-01T01:45:00Z")
There are four movies that disturbed, or impacted me. As far as total impact, I’d say Saving Private Ryan. I saw it in a packed theater, during the afternoon. When the movie got out, you could actually hear everyone breathing as they walked out. It was DEAD silent. I think seeing it in the theater made more of an impact too. The other movie that hit hard was Schindler’s List. I think most of you know why. The two movies that freaked me out were Seven, and Deceived (with Goldie Hawn). Seven was just sick, and I’m sorry that I rented it. I saw Deceived when I was fairly young, and I was scared to go to bed without the light on after seeing it. Adam * * * “Life is hard…but God is good” ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 1999, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-disturbing-films/8416/24 "1999-09-01T03:26:00Z")
In The Realm Of The Senses (Japanese film). It’s a supposedly true story about a woman so obsessed with her lover she winds up … well, don’t want to spoil it for everyone else 🙂 * * * Never regret what seemed like a good idea at the time. ---
**Author:** ![timmar68](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/97f17d/32.png) [@timmar68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/timmar68)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 1999, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-disturbing-films/8416/25 "1999-09-01T03:43:00Z")
When I was a little girl, “Salems Lot” scared the hell out of me. For weeks, everytime I’d try to sleep, I’d imagine fog at my window and kept imagining the vampire knocking on it…“Open the window, MaryAnn, open the window!” Now, I love to watch scary movies. I get a little nervous, but they don’t scare me all that much. A while ago I saw Salems lot at my local Blockbuster, rented it, and I was surprised that I remembered all the dialogue by heart (I only saw the movie the one time when I was little) and it scared me! The funny thing is, I know that if I saw it now for the first time it wouldn’t scare me. * * * MaryAnn Sometimes life is so great you just gotta muss up your hair and quack like a duck! ---
**Author:** ![Pickman\_s\_Model](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Pickman\_s\_Model](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pickman_s_Model)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 1999, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-disturbing-films/8416/26 "1999-09-01T03:57:00Z")
I can’t think of too many movies that actually have scared me, at least as an adult; _Species_ and _Independance Day_ bothered me somewhat, I guess the icky scenes of aliens hatching, and that kind of crap. One that shook me up but good and left me depressed for days afterwards was _Threads,_ a British movie depicting the first 13 years of the aftermath of an all out nuclear war. After seeing that, I made up my mind that if the nukes ever started flying, I was immediately going to get as close to ground zero as I possibly could----I most certainly did not want to survive the event. As a kid, one that scared me terribly was _Five Million Years To Earth,_ with the giant Martian grasshoppers. Another one that upset me was _The Ten Commandments,_ believe it or not. I saw it when I was about eight or so, and I couldn’t sleep nights afterwards. Episodes of the old “Twilight Zone” and “Night Gallery” used to scare me, too, until my Dad forbade me to watch them anymore. _Saving Private Ryan_ was a great movie, but it didn’t bother me half as much as _Schindler’s List_ or _Platoon._ And in the movie _Hamburger Hill_ there is a scene where some GI wakes up in his hole at night screaming, and the sergeant looks at the FNG and says “Baaaaad dreeeeams!” That one sent chills down my spine. And _Apocalypse Now_ didn’t bother me in the theater, but it did when it was over, for days afterwards. Cripes, let’s get the hell off this subject. ---
**Author:** ![topolino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/91b2a8/32.png) [@topolino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/topolino)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 1999, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-disturbing-films/8416/27 "1999-09-01T04:08:00Z")
How about books? Ever read “American Psycho”? It has a great point but getting there is a series of punches in the stomach. It was actually required reading for a Sociology class called Alienation at UofL. ---
**Author:** ![realm505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@realm505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/realm505)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 1999, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-disturbing-films/8416/28 "1999-09-01T04:19:00Z")
It scared the hell out of be, but a disney movie called “the boy who could fly” really messed me up today the matrix some how maeesed me up for an evening, but now it’s my favorite movie and of course the blair witch project messed me up, even after the fourth time seeing it ---
**Author:** ![realm505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@realm505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/realm505)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 1999, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-disturbing-films/8416/29 "1999-09-01T04:19:00Z")
I mean the movie “IT” scared me ---
**Author:** ![topolino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/91b2a8/32.png) [@topolino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/topolino)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 1999, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-disturbing-films/8416/30 "1999-09-01T04:27:00Z")
I’m starting another thread about books. ---
**Author:** ![Brother\_Haus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Brother\_Haus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brother_Haus)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 1999, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-disturbing-films/8416/31 "1999-09-01T04:41:00Z")
Friggin’ “Amityville”. I watched this movie when I was 9 and was told it was based on a true story. Now I know better, but back then I was afraid to be alone. * * * I am not **weird** , I’m just _normle_ challenged. ---
**Author:** ![Doobieous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Doobieous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doobieous)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 1999, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-disturbing-films/8416/32 "1999-09-01T06:03:00Z")
A few months ago i saw this movie called “Cube”. In it were several people who find themselves in this room together and they have to find their way out (no one knew how they got there, they just end up in one room together). The freaky part was the traps they had to get around. If you went in the wrong room you would get killed one way or another (The opening scene shows a guy getting cubed, literally. You dont even see the cutter come down, just a sound, and then the guy falling apart _before_ he knew what hit him! Anyway, it involved some math (i wont say how but it involves little serial numbers on the entrances to different rooms). The movie was also eerie because the entire movie takes place in these rooms that were very simple cube shaped rooms. The only decoration seemed to be all kinds of wires and plugs that were silhouetted through the transparent panels of the walls, floor and ceiling. That was the only movie to really freak me out (not so much i wouldnt watch it again but it makes ya think). ---
**Author:** ![MrKnowItAll](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrknowitall/32/87_2.png) [@MrKnowItAll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrKnowItAll)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 1999, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-disturbing-films/8416/33 "1999-09-01T06:30:00Z")
I’m not into horror movies that much, and tend to avoid them. That said… _Schindler’s List_: Best movie I’ve ever seen. I own a copy. The trouble is that it’s _so_ intense, I just can’t watch it very often. _Pacific Heights_: I still don’t know how this one ends. I went to see it at the theater, and had to leave because of the physical anxiety I was suffering. Maybe it wasn’t that intense, and I just saw it on a bad day. Someday I’ll rent it and find out. _Alien_: Another one I haven’t seen all of. However, in this case a large part of my anxiety was caused by watching the characters do extremely stupid stuff. * * * Carpe hoc! ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 1999, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-disturbing-films/8416/34 "1999-09-01T12:29:00Z")
_Return To Paradise_ really bothered me, primarily because Vince Vaughan’s character does the right thing, but it ends up not mattering because of the actions of a completely extraneous character (don’t want to spoil it for anyone who hasn’t seen it.) It just really saddened me. ---
**Author:** ![Globe-trotter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cab0a1/32.png) [@Globe-trotter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Globe-trotter)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 1999, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-disturbing-films/8416/35 "1999-09-01T12:54:00Z")
I’m essentially a wuss, so it doesn’t take much to disturb me. 😉 However, two movies come to mind : The Birds - makes you look at birds in a whole new way (and a bad one at that!) Silence of the lambs - gave me nightmares for a while * * * I prefer rogues to imbeciles because they sometimes take a rest. Alexandre Dumas the Younger (1824-1895) ---
**Author:** ![vanillanice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ecc23a/32.png) [@vanillanice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanillanice)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 1999, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-disturbing-films/8416/36 "1999-09-01T13:32:00Z")
I think it was a tv movie,called Trilogy of Terro with Karen Black. She got a small voodoo doll which came to life and tried to get her. I sat up in my bed( I was a teenager) and waited for it to come get me too. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 1999, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-disturbing-films/8416/37 "1999-09-01T18:29:00Z")
FTR, the previously mentioned “scarecrow” movie was actually “Dark Night of the Scarecrow,” not to be confused with a similar title “Night of the Scarecrow,” which came out a few years ago. And it wasn’t Brian Dennehy, but Charles Durning. My own creepy movie was “The Sentinel,” which I first saw as a teen. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 1999, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-disturbing-films/8416/38 "1999-09-01T18:56:00Z")
Also, as a kid, a few “Night Gallery” episodes creeped me out, specifically “There are no more McBaines” and “Pickman’s Model.” ---
**Author:** ![topolino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/91b2a8/32.png) [@topolino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/topolino)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 1999, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-disturbing-films/8416/39 "1999-09-01T19:19:00Z")
One time, my sister, her friend, and I were watching “Aliens” in our basement in complete darkness. When it was all over, Jessica said, “My god! That gave me chills. It’s like I can feel things crawling on me.” We turned on the light and there was a millipede crawling up her leg. That brought a shreik out of all of us. * * * “Never got this hot in Brooklyn. This is like Africa hot. Tarzan couldn’t take this kind of hot…I don’t know if I can stay here if it’s gonna be this hot.” -Matthew Broderick in “Biloxi Blues” ---
**Author:** ![Gilligan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Gilligan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gilligan)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 1999, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-disturbing-films/8416/40 "1999-09-01T21:50:00Z")
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