Horrorphile's 13 GORIEST MOVIES EVER MADE
December 1st 2008 23:44
I had to follow up my previous post – 13 Scariest Movies Ever Made – with this one. It just wouldn’t be right if I didn’t. However when it comes down to it, compiling this list is a lot more difficult. I thought it would be easy. But the ugly truth of the matter is there are a lot more graphically violent movies than there are intensely scary ones. To be precise; the kinds of movies that meet my criteria for “scariest” are fewer than the ones that meet my criteria for “goriest”.
Firstly I had to eliminate the ones that are full of bloody carnage, but the blood doesn’t look real (i.e. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead and Argento’s Suspiria). That gets rid of quite a few. Then I had to disregard the ones that try to gross the audience out with dismemberment and disembowelment, but the guts look like plastic tubing and the severed limbs look like papier-mâché. That’s another bunch dealt to.
Gore has to be realistic and convincing in its graphicness. It needs to induce serious wincing and if possible cause the viewer to gag. Now, some people will gag at anything, so the gore needs to make hardened horrorphile’s have a rough time. There needs to be extreme brutality, cruelty, viciousness, and savagery.
But what about special effects make-up vs. CGI? And therein lies The Rub. CGI as a rule doesn’t deliver the same palpable, tangible effect as effects which are created and realised in front of the camera. You know it’s been digitally created and therefore the effect isn’t really there; essentially it’s been drawn in, added after, and so lacks the raw immediacy which is a crucial part of the horror. But I suppose that’s all academic. What you see on screen is what counts.
There are numerous movies that claim to be the goriest ever made which I’ve not yet seen, such as the Japanese flick Guinea Pig: Flowers of Flesh and Blood (1985) and the Hong Kong flick Men Behind the Sun (1988). In itself this should present a problem, but I’m not going to let that weigh too heavily on my shoulders, I’ve seen enough to warrant a reasonably definitive list. I’ve seen the first two Saw movies. The first was inventive and the second was a pile of steaming crap.
So have you eaten lunch yet, ‘cos I’m gonna spill the beans? It was very hard limiting it to my rule of thumb (13), and it was equally hard deciding on the order.
Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988), Dawn of the Dead (2004), The Hills Have Eyes (2006), Dèmoni (1985), RoboCop (1986), Feast (2005), and 28 Weeks Later (2007) didn’t make the final 13, but they deserve a mention.
Firstly I had to eliminate the ones that are full of bloody carnage, but the blood doesn’t look real (i.e. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead and Argento’s Suspiria). That gets rid of quite a few. Then I had to disregard the ones that try to gross the audience out with dismemberment and disembowelment, but the guts look like plastic tubing and the severed limbs look like papier-mâché. That’s another bunch dealt to.
Gore has to be realistic and convincing in its graphicness. It needs to induce serious wincing and if possible cause the viewer to gag. Now, some people will gag at anything, so the gore needs to make hardened horrorphile’s have a rough time. There needs to be extreme brutality, cruelty, viciousness, and savagery.
But what about special effects make-up vs. CGI? And therein lies The Rub. CGI as a rule doesn’t deliver the same palpable, tangible effect as effects which are created and realised in front of the camera. You know it’s been digitally created and therefore the effect isn’t really there; essentially it’s been drawn in, added after, and so lacks the raw immediacy which is a crucial part of the horror. But I suppose that’s all academic. What you see on screen is what counts.
There are numerous movies that claim to be the goriest ever made which I’ve not yet seen, such as the Japanese flick Guinea Pig: Flowers of Flesh and Blood (1985) and the Hong Kong flick Men Behind the Sun (1988). In itself this should present a problem, but I’m not going to let that weigh too heavily on my shoulders, I’ve seen enough to warrant a reasonably definitive list. I’ve seen the first two Saw movies. The first was inventive and the second was a pile of steaming crap.
So have you eaten lunch yet, ‘cos I’m gonna spill the beans? It was very hard limiting it to my rule of thumb (13), and it was equally hard deciding on the order.
1. Day of the Dead
(US, 1985, George A. Romero)
2. Braindead
(NZ, 1991, Peter Jackson)
3. The Thing
(US, 1982, John Carpenter)
4. 30 Days of Night
(US, 2007, David Slade)
5. À l'intérieur
(France, 2007, Alexandre Bustillo & Julien Maury)
6. Imprint
(Japan, 2006, Takashi Miike)
7. The Evil Dead
(US, 1982, Sam Raimi)
8. Land of the Dead
(Unrated version, US, 2005, George A. Romero)
9. Cannibal Holocaust
(Italy, 1980, Ruggero Deodato)
10. Opera
(Italy, 1987, Dario Argento)
11. Re-Animator
(US, 1985, Stuart Gordon)
12. Frontière(s)
(France, 2007, Xavier Gens)
13. Hostel: Part II
(US, 2007, Eli Roth)
(US, 1985, George A. Romero)
2. Braindead
(NZ, 1991, Peter Jackson)
3. The Thing
(US, 1982, John Carpenter)
4. 30 Days of Night
(US, 2007, David Slade)
5. À l'intérieur
(France, 2007, Alexandre Bustillo & Julien Maury)
6. Imprint
(Japan, 2006, Takashi Miike)
7. The Evil Dead
(US, 1982, Sam Raimi)
8. Land of the Dead
(Unrated version, US, 2005, George A. Romero)
9. Cannibal Holocaust
(Italy, 1980, Ruggero Deodato)
10. Opera
(Italy, 1987, Dario Argento)
11. Re-Animator
(US, 1985, Stuart Gordon)
12. Frontière(s)
(France, 2007, Xavier Gens)
13. Hostel: Part II
(US, 2007, Eli Roth)
Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988), Dawn of the Dead (2004), The Hills Have Eyes (2006), Dèmoni (1985), RoboCop (1986), Feast (2005), and 28 Weeks Later (2007) didn’t make the final 13, but they deserve a mention.
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Comment by Damo
You have to love that.
Comment by Morgan Bell
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Artist Quirk
id probably say
- House Of Wax (2005)
actually i think thats my whole list, im not really that into gore
sometimes just a splash of gore in an otherwise non-gorey movie can make you shudder, like the cheek biting scene in Cape Fear, or the curly torture scenes in Pans Labyrinth
i liked 30 Days Of Night, i didnt find it that gorey, although i guess you do see more blood than a regular vampire flick . . . would you believe thats the only movie i have seen from your list?
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Morgan, you didn't find 30 Days of Night that gory??!!! It has the best decapitation (savagely and messily by axe) scene in horror history (although The Omen runs a close second) ... also my father's in it, he's the first victim, the old codger.
I don't think I've seen House of Wax, or if I have I've completely forgotten it. I'll check it out (again), even if it's just to see Paris get offed.
Pan's Labyrinth has a particularly nasty bludgeoning by wine bottle ... and then there's the razor blade too.
Comment by Morgan Bell
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Artist Quirk
thats a very cool claim to fame!
maybe all the snow just gave it a clean feeling? *shrug*
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Comment by Morgan Bell
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Artist Quirk
as you can see it was all totally implied
Comment by Kleonaptra
Kalikapsychosis
Popping off zombie celebs was a special moment.
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Kleo, yeah Zack Snyder impressed the hell out of me with his re-envisioning.
Comment by Edinburgh festival grinch
Last House on the Left might be worth a mention too.
As far as decapitation scenes go you should check out Severance - a cool horror comedy - with the emphasis on horror and also The Cottage - with possibly the most gruesome decapitation scene of them all which involves a face, a shovel and a foot.
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
I'm not impressed with the original Last House, the special effects aren't very special at all. I haven't seen the remake yet, it hasn't been released down under.
I haven't heard of Severance, but I quite enjoyed The Cottage. Best decapitation scenes for me are The Omen (glass plane), Haute Tension (wardrobe) and 30 Days of Night (axe), but yes, The Cottage has a pretty good one.
Comment by dwllamorte dellamore
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Yup, yup, yup. All worthy mentions. Some of the sfx are a little dodgy in places in some of those movies, but the intent is clear. Savini is a legend. Cheers mate.
Comment by Anonymous
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Comment by Anonymous
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Comment by seve
It really caught me off guard and made me feel very uneasy,
Comment by ZombiFreak
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
I'll spell things out for you shall I?
If you'd actually read the introduction to my list, which you obviously didn't, I describe the criteria for my selection.
My list of goriest movies is based on how convincing the special effects make-up are. In my humble opinion none of the movies you mentioned have particularly convincing special effects make up, either because the colour and consistency of blood is wrong, or the dismembered limbs look fake, etc, etc.
I love many Fulci movies, but not because I think the special effects are awesome. I enjoy his movies for their atmosphere and creepiness. The same goes for Argento. I'm a huge Argento fan. Suspiria's special effects are dodgy as hell, but the movie as an overall experience is brilliant. Opera's gore effects are far more convincing!
Day of the Dead easily beats Cannibal Holocaust in the special effects department. The woman impaled on the spear is the most impressive special effect, but it doesn't come close to the realism of Day of the Dead's arm amputation or face tearing. Cannibal Holocaust is definitely grim and horrific, but it is most shocking for the disgusting butchery of the live turtle. But that doesn't count, because it's not a special effect.
So, you can't call my list flawed. You can disagree with it, that's your prerogative, but next time before you get all high and mighty make sure you understand where I'm coming from first, cheers!
Comment by ZombiFreak
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
I quite agree that great special effects do not make a great film. The special effects makeup in Tim Burton's re-envisioning of Planet of the Apes is very impressive, but the movie barks like a bloody dog!
Comment by ZombiFreak
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
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Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Comment by ZombiFreak
Comment by Xstine
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
I've seen 3 Extremes, and Dumplings is the best of the three. The concept is very gross indeed, but it didn't make the goriest list.
Comment by ZombiFreak
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
My fave of the series in this order:
Day of the Dead
Night of the Living Dead
Land of the Dead
Dawn of the Dead
Diary of the Dead
Apparently Survival of the Dead will be his last. But I'm still hanging out for Twilight of the Dead or Dusk of the Dead ...
Comment by ZombiFreak
My fave's are as follows:
Dawn Of The Dead (All Time Fave!!)
Night Of The Living Dead
Day Of The Dead
Land Of The Dead
Diary Of The Dead
I also love in "Land" when Tom Savini's biker character w/ machete in hand is still in it!!