For those interested in the cinema genre that aims to exploit our desire to witness extreme, brutally violent, and sadistic acts and premises, this list of the five most disturbing movies of the 2010s is for you.
This list highlights more recent disturbing films for those looking for modern quality shock and gore. It is a short list, but will bring you the most creatively twisted, perverse and transgressive movies from our last decade. Viewer discretion is advised.
1. Hell House LLC (2015)
Hell House LLC is based five years after 15 people were killed during a haunted house tour when a documentary crew visits the scene to investigate what really happened. The story then dives into the found footage from Hell House to tell the story of the opening night massacre.
A series of subtle but unsettling scares build on each other, culminating in the night of the haunted house tour. The footage takes a chilling descent into the layered mystery of the house itself and how it starts to affect the Hell House crew.
The final few scenes come back to the documentary in the present and deliver a terrifying plot twist that sets the stage for future sequels.
2. Midsommar (2019)
Rotten Tomato describes the plot as “A young American couple, their relationship foundering, travel to a fabled Swedish midsummer festival where a seemingly pastoral paradise transforms into a sinister, dread-soaked nightmare as the locals reveal their terrifying agenda.”
Everything that scares you about cults, seclusion, and ritualistic violence will no doubt come to haunt you during this movie. It has an unexpectedly visceral way of gripping you into the menace closing in around the characters and keeping you there from beginning to end.
3. VHS (2012)
When four criminals are hired online to rob a creepy derelict house of a rare VHS tape, they discover more found footage and encounter more than they bargained for within the house. Told as an anthology series of found footage, VHS takes you down multiple short storylines, each one delivering a different kind of scare.
Having five different stories to scare you is better than one in this case. Each story spins together the right amount of chilling development and shocking moments of terror to perfectly fit the found footage anthology theme.
4. The Green Inferno (2013)
As the modern tribute in likeness to the beloved Cannibal Holocaust, The Green Inferno follows a group of young activists before and after their plane goes down in the Amazon, and a tribal group of cannibals captures them. What ensues is systematic depravity, torture, and Eli Roth style gore.
While also giving glimmers of hope for the characters involved, the plot touches on various social and geopolitical issues. While this film has had mixed reviews, it is the best modern cannibal subgenre film of the last three decades.
5. The Babadook (2014)
This is the most mainstream film that has made its way onto the list since The Babadook was actually released in theatres. But don’t let that fact deter you from thinking that this film won’t mess you’re your head and leave you wanting to keep the light on. The Babadook is a psychological horror film about a widow and her son who discover a monster in their home from the pages of a children’s’ book.
This movie has a gripping storyline told by great actors tormented by an eerily crafty figure. The Babadook grounds actual frightening experiences in the human experience of anxiety and depression.
Conclusion
Each of these films delivers psychological torment next to well-crafted and unique storylines. They highlight the mainstream to the subgenre of the best horror films of the 2010s.
Any one of these movies is sure to leave you unsettled, and recommending them to your friends so they can share in the terrifying experience.
