15 Goriest Horror Movies That Will Make You Uncomfortable (2024)

While there are dozens of different subgenres of horror, many of the genres diehard fans would hold the view that scary movies are truly in their element when they are mixing mounting tension and terrifying scares with the gruesome punch of intense blood and gore. A little bit of violence can go a long way if used well, but these gory horror movies set out to prove that blood in abundance can have a very strong effect on audiences as well.

From purposefully revolting horror comedies that sought to cross the line and sickened fans in the process to instant slasher classics that flaunted extreme violence as its most disturbing device, these horror films have solidified themselves as notorious flicks on account of their graphic visuals. The desired byproduct of this has always been to have even the most hardened horror fans feeling at least a little queasy as the gore reaches absurd levels.

15 'High Tension' (2003)

Directed by Alejandro Aja

High Tension (also known in some places as Switchblade Romance) excels as a gory, thrilling slasher film that delivers on genre tropes in spades to be an essential gem for all lovers of blood-and-guts horror. Marie (Cécile de France) joins her friend, Alex (Maïwenn), in holidaying at her family’s remote house for a weekend, only for the two girls to find themselves fighting for their lives as a serial killer begins stalking them.

While critics berated the film for some questionable narrative decisions in the final act (resulting in one of the worst endings in horror movies), fans of the genre have come to appreciate High Tension’s impressive ability to generate immersive thrills and offer reward in the form of some extreme death scenes. In fact, the film is so bloody that several scenes were edited ahead of the American release.

High Tension

R

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Release Date

June 18, 2003

Director

Alexandre Aja

Cast

Cecile de France , Maïwenn Le Besco , Philippe Nahon , Franck Khalfoun , Andrei Finti , Oana Pellea

Runtime

85

14 'The Sadness' (2021)

Directed by Rob Jabbaz

A relatively recent horror splatter fest that has become a critically lauded success, The Sadness is yet another Asian masterpiece to have made a significant impact internationally. Set in Taipei, Taiwan, it follows a young couple pushed to the limits of sanity as they try to be reunited while a horrific illness transforms the people around them from peaceful citizens to bloodthirsty and sad*stic monsters.

The dystopian horror has made an instant impact with its graphic depictions of brutal acts, making it a visceral and stomach-churning movie that tests even the most hardened of genre lovers. On top of that, it also flaunts a light social commentary exploring how people respond to catastrophic disasters. The Sadness is clearly inspired by Garth Ennis’ graphic novel series Crossed, which was even more visually explicit in terms of showcasing the atrocities the infected were capable of.

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13 'Cannibal Holocaust' (1980)

Directed by Ruggero Deodato

One of the most infamous and controversial movies ever made, Ruggero Deodato’s 1980 gorefest Cannibal Holocaust is a sickening and disturbing adventure through a hellish nightmare in the Amazon rainforest. Effectively a found footage horror, it follows a professor on a rescue mission to locate documentary filmmakers who went missing while trying to document Amazonian tribes. When he discovers their camera, he takes it back to America and witnesses the horrors the crew endured.

Famous for its graphic and intense violence, Cannibal Holocaust has become something of a polarizing cult classic, with some heralding it as a genius commentary on exploitative film, while others view it to be a cheap and disgusting piece of shock cinema. Containing real animal cruelty and leading to Deodato being investigated for murder to ensure none of the actors were killed during filming, Cannibal Holocaust is an extreme horror film not at all for the faint of heart.

Cannibal Holocaust

Unrated

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See Also

The Best Horror Movie of 2021 Winner - IGNThe 12 Best Horror Movies Of 2021, Ranked - SlashFilmThe 10 Best Horror Movies of 2021The Best Horror Films of 2021 (So Far)

Release Date

June 21, 1985

Director

Ruggero Deodato

Cast

Robert Kerman , Francesca Ciardi , Perry Pirkanen , Luca Barbareschi

Runtime

95 minutes

12 'Day of the Dead' (1985)

Directed by George A. Romero

From zombie maestro George A. Romero, Day of the Dead is an all-time highlight of undead thrills that saw the director further press the boundaries with his bloodiest and most shocking film. With the world overrun by zombies, the film follows a group of scientists, civilians, and soldiers as they take shelter in a missile silo. Tensions arise as the undead begin to gather outside.

Not only is it the filmmaker's most visually striking film, it is also one of Romero's most thematically rich and philosophical. However, it doesn’t skimp on the horror allure, containing many graphic scenes of zombies tearing people apart with little being left to the imagination. While it manages to strike a fun horror tone most of the time, some sequences are still able to get viewers feeling queasy even almost four decades after the initial release.

11 'Inside' (2007)

Directed by Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury

One of the most unrecognized horror gems of the 21st century, 2007’s contained slasher thriller Inside is 81 minutes of pure, eye-averting terror that squeezes every drop of tension and angst from its premise. The extreme French horror film follows a heavily pregnant widow still reeling from her husband’s death just months earlier who finds must fight to protect her unborn child when a scissor-wielding psychopath begins tormenting her on Christmas Eve.

A true masterpiece of white-knuckle suspense and gobsmacking gore, Inside is a viscerally intense spectacle of blood-splattering mania that never gives its audiences a chance to catch their breath. Its appetite for blood and gore is insatiable, but so too is its knack for heart-pounding tension. The end result is an exhausting, exhilarating horror triumph that balances graphic gore with enthralling suspense to be a perfectly balanced slasher that is as entertaining as it is traumatic.

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10 'Braindead' (1992)

Directed by Peter Jackson

Braindead (also known as Dead Alive) was a major film in the context of New Zealand filmmaking legend Peter Jackson's career. Through the early stages of his career, Jackson was most at home at blending horror and comedy together with striking visual displays, usually rich with obscene and excessive gore as well as a cynically humorous use of puppetry and stop-motion animation.

Braindead, the director's third feature film, was no exception, combining classic zombie thrills with goofy gags and making it one of the goriest movies ever made. It focuses on a young man whose over-protective mother tries to spy on his romance and is bitten by a Sumatran rat-monkey in the process, turning her into a zombie. While the horror movie's tone is primarily wild fun, it still features a great deal of graphic and inventive gore which often makes it both hilarious and unsettling at the same time.

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9 'Tokyo Gore Police' (2008)

Directed by Yoshihiro Nishimura

An energetic meshing of action and horror in the fashion which Japanese cinema typically does so very well, Tokyo Gore Police prided itself on delivering as much carnage and blood as it could in its limited runtime. Set in a dystopian future, the extravagant and bloody action film follows a police officer as she sets out to avenge her father while doing battle with a mob of mutated cyborgs known as rebels.

The story itself is all-out action, but the film finds no small amount of horror appeal in its sickeningly gruesome aesthetic. Categorized as a splatter film, its violence is confronting, to say the least, while there is also a great deal of inspiration from body horror cinema present on screen as well. The end result is a relentless killing spree of a movie that seeks to nauseate and disturb and passes that mark with flying colors.

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8 'Ichi the Killer' (2001)

Directed by Takashi Miike

As a Yakuza splatter film that was banned in some countries on account of its graphic and cruel depictions of violence, Ichi the Killer is the perfect film for audiences who want to be absolutely bombarded with blood and gore. The Japanese film follows Ichi (Nao Omori), a sexually repressed and psychotic ex-gangster who is coaxed into brutally killing rival gang members all while being pursued by a sadomasoch*stic Yakuza enforcer.

Another splatter film, Ichi the Killer functions mostly as an intense action movie, but its ultra-realistic effects and its copious amounts of blood and gore make it right at home as a deeply disturbing visual horror. The violence on display is also further enhanced by solid cinematography consisting of crafty tracking shots and innovative angles which ensure audiences don't miss a single gory detail.

Ichi the Killer

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Release Date

December 22, 2001

Director

Takashi Miike

Cast

Tadanobu Asano , Nao Omori , Shin'ya Tsukamoto , Paulyn Sun , Susumu Terajima , Shun Sugata , Tôru Tezuka , Yoshiki Arizono

Runtime

129 Minutes

7 'Terrifier 2' (2022)

Directed by Damien Leone

Now a major horror brand, the Terrifier films have become a leading title in modern slasher cinema despite there being just two entries to the franchise to date. While the original 2016 film was plenty violent, it was nothing compared to 2022's Terrifier 2 which upped the ante in terms of graphic gore as it followed Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton) as he is resurrected by an evil entity and sets to terrorizing a teenage girl and her younger brother on Halloween.

The film is filled with gruesome kills, torture devices, and gallons upon gallons of blood - not to mention some pretty intense sound effects to go with them just to ensure the audience is definitely squirming in their seats. It was so graphic in some scenes that there were reports of people being physically sick in the cinema when it was released.

Terrifier 2

NR

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The 57 Best Horror Movies of 2021, Ranked

Release Date

October 6, 2022

Director

Damien Leone

Cast

Felissa Rose , David Howard Thornton , Samantha Scaffidi , Griffin Santopietro , Tamara Glynn , Lauren LaVera

Runtime

138

6 'Evil Dead II' (1987)

Directed by Sam Raimi

A true iconic of horror cinema, Evil Dead II took the possession terror of the first installment and ramped it up with more blood and gore, and a more comedic and eccentric touch to boot. As the sole survivor of the Deadites' attack on the cabin, Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell) finds himself again fighting for his life in the remote cabin in the woods as the demonic entities continue their onslaught against him and a band of strangers in the area.

While the film is celebrated for its ingenuity and its comedic inflection, it also functions as an astute horror movie with its shocking jump scares and its intense, gory violence. With dismemberment, explosions, zombies, brain-splatterings, and plenty of chainsaw kills, the special effects in the film are truly sensational and hold up well even today.

Evil Dead 2

R

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Release Date

March 13, 1987

Director

Sam Raimi

Cast

Bruce Campbell , Sarah Berry , Dan Hicks , Kassie Wesley DePaiva , Ted Raimi , Denise Bixler

Runtime

84 minutes

5 'Apocalypto' (2006)

Directed by Mel Gibson

A Mel Gibson masterpiece in gripping chase sequences and unrelenting intensity, Apocalypto is a phenomenal picture because of its immense violence rather than in spite of it. Set in 16th century Mexico, it follows a tribal warrior who is captured by the Mayan kingdom and marched to an ancient city where he is to be sacrificed to appease the Gods, prompting him to mount an escape which leads to a deadly pursuit.

While it quickly developed a polarizing reputation on account of its shocking violence and brutality which left many viewers feeling a little uncomfortable, Apocalypto did earn high praise from a number of filmmakers. Martin Scorsese even commended the film for its endeavor to go to such troubling areas and depict violence with unflinching earnestness.

Apocalypto

R

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Release Date

December 8, 2006

Director

Mel Gibson

Cast

Rudy Youngblood , Dalia Hernández , Jonathan Brewer , Morris Birdyellowhead , Carlos Emilio Báez , Amilcar Ramírez

Runtime

139 minutes

4 'The Beyond' (1981)

Directed by Lucio Fulci

Italian cinema contributed some truly great horror movies through the '70s and '80s, but few were as disturbing or as intensely gory as 1981's The Beyond. The supernatural horror movie focuses on a woman who inherits an old hotel only to be plagued by bizarre and paranormal events before she finally learns that the building was erected over an entrance to hell.

Director Lucio Fulci was intent on using high-impact blood and gore to shake audiences to the core, with the film featuring flesh-eating zombies, animal cruelty, falling eyeballs, and even displays of self-cannibalism. A true hellish horror, The Beyond is one of the quintessential gory movies reserved for only the most extreme horror fans due to its ability to make viewers incredibly uncomfortable and even physically ill.

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3 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2' (1986)

Directed by Tobe Hooper

If The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a defining horror classic, renowned for its atmospheric dread and unshakable terror, then The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 is probably viewed as a bit of a disappointment in comparison, one not helped by its striking tonal shift and its use of black comedy. The shame in that is the ambitious sequel actually has a lot going for it, especially in the way of graphic blood and gore where it surpasses the original.

The sprawling story has a couple of tangents, with a radio DJ being abducted by Leatherface (Bill Johnson) and his cannibalistic family to be tormented while a former Texas Ranger hunts down the murderous pack to avenge his niece and nephew. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 contains brutal murders, intense torture scenes, dismemberment, and shockingly explicit gore to be a deeply unsettling and underrated horror experience.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2

R

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Release Date

August 22, 1986

Director

Tobe Hooper

Cast

Dennis Hopper , Caroline Williams , Jim Siedow , Bill Moseley , Bill Johnson , Ken Evert

Runtime

89

2 'Re-Animator' (1985)

Directed by Stuart Gordon

As a truly masterful blend of horror and comedy, Re-Animator was a sensational mixture of genres that managed to capitalize on the shocking impact of horror without missing out on delivering genuinely hilarious deadpan gags. Loosely based on H. P. Lovecraft's Herbert West-Reanimator, the 1985 film tracks a medical student who has created a serum that can bring dead tissue back to life, embroiling an impassioned local and his girlfriend in the experiments.

The movie is loaded with shocking moments, not only due to its surprisingly intense blood and gore, but also because of its complete lack of restraint when it comes to exploring its themes. While the film does undercut its squeamish gore with its use of comedy quite well, it can't be denied that the bloodiness is incredibly disturbing and certainly won't sit well with all viewers.

Re-Animator

Unrated

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Release Date

October 18, 1985

Director

Stuart Gordon

Cast

Jeffrey Combs , Bruce Abbott , Robert Sampson , David Gale , Barbara Crampton

Runtime

84 Minutes

1 'Saw III' (2006)

Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman

When it comes to graphic gore, there are few franchises with the notoriety of the Saw movies, with Saw III being a stand-out of the series for its elaborate traps and sickening violence. However, the film doesn't just hang its hat on its shock value and twisted ideas, but seeks to pack an added heft through its thematic exploration of morality and how someone values or should value their own life.

Whether this made for a truly compelling narrative can be debated, but few would deny that this extra motivation for the traps and inevitable killings gave the gore on display an even more unsettling quality. From the vat of rotten pig corpses to the limb-snapping dread of the rack, the film is an effective masterwork in unsettling violence and contains many of the best traps in the Saw franchise.

Saw III

R

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Release Date

October 27, 2006

Director

darren lynn bousman

Cast

Tobin Bell , Shawnee Smith , Angus Macfadyen , Bahar Soomekh , Dina Meyer

Runtime

108 minutes

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