Top 10 Horrific Movie Scenes You Can Never Unsee

Don’t the let black and white image imagery fool you, as this is most definitely not a cute little French New Wave flick. No, it’s a Dutch exploitation film, in which kidnapped human beings are forcefully conjoined by one odd duck - a man infatuated with the original film. Bizarre, right? Well, yeah, and the sequence of events that leads to a laxative-induced moment will challenge the patience of most viewers. Once Laurence R. Harvey assembles his centipede, he inflicts torture and fuses the humans together, and once that laxative kicks in, well, it was literally an explosive moment.

Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier has directed a number of “unique” films over the years, and he took his art to a horrific place with the experimental film entitled…”Antichrist.” It’s not exactly a first-date movie, however the plot does, in fact, revolve around a couple played by Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg. Upon the accidental death of their son, the severely depressed duo retreats to the woods, and by “Chapter 4,” the wife has not only smashed the testicles of her husband and drilled a hole in his leg, but has also buried him alive. Unable to escape her mental anguish, the woman known only as “She” turns to physical mutilation to satisfy herself in a most unorthodox way.

In this classic David Fincher film, a hotshot detective joins forces with a skeptical veteran to track down someone methodically killing his victims by way of “The Seven Deadly Sins.” Once “gluttony” and “greed” have been checked off, Mills and Somerset are led to a filthy apartment, where they are presented with a disfigured corpse representing “Sloth.” Disgusting? Absolutely, but this type of “disgusting” can usually be unseen, figuratively speaking. However, when the emaciated child molester begins coughing and violently shaking, the moment effectively caused permanent psychological damage to the characters…and now you, Mojoholics. Hey, we warned you.

Now here’s a bit of life advice: (1) Don’t ever inject heroin into your body (2) Drugs may provide temporary comfort, but they will always distort your judgment. For example, take “Rent Boy” Renton, an addict who inadvertently takes home a 15-year-old-girl and nearly loses his life before his parents lock him away to recover. And this is when shit gets real, or at least real strange. As Rent Boy goes through withdrawal, he’s reminded of a deceased infant girl. And the feeling of dread takes on a new form once the baby appears on the ceiling and turns her little head.

You know what they say: Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice and I will smash your ankles to smithereens. Ok, nobody actually said that, but this woman conveyed the idea ever so slightly after a kidnapped author manages to sneak away from her violent obsessions. Through a chance encounter, novelist Paul Sheldon is rescued by an unusual nurse, but she has a slightly different idea of “recovery.” And to permanently end the escape plans of Mr. Sheldon, she adopts a punishment method formerly used in the mines. It’s called “hobbling,” and through one swift whack, Annie Wilkes showed just how effective it can be.

In 2010, a Serbian named Srban Spasojevic released a film that was essentially the be all-end all of the “torture porn” genre. Where do we even start? In a meta commentary with a horror twist, a porn star agrees to partake in a cinematic piece of “art,” which proves to be a little too much for his particular tastes. Rape. Decapitation. Child abuse. It goes on and on. It’s 104 minutes of complete lunacy that will anger most who read the plot description, let alone spend the time watching the film. And by the final scene, it only gets worse.

In a film that contains a graphic destruction of a wrongfully accused rapist’s head, it was the rape scene itself that initially caused viewers to cover their eyes and shake their own heads. With a non-linear plot, the madness arrives when an Italian woman, played by Monica Bellucci, attracts the attention of a pimp named “Le Tenia,” who proceeds to anally rape the woman during an extended sequence that ends with the victim being assaulted even further until she’s unconscious. Roger Ebert described the overall production as “a movie so violent and cruel that most people will find it unwatchable,” and he was spot on given the sheer cruelty of this particular scene.

As we’ve seen in our #4 entry, some movie scenes stay with us due to their prolonged nature. However, this moment was cemented into our minds with one stomp. In a flashback sequence, a buffed up Neo Nazi awakens to discover a robbery in progress, this coming after a pickup basketball game against local gang members, and one of the perpetrators finds himself curbside with a pissed off skinhead looking over him. And just when you think director Tony Kaye might artistically convey the idea of what’s known as a “California Smile,” he goes all in with an explicit wide shot that reveals the act in real-time.

If the rape sequence of “Irreversible” made viewers tremble due to the brutality and extended sequence, this scene had the same effect, albeit in a slightly different way. In David Fincher’s adaptation of the Swedish novel, a mentally damaged woman falls victim to a man who was supposed to protect her. Though Lisbeth Salander planned to frame her legal guardian by documenting his corrupt behavior, she finds herself being further victimized in a most horrific way. And that’s what makes this inherently disturbing moment so gut wrenching, as the hacker does everything she can to protect herself, only to be victimized once again. However, Lisbeth does ultimately take revenge.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
- Eye Scream
“Hostel” (2005)
- Bad Dog
“Cabin Fever” (2002)
- Squeal Like a Pig
“Deliverance” (1972)
- Outdoors Operation
“127 Hours” (2010)
- Animal Cruelty and Cannibalism
“Cannibal Holocaust” (1980)

In arguably the most acclaimed horror film ever made, the soul of 12-year-old Regan MacNeil disappears as a demon takes control of her body, and well, said demon Pazuzu aims to live up to its reputation, especially when a priest comes knocking. However, in this sequence of events, it’s Mom that finds herself terrorized, as the demon naturally grabs the most religious object in the room and proceeds to violently masturbate, all the while questioning the sexual activity of the man known as… Jesus. You have officially been mind (bleeped) forever…and ever…and ever, as no one can unsee the imagery of this unholy fix.

Do you agree with our list? What is your favorite horrific movie scene you can never unsee? For more mind-blowing Top 10s published daily, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.