My Most Disturbing Movie Experiences

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34.

Demolition



This twisted look at the grieving process was a really troublesome watch for me...Jake Gyllenhaal plays a man whose wife dies in a car crash (he was in the car and survived without a scratch) and instead of going through the usual channels of grief, this character finds violence and destruction to be the only outlet for his grief. We understand the guy's initial feelings about not wanting to talk to anyone about what he's feeling, which includes pushing his father-in-law (Chris Cooper) away, but it's bizarre when he loses some money in a vending machine and starts pouring out his feelings in letters to the vending company, which lead to a possible relationship with an employee there (Naomi Watts). This movie creeped me out because I never imagined destruction as an outlet of grief...it's so bizarre watching him walk by a demolition site and pay the foreman money to let him help tear down the house, not to mention when he actually destroys his own house. This character is teetering on the edge of something throughout the film, but we're never exactly sure what it is.



I can understand Demolition because I found it to be a little upsetting myself. A decent movie, but not nearly as good as it could have been.



The Assassination of Richard Nixon, that was a very cool/interesting movie and not well known. I had no idea that there was an assassination attempt on Richard Nixon and he almost pulled it off.


Sophie's Choice, didn't care for this oneto much, Meryl Streep was excellent though.



33.

Clean and Sober



Another excellent movie that had my stomach in knots for the majority of the running time. Michael Keaton gives a brilliant performance as Daryl Poynter, an alcoholic and drug addict in complete denial who checks into rehab to avoid criminal prosecution. I was bothered that this guy was responsible for the death of another human being and decided to use a rehabilitation center in order to hide from the police. Possibly the most aggravating scene in the film involved Daryl breaking into his former office looking for cash to steal and then getting on the phone to call his parents and asking them to take out a second mortgage on their house and give him the money so he can continue partying. Daryl does eventually face the truth about himself, but it takes way too long.



32.

Fearless



It's in my top 3 Jeff Bridges performances, but this movie is not an easy watch...Bridges plays Max, whose life is forever changed after surviving a plane crash that killed is best friend and business partner. This was unique cinematic territory that explored the after effects of a tragedy unlike it had ever been done before, but doesn't make this what happens to Max any less disturbing...I hated the way Max completely disconnected from his wife (Isabella Rosselini) and son and could only connect with another crash survivor (Rosie Perez), who lost her baby in the crash and a young boy who survived the crash and has pushed away his family to be with Max. The most troubling part of Max's story was that he began to feel omnipotent and begins a lot of dangerous and foolish behavior and pushes Perez' character to experience it with him. This movie was like a raw nerve that stung long after the credits rolled, but the ending is spectacular.



Bridges is excellent in Fearless. I liked his performance alot more than i liked the movie. And yeah it is pretty disturbing, i think his relationship with the young boy freaked me out more than any of the invincible stuff. That scene with all the press there when the kid is with his dad and he's saying he doesn't want to be away from Bridges because he feels safe with him creeped me right out, the weird connection the survivors had in general was disturbing.



I've loved Clean and Sober since it came out. I never thought of it as disturbing, but I definitely found the fate of a main character upsetting.

I've seen Fearless once. I know I liked it but it didn't make a big impact on me.



31.
Training Day



Yes, Denzel Washington won an Oscar for this well-made movie, but there;s an awful lot of unpleasant stuff going on here. Ethan Hawke plays Jake Hoyt, a narcotics officer who is excited to begin training for a new position with a veteran cop named Alonzo Harris (Washington) who puts young Hoyt in one nasty position after another. Harris forces Hoyt to smoke marijuana while on duty, leaves him alone in the home of some very dangerous drug dealers and tries to frame him for the murder of an acquaintance of Harris who is trying to get his hands on a large stash of cash the guy has. Alonzo Harris really has nothing resembling a moral compass and is capable of just about anything, including using his infant son as a shield to avoid being shot. This movie was really well-made and both Washington and Hawke were superb, but this was no musical comedy.



30.

Arlington Road



Jeff Bridges plays a college professor who learns his new neighbor (Tim Robbins) is not who he says he is and his efforts to prove this result in finding out some disturbing news regarding his late wife's death, as well as putting his own life in danger...this film disturbed and aggravated as we watched a seemingly innocent man seeking truth and justice and never finding the payoff he deserved.



the grotesque 1995



I don't remember Training Day being disturbing, but I do remember being disappointed by it.
Same here. It was alright but disappointing. Pretty sure Alonzo is inspired by the Rampart guys particularly David Mack, i've read alot about Rampart so that was the thing that interested me the most. I didn't find it disturbing but could see how someone could.

And yeah i really liked Arlington Road. Don't know if it was because i was young but i didn't see the end coming.



“I was cured, all right!”
40.

The Exorcist



I'm pretty sure this film's appearance on this list shouldn't be a big surprise, but this film was disturbing on so many levels for me and probably not for the reasons you expect. Needless to say, the idea of a demon taking possession of a 12 year old was not exactly a user friendly story, but William Peter Blatty's Oscar winning screenplay added some layers that made the story even more troubling...I was troubled by the fact that Regan's mother, Chris (Ellen Burstyn) was not the least bit religious and fought the final diagnosis of what was happening to her daughter throughout. I was also very troubled not only by this demon getting inside of this little girl, but also the demon's torture of Damian Karras (Jason Miller), a priest already doubting his faith and tortured by the death of his mother and how the demon preyed on Karras' guilt about his mother to drive him over the edge...the moment when the voice of Damian's mother came out of Regan's mouth just made me sick to my stomach.
Saw it for the first time when the uncut version was release in DVD back in 2000! I was 7... What a mistake... Scare the **** out of me!



29.

Forrest Gump



Yes, it won the Oscar for Best Picture of 1994, but the bloom has really worn off this rose for me...this movie asks us to swallow a whole lot of stuff that I just couldn't. I was initially troubled by the fact that Mama Gump (Sally Field) actually had sex with the head of the school where she wanted to enroll Forrest to ensure his acceptance. We were supposed to believe that Forrest was present at the famous Brown Vs Board of Education walk, met two United States presidents, and met Elvis at his mom's boarding house shortly before his first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, but these were minor quibbles compared to my major problem with this movie and that is the character of Jenny (Robin Wright). I am one of the few people who thinks Jenny used and abused Forrest...pushing him aside when his presence was inconvenient and making him feel like the most important guy in the world when it suited her purposes. She blew off Forrest when he proposed to her but conveniently shows up on his doorstep after he gets rich and she's contracted AIDS. I am also not convinced that Forrest was the actual biological father of the boy (Haley Joel Osment) she saddles Forrest with when she's too sick too take care of him. Jenny's treatment of Forrest in this movie was beyond disturbing. Oh, and did you know Forrest also invented the smiley face?