Rec me intense and disturbing films from the 70s and 80s.

Nekromantic

It's already mentioned in the OP. Though I kind of disagree with OP about it being just silly - in my opinion it's somewhat clumsy parody of a traditional art house movie (or at least a parody of a straw man version of such). Nekromantik 2, if memory serves me right, is much better as a movie though.

I've recommended movies ranging from Irreversible to Salo to Caligula to certain friends. I have never recommended Sweet Movie to anyone and I don't think I ever will. Unless, of course, I want to end the friendship and burn some bridges on the way out.

Some of the films people mentioned here I didn't find disturbing at all, or only a little bit disturbing. But I guess different people find different things disturbing.

Yep. That's a pretty disturbing documentary. While we're at it... Joshua Oppenheimer's The Act of Killing and (to a lesser extent) the follow-up The Look of Silence are pretty disturbing too. Especially the former, probably the heaviest documentary I've ever seen. One of the men (almost) literally vomits his own soul towards the end of the film. What a powerful piece of filmmaking!
The film was so real the director was actually accussed of really murdering the actors. Ruggero Deodato (the director) deliberately told the actors to not show themselves publicly for a month which led to the belief they were actually killed by the cannibals. They weren't, and the director avoided the law suit. He couldn't avoid the law suit for scenes of real animal cruelty, though. Ruggero made some other ultra brutal, disturbing films, out of which my favourite was The House on the Edge of the Park - a truly harrowing home invasion horror starring David Hess (he almost reprises his performance from The Last House on the Left - a weaker film yet one still worth recommending).
Both this and Cannibal Holocaust were already mentioned by the OP, so I didn't mention them either. You're right the Nekromatnik duology films have this black comedy touch that makes them way more enjoyable. Many iconic scenes and great music to go with them. Two classics in my opinion! These were not the only movies directed by Jörg Buttgereit, though. Arguably his most ambitious, Der Todesking, is basically an arthouse film. Schramm is worth your time, too. His Captain Berlin versus Hitler is way inferior and not disturbing in the least, but pretty out there. Worth checking out too I believe.

I imagine if people are stretching disturbing so much as to include Suspiria, we could as well include some Fulci - Don't Torture a Duckling is my favourite of his. His The New York Ripper is more disturbing I believe. Also Lustig's Maniac comes to mind. You can also check out Fulci's gore films (my favourite is City of the Living Dead - but beware senseless plots crafted to resemble nightmares and high camp!

Almost all films I mentioned have incredible soundtracks. Worth listening to after you have watched the film!

Enjoy!

EDIT: I could talk for a long time about every position you listed, but I chose this one. It's pretty hard to undestand this film without knowledge about the history and politica of then Yugoslavia, so I understand why some people find this film as simple shocker (same with Pasolini's Salo). The film takes some from Viennese Actionism, but frankly I saw some more radical works from the movement before, so Sweet Film felt tame in comparison.
Anyways, Sweet Movie is a film of dychotomies: chocolate and sheet, sugar and blood, vomit and urine, Communism and Capitalism... If you feel like something really DISTURBING, SICK, EDGY like the most f*cked up you ever saw then watch Maria - Empfängnis - Aktion Hermann Nitsch. 7.abreaktionsspiel.

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Look, I'm not judging you - after all, I'm posting here myself, but maybe, just maybe, if you spent less time here and more time watching films, maybe, and I stress, maybe your taste would be of some value. Just a thought, ya know.

Oh that movie should absolutely be burned with fire. No doubt about it. So many levels of disturbing... But, you know, if tago really wants an envelope pusher thats definitely one... just be prepared for things most cultures consider so heinous that youll be revolted, maybe outraged.

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This is borderline heresy

City of the Living Dead and The Beyond are both excellent films. It saddens me that they're mostly known for the gore which is both small and rather insignificant part of them. They're some of the most beautifully shot horror films ever and very atmospheric as well. As a visual treat they're up there with Suspiria.

How is that a heresy? They're both camp (in a good way) and they are purely atmospheric and therefore don't make much sense, since Fulci was going for that dream feel.

The thing is I appreciated Salo. Its super disturbing sure but I get it for the most part and its well made for the most part and despite its extremes it didnt feel stupid or silly or outrageous to me in the least. It felt like a legitimate piece of art albeit SOMEtimes over the top but for a reason. And being familiar with Canterbury Tales and some other Pasolini works, it fit in with the FEEL of a Pasolini production. Sweet Movie just came off as surreal in an overindulgent chaotic inartistic way to me. Sure, it would have helped if I had taken a graduate course on the many obscure historical and artistic references foundational to it (I get the whole seduction of the dangers of communism thing but still doesnt make child seduction easy to watch) but by the time I finished watching it I didnt have any interest in that at all (generally watching a movie that references things I dont know or dont understand turns into an explosion of research and source seeking for weeks or months that doesnt fade until I feel at least some satisfaction that I understand the underpinnings of the art more than I did going in. This was definitely true for me with Salo by the way). Plus some of it is just rambling and silly beyond the symbolism. In fact I found the movie equal parts disturbing and confusing and boring. And thats quite a feat to pull off if you think about it.

Youll probably find it unsurprising my review of it (from like 2 years ago) included: "I probably could have used someone to walk me through this one. Be a guide for me and help me with the symbolism and to maintain some kind of coherence with what I was watching. Well that plus I'd have someone to hug when things got really terrifying..."


Yes Im sure youve seen it all... But just on an objective scale you have to admit coprophilic consumption and sexual fixation AND child seduction arent exactly mainstream movie themes. And we all have our certain things that push our buttons. Both those work for me (the forced sh*t eating scene in Salo was rough for me too!). And eye cutting... And genital mutilation (I still cringe when I think back on the the torture scenes von Trier dreamed up for Antichrist...)

But then I like being pushed and challanged. So I watch it all anyway. It just feels terrible when you get scenes like that in a movie that doesnt feel worth it.

I'm terrified already. You are talking to someone who buys movies people have told me are really over the top and then puts them on the shelf and is afraid to watch them... Ive had Serbian Film on that shelf for several years now as it seems to be the crown jewel for the extreme cinema adrenaline junkies who seek out such things to show off about what theyve seen. So I figured, all right, let me just go ahead and see what all the fuss is about. But I dont really have a desire to watch it yet though. Some day...

I don't agree on them being camp. For me camp is either something where the technical quality (or more precisely the lack of it) has negative (or at least "negative" cause it can be bad enough to be "good") effect on viewing experience or something that's main purpose is to be in bad enough taste to be generally considered offending (it's hard to explain what I mean but Pink Flamingos is a good example of such movie). Maybe I understand the term wrong but it has never crossed my mind that Fulci's could be camp.

Never crossed my mind that Fulci wasn't and isn't camp, and I've rewatched his films recently.

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Fulci's films are absolutely camp. Awesome and camp. Most glowing reviews you read of his films mention their campness as a positive attribute. It doesn't have to be a bad thing. It goes incredibly well with the insane worlds Fulci creates.

Eraserhead. That's an incredible movie I'll never want to see again.

The sweet house of horrors. That is the first horror I caught a glimpse of when I was younger and it was on tv. It's so bad that it's funny in my opinion

Here's a few more:

Prey (1977)
Communion (1989)
The Keep (1983)
Manhunter (1986)
The Company of Wolves (1984)
Hellraiser (1987)

thanks Min.I hinted at knowing about the court cases when I said I was sucked in by the indigenous women on cruifixes. What I asked of the OP was why he personally did not like the movie

Oh, actually another one that should be mentioned is Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (1973).

Its actually easy to find online :/

I didnt mean i disliked it. But i see it more as a B movie that just tries to shock you with disturbing imagery while i was looking more for stuff that could really get under my skin.

A Serbian film is more silly than anything imo.

hmmm

Good post I Rex.