Content Warning: The following article contains discussions of graphic violence, animal cruelty, sexual assault, and rape.Everybody loves a good scare, as the undying popularity of horror movies continues to prove. From unexpected jump scares and eerie atmosphere, to terrifying creatures and supernatural occurrences, a lot of fun can be had with the genre. However, these films aren’t always meant to be a pleasant experience, and there are some horror movies that are actually scary and truly disturbing and twisted that even the most seasoned enthusiast would struggle to sit through.

Whether it’s due to graphic violence, excessive gore, controversial subject matter, or unsettling imagery, these movies are hard to unsee. The scariest horror movies will definitely have viewers questioning the filmmaker's intentions and leave them with no desire to revisit them in the near future. These most disturbing horror movies in cinematic history are full of controversial plots and genuinely nightmare-inducing sequences, which often end up becoming hot topics of discussion among fans and critics alike. Feel good family fun, this certainly is not.

40 'Barbarian' (2022)

Director: Zach Cregger

Barbarian is one of the most bonkers horror movies to hit screens in recent memory. On the surface, it seems like your standard creepy horror flick. A woman named Tara (Georgina Campbell) books an Airbnb, only to find it has been double-booked by a mysterious stranger named Keith (Bill Skarsgård). Just when you think you know where the narrative is going, Barbarian flips the script and goes to a totally unexpected and wild place.

The film’s second half is completely demented and gross, but it does not reach the disturbing level of some of the higher-ranked films on this list due to its unexpected humor and self-awareness. Barbarian is a totally wild and unpredictable ride that will have viewers questioning what it is they just witnessed.

Rent on Apple TV

39 'The Perfection' (2018)

Director: Richard Shepard

Netflix has released a slew of original horror films, but one that stands out (and is easily underrated) is The Perfection, starring Get Out and M3GAN’s Allison Williams. Williams plays troubled music prodigy Charlotte, who returns to her prestigious music school to find that she has been replaced by new star pupil Lizzie (Logan Browning).

The pair are sent down a sinister path there is no returning from, embarking on the ultimate revenge plot. While viewers may initially make comparisons to a rivalry narrative like Black Swan, it turns out The Perfection is much more David Cronenberg's body horror style. The film takes big swings and risks, featuring some incredibly repulsive and striking imagery that will leave you squirming.

38 'Funny Games' (1997)

Director: Michael Haneke

Despite not technically being a horror movie, Michael Haneke’s original Funny Games is one of the most terrifying non-horror films of all time, and is truly difficult to stomach. The psychological thriller follows two young men (Arno Frisch and Frank Giering) who hold a family hostage in their lakeside vacation home. They abuse and force them to play sadistic games for their own sick entertainment.

The psychotic Paul (Firsch) and Peter (Giering) often break the fourth wall throughout the film, directly addressing the audience. The pair tease the viewers, asking them moral questions and therefore making them feel complicit by simply watching the torture play out on screen. It’s an effective narrative technique that makes the whole viewing experience much harder to digest. By the end of Funny Games, audiences will be asking themselves what exactly they got out of watching something so horrid.

37 'Deliver Us from Evil' (2014)

Director: Scott Derrickson

While there are definitely better exorcism films out there than Scott Derrickson’s Deliver Us from Evil, there is no denying that it leaves you feeling unsettled and frightened. Eric Bana plays Ralph, a police officer who teams up with Mendoza (Édgar Ramírez), a priest, to combat possessions that are wreaking havoc on New York City.

From gruesome corpses to otherworldly demons, Deliver Us from Evil features some truly grotesque and scarring imagery that leaves an impact. Its religious themes are also extremely dark and disturbing, but thanks to its cop drama element and moments of levity, it is not the scariest movie on this list. However, the film is still a gnarly and bleak horror outing that is not for the faint of heart.

36 '[Rec]' (2007)

Directors: Paco Plaza and Jaume Balagueró

The use of found-footage filmmaking is extremely popular within the horror genre, thanks to the success of films like The Blair Witch Project. One of the most effective and frightening uses of the stylistic technique can be seen in the Spanish horror film [Rec]. Entirely using found footage, it depicts a television reporter (Manuela Velasco) and her cameraman (Pablo Rosso), who follow emergency workers into a dark apartment building.

There is a virus outbreak, trapping everybody inside and slowly turning people into vicious cannibals. The found-footage presentation makes [Rec] feel terrifyingly authentic and intimate, fully immersing the viewer in a very realistic manner. The gruesome effects, convincing acting, and production elements make it feel as if you are watching a real TV report, and the film’s bleak ending will leave viewers feeling extremely unsettled.

Rent on Amazon

35 'Host' (2020)

Director: Rob Savage

We have all become far too familiar with Zoom and communicating remotely through work meetings and social catch-ups during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, director Rob Savage capitalized on the popularity of the application (and social circumstances) to make Host, a film that proves you don’t need a big budget to make something terrifying.

Filmed entirely through webcams and set on a computer screen, a group of friends perform an online seance and accidentally invite a demonic presence into their homes. Savage uses simple tricks to conjure up genuinely nasty scares during a heart-pounding runtime of just under an hour. Host is a brilliant technical experiment, and Zoom meetings will never be the same again.

34 'The Descent' (2005)

Director: Neil Marshall

One of the most terrifying and claustrophobic movies ever made, The Descent is a lean and nasty horror experience. The film follows a group of friends on a cave expedition, where they become trapped inside and are hunted by bloodthirsty creatures. The film is a back-to-basics horror thriller, utilizing the isolation and limited space of its setting for some truly horrific and visceral sequences.

It starts with a slow-burn build and then releases full carnage for its remaining runtime. The suffocating atmosphere of the caves and the situation makes this film so uncomfortable and scary to watch, as it plays on people’s real-life fears of closed and small spaces. The Descent’s ending is also incredibly grim, leaving viewers with a sense of hopelessness as the credits roll.

Watch on Amazon Prime

33 'Veronica' (2017)

Director: Paco Plaza

Commonly referred to as one of the scariest movies on Netflix, Veronica is full of well-executed scares and demonic imagery that will haunt audiences. During a solar eclipse, a teenage girl (Sandra Escacena) uses an Ouija board with her friends to summon her father. Afterward, she becomes plagued by evil forces.

Veronica features all the unease and spookiness of any possession film, but what really makes it so memorable and frightening is the fact that it is loosely based on a true story. It takes inspiration from the Vallecas case, where a young girl similarly used the board to contact a loved one, and died soon after. The movie has a sense of realism that makes it incredibly creepy and difficult to sit through.

Watch on Netflix

32 'The Hills Have Eyes' (2006)

Director: Alexandre Aja

While the 1977 version of The Hills Have Eyes is definitely a horror classic, its 2006 remake is certainly more effective and brutal, and might even be a better version. The film follows a family traveling to California to celebrate an anniversary, but things turn nightmarish when they are captured by mutated cannibals.

The Hills Have Eyes features extreme gore and repulsive elements like animal cruelty and sexual assault, with certain scenes that are particularly hard to stomach. It will make your skin crawl and have you most likely avoiding any kind of road trips in the near future. The mutant cannibals, and the acts they commit, are absolutely horrific. While it’s a well-made horror film that certainly leaves a mark, it is equally traumatizing.

Rent on Apple TV

31 'Sinister' (2012)

Director: Scott Derrickson

Considered by many to be the scariest modern horror film of all time, Sinister is… well, pretty darn sinister. Ethan Hawke plays Ellison Oswald, a true crime non-fiction crime writer who moves his family into a house where gruesome murders took place. Desperate for inspiration for his work, he delves into who may have been responsible for those murders, but his research reveals horrifying discoveries.

The film has a simple plot but is executed in a way that will be lodged in your subconscious for a long time. The Super-8 tapes Hawke’s character stumbles upon featuring various murders are already uneasy to watch, but it’s the demonic face that keeps popping up in each of them that is the stuff of nightmares. Its terrible twist has also become well-known among horror fans, who likely wish they could watch it all again for the first time.