these were the ones that went all the
way welcome to watchmojo.com and today
we’re counting down our picks for the
top ten controversial horror movies pick
the road bring it to me before we begin
we publish new videos every day
so be sure to subscribe for more great
content for this list we’re ranking the
horror movies that gained infamy during
or after their release this controversy
could be due to anything from the
on-screen content to audience response
to behind the scenes drama but all of
these films have one thing in common
they got people talking number 10 the
Blair Witch Project no more than 20
families laid their roots here over 200
years ago it’s one of the oldest tricks
in the book introduced a novel concept
hype the hell out of it and watch the
money roll in this was partly the idea
behind the little horror movie that
could 1999’s the Blair Witch Project
close my eyes combining viral marketing
with the viewing public snatcher Illyrio
City flare which did a great job
mythologizing its plot while also
playing a fee is it real or is it fake
angle B is some brilliant albeit
controversial pre-release internet hype
like listing the actors as missing on
IMDB the fact that the shaky handheld
camera work in this pioneering found
footage film left some viewers with
motion sickness and others vomiting did
little to lessen the controversy number
9 snuff
you just couldn’t make up the sort of
stranger than fiction story behind this
1976 horror film producer Alan
Shackleton distributed a gritty but
otherwise unassuming film by the name of
slaughter and decided that he wanted to
cash in on the urban legend of snuff
films by shooting a new ending where the
movie crew murders a young actress on
camera Shackleton was sent to have hired
fake protestors to picket the film’s
release but the buzz around snuff was so
hot that soon real groups began earning
the film tons of free exposure via their
outrage as a result a movie that
initially cost only $30,000 to make
raked in a significant profit number 8
The Last House on the Left writer
director Wes Craven was a virtual
unknown when he and Friday the 13th
producer Sean s Cunningham unleashed
this grim exploitation film on the world
the Last House on the Left was
originally intended as a hardcore take
on Ingmar Bergman’s the Virgin spring
right down to its casting of xxx actors
like Fred Lincoln creepin eventually
dropped the explicit sex angle but this
didn’t stop The Last House on the Left
from achieving infamy as one of the
genres most disturbing films this is due
mainly to the film’s creepy soundtrack
nihilistic tone and most memorably the
performance of David Hesse as Krug whose
scenes of sexual assault remain shocking
to this day why don’t you just lay back
you male chauvinist dog number 7 The
Human Centipede first sequence
we got a flat tire one could argue that
Human Centipede and a Serbian film are
examples of cinematic violence for the
sake of violence regardless of their
respective filmmakers intended motives
well at least that’s the opinion held by
the film’s detractors who believed the
imagery within both pictures was grounds
for both censorship and outright banning
the Human Centipede in particular gained
attention in the mainstream due to its
outrages premise a mad scientist
so skid napped victims mouth to anus to
create a perverse new being the film
itself is actually quite tame compared
to its two sequels however both of which
make the og Human Centipede appear
positively neutered number 6 martyrs
it’s noble martyrs was released during a
sort of Renaissance period for extreme
cinema in France a movement that was
labeled by critics as new French
extremity extreme is certainly a fitting
word to describe martyrs as writer
director Pascal UGA managed to drain
pretty much every last ounce of hope
from his audience during the film’s 94
minute runtime too much critics and fans
called martyrs content salacious with
some labeling low JS work as an example
of the modern torture porn aesthetic
regardless of where you stand there’s no
denying that martyrs leaves no one
unaffected once the final credits roll
there’s no doubt that her martyrdom was
authentic number 5 Cannibal Holocaust
it’s unbelievable it’s horrible
depicting death on screen is one thing
but it’s entirely different to be
brought up on murder charges in a
real-life court as a result of those
film fatalities that’s what happened to
Italian director Rouge ro-day-o however
whose Cannibal Holocaust is one of the
most controversial films ever made
Dale doe and his crew filmed
unstimulated animal deaths for Cannibal
Holocaust and set up some very realistic
shots of the main cast being viciously
killed and eaten in fact these scenes
were so realistic that Deyo Deyo was
forced to get his actors who had agreed
to temporary disappearance clauses in
their contracts to be interviewed on
Italian TV
to prove to the courts they were still
alive doesn’t thank you
number four I Spit on Your Grave also
known as day of the woman I Spit on Your
Grave was a film born in the 1970s
grindhouse
era it ended up driving on 80’s home
video largely thanks to its intensely
controversial reputation
Camille Keaton stars as Jennifer Hills a
writer whose idyllic vacation in the
country results in assault degradation
and gang rape at the hands of local
thugs the film ultimately gave rise to
the rape and revenge genre as the second
half of I Spit on Your Grave focuses on
Keaton’s bloody and gruesome retribution
against her tormentors but the basic
fact of the matter is anything with this
much violence nudity and obscenity is
going to elicit controversy plain and
simple
number three The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
this film has somehow entered the public
consciousness as one of the goriest
films of all time despite being quite
restrained when it comes to bloodletting
this perhaps speaks largely to how
successful writer director tobe Hooper’s
masterpiece was at getting under the
skin of its audience
fans collectively recall how tense and
Atmospheric the Texas Chainsaw Massacre
was and how effective Hooper’s location
production design and cinematography are
in creating a universe of absolute decay
and dread the fact that it was all
touted as supposedly true only added to
the controversy in its day Texas
Chainsaw Massacre was outright banned in
several countries but today it’s an icon
of horror cinema number two The Exorcist
[Music]
it’s unlikely that modern movie
audiences would ever run from their
seats or pass out from terror even for
the scariest films this wasn’t the case
back in 1973 however as evidenced by the
response to William Friedkin’s towering
horror classic The Exorcist the 60s and
70s were a golden age for a cult themed
horror films and audiences flocked to
see them in droves but in the case of
this William Peter Blatty adaptation it
wasn’t just the shocking imagery
religious violent disgusting or
otherwise that got to audiences it was
the so-called subliminal messaging as
well it was the first horror film
nominated for a Best Picture Oscar so it
can’t be all bad
where’s Reagan in here yeah
number one psycho we all go a little mad
sometimes Alfred Hitchcock was already a
master of suspense when he released
psycho in 1960 but his film also opened
the floodgates for something a bit more
visceral than mere suspense on screen
violence
it’s easy to forget how envelope-pushing
and controversial psycho was over fifty
years ago with its iconic shower scene
the stabbing strings of Bernard
Herrmann’s score accentuated the
puncturing of actress Janet Leigh as
she’s murdered in the most vulnerable
place of all the shower add to this the
depiction of Lee’s on-screen sexuality
as well as the decaying corpse of
Norman’s mother and you have a recipe
for one of the most controversial horror
films of its day let’s see they see and
they don’t know and they’re say she
wouldn’t even hum do you agree with our
pics check out these other great clips
from WatchMojo and subscribe for new
videos every day
way welcome to watchmojo.com and today
we’re counting down our picks for the
top ten controversial horror movies pick
the road bring it to me before we begin
we publish new videos every day
so be sure to subscribe for more great
content for this list we’re ranking the
horror movies that gained infamy during
or after their release this controversy
could be due to anything from the
on-screen content to audience response
to behind the scenes drama but all of
these films have one thing in common
they got people talking number 10 the
Blair Witch Project no more than 20
families laid their roots here over 200
years ago it’s one of the oldest tricks
in the book introduced a novel concept
hype the hell out of it and watch the
money roll in this was partly the idea
behind the little horror movie that
could 1999’s the Blair Witch Project
close my eyes combining viral marketing
with the viewing public snatcher Illyrio
City flare which did a great job
mythologizing its plot while also
playing a fee is it real or is it fake
angle B is some brilliant albeit
controversial pre-release internet hype
like listing the actors as missing on
IMDB the fact that the shaky handheld
camera work in this pioneering found
footage film left some viewers with
motion sickness and others vomiting did
little to lessen the controversy number
9 snuff
you just couldn’t make up the sort of
stranger than fiction story behind this
1976 horror film producer Alan
Shackleton distributed a gritty but
otherwise unassuming film by the name of
slaughter and decided that he wanted to
cash in on the urban legend of snuff
films by shooting a new ending where the
movie crew murders a young actress on
camera Shackleton was sent to have hired
fake protestors to picket the film’s
release but the buzz around snuff was so
hot that soon real groups began earning
the film tons of free exposure via their
outrage as a result a movie that
initially cost only $30,000 to make
raked in a significant profit number 8
The Last House on the Left writer
director Wes Craven was a virtual
unknown when he and Friday the 13th
producer Sean s Cunningham unleashed
this grim exploitation film on the world
the Last House on the Left was
originally intended as a hardcore take
on Ingmar Bergman’s the Virgin spring
right down to its casting of xxx actors
like Fred Lincoln creepin eventually
dropped the explicit sex angle but this
didn’t stop The Last House on the Left
from achieving infamy as one of the
genres most disturbing films this is due
mainly to the film’s creepy soundtrack
nihilistic tone and most memorably the
performance of David Hesse as Krug whose
scenes of sexual assault remain shocking
to this day why don’t you just lay back
you male chauvinist dog number 7 The
Human Centipede first sequence
we got a flat tire one could argue that
Human Centipede and a Serbian film are
examples of cinematic violence for the
sake of violence regardless of their
respective filmmakers intended motives
well at least that’s the opinion held by
the film’s detractors who believed the
imagery within both pictures was grounds
for both censorship and outright banning
the Human Centipede in particular gained
attention in the mainstream due to its
outrages premise a mad scientist
so skid napped victims mouth to anus to
create a perverse new being the film
itself is actually quite tame compared
to its two sequels however both of which
make the og Human Centipede appear
positively neutered number 6 martyrs
it’s noble martyrs was released during a
sort of Renaissance period for extreme
cinema in France a movement that was
labeled by critics as new French
extremity extreme is certainly a fitting
word to describe martyrs as writer
director Pascal UGA managed to drain
pretty much every last ounce of hope
from his audience during the film’s 94
minute runtime too much critics and fans
called martyrs content salacious with
some labeling low JS work as an example
of the modern torture porn aesthetic
regardless of where you stand there’s no
denying that martyrs leaves no one
unaffected once the final credits roll
there’s no doubt that her martyrdom was
authentic number 5 Cannibal Holocaust
it’s unbelievable it’s horrible
depicting death on screen is one thing
but it’s entirely different to be
brought up on murder charges in a
real-life court as a result of those
film fatalities that’s what happened to
Italian director Rouge ro-day-o however
whose Cannibal Holocaust is one of the
most controversial films ever made
Dale doe and his crew filmed
unstimulated animal deaths for Cannibal
Holocaust and set up some very realistic
shots of the main cast being viciously
killed and eaten in fact these scenes
were so realistic that Deyo Deyo was
forced to get his actors who had agreed
to temporary disappearance clauses in
their contracts to be interviewed on
Italian TV
to prove to the courts they were still
alive doesn’t thank you
number four I Spit on Your Grave also
known as day of the woman I Spit on Your
Grave was a film born in the 1970s
grindhouse
era it ended up driving on 80’s home
video largely thanks to its intensely
controversial reputation
Camille Keaton stars as Jennifer Hills a
writer whose idyllic vacation in the
country results in assault degradation
and gang rape at the hands of local
thugs the film ultimately gave rise to
the rape and revenge genre as the second
half of I Spit on Your Grave focuses on
Keaton’s bloody and gruesome retribution
against her tormentors but the basic
fact of the matter is anything with this
much violence nudity and obscenity is
going to elicit controversy plain and
simple
number three The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
this film has somehow entered the public
consciousness as one of the goriest
films of all time despite being quite
restrained when it comes to bloodletting
this perhaps speaks largely to how
successful writer director tobe Hooper’s
masterpiece was at getting under the
skin of its audience
fans collectively recall how tense and
Atmospheric the Texas Chainsaw Massacre
was and how effective Hooper’s location
production design and cinematography are
in creating a universe of absolute decay
and dread the fact that it was all
touted as supposedly true only added to
the controversy in its day Texas
Chainsaw Massacre was outright banned in
several countries but today it’s an icon
of horror cinema number two The Exorcist
[Music]
it’s unlikely that modern movie
audiences would ever run from their
seats or pass out from terror even for
the scariest films this wasn’t the case
back in 1973 however as evidenced by the
response to William Friedkin’s towering
horror classic The Exorcist the 60s and
70s were a golden age for a cult themed
horror films and audiences flocked to
see them in droves but in the case of
this William Peter Blatty adaptation it
wasn’t just the shocking imagery
religious violent disgusting or
otherwise that got to audiences it was
the so-called subliminal messaging as
well it was the first horror film
nominated for a Best Picture Oscar so it
can’t be all bad
where’s Reagan in here yeah
number one psycho we all go a little mad
sometimes Alfred Hitchcock was already a
master of suspense when he released
psycho in 1960 but his film also opened
the floodgates for something a bit more
visceral than mere suspense on screen
violence
it’s easy to forget how envelope-pushing
and controversial psycho was over fifty
years ago with its iconic shower scene
the stabbing strings of Bernard
Herrmann’s score accentuated the
puncturing of actress Janet Leigh as
she’s murdered in the most vulnerable
place of all the shower add to this the
depiction of Lee’s on-screen sexuality
as well as the decaying corpse of
Norman’s mother and you have a recipe
for one of the most controversial horror
films of its day let’s see they see and
they don’t know and they’re say she
wouldn’t even hum do you agree with our
pics check out these other great clips
from WatchMojo and subscribe for new
videos every day
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