Skip to main content
  • TotalFilm
  • Edge
  • Newsarama
  • Retrogamer
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+
US EditionUS CA EditionCanada UK EditionUK AU EditionAustralia
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • More
    • PS5
    • Xbox Series X
    • Nintendo Switch
    • Nintendo Switch 2
    • PC
    • Platforms
    • Tabletop Gaming
    • Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
    • Newsletters
    • About us
    • Features
Trending
  • Best Netflix Movies
  • Movie Release Dates
  • Best movies on Disney Plus
  • Best Netflix Shows
  1. Entertainment
  2. Movies

40 Disturbing Movie Scenes

Features
By Simon Kinnear published 8 December 2010

Are you brave enough to experience them all?

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

  • Facebook
  • X
  • Pinterest
  • Flipboard
  • Email
Share this article
Join the conversation
Follow us
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Get the GamesRadar+ Newsletter

Bringing all the latest movie news, features, and reviews to your inbox


By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

You are now subscribed

Your newsletter sign-up was successful


An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
Subscribe to our newsletter

Zombie Flesh Eaters (1979)

The Scene: A zombie smashes through a splintering wooden door to grab Paola (Olga Karlatos) and pulls her towards it.

Look Away When: Paola's eye is gouged out by a wood splinter.

BBFC Reaction: Nearly 2 minutes cut - including the eye gouge - in 1979, but ended up on the Video Nasties list anyway. Finally released uncut in 2005.

Misery (1990)

The Scene: Crazed fan Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates) ties novelist Paul Sheldon (James Caan) to a bed and pulls out a sledgehammer.

Look Away When: She 'hobbles' him by smashing his kneecaps.

BBFC Reaction: Not only uncut, but Bates won an Oscar. Still disturbing, though.

American History X (1998)

The Scene: Neo-Nazi Derek (Edward Norton) punishes a black man who tried to steal his truck, and makes him put his mouth on the curb.

Sign up for the Total Film Newsletter

Bringing all the latest movie news, features, and reviews to your inbox

By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

Look Away When: Derek stamps on the man's head.

BBFC Reaction: Uncut...although given the film's notorious editing history, with director Tony Kaye bundled out of the editing suite by Norton, who knows how far the scene might have gone?

Murder-Set-Pieces (2004)

The Scene: Serial killer 'The Photographer' rapes and murders yet another victim.

Look Away When: The victim's hysterical, bloodstained child cradles her dead mother's body.

BBFC Reaction: Banned outright, both for its sustained link between sex and violence and for the youth of several victims.

Videodrome (1982)

The Scene: TV station owner Max Renn (James Woods) begins hallucinating after being exposed to signals from hardcore show Videodrome.

Look Away When: He inserts his hand into a vagina-like wound that appears in his stomach.

BBFC Reaction: No cuts from the censor, although invariably the version that's submitted is the U.S. R-rated, rather than the uncut/unrated version available on R1.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

The Scene: Pam attempts to escape a remote farmhouse from psycho Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen), but he catches her.

Look Away When: He impales her on a meathook.

BBFC Reaction: Officially banned between 1975 and 1999, although various city councils - notably Camden in 1998 - allowed it to be played anyway.

Switchblade Romance (2003)

The Scene: Alex (Maiwenn Le Besco), fleeing from a psycho killer, flags down a car.

Look Away When: The killer disembowels the driver with a concrete saw.

BBFC Reaction: The Board kept its switchblade away from this one.

Scarface (1982)

The Scene: When a drug deal goes wrong, Tony Montana (Al Pacino) has to watch his Colombian enemies take a chainsaw to his friend Angel.

Cover Your Ears When: The Colombian boss orders, "Now the leg."

BBFC Reaction: De Palma famously won a battle to get a R rating, and then smuggled in his unapproved cut anyway. No such luck in the UK; until 1994 the chainsaw sequence was slightly cut despite being largely implied.

Man Bites Dog (1992)

The Scene: While being filmed for a documentary, serial killer Benoit breaks into a house and rapes a woman.

Look Away When: He invites the documentary film crew to join in... and they do so.

BBFC Reaction: Passed uncut. It's a reflection of our own taste for voyeurism, so we had to see it.

I Spit On Your Grave (1978)

The Scene: After surviving a gang rape, Jennifer (Camille Keaton) comes face-to-face with leader Johnny.

Look Away When: She severs his penis with a knife.

BBFC Reaction: Banned under the Video Nasties list, and heavily cut when finally released in 2001. Several minutes have since been reinstated or, in places, reframed, although the 2010 release is still short by 2:54.

Incidentally, the imminent remake has also fallen foul of the censor, with 43 seconds of cuts. So it isn't only A Serbian Film that continues cinema's tradition of disturbance.

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4

Current page: Page 4

Prev Page Page 3
Simon Kinnear
Latest in Movies
Five Nights at Freddy's 2
After the first two movies were written by Scott Cawthon, Five Nights at Freddy's 3 reportedly has new screenwriters
 
 
Mortal Kombat movie
Mortal Kombat 2 star joins in with Street Fighter movie beef after Game Awards dig because he "loves a good rivalry"
 
 
Fujino and Kyomoto eating in Look Back
Live-action adaptation of Chainsaw Man creator's Look Back will escape Japanese cinemas and come to the west
 
 
Aang, Sokka and Katara standing on a stone wall during the series Avatar: The Last Airbender
Aang director confirms the next Avatar movie has wrapped, but seems to be still fighting for a theatrical release
 
 
Princess Rosalina in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie trailer
Certified Nintendo fangirl and Rosalina actor Brie Larson says Super Mario Galaxy is one of her favorite games
 
 
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie
A Nintendo Nostradamus somehow predicted Donald Glover's Yoshi casting in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie over a year ago
 
 
Latest in Features
BG3
The future of RPGs is isometric
 
 
Photo of a Mario nendoroid figure holding a microSD Express card with a Turtle Beach Switch 2 case in the background.
These Mario Day-inspired Switch 2 accessories will power up your console more than a super star
 
 
Underside of Alienware 16 Area-51 gaming laptop with glass viewing window and RGB fans
We could get a shock when 2026 gaming laptop prices are unveiled, here's what you need to know about buying this year
 
 
Emily Rudd as Nami and Iñaki Godoy as Monkey D. Luffy in Netflix's One Piece
One Piece season 2 ending explained: Who is Mr. Zero? Who dies? Will there be a season 3?
 
 
In Hitman World of Assassination, Agent 47 sits at the departure gate in an airport during the loading screen
After weeks spent locked into Hitman's Freelancer mode, I realize there's one vital thing 007 First Light needs to learn
 
 
Mario gadgets, accessories, and games on a blue background
The ultimate Mario Day starter pack, kit up for the plumber's big day
 
 
LATEST ARTICLES
  1. Monkey D. Luffy looking confused on an island in One Piece Egghead Island
    1
    One Piece season 2 answers a near 30-year-old manga mystery in surprisingly straightforward fashion
  2. 2
    Corsair's two best gaming chairs have been hit with discounts in Amazon's Spring sale
  3. 3
    Resident Evil Requiem is too scary for series veteran Hideki Kamiya, who argues Capcom "should make a 'non-scary' mode"
  4. 4
    The next big Switch 2 exclusive, Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, gets a May release date out of nowhere
  5. 5
    MMO raises subscription prices less than 2 months after ditching microtransactions, causing a RuneScape fan revolt

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google
  • Terms and conditions
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Accessibility statement
  • Careers
  • About us
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us
  • Accessibility Statement

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...