Most disturbing? That's a tough question. There's a lot of levels to disturbing, and many ways that a film can disturb you. I decided to choose The Strangers for this entry, because it's a film that hits on multiple levels.
If you haven't seen the film yet, please be aware, because I'm going to spoil it quite a bit. If you plan on adding this to your queue, stop reading now.
Everybody good?
Ok, let's lock the doors and go down a dark road.
The movie starts with a couple caught in a bad situation. Not a horror situation, but horrific nonetheless. They've just come from a wedding out to an isolated vacation house in the woods. He, Scott Speedman, has just asked his girlfriend, Liv Tyler, to marry him. And she said no. And here they are, oat the vacation house together. Not really talking and not really sure what to do now. It's clear they care for each other quite deeply and don't want to end things, but how do you move forward after such an embarrassing and emotionally traumatic event? This part of the movie is almost painfully excruciating as we, the onlookers, have to pay witness to it. So the movie is disturbing on that level and is uncomfortably emotional.
And that's when the evil people show up. They have no agenda other than to terrify, and that they do. Quietly and purposefully. This isn't a gory film at all and there's no typical slasher backstory. Their simple answer for why? "Because you were home." It's disturbing in its realistic vibe. You really feel like this could happen. So much so, that it's not surprising when you find out that this is loosely based on a true story. Well, actually, an amalgamation of a few stories, but mostly the 1981 Keddie Resort murders. When the couple fight back, they end up killing his best friend. Which somehow even adds to the disturbing nature of the incident.
It's a perfectly chilling and perfectly believable horror film. My score a 9 out of 10.
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