Top 5: Most Extreme Films

You may have seen that recently here on Nerdly we’ve been reviewing a few more “underground” horror titles thanks to distributors Tetrovideo, films such as Vore Gore, Nightmare Symphony and Thanatomorphose (which is one of our most popular reviews, fact fans). Now whilst we haven’t covered many underground/extreme horror on the site in the past – though we have reviewed films like Lung, American Guinea Pig: Bucket of Guts and Gore, Mecanix and Your Flesh Your Curse – that doesn’t mean we don’t watch a LOT of them. So with that in mind here’s a rundown of our Top 5 Extreme Films… in no particular order and with a caveat that, should you choose to watch these for yourself, you have a strong stomach and a penchant for debauchery and gore!

XXX DARK WEB

Taking its cue from the underbelly of the internet, where everything is anonymous and where it’s purported the dark and mysterious, oftentimes criminal, activities take place; XXX Dark Web is an anthology film directed by five of the most extreme international contemporary directors, including Domiziano Cristopharo, Alejandro Hernandez, Adam Ford, Daniel Valient, Emanuele Marchetto, and Lorenzo Dante Zanoni.

The AUGUST UNDERGROUND Trilogy

For many Fred Vogel’s depraved August Underground trilogy was their first trip into the world of underground extreme cinema. The films, which include August Underground, August Underground Mordum and August Underground Penance are a series of VHS-style recordings documenting the killing spree of a man and his associates as they go on a rampage of bloody madness and destruction! The trilogy is dark, grimy, disturbing and depraved… So much so that is was reported that filmmaker Fred Vogel had to convince people that no one was actually hurt on the set of Mordum!

I NEVER LEFT THE WHITE ROOM

The first production from magGOT Films, I Never Left the White Room is a disturbing extreme horror that tells the story of Jeffery, a psychiatric patient who has disturbing visions, and his psychiatrist who follows him into a hallucinatory trip to Hell. Which means filmmaker Michael Todd Schneider can do whatever he wants to disturb, upset and terrifying his audience. In a film that Rue Morgue Magazine described as “akin to smashing your teeth into the coffee table for ninety minutes…” High praise indeed!

INGRESSION

A film that doesn’t get talked about enough, Ingression is a 2010 film from Russian director Andrey Iskanov – whose probably more well know for his movies Philosophy of a Knife and Visions of Suffering. However for me it’s Ingression that is the real standout of Iskanov’s oeuvre. Part giallo, part sci-fi and all horror, the film tells the story of Alexander who seeks solace in alcohol and drugs after his wife Lucy walks out on him, but the pain just won’t go away. He is given the address of a mysterious man who claims to have the answer; a strange, powerful narcotic that will take away his anguish. Alexander can’t take any more so he visits the dealer and is given the drug. For a while he feels fine, life is good again, until he realizes that shadowy figures are pursuing him. With a final 40 minutes that really puts this in the “extreme” category, Ingression is probably the most accomplished film on this entire list. Iskanov is apparently working on a new “directors cut” of the film, which is going to push the film even further into the extreme with new scenes and new FX…

GUINEA PIG: FLOWERS OF FLESH AND BLOOD

Let’s go old-school with this final pick… One of six films in the original Guinea Pig series (which is now being revamped by Unearthed Films as “American Guinea Pig”) Flowers of Flesh and Blood was the second film released in the series and has the simplest of plots – we, the audience, watch as a young woman is dismembered slowly, her body parts to end up being used in a piece of transgressive art. Another film that courted real controversy back in the day, this is the film the Charlie Sheen was said to have reported to the authorities for being a real-life snuff movie; and the filmmakers had to defend themselves in Japan by revealing their special effects secrets! American Guinea Pig: Buckets of Guts and Gore is a quasi-remake of this film…