Screwed Up Movies, Anyone?

No, this isn't a thread about bad discs or poor transfers. It's about movies with stories that are absolutely f'ed up in some way or another.

I'm not talking David Lynch movies, where things are quirkey and confusing, but instead movies that make you wonder what sort of demented mind came up with such a thing. They're the type of movies where the squirm factor comes from characters who are disturbed in some way or another, not from violence. They aren't bad movies, just not something you would recommend to pretty much anyone else - or admit you've seen to anyone other than strangers on the internet.

My question for you all is, what really screwed up films have you seen? I'm talking those films that you deliberately see because they are screwed up and uncomforatable to watch.

My top choices in this category so far are listed below. I have noticed most of the movies I selected revolve around teens/children. I guess it more or less adds to the screwy nature of the film when it's young people that are exhibiting the behavior potrayed in these movies. In a sense, if it were adults, it might not be as noteworthy - or effective. Click on the titles for their IMDB pages:

- Léolo - essentially a story of a kid who goes insane in the midst of a family full of people that carry the crazy gene themselves. It claims to be a comedy, but really isn't at all. Instead, you get a stark drama that takes a coming-of-age plot and slants it into the abyss.

- The Tin Drum - Srounded by war, a boy decides not to grow up. While such a story sounds tame enough, it's the family dynamic that makes this one fly off the rails of sanity.

- The Cement Garden - What do you get when your mother dies? Why, you bury her in the basement, stop bathing, let the household chores go and sleep with your sister. All this occurs while your younger brother regresses to infancy (all the while having an ambiguous relationship with a neighborhood boy) and your younger sister retreats into her diary? Essentially, you get "Lord of the Flies" meets "Flowers in the Attic".

- Jacob's Ladder - I'll save everyone the trouble of posting this one, since it's definitely both disturbing and mind bending - just not in the same way as the above titles. Is it a dream? Insanity? Drugs? Or it something else entirely causing Jacob to see demons? Could what he is seeing be real?

So, what have you got?

That's one I keep meaning to throw in the Queue....

At any rate, I was hoping this thread would yield a great list of freaky movies for a rainy day (or for people to avoid, if that's how their tastes run). Apparently, the tastes are running a bit more mainstream today...

I'll definitely agree with you on "Thirteen", though "Kids" really didn't catch me off guard nearly as much.

Donnie Darko, for me, was just odd. I liked it, but other than the rabbit guy, it wasn't really freaky for me. Off center, would be how I would term it. However, it's definitely not a movie you would recommend to just anyone. As a result, it does fit the definition I gave.

I guess the reason the screwed up movies featuring young people tend to be more interesting to me is that it puts me more off center. It's a bit more shocking to see a young character do certain things that wouldn't be as much so with an adult. It's that off balance feeling that makes the movie better for me. It's kind of like how I find evil children in movies like The Omen, The Other, Village of the Damned and Children of the Corn more creapy than evil adult characters.

However, one movie I just remembered that doesn't have a single child or teen in it that was really off-kilter is "American Psycho". While the plot starts a bit slow, it really kept me off balnce once it got rolling - and the end was even more so.

LOL. I more or less excluded the typical "David Lynch" movie only because "weird for the sake of being weird" isn't really what I'm looking for. Weirdness is a part of the equation, not the sum of the parts. Likewise, pure shock value shouldn't be the whole movie.

There should be something "off" about the character(s), but it should creap up on you. They should do things in the film that take you by surprise, as in, I can't believe he/she just did that.

There should be some kind of "runaway train" aspect to the point where even if you see where it's going, you want to see it through (knowing things won't end well is actually a plus).

An eventual descent into madness is always good way to go with these movies, but it shouldn't be over the top. Instead, there should be a chance that the character may be able to pull out of the abyss.

If the "it's only a dream" plot can be avoided, all the better. If things are really happening, it makes it all the better to see how the characters deal with it. Halucinations are OK if they help the descent into madness. Being dead or in purgatory is also acceptable, but shouldn't seem like a cop-out.

Finally, any weirdness should be surrounded by the ordinary. That off balance feeling is amplified by a well-grounded plot/characters that sound those that are skewed.

Yeah, but he's also a business professional. He's young, but definitely an adult. The other movies I orginally referenced surrounded teens or preteens.

That's a good one.

Which version?

That's why I asked. There really is a difference in those two...although the Elisha Cuthbert version could be kind of "showgirls" disturbing....