Five stomach-churning times horror movies went too far
In October 2016, there was a surge of articles about where the cut-off point is for going too far in horror storytelling, with the trigger being the seventh season premiere of The Walking Dead, in which Glenn Rhee gets bashed in the head by Negan.
This wasn’t, by any means, a new topic of conversation; in fact, people have been debating the parameters of censorship in horror scenes since, well, the beginning of film, especially when it comes to the tendency of modern texts to cross that line into limitless, spine-tingling violence to the detriment of the audience’s own well-being.
In the age of modern cinema, things become trickier when it comes to an art form traditionally crafted for escapism, and where these normalised features of everyday existence come into play on screens, in films or television shows, ripping our idled brains from the safety of being a simple spectator to something more akin to active repulsion. Most of us aren’t all that affected by violence when consuming through a screen, but sometimes, things go just a little too far.
Many films in the horror genre pride themselves on their gore element, including Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Halloween, and Friday the 13th, and while most people even see these kinds of movies as defining pillars of horror cinema, and some of them are, there are times when the gore is so far-out that it’s just not needed. Or worse, it leaves you feeling a little off, unable to shake the weird image crawling into your head when all you want to do is erase it.
Five horror movie moments that went too far:
‘Terrifier 2’ (Damien Leone, 2022)
There’s a consensus among horror buffs that you either love the Terrifier series or you hate it, and those who aren’t that familiar are likely still aware of its reputation as one of the most gory modern films of the current age, maybe of all time.
The film itself has accrued something of a cult following, especially that of its supervillian, Art the Clown, who goes around ripping apart unsuspecting female prey in the most questionable ways imaginable. Misogynistic implications aside, Terrifier actually goes too far on multiple occasions, specifically the infamous bedroom scene in the second instalment, which is easily one of the most controversial scenes of all time, sitting in the walls of your mind long after you’ve had the displeasure of seeing it.
‘The Evil Dead’ (Sam Raimi, 1981)
There were many reasons why Sam Raimi’s 1981 horror effort The Evil Dead lingered in people’s minds, many of which have been revisited and recreated in the remakes that occurred decades later; however, one that came up twice was the infamous tree scene, in which Cheryl is beckoned out into the woods after a series of noises leaves her spooked and confused.
What ensues is an overtly problematic scene involving possessed trees and sexual assault in a sequence that people have broadly considered one of the worst moments in horror movie history. At least, when it came to recreating the movie in 2013, Fede Alvarez made a few adjustments that made for a less painful watch.
‘The Substance’ (Coralie Fargeat, 2024)
As with many modern films that are hailed by mass audiences as modern masterpieces, there’s a burgeoning atmosphere around The Substance, specifically around whether it was actually as good as people said it was.
Most of its themes are especially important when we look at storytelling elements in modern Hollywood, like female ageism, the film industry’s brutal treatment of some of its veteran players, and the consequences of playing with science when it comes to things that are entirely trivial in the grand scheme of things. But one thing that people keep coming back to is either it’s shock-factor, or, namely, the final segment, which was so brutal that all of those important messages were lost under the superficiality of trying to create a grand spectacle that needn’t be there in the first place.
‘Saw’ (James Wan, 2004)
When it comes to the ultimate gore porn franchise, you’d be hard-pressed to find anybody who doesn’t immediately mention Saw, which, from the beginning, had a reputation as one of the goriest films of all time, with a premise that actually spooked even the most seasoned of horror viewers.
This also means that, over the entire series, there are countless brutal moments to pick at, from the notable foot scene in the very first instalment to the head that gets squashed between blocks of ice in Saw IV. However, one of the worst has to be the recurring bear trap apparatus that sets off something deep and visceral every time it appears on screen.
‘Final Destination 2’ (David R Ellis, 2003)
Countless Final Destination scenes could be considered moments far too horrific for casual watching, but one that succeeded in traumatising an entire generation was also the one that sticks out in most people’s minds, which is the infamous highway scene with the monstrous log truck.
Now, it’s worth clarifying that this isn’t a scene that went too far in terms of gore, barely touching the sides, but its impact in creating collective cultural trauma is enough to classify it as one of the most spine-tingling scenes in modern cinema that most of us could have done without, especially those of us who are drivers.
