18 Horror Movies That Were Way Too Cruel

It might seem odd at first to complain about horror movies being too cruel

After all, this genre does specialise in darker movies, so surely this cruelty is kind of to the point

To an extent, absolutely, but it's arguable that there is an important balance when it comes to this

If a horror flick goes too far into mean-spiritedness, the whole thing becomes a lot harder to enjoy

So how can a horror film avoid feeling too mean? Well, it can do it in a number of ways

Perhaps the two most important things are firstly making sure that the tragedy of the story feels logical and earned

and secondly allowing all of the darkness to really mean something. If an extra dark horror

film uses its morbid material to say something interesting that makes it much easier to swallow

The following movies are all examples of horror pictures that in one way or another were too cruel

for their own good and this has definitely turned many viewers off them. Had these dialed down on

the nastiness it's likely many of them would be regarded more fondly. I'm Sean Verrick for What

What Culture Horror, and here is our list of horror movies that were way too cruel

Final Destination Bloodlines Final Destination Bloodlines is an awesome horror sequel, perhaps the best Final Destination movie

ever made and easily one of the greatest horror films of the year. It's arguable that it wouldn't

look too out of place in a list of the decade's best horror films so far, so this placement mustn't

be misread as an attack on the overall film. Rather, it's a criticism of the ending, which was

by far the worst part of a mostly strong narrative. Four out of the other five final

assassination movies concluded with everyone dying in some form, and to end the film with another

gotcha moment where the last survivors die after all was so predictable, not to mention outright

aggravating in this particular instance. First up there was a poorly done twist. Siblings Stephanie

and Charlie thought that they were safe because she'd supposedly drowned and he'd revived her via

CPR. As anyone with any basic medical knowledge would have been able to work out immediately

Stephanie didn't actually die. Secondly, this was particularly frustrating because these two

siblings were genuinely likeable, well-played characters who'd been through absolute hell, as they'd lost so many members of their family. They deserved a happy ending, and this end just

felt a bit too mean. It was a bum note to conclude an otherwise triumphant return for one of horror's

greatest franchises, Unfriended Dark Web. Much like Finalist of the Nation Bloodlines

Unfriended Dark Web is a reminder that sometimes we just need a happy ending. At this point

when a horror movie does end happily, it feels like a big twist in and of itself

and it's ever so refreshing in most cases. Interestingly enough, Unfriended Dark Web

did have several different endings, which were sent to cinemas during its release

and one of them was more positive, as protagonist Matthias and his deaf girlfriend Amaya

survived this version. However, all of the other endings conclude with Matthias, Amaya

and Matthias' four friends who participate in the action either dead or close to it

They should have gone for the happy ending. Unfriended Dark Web is a very good screen life

horror that's been heavily underrated over the years. The main thing holding it back from

greatness is that it was a bit too downbeat for its own good. Unlike the scumbag characters in

the first film, these ones were genuinely likeable, while Matthias and Amaya's relationship was

surprisingly moving. At least a couple of these guys deserve to live, and it did get a little

depressing watching them all snuff it, especially as the rest of them only got involved because

Matthias unknowingly brought home a cybercriminals computer. I'll say it now, happy endings are

underrated. The House That Jack Built. Lars von Trier's The House That Jack Built is a good serial

killer horror, maybe even a very good one. So then, why has it become so divisive and polarising

over the years. That simple. This movie is absolutely sadistic and is going to be far

too much for many viewers. Honestly, it's difficult not to wish this movie hadn't been quite so vicious

With its excellent philosophical dialogue, atmospheric visuals, and Matt Dillon's superb performance as the serial killer, this is an accomplished film in its own right, and more

viewers would have been able to appreciate this had it not been so nasty. An interesting film to

compare it to is Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer. That one is also difficult to watch

but doesn't feel nearly as gratuitous as it conveys more through atmosphere and leaves most

of the violence off screen. In contrast this picture is sometimes excessive with its extended

sequences of violence and some of Jack's crimes are a bit over the top. House could have said all

it needed to say without being so gruesome and maybe then it would have spoken to a wider audience

Having said this Lars Brantrier has made a career out of making movies that upset everyone and he

probably smiled when a hundred people walked out at the movie's Cannes premiere. Prom Night, 1980

Prom Night is one of the most influential films of the slasher genre's heyday. It opens with

several children accidentally causing a little girl to fall to her death and making a pact not

to tell anyone. This story was probably the template for I Know What You Did Last Summer

Six years later, on Prom Night, a masked figure goes on a killing spree which appears to be

targeting those responsible. Despite its iconic status, Prom Night is a pre-mediator flick for

most of its run. It's all fairly whatever stuff right up until the ending where it becomes

unexpectedly uncomfortable During the climax protagonist Kim played by Jamie Lee Curtis who is the older sister of the girl who died in the beginning is attacked by the killer alongside her prom date Nick She manages to fatally wound the killer before they murder Nick and then the attacker is unmasked as her brother Alex

As the movie ends, Kim cradles Alex's body and weeps. Kim had already lost one sibling

and now she's accidentally killed her other surviving sibling too. Thanks to this oddly

melodramatic ending, the movie ends on a sour note, contrasting with what was otherwise fairly

light-hearted horror fair in the worst kind of way. Black Christmas 2019. Another slasher flick

another off-putting ending that'll rub everyone the wrong way, it's time to talk about 2019's

Black Christmas, the second remake of the wonderful 1974 slasher flick of the same name, albeit a

remake in name only. It's got almost nothing in common with the original, a criminally underrated

gem that you should most definitely watch instead of this. This one sees a group of sorority sisters

being stalked by various masked attackers, and the movie goes in a pretty crazy direction by the end

It turns out that the attackers are the college's fraternity brothers, who've been possessed by the

spirit of the college's misogynistic founder. Working with the villainous Professor Gelson

they've been murdering women they deem unruly. This largely underwhelming, if admirably audacious

redo drops the ball at the very end, just like the aforementioned prom night. It's got one of

those endings that's presented as happy, despite having some horrible implications. Specifically, while most of the heroic characters escape and Gelson is killed

the previously possessed frat brothers are left to die in a burning building

even though they'd clearly been possessed and weren't really in control of their actions

That's exactly the wrong kind of disturbing, and this ranks among the least happy, happy endings in recent history

Alien 3. Newt and Hicks. Enough said. 1992's Alien 3 eventually kills off everyone who survived 1986's Aliens

and it's just depressing to watch. Newt and Hicks are killed off when their escape pod crashes, and Ripley later sacrifices herself

to destroy the alien that is growing inside her. The deaths of Newt and Hicks were immeasurably

awful, as they were great characters, and Newt was the heart of the previous film

so them both dying off-screen like that was beyond insulting. Furthermore, even if Ripley's death was

a heroic one, after how much she'd suffered throughout Alien 3 and the previous two movies

she deserved a happier ending than this. A clone of her appears in the next film, but this is the

final end for the original version of Ellen Ripley, one of the greatest female characters in the

history of the silver screen. If a sequel ever gives her a new ending, that could end up being

one of those rare retcons that audiences actually like. It's arguable that Alien 3 is actually an

alright prequel in many ways, and I do genuinely enjoy it. And yet, having said this, it's easy to

see why so many fans still struggle with this one. It really is far too bleak for its own good

and it's a harder film to revisit as a result. The Wolf Creek films. These Australian horror

films, in which various tourists are hunted down by the psychopathic serial killer Mick Taylor

are pretty good in a lot of ways, but there's a strong argument to be made that they are far too

cruel. Granted, these movies revolve around one of the evilest killers in horror history, and it

seems they were designed to be particularly brutal works, and yet, as mentioned before, brutality

needs to feel earned. In these movies, it doesn't. Despite an award-worthy performance from John

Jarrett. Mick Taylor isn't the most credible of characters, as he's ridiculously overpowered

Whenever his victims escape from him, he always manages to catch them, even after they've been

going for hours through the vast wilderness of the Australian outback. Every time, he magically

turns up exactly where the plot needs him to be. In both Wolf Creek films, he murders many innocent

people, and the sole survivor in each case is left psychologically destroyed beyond measure

In neither case did this feel truly warranted due to all of these head-scratching logic gaps. As

Such these movies leave a bitter aftertaste, despite their many positive qualities

Army of the Dead Army of the Dead is an infuriating mess across the board

and one of its very worst problems is just how weirdly mean-spirited it was

which was especially jarring as it's quite a light, silly film in other ways

Regardless of the picture's flaws, the heist crew that goes into a zombie-infested Las Vegas to retrieve some money

were generally likeable characters, and it was so infuriating how all of them kept dying in the most avoidable ways

thanks to a never-in-extreme of dumb decisions. As a result, much like the Wolf's Creek films

these deaths are difficult to accept because they never feel earned. A tonally discombobulated flick

Army also veers misguidedly into melodramatic territory with some of his deaths

and even these occasions felt manipulative and exasperating instead of being moving

For example, there's a particular moment where a character tells protagonist Scott that she has feelings for him

and then she's abruptly killed by the zombies out of nowhere. And just when you think it couldn't

get any worse, ARMY gives viewers the finger by making its least likable character, Katie

Scott's whiny daughter who gets everyone else killed through her stupidity, the only one to

survive. Sick. Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2022. Most seem to be on the same page with this one

2022's Texas Chainsaw Massacre legacy sequel was generally underwhelming, if technically solid

affair that stood out thanks to its jarringly ugly tone Nearly all of the young people in the movie who are corrupt entrepreneurs trying to redevelop a mostly abandoned Texan town are exaggeratedly unlikable and it almost as if the filmmakers are encouraging audiences to egg Leatherface here played by Mark Burnham on which is pretty

disturbing to put it mildly. In a horror comedy, this could have worked better, but this is a

straight-faced, dark movie, and the tone is just angry, not satirical, so this left a bad taste

behind for many viewers. To make matters worse, the movie brings back original survivor Sally

hardesty, Alwyn Ferreri replacing the late Marilyn Burns, only to kill her off in the most avoidable

way possible, and there's also an ill-judged revelation that protagonist Lila is a school

shooting survivor. It was already pretty off to throw in such a sensitive topic and then not really

address it, and it also makes the film even more unpleasant. Lila survives, but she's re-traumatised

by these events, which culminate in her own sister being decapitated by Leatherface right in front of

Antebellum. Too much torture? Not enough plot. That's the best way to sum this one up

Antebellum was a thoroughly disappointing horror film which took an amazing premise

A modern-day African-American sociologist named Veronica finds herself in a 19th-century southern

slave plantation and tragically wasted it on a soulless bit of torture porn. As if completely

bungling its big twist that Veronica has been taken to a present-day re-enactment of the past

by as good as giving it away halfway through wasn't bad enough, but also a completely gratuitous

slice of ugliness. There was a potential here for a trippy, thought-provoking look at the dark side

of American history. Instead, this devotes nearly all of its runtime to Veronica and the other

captives being brutalised in every way imaginable. Really, this felt more like a torture porn horror

in disguise, and as such, just like its protagonist, Antebellum was stuck in the wrong time. The

torture horror boom died out in the late noughties and this came out in 2020. Piranha 3D. It might

have got inexplicably generous reviews from critics back when it was released but Piranha 3D is a

pretty bad movie for the most part. One which relies on exclusively on gore and female nudity

while failing to ever come up with a good script. Furthermore while it was meant to be a horror

comedy it's got a weirdly nasty tone. There was something excessively sadistic about the elongated

scenes of the Piranha violently killing hundreds of innocent partygoers and the sexualized over

tones make it even more uncomfortable. In one scene, two Piranha fight over a man's severed penis

In the same moment, two breast implants are seen floating away from a recently devoured woman

If the characters killed by the fish had all been total scumbags, then there would have been

mileage for some good black comedy here. But Piranha 3D ultimately plays everything weirdly

straight for the most part and never really provides any laughs, even though it was supposedly

a comedy. Essentially, you're better off watching the far superior 1978 original from director Joe

Dante, which also features plenty of brutal mayhem, but captures the right vibe and never feels as

unpleasant as this remake does. Eden Lake. This British hoodie horror has always been severely

overrated. Alongside its offensive portrayal of the working class, if Jeremy Kyle ever made a

movie it'd look like this, it's another one of those movies where nothing that happens feels

earned. Why? Because every bad thing that happens is down to an improbable coincidence or an

unrealistically stupid decision. Main characters Steve and Jenny, who are being stalked by a group

of murderous teenagers led by Brett, repeatedly make silly choices, such as initially leaving

their valuables unattended even though these dangerous kids were nearby, and failing to fight

back or just, you know, leave. As for those pesky coincidences, there are a lot. The initial thing

that sets everything off is the death of Brett's dog, who conveniently lands on a knife Steve and

two teens are fighting over when it goes to attack Steve. In another moment, the movie uses the

tiresome accidental murder trope when Jenny unintentionally kills one of the kids. At the end

Jenny finally escapes into a nearby house and, of course, it's Brett's home and she's presumably

killed by his parents. The Green Inferno. And you thought Hostel was bad. Even by Eli Roth's

grisly standards, cannibal horror film The Green Inferno is a brutal affair. It pays homage to the

Italian cannibal boom, most notably Cannibal Holocaust, one of Eli Roth's favourite horror

films, go figure, and much like that film, this one leaves a horrible aftertaste. The various

cannibalistic death scenes are exhaustingly horrid and disgusting, with the death of Jonah

the nicest character in the movie, no less, being one of the most unpleasant horror deaths you're

ever likely to see. And, as with many of the most excessive horror films, it would have worked better

with a more unpleasant group of characters. These ones, a group of naive eco-activists

were idiotic at worst. Furthermore, Roth gives viewers the finger by allowing the only genuine

douchebag in the movie to survive, while sole escapee Justine ultimately loses all audience

sympathy by telling the authorities that the tribe was friendly even though they murdered her friends

and tried to mutilate her. Saw 3. The Saw movies have always been brutal as hell, sure, but the

better ones toe the line properly by making the various grisly deaths the result of the characters

mistakes, thus allowing these movies to work as stories of karma. The lesser ones, on the other

hand indulge in too much unwarranted cruelty none more so than 2006 Saw 3 The biggest issue is with the movie central game In this case a man named Jeff is being tested as Jigsaw feels he allowed himself to be overcome by feelings of revenge

following the hit and run death of his young child. First up, Jeff did not deserve to be tested

at all as he was traumatized, a man facing the death of a child, perhaps the worst pain anyone

can experience. Secondly, there's the horrible ending, he's put through a series of tests designed

to teach him to forgive and then at the end he murders Jigsaw, thus learning nothing whatsoever

and unintentionally kills his completely innocent wife too. It's the most sour, infuriating conclusion

imaginable. Everyone loses, both Jigsaw and Amanda Young are killed off way too early in

the franchise's run, and it's ultimately nothing more than a load of shallow, gory nihilism

Also, we can't forget The Rack. That was unwatchable even by Saw standards

Lesson of the Evil. Time for an obscure one now. Lesson of the Evil is a serial killer flick from

Japanese director Takashi Miike, director of films such as Ichi the Killer and Audition

You thought those were nasty? Well brace yourself for Lesson of the Evil

For any first time viewers, Lesson of the Evil, which revolves around high school teacher and

serial killer Saeji Hasumi, might not seem worthy of being on this list at first, as it's quite a

slow burn. Well in 1999's Audition, Miike fooled audiences by making much of it a fairly chill

watch before suddenly unleashing a climax of harrowing violence, and in Lesson of the Evil

he's at it again. This time, however, it all went too far. Much of the second half of this movie

consists of Hasumi carrying out a school shooting in order to remove witnesses to a crime. This

entire sequence is horrendously disturbing, and in an era where school shootings are so common

this was all about as tasteless as it gets. Japanese horror movies do often do things that

many western horror flicks would never get away with, and as Lesson of the Evil shows

that isn't always a good thing. The line in the sand is there for a reason, after all

The Terrifier films. This entry might raise a few eyebrows. Some might argue that the whole point of

the Terrifier films is that they're meant to be extreme, which wouldn't be unreasonable. It does

unfortunately mean that a lot of viewers will struggle to engage with them. While many slasher

pictures afford most of the victims quick deaths, Arndt the Clown subjects his victims to drawn-out

excruciatingly painful demises in which he sadistically tortures them to death, while they

are in audible agony the entire time. The most infamous example is probably the ridiculously

vicious murder of Ali, a likeable and innocent character, although a particular shower murder

scene in the recent third film probably made many viewers feel physically unwell. Ultimately

this brutality is a double-edged sword. It has allowed these movies to become notorious

but all of that overwhelming nastiness will be too much for many viewers to take. Furthermore

though fans deign to admit it, these are actually pretty forgettable bog-standard slasher films when

the brutality is removed, so those who don't enjoy the gross-out violence will find little

to appreciate. Would You Rather. It's movies like this that make one feel grateful the torture

horror film boom was so short-lived. Would You Rather is one of the ugliest American horror

films of the century, within a shadow of a doubt. It revolves around a woman named Iris

who ends up participating in a deadly game of Would You Rather, in order to win money to fund

her brother's cancer treatment. This was a terrific premise, and it is engaging at first

but after a while, the relentlessly painful games just become exhausting, making this a

miserable viewing experience. To make matters worse, once Iris wins the money by murdering one

of the other players, an act that absolutely destroys her and gets home, one last uber cruel

plot twist reveals that her brother died by suicide before she left to play the game

meaning that it was all for nothing. Therefore, there wasn't even a point. Often, it's important

for extreme movies such as this to reward viewers for their endurance by provoking thought and giving

them something to take away. To give some positive counter-examples, movies such as A Clockwork Orange

irreversible natural born killers and also the aforementioned the house that jack built as

excessive as that movie was at times use their horrifying violence to say something meaningful

here there's nothing there's no reward for the viewers or the characters megan is missing and

finally we have megan is missing a found footage film so effed up it went viral on tiktok during

the pandemic this is a frustrating case as this one did have a lot going for it yet it undermined

itself by taking a radical left turn into a gratuitous cruelty by the end. Megan is missing

revolves around a high schooler named Amy who's trying to find out what happened to her best

friend Megan who vanished after an internet date. The first hour of this is absolutely solid and it

does a good job of establishing these two girls and their genuine heartwarming friendship and then

the movie just goes too far. The final 20 minutes consist of footage showing Amy being kidnapped

brutalised by the predator who kidnapped Megan. Finally Amy is buried alive in a barrel containing

Megan's corpse. This was just too much. Everything about this felt exploitative, especially the

scenes of assault. Writer-director Michel Goy stated that this movie was intended to raise

awareness about the dangers of young people meeting strangers online. This is a good message

so it's a damn shame that the final film undermined this by being so excessive and

sleazy. Sometimes being too dark can derail an otherwise promising horror film

and Megan is Missing remains one of the epitomising examples of this movie