Movies
What Is the Goriest Movie of All Time?
A few months ago, after reading a rather laughable “most disturbing movies” list from Buzzfeed, we put together our own list of The 11 Most Disturbing Horror Movies Of All Time. This highly researched list (seriously, I watched way too many movies for that list), was met with a multitude of responses. “You’ve clearly never seen a disturbing movie.” “You think that’s disturbing?” “That one has too much vomit for me,” etc. Since we dedicated July to gore and gory horror films, we wondered what YOU would think the goriest horror movie is.
Your responses were all over the board and were interesting to look through. Some of the responses we received were on the money, like Martyrs, The August Underground Trilogy, The Human Centipede 2, and films of that ilk. They fit the bill for goriest movie of all time.
To whomever said Pearl, I suggest you don’t watch any of the films on this list.
After a two-week poll, the results are in!
Top Six Goriest Movies, According to Readers
(Author’s note: there was a three-way tie for fourth place so we’ll do the top six with the tied films all taking fourth place.)
6. Hellraiser (1987)
Clive Barker’s masterful, practical effect-filled nightmare is a classic for a reason. Even those who aren’t fans of the film cannot deny just how brutal, goopy, and downright chilling the practical effects are. From one brother coming back to life and stealing his brother’s skin, to hundreds of hooks in someone’s skin ready to rip them apart, Hellraiser is truly a horror classic that deserves to be on this goriest movie list.
Jesus really did weep.
5. The Green Inferno (2013)
Described (by me) as the last solid film Eli Roth made, The Green Inferno was a brutal homage to the Italian cannibal films of the 70s and 80s. I remember seeing this in the theaters as a 19-year-old, and I couldn’t help but shake the feeling that I had watched something I should not have been allowed to watch in a theater. Is this what people felt when they saw Cannibal Holocaust all those years ago? Everything about The Green Inferno is impressive, even if it’s hard to watch. It may look more polished and clean than the films it was homaging, but there’s still a distinct horrific authenticity to the violence.
4. Ready or Not (2019)
To horror fans, the names Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett might ring a bell, but for general audiences, that name might not mean much. Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett were part of the filmmaking team Radio Silence, who would have a hand in one of the best segments in the V/H/S franchise and then would go on to take over the directing reigns of Scream 5 and 6. Ready or Not would be a critical and financial success, putting their names on the map for general filmgoers. I don’t necessarily agree that Ready or Not should be on this list, even if it’s a great movie. This all goes back to one of the questions raised in our Top 11 Most Disturbing Movies list: can one scene make up for a lack of gore throughout a film?
If so, then there’s definitely one scene in Ready or Not that’s pretty gory. Other than that, we aren’t sure if it’s truly the goriest movie.
3. Evil Dead (2013)
Fede Alvarez came out swinging with his remake of this horror classic. 2013’s Evil Dead was a surprising change from the franchise’s campy horror comedy. Honestly, who can forget the tongue scene? Yuck! Evil Dead would use [reportedly] 700,000 gallons of fake blood. If that’s not enough to get you to the top of the list, I don’t know what is (even if a good portion of it was used for the blood rain). Evil Dead would be followed up with an equally gruesome, and scary, film that would go on to flip the franchise on its head with Lee Cronin’s Evil Dead Rise.
2. Terrifier 2 (2022)
This is the only film on this list that I have received death threats about! A few years ago I wrote about how I just do not like the Terrifier films, and the totally normal fans were not happy. Here’s a snippet of some DMs I received: “I hope Art cuts you from dick to head,” “I’d pay to watch Art skin you in your bedroom,” “F*gg*t.”
I can understand why this film was voted for so many times, I mean Scream 6 tooootally stole a bunch of ideas from this masterpiece! Anyway, this is your list of goriest movies, not mine. Um. Sure, the bedroom scene is pretty gnarly, but this 2 ½ hour bore fest just doesn’t do it for me.
1. Brain Dead/Dead Alive (1992)
Peter Jackson’s gorefest Dead Alive is beloved by many who seek gory films. The first half of the film is fairly tame, and kind of hysterical. It’s not until you get to the mid-second act that things get gross as hell. If you want to watch a practical effects masterclass of blood and viscera, then you must check out the unrated cut of Dead Alive. You can read my full thoughts on it here.
We are finally in the midst of Shudder’s 61 days of Halloween! There are so many horror movies to consume and 31 days simply isn’t enough. Use the long Labor Day weekend to kick off your horror movie countdown and add these movies to your Shudder queue. Here is a list of what I would recommend checking out to ease into the Halloween spirit right before going into full blown premature trick-or-treating mode.
The Best Movies to Stream on Shudder This Month
The Yeti (2026)
A large creature has captured people in a remote Alaskan town in the 1940s. The sheriff has put together a search-and-rescue monster hunting party to bring back the captives. It sounds like the premise of a Cold Iron Studios co-op video game in the same vein as Aliens: Fireteam Elite. The stylization from co-directors Gene Gallerano & William Pisciotta in the trailer makes me think they have cooked up a story that blends action, horror, and wilderness survival. Sign me up, sheriff!
Leave (2022)
Hunter was found as a baby abandoned in a cemetery wrapped in a cloth covered with satanic symbols. She has been searching for answers her whole life about where she came from. Her journey to find her parents takes her down a mysterious path, and she is being warned by something from the beyond to leave this mystery alone. Can she trust who this investigation is leading her towards? It’s a mysterious, supernatural, culty film that will give you chills.
Penny Lane is Dead (2026)
One crazy night in Australia with perhaps a dash of revenge. Shudder’s latest original looks to be packed with blood and violence in this story of girls just trying to have fun until the crazy cousin drugs the party and invites dangerous people to play. The trailer promises lots of body horror (trigger warning, there may be SA or threat of it). I’m not saying it will be Evil Dead level, but there’s definitely something in the Aussie water with Lee Cronin pumping out his gory deadites and mummy films, and now Mia Kate Russel with this one.
The Others (2001)
This is a PSA to the younger readers of Horror Press; stop what you’re doing and watch Nicole Kidman go 100 miles per hour in this classic ghost story with a twist. Dreary weather, massive estate, confusing corridors, creepy house servants you don’t know if you can trust, and sad British kids. The ending is an all-timer and spoilers should be avoided at all costs. It has exactly what you need to get right into the cozy, spooky mood for 61-days of Halloween.
Dark Harvest (2023)
If The Hunger Games and The Purge had a baby and raised it during Oktoberfest. Teenage boys are tasked with hunting and killing the entity known as Sawtooth Jack on Halloween night, or it could mean certain peril for their town. Of the movies I have listed here that I have not seen, this is going to be at the top of my watchlist. Teens fighting for survival on Halloween night and the battle setting is in a cornfield?! Say less. I am there with my Sam Adams seasonal in hand. Another perfect movie to cannonball me right into the Halloween spirit.
This list has been carefully curated to watch in a specific order to gear up for a Halloween marathon. Start with the wintry monster movie, move on to a macabre supernatural thriller, followed by a ramp-up in blood and gore, to then be lulled into a spooky, bump-in-the-night classic, all to end on a ritualistic hunt taking place on Halloween night. This is just getting things started for the first 30-days. Looking forward to sharing the next list to get you through October.
Anyone who follows legendary horror author Stephen King on social media or reads the back of books knows one thing. It’s harder to find something that King hasn’t blurbed than something that he has. The dude is a voracious consumer of genre media, and he finds a lot to love. It’s an admirable quality. But, speaking as someone who saw American Ultra after he praised it, you can’t always trust his recommendations. Today, I’ll cut some of the wheat from the chaff and break down the best modern horror movies he’s recommended.
Three notes: First, I have decided to define “modern” as “2001 or later.” Second, King practices good social media hygiene and has deleted many of his old posts. A lot of them are archived elsewhere. However, it’s more or less impossible to make a truly comprehensive list of his recommendations. I’ve synthesized multiple different sources and done my best to truly encapsulate the breadth of his recommendations. Third, I have not included any adaptations of his own work. He may be outspoken about the ones he doesn’t like, but he’s still obviously biased in that department.
#10 Snakes on a Plane (2006)
To quote King himself (defending putting 2012 among his top 2009 movies), “no filmgoing diet is complete without some cheese.” Snakes on a Plane is a does-what-it-says-on-the-tin movie, delivering high-flying serpentine thrills. However, it’s also a remarkably faithful resurrection of the atmosphere of old 1970s airplane thrillers.
#9 Final Destination 5 (2011)
In his Best of 2011 entry on Final Destination 5, King called it “the best since the first,” and he’s absolutely right. While the sequels probably peaked with the highway prologue in Final Destination 2, the fifth installment is pound-for-pound the most thrilling entry. Between the bridge collapse, the laser eye surgery, and the nail-biting sequence where a screw falls pointy-side-up on a balance beam, there’s no denying there’s real power here. And that’s not even mentioning the fun final twist!
#8 A Quiet Place: Day One (2024)
In a since-deleted Tweet, King called Day One “the rare ‘big Hollywood film’ that is both intimate and textured.” It’s true. A Quiet Place: Day One is a mini miracle of horror filmmaking. An IP-drenched prequel to a duology of good-not-great post-apocalyptic popcorn blockbusters shouldn’t be this genuinely stirring. Plus, relative newcomer Joseph Quinn holds his own against the awe-inspiring Lupita Nyong’o, resulting in an all-timer two-hander.
#7 The Strangers (2008)
After watching The Strangers, King took to Entertainment Weekly to pontificate about what makes good horror. If you inspire someone who literally wrote the book on horror to think about it more, you’ve done something right. Bryan Bertino’s home invasion movie is one of the grimmest movies of the 2000s, but its desperate existential dread is terrifying and perfectly in line with King’s best works.
#6 Splice (2009)
King included Splice on his Top 10 list for 2010, particularly praising the “talented actors… who take the material seriously.” How did this grotesque genetic-experimentation horror movie directed by the guy who made Cube land Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley? Who knows. But they breathe life into some already super solid material. What Brody in particular gets up to feels even more twisted because it’s the guy from The Pianist doing it.
#5 Smile (2022)
In a since-deleted Tweet, King called Smile a “good, scary horror film.” He added that “the real surprise is Sosie Bacon as Rose. What a hell of a performance.” Bacon really was a revelation, but so was debut director Parker Finn. His control over tone and pacing leads to some of the best scare sequences of the 2020s.
#4 The Rule of Jenny Pen (2024)
King’s not fucking around about the New Zealand horror film The Rule of Jenny Pen. It’s one of just two horror movies on his New York Times ballot for the best of the 21st century. The underseen movie is a real corker, too. It follows a judge (Geoffrey Rush) recovering in a care home after a stroke. However, his relaxation is ruined by a sadistic retiree (John Lithgow) who is obsessed with his baby doll puppet. Lithgow’s performance is stunning, and his thrillingly dark energy commands the screen every second he’s in front of the camera.
#3 Barbarian (2022)
In a since-deleted reply to a fan’s Tweet about Barbarian, King said “Yeah, that movie blew me away. It was crazy! Crazy GOOD!” This movie contributed what is perhaps the definitive scary basement in horror, which is no small feat. That’s all thanks to director Zach Cregger’s control over onscreen darkness (one of his many skills). The man must be a shadowmancer of some kind.
#2 Train to Busan (2016)
Train to Busan is the only other horror movie on King’s NYT ballot. It has received a lot of international recognition over the years. Perhaps more than any other non-Parasite movie from South Korea. That’s because it’s flipping amazing. Its crackling energy makes it one of the scariest fast-zombie movies in history. But it also marries that with a compelling father-daughter story. There’s really nothing Train to Busan can’t do.
#1 The Descent (2005)
King put The Descent on his 2006 best-of list, calling it “the best horror movie of the year.” Forget that. It’s one of the top horror movies of the century so far. It’s a bloody good monster movie nestled into a skin-crawlingly claustrophobic spelunking movie.
Honorable Mentions:
The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016) – I’ve never seen it, so I can’t in good faith recommend it
Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) – A masterpiece, but it’s not really “horror”
Obsession (2026) – We gotta let this one sit, in order to avoid recency bias
