Disturbo 13

The Disturbo 13 purports to be a list of the 13 most disturbing films ever made. It was compiled by Stanley Wiater, and featured in the book Cut! Horror Writers on Horror Film, edited by Christopher Golden.

Concerning his list Stanley Wiater wrote: "Here are the films that best instill that unsettling sensation in the gut of any caring, feeling, rational human being. Thirteen movies that go beyond frightening - go beyond any form of cinematic entertainment - and are just balls-to-the-wall disturbing. So called cult films that are so unrelentingly perverse they make us regret having watched them. And, ultimately, make us disgusted to be of the same species of animal portrayed in these motion pictures."

The list is of interest in that it portrays the convergence between trashy horror and exploitation films, and experimental arthouse flicks that occurred in the late seventies and early eighties. For example two of the movies on the list, Salo and Eraserhead are regarded as classics of avant-garde cinema. However others, I Spit on Your Grave for example, are generally classifiable as low-budget grindhouse rubbish.

A purposely eclectic mix, "Disturbo 13" is generally considered the Gold Standard with which explorers of extreme cinema first wade into dark and bloody waters.

The 13 movies

1. Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma
2. Men Behind the Sun
3. I Spit on Your Grave
4. Bloodsucking Freaks
5. Last House on the Left
6. Maniac
7. Cannibal Holocaust
8. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
9. In a Glass Cage
10. Nekromantik
11. Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS
12. Combat Shock
13. Eraserhead

External links

• The Blood Theatre - A discussion of this list and its movies, with an updated version.