12 Disturbing Horror Movies That Crossed A Line… And Kept Going
These twelve movies, ranked from least to most disturbing, cross a line so extreme that most movie-viewers refuse to watch.
When it comes to pushing boundaries, horror has always led the effort. Horror movies dare to go where no other movies go. Unafraid of alienating audiences, and cheap enough not to worry too much about box office sales, the horror genre has very few lines it won’t cross. There is a boundary, however, that continues to hold strong; one thing that even the wildest, goriest movies usually refuse to display onscreen: violence against children.
This is a list of twelve movies that crossed a line (for better or worse) that few horror movies dare to cross.
When a Stranger Calls (2006)
The opening scene of When a Stranger Calls establishes the movie’s terrifying premise: a serial killer is on the loose, attacking babysitters and the children under their care. Less disturbing than other movies on this list, none of the violence implied in this opening scene is shown onscreen. Even so, the reactions of the cops are both horrifying and heartbreaking, and our imaginations are left to fill in the awful details.
Coraline (2009)
The villainous Beldam in Coraline hunts innocent children. In many cases, the creature has been successful, and several children have died. This movie is rated 2/12 on the disturbing scale because the violence takes place before the movie begins, and we only interact with the deceased children as shiny ghosts. Also, the fact that its animated, in my opinion, makes the movie generally less disturbing.
The Lovely Bones (2009)
This 2009 thriller/fantasy tells the story of a young girl who is murdered by a neighborhood predator. There are several disturbing moments in the film, as the predator lures the girl to her death. As dark as the subject matter is, the violence itself happens off camera and the movie’s overall tone ends up being fairly hopeful as both the young girl and her family learn to cope and move forward.
Terrifier 3 (2024)
It may be surprising that Terrifier 3 is only third on this list, but (although overall this is a more disturbing movie than some of those up ahead) none of the more extreme on-screen violence is against children. The marketing of the movie made it seem like it was really going to cross the line, but the little kids Art killed on Christmas were killed off screen, and the blowing-up-kids-at-the-mall scene was so full of fire and noise that its vibe was less disturbing-horror, and was more like an action movie (which may sound insane, but keep in mind how many children are killed in your average destroy-the-entire-city scene in a Marvel movie).
Doctor Sleep (2019)
Movies inspired by Stephen King stories often go dark when it comes to violence against children (we’re still recovering from that Georgie scene in It), but I was not expecting this follow-up to The Shining to be as disturbing as it is. Particularly the murder scene of Jacob Tremblay’s character Bradley. Not only is it nauseating to watch the horde of psychic vampires attack an innocent kid, Tremblay’s stellar acting takes the scene to a whole other level of disgustingly terrifying.
Hereditary (2018)
Never since Psycho’s shower scene has a horror-movie kill become as iconic and legendary as the plot-twist death in Hereditary. The reason this kill had such a huge impact wasn’t solely because the death itself was violent, but because it was so utterly unexpected. This movie, in large part because of this boundary-pushing moment, represented a huge cultural reset in the world of horror cinema. For any first-time Hereditary viewers, be warned—nobody is safe in this genre-defining film from the twisted mind of modern horror legend Ari Aster.
Nosferatu (2024)
With how artsy and visually stunning this movie was, it didn’t feel as much like a horror movie as a slow-burn, historical psychosexual drama. However, nobody can deny how disturbing and gut-wrenching it was to watch Count Orlock toss aside the limp body of the child he just drained. And it was made all the more horrific due to the reaction of Emma Corrin’s character Anna as she helplessly witnessed.
The Devil’s Bath (2024)
Shudder’s slow-burn historical film is a dark examination of the disturbing phenomenon called suicide-by-proxy. The movie follows a young, newly married Agnes who slowly spirals into a state of deep depression (referred to as being “in the devil’s bath”). The very first moments of the film cross the line as we watch a woman throw a baby over the side of a waterfall. Before the movie’s blood-soaked conclusion, another child falls victim to murder in a drawn-out and emotionally draining scene. A bit too slow for some, The Devil’s Bath was not afraid to cross the line when it came to violence against children.
The VVitch (2015)
This is where the list becomes automatically more deeply disturbing because we’re no longer dealing with older children, but with infants. In Robert Egger’s feature-length directorial debut, The VVitch, the baby isn’t murdered onscreen. The thing that’s ultimately disturbing about this is watching the witch in the aftermath of the killing, and discovering her motivation for taking the baby. The audio in particular makes this a tough watch for anyone without a strong stomach.
Mother! (2017)
This 2017 film starring Jennifer Lawrence doesn’t hold anything back during its fast-paced climax. In one of the more chaotic stretches of screen-time I’ve ever seen, a baby is taken from its mother, lifted high on the hands of a terrifying crowd of people, and killed—accidentally, almost casually. It’s shocking and hard to watch, but, as with The VVitch, worse than the visual is the audio as the baby’s bones break.
The Coffee Table (2022)
The internet was abuzz about this 2022 horror/comedy when it first hit streaming services. I went back and forth on where to place this movie on the list, because the way this death plays out was so absurd, but also didn’t really land as comedic because of how bloody and disturbing the content was. This film may be incredibly disturbing to some viewers, especially folks who don’t watch a lot of horror, but for me it was so unbelievable that it didn’t really have the intended effect. It just felt bizarre and kind of silly. I would say the strength of this film is the tension that builds from our knowledge that something terrible will happen. Once that terrible thing actually happens, even though it is objectively disturbing, the movie’s handling of the subject matter might turn off some viewers.
The Nightingale (2018)
This, to me, is the most disturbing instance of onscreen infant death. It takes place in a scene that’s already worn viewers down with intensely graphic and terrible violence. The situation has arisen out of some truly awful tragedy, and when the baby is ultimately killed, like the echoing sound of the last nail being driven into a coffin, I felt like my brain broke in half. I walked around in a daze for probably a week after this scene.
A Serbian Film (2010)
Often touted as the most disturbing movie of all time, the description alone is disturbing enough to convince viewers not to sit through its nearly two-hour runtime. It tells the story of a man who has retired from the adult film industry, who is manipulated into participating in an “art film” that turns out to be an illegal, reprehensible exercise in abuse and sadism. The most deranged movie on this list by a landslide, A Serbian Film is the worst of the worst when it comes to crossing the line.
