5 most disturbing sci fi movies.

Still no word from Solar Flare. Here's the last post I wrote for the site, which never went up.

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Pi (1998)



This debut feature from director Darren Aronofsky tells the story of a mathematician teetering on the edge of madness as he searches for recurring patterns in the stock market and the Torah, hoping to unlock the key to a great mystery. He is pursued by a relentless sales woman who wants the information in his head, tempting him with a high powered computer chip. The influence of David Lynch and David Cronenberg is strong here; the end where the protagonist drives a drill into his own skull greatly reminds me of the infamous final scene from the next movie on my list.

Videodrome (1983)



Small time TV producer Max Renn stumbles across the pirate broadcast of a program called "Videodrome" which shows sadomasochistic torture and sex. He and his kinky lover Nicki Brand get drawn into the show, which mutates them in very strange and unexpected ways. The special effects look a little dated, but the movie loses little of its shock value thanks to the surreal weirdness of the imagery and the fine performances of James Woods and Debbie Harry, who is almost as scary as she is sexy. And who could ever forget the final scene where a biomechanical James Woods puts a pistol against his head and says, “Long live the new flesh” before pulling the trigger?

Tetsuo: the Iron Man (1989)



Another biomechanical horror story. After being involved in a car accident, an unnamed man is wracked with pain as his body transforms itself into a machine. Like Pi, this movie is shot in black and white to create a gritty, unsettling feel. The disturbing and surreal images are presented at an adrenaline-charged pace, which makes this difficult to watch, despite the fact that it’s only 65 minutes long.

Altered States (1980)



I happened to see this movie on cable TV when I was just a kid, and it has haunted me ever since then. Driven to discover the "primal man," college professor Eddie Jessup spends his free time ingesting a powerful psychoactive drug and floating in an isolation tank. After repeated hallucinogenic trips he starts to de-evolve, and only the love of his estranged wife can bring him back. Not only does this continue with the “human body in revolt” theme of Tetsuo and Videodrome, this movie also features scenes that might be considered blasphemous or offensive to Christians.

Battle Royale (2000)



In a not-so-distant future, entire classes of Japanese school children are kidnapped, taken to a remote island and forced to kill each other for a television audience until only one person remains. Just like on the reality show Survivor, alliances form and dissolve as the participants try to figure out who they can trust. The violence is incredibly graphic and disturbing; many of the participants commit suicide rather than do battle with their friends. This movie was a big success in its native country, but I doubt that a story like this would ever be embraced by a wide audience given the fact that it depicts young school kids hunting and killing each other. Of all the movies on the list, I think this one is the most disturbing.