10 Best Horror Movies for Sickos

A “sicko movie” is not as easy to define as a comedy, an epic movie, or an action film, but it’s more just a vibe you get from certain films. Many of them are horror movies, so that’s the genre that’s going to be focused on here. Basically, they’re horror movies that get a bit grosser than your average one, and there has to be some element of glee behind some of the gross things that happen on screen.

So, a few of these are horror comedies, and then some others might be tongue-in-cheek or over-the-top. The more serious ones here can still count as sicko movies, depending on whether there’s much sleaze or a lack of regard for more conventional decency and class. What does feel spiritually in line with this completely made-up “sicko” sub-genre is fairly subjective, but that’s what’s going to be attempted here regardless.

10

‘Society’ (1989)

Image via Wild Street Pictures

Society is an absolute trip of a movie, and one where the less said about the plot, the better. If you need something of a summary, though, it’s about a young man struggling to fit in, especially with various upper-class people. They represent high society, more or less, as the title alludes to, and there’s more of an emphasis on comedy and social satire than outright horror… for a while, at least.

It’s where Society eventually ends up that puts it firmly within the horror genre, and also ensures it feels like one of its decade’s definitive sicko movies. Society also really makes the most of the practical effects it has on display, and all that grossness and body horror-related stuff really holds up and continues to look absolutely disgusting to this day, almost 40 years on from its original release. The same can be said about 1982’s The Thing, sure, but that one looks positively PG-rated in comparison to something like Society.

9

‘The Lighthouse’ (2019)

Image via A24

Alongside Tom Holland and Zendaya, Robert Pattinson has been having a pretty huge 2026 so far, but his whole renaissance era post-Twilight kicked off so much earlier, with The Lighthouse coming out seven years ago now. Hell, that’s not even the first truly interesting Pattinson role, but it was nonetheless a good demonstration of his range, and he’s amazing here, alongside an equally great Willem Dafoe.

The two play lighthouse keepers who are stuck with each other on a tiny island, and they both drive each other mad while bizarre things keep happening to them, and then there’s a lot of flatulence, too. Also, the humor in The Lighthouse gets pretty crude and broad at times (even beyond the farting), and yet it does still remain a horror movie throughout, being its own unapologetically weird thing for the entirety of its runtime (which isn’t long, technically, but you do feel like you’ve been stuck on that tiny island with them for a while by the time it wraps up).

8

‘Titane’ (2021)

Image via Kazak Productions

For a sci-fi horror movie, Titane goes to some very strange places, and then it continues finding weird places to go to, inevitably feeling like more than just a work of science fiction and horror. It’s gonzo with what it does, but not so carefree that it ever feels mindless, because much of what this has to say is weighty and even kind of thought-provoking, but touching upon what it’s ultimately about does feel like it would run the risk of saying too much.

So, like, Titane is about a mysterious woman with a strange past going on the run, or on some kind of “journey,” and coming into contact with a very different person who has their own past tragedies. And along the way, some truly alarming and shocking things happen, but it does feel like it wants to shock and awe for a good reason. So, compared to some of the other sicko movies here, Titane is more or less a little classy, too.

7

‘Guinea Pig: Mermaid in the Manhole’ (1988)

Image via Unearthed Films

Without going into too much detail, the Guinea Pig horror series is a notorious one, even by exploitation movie standards, with the first one being most responsible for the infamy. It’s more or less about a human guinea pig, hence the name, and it’s not good, but then some of the sequels to it are a little more interesting, and almost kind of good?

They’re not just filled with torture, and they do explore different weird things and ideas. Case in point, you’ve got the fifth movie of the bunch, Mermaid in the Manhole, which feels comparatively classy and emotional, somehow, being about a lonely and grieving man who discovers a mermaid (you’ll never guess where), and he takes her home, falling for her while she’s also more or less falling apart. It’s a very intense body horror movie that’s also strangely tragic, and it ultimately has more to offer than “just” being sickening. It is pretty sickening, though. That has to be stressed.

6

‘The Substance’ (2024)

At the risk of either oversimplifying things or sounding a bit pretentious, The Substance is about a sickness in society, or at least an industry that is very sickening, and so it feels appropriate for the movie to also have some sick/nausea-inducing stuff in it. It’s about a woman who starts using a black market substance (hey, there’s the title) to look younger again, but then there are some major consequences of taking it, and then not following all the rules attached to it.

There’s very little subtlety here, but intentionally so, with The Substance feeling a bit like a hyper-satire, pushing everything to an extreme to ensure that no one misses what it’s trying to say. It’s also very stylized and purposefully over-the-top at times, making it occasionally funny while, at its core, it’s also a very sad and despairing movie about nothing (or no one) ever being enough, and having that relentless drive toward the unattainable being one’s potential downfall.

5

‘Terrifier 2’ (2022)

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Unlike The Substance, Terrifier 2 is not really trying to say all that much. It has a little more going on when it comes to characters and a narrative of sorts compared to Terrifier (2016), but the main draw here is still the bloodshed. It’s a gross movie because of its villain, Art the Clown, who’s a demonic entity that just goes around killing people, but ensuring they feel the most pain possible before they eventually die.

If that doesn’t sound like your thing, that’s more than understandable. That’s honestly probably normal if that’s not your thing. Terrifier 2 is uncompromising with what it shows, and then it also doesn’t pull punches with its runtime, because 138 minutes is a long time for a movie of this kind to go on for. It’s an almost epic-length gross-out horror film, and definitely one of the simplest and nastiest of the last few years (at least among those that are actually, in their own way, kind of good).

4

‘Climax’ (2018)

Image via Wild Bunch

Climax doesn’t fit neatly into the horror genre, being kind of horror-related, but also something of a thriller, and a dance movie? Or whatever you’d call a musical that doesn’t really have any singing. Because the main characters here belong to a dance troupe, and they gather to throw a party, but someone spikes the sangria they’re all drinking with some kind of drug (or mixture of drugs) that turns everything hallucinatory and stomach-churning.

It’s a very feel-bad movie, which is what can be expected when you’ve got Gaspar Noé as a director, honestly. There are some darker movies of his that are too grim to jokingly or casually call “sicko movies,” because there needs to be some sort of thrilling quality – or a very dark sense of fun – to be had for something to be truly worthy of the sicko label. And Climax… okay, it is probably darker than it is entertaining, but it’s paced and unfolds in such a way that does make it feel a bit like a roller-coaster, albeit a very rocky roller-coaster where safety’s not really guaranteed.

3

‘The Return of the Living Dead’ (1985)

Image via Orion Pictures

There are more violent zombie movies than The Return of the Living Dead, but this one is still pretty darn goopy and bloody, and then it’s also got quite a bit by way of sleaze in it, too. It doesn’t really feel compromised on any front, and it also stands out for being, at times, one of the silliest zombie movies out there, and then, at other points, honestly quite dark.

The Return of the Living Dead jumps around a lot, and doesn’t really care about whether you’re keeping up with the whole thing, in a way that’s ultimately quite admirable. It’s fun, but kind of in the same way that inhaling a whole bag of potato chips might be fun. By the end of either endeavor, you’re left feeling a bit greasy and maybe kind of (weirdly) tired, but mid-bag, and mid-movie, you’re having such a good time. You’re having a ball.

2

‘Infinity Pool’ (2023)

Image via Elevation Pictures

It’s not too surprising that Infinity Pool was directed by Brandon Cronenberg, son of David, because David Cronenberg’s horror movies are sometimes known/notorious for having such extreme content. Still, Infinity Pool might well reach new highs in terms of disgustingness, so Brandon is well and truly keeping the Cronenberg legacy going, with the plot here concerning a couple on vacation who fall in with some very suspicious people.

There are parties that go too far, to put it mildly, and then increasingly intense imagery and situations, all of it very nauseating. Infinity Pool might well be a bit much, but it is definitely a quintessential sicko movie, for better or worse. Your mind can kind of admire the places it’s willing to go while, at the same time, your stomach is probably wishing things hadn’t actually gone there.

1

‘Gozu’ (2003)

Image via Raku Film

Yes, Gozu might well be the most sickening horror movie of all time. It’s Takashi Miike doing his thing, but making something arguably more extreme than Ichi the Killer and Audition, though both of them are a little more well-known. Maybe they’re more digestible, to some extent, because Gozu gets more extreme, and also revels in feeling like even more of a grotesque fever dream.

It’s about one man killing a gangster, and then having his life spiral out of control in the wake of such a crime. Things are violent and a bit offbeat right from the start, thanks to that premise, but the sense of surreal horror is amped up slowly but surely, almost every scene or two. Gozu never jumps the shark, but it does continually keep stepping over, like, a whole bunch of smaller sharks. If that makes sense. It probably doesn’t. But neither does Gozu. It’s disgusting, hard to describe, and also darkly funny at times, too (albeit in a very twisted way, even by dark comedy standards).

Gozu

Release Date

July 11, 2003

Runtime

129 Minutes

Writers

Sakichi Sato

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  Kimika Yoshino

  Female Ozaki

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