[Editorial] Films To Ruin Your Day: Short, Sweet & Sickening

Artwork by Sludgework

As someone who loves extreme horror, I’m always going to be playing Devil’s advocate and encouraging the masses to get involved in a little depravity. But that being said, I’m also not a complete monster so there are times when my suggestion might be to ease yourself in by starting with something that’s not too drenched in debauchery like Eli Roth’s Hostel, which although gets a bad rep, is exceptionally fun for a film about being horrifically tortured for the entertainment of others. The other alternative is opting for something that is somewhat like ripping off a bandage; fucking painful and disgusting, but over within a matter of minutes. 

Of course, my interest here still lies in ruining your day (sorry!), but perhaps with these short extreme films that lingering feeling of dread and angst against the entirety of humanity might actually dissipate a little quicker than expected. Through the course of exploring the darker depths of film, I’ve come across a few extreme shorts that have really stuck with me and made an impact - and even though some only have a runtime of 10 minutes, when you see the sickening scenes on screen you’re going to wish it was only 10 seconds… 

5. My Sweet Satan (1994)

Jim Van Bebber is most commonly known for his 1988 action film Deadbeat at Dawn, but Bebber went on to focus more on the influence of real life murders. That’s why in 1994 Bebber took inspiration from a real-life murder/suicide that happened when a drug dealer took a kid out to the woods, laced him with LSD, and then violently murdered him. 

My Sweet Satan follows a slightly different path, instead with a group of drug-taking teens getting duped into worshipping Satan which all ends in very violent means. Probably the least extreme on the list, but for extreme cinema this is considered as a great little gem. The violence, humiliation and elements of torture certainly get under the skin.  

4. Aftermath (1994)

One common theme that is seen time and time again in extreme horror is necrophilia. It seems to truly be the taboo of all taboos, one that immediately takes any gory movie to a completely other level. Which is exactly why even with a run time of only 32 minutes, Nacho Cerda’s 1994 short Aftermath is one of the toughest to get through. 

Never trust your mortician. Why? Because as seen in Aftermath he is going to absolutely defile your body once you’ve finished using it. The gravity that the mortician takes to abuse the body goes beyond the means that one would like to think about - not only does he sexually abuse the body, but he also begins performing various aspects of the autopsy and using those new holes to satisfy his needs. This half hour is one of the bleakest. 

3. Flesh Meat Doll(s) (2016)

I guess you don’t really need to know too much more once you’ve seen the title, right? But I know your type, curious and completely sick in the head so let’s continue. Word of warning, if you can’t handle heavy pornographic visuals, then you won’t really enjoy this one at all because it’s completely soaked in graphic sexualised images. 

C.Huston’s short extreme horror is only 15 minutes but it’s pretty excruciating to get through - even I struggled in places. Throughout the short time we see bodies used literally as ‘meat dolls’ to be mutilated, pissed on, cummed on and fucked every which way. But the saving grace to this one is that aesthetically it’s produced well with mesmerising lighting and some interesting shots.

2. Cutting Moments (1997)

When looking at extreme horror that came in the 00s, it’s clear to see that there was some inspiration taken from Douglas Buck’s 1997 short Cutting Moments. Although disturbing to watch, there are more subtleties at play here that become far more tormenting to the viewer’s mind than many of the visual aspects that we see. 

Sarah and Patrick have hit a rough spot in their marriage; Sarah feels underappreciated and that’s because Patrick is sexually attracted to their young son Joey. So in order to regain his attention she begins cutting herself, and awfully enough this captures his attention, leading down a gruesome path for them both. This one is only 30 minutes but has an oppressive feeling the whole way through. 

1.Nekro (1998)

I have seen a lot of nasty extreme films, but nothing has quite compared to how I felt after watching Mick Nard and Vince Roth’s Nekro from 1998. There were times during the 16 minute runtime that I considered turning this off and taking a break… That’s a gauge on how bad this one is when it comes to levels of extreme horror. 

A man abducts a woman and takes her back to his apartment where he brutally and aggressively stabs her until she’s dead and her guts are spilling out everywhere. Once desimated, he begins to have his fun with her body by raping it repeatedly until the mangled corpse becomes something barely recognisable. But the worst part is the sound design… Those guttural groans of pleasure and screams of agony will absolutely destroy a part of your soul forever. You’re welcome.

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