Each and every horror movie has a goal, with different ways of achieving it. Sometimes that goal is to make the viewer nauseous, whether that be through the bloodiest of gore or through downright immoral acts. Most horror movies succeed in putting the viewer on edge, but how many of them can cause popcorn to suddenly feel like a pit in the stomach? While the horror genre is responsible for creating some of the largest masterpieces since the birth of film, very few have been able to sicken audiences to the core. The following is a list of nauseating horror movies to add to your autumn watch-list. Spoilers ahead!

10. Creep

Creep came out in 2014, following the eerie and found footage pattern of many movies before it, like “The Blair Witch Project” (1999) and “Cannibal Holocaust” (1980). “Creep” follows Aaron, who responds to an ad for an absurd amount of money to help a dying man make a video for his unborn child. The terminal man, Josef, has some very odd requests for Aaron. He asks the videographer to film him in the bathtub, bathing an imaginary toddler. This is all, of course, for his unborn child. Aaron, after a series of weird requests from Josef, withdraws from the deal completely and goes without the money, to which Josef begins to stalk him. The movie from there unravels into a horrifying documentary of a man being hunted like an animal. Actor Mark Duplass, who plays Josef, does a phenomenal job in this role of depicting a downright psychotic and crazed individual. What makes this movie even better is the fact that Duplass improvised most of his dialogue. The way that characters respond to things and the human nature of Josef make the movie all the more sickening for the viewer. 

9. Midsommar

Notorious filmmaker Ari Aster was not able to bask in the glory of the release of his film “Hereditary” since he had to immediately fly out to Hungary for the creation of his Best Screenplay award-winning movie, “Midsommar.” Aster is known for his incredible attention to detail, which is why it was no surprise that “Midsommar” was a juxtapositioned masterpiece. The film takes place in Sweden, following couple, Dani and Christian, and their group of friends, to visit one of the group members’ hometownss. Most of the movie takes place in daylight, which is why the film is so incredibly eerie in its content. Characters are taken out, slowly, in brutal ways, and the couple is groomed into the cultlike nature of their friend’s hometown. Dani, who has succumbed to grief from the death of her sister and parents, is crowned the May Queen and falls into a fragile and delusional state where she feels like she has once more found a family. While Dani is frolicking with the other women of the cult, her friends and partner are being tortured. The movie ends in an oddly warm and satisfying way, with Dani finally finding what she believes to be happiness.

What makes this movie a disgusting watch isn’t the casual and brutal deaths of the characters, but the false sense of security that even the viewers are given by the cult. Before realizing, “Oh, she has been trapped in a cult,,” most viewers are pleased that Dani is no longer in misery. Which is why it’s so disgusting, even the viewer has been entranced by the cult, which proves how simple it is to indoctrinate when the prey is the vulnerable.

8. Ma

Actress Octavia Spencer received a phone call from director Jason Blum, who told her that he had the perfect horror movie role for her. Spencer, assuming it would be much like other roles, figured she would be the first to die. Blum told her that not only would she not die within the first fifteen minutes of the film, but that she was responsible for killing everyone. Spencer was elated at the idea of playing a villain character, as many black people who are incorporated in slasher films are often the first to die. Ma follows a group of teenagers who genuinely believe they have hit the jackpot when they meet middle-aged Sue Ann, who is willing to provide them with all of the alcohol they could ask for and a place to throw parties.

Sue Ann quickly becomes attached to the group of kids, using them to make her feel better about her stolen youth. Her eagerness to have them over more often begins to freak the kids out, leading them to avoid her altogether. In retaliation, Sue Ann tells the teenagers she has cancer that the partying makes her feel less bad about the shortness of her life span is. The problem is– Sue Ann doesn’t have cancer. She lies to the kids to keep them coming to her for alcohol. 

Later on in the film, it’s discovered that the father of one of the boys was Sue Ann’s biggest bully in high school. Sue Ann continues to groom the teenagers to get back at her previous classmates, and plans the ultimate revenge that will leave her with the last laugh.

There are points in the movie where viewers are led to feel bad for Sue Ann, as her brutal bullying and neglect led her to become the way she is. However, that guilt quickly dissipates when Sue Ann commits the most disgusting crimes imaginable and plots to hurt the innocent. While the deaths in this movie are graphic, disgusting, and horrific, what makes this movie terrifying is Sue Ann’s attachment to the children. She will stop at nothing to control them, 

as if her grip on the group of teenagers will cure her of everything that traumatized her as a teenager.

7. The Substance

The Hollywood film scene is obsessed with youth and attractiveness, so much so that even if you’re a shining star like “The Substance’s” Elisabeth Sparkle, your career is contingent on how young you are. Elisabeth Sparkle is played by Demi Moore, an actress who has openly talked about her troubles with her acting career as an aging woman. Elisabeth is fired from her aerobics show, despite her phenomenal physical condition. As a result, Elisabeth consults an old friend who offers her a drug referred to as “The Substance”  that will temporarily make her into a younger, more beautiful version of herself, every seven days. Elisabeth, after some hesitation, eventually takes her friend up on the offer. 

When Elisabeth injects herself with “The Substance,” a gory scene follows where her back opens up out crawls a gorgeous, young woman from her back. This younger version of Elisabeth is played by Margaret Qualley. Elisabeth chooses to go by a pseudonym, “Sue,” and obtains a position as the star on her old aerobics show. In her weeks in Sue’s, she is respected, beloved, and suddenly sought after once again. When Elisabeth tries to extend her time as Sue for longer than a week, she quickly pays the price as parts of her body age and distort. 

While the value that is placed on women based on physical appearance is a sickening reality that many face every day, it isn’t anything new. The movie’s grossest aspect relies on its usage of special effects to create an inhuman and monstrous creature out of a woman who truly has nothing wrong with her. The addiction that Elisabeth develops to being treated like a piece of gold is the most sickening part; she has to destroy her entire body just to be treated like the respected athlete that she is.

6. Get Out

Jordan Peele’s multi-faceted work as a filmmaker and writer has made him a permanent fixture in both the Horror and Comedy film genres. “Get Out” premiered in February of 2017 and grossed over 2.5 million dollars at the box office. “Get Out” acts as a metaphor for systemic racism against black people, which plays out in even the smallest of scenes, like microaggressions sprinkled in conversations between a black man and his girlfriend’s white family. The protagonist Chris is ready to meet his girlfriend’s family. He is quickly weirded out when he realizes all of the family’s staff is black. It’s in an interaction with another black person at his girlfriend’s reunion, he realizes that the black people are in an entranced state and aren’t very receptive to any conversation struck up by Chris. It’s revealed that his girlfriend’s family, the Armitages, kidnap black people to harvest their bodies and use them as vessels for their disabled family members’ consciousness. 

While Get Out does use fantastical elements for storytelling purposes, the story itself is rooted in real world situations and racism. The white characters use constant dog whistles and even attempt to gaslight Chris into thinking he is in a safe situation. Comments towards Chris like “I’d voted for Obama a third term if I could.” to create a false sense of security, as if just because a politician is black, that eradicates all racism and prejudice.

5. Lamb

When an Icelandic couple, Maria and Ingvar, find a deformed lamb among the many that they tend to on their farm, they choose to take it in and nurse it back to health. The two recently suffered from a stillbirth, so they saw the lamb as a blessing. The deformed lamb is humanlike, developing a consciousness similar to that of an actual child. Maria slowly descends into hysteria, dreaming of angry sheep with demonic features. The couple names the lamb Ada and treats her as though she is a human child, even going so far as to dress her in children’s clothing. Her husband’s brother, Petur shows up to the home, and is utterly disgusted by Ada’s presence. He initially plots to kill her, but ends up taking on an uncle-like role towards her. 

Maria is still being terrorized by her dreams, the sheep that she previously saw appear as humanoid figures similar to Ada. One morning, Ingvar is shot and murdered by a man with the head of a ram. Ada witnesses this and is taken away by the entity, leaving Maria in hysterics. 

Lamb can be interpreted in many different ways, but the most popular idea is that the movie is about how grief can tear more than just single families apart. Maria seeks solace in Ada being a replacement for her stillborn child, even though Ada has been taken from her parents and is not in a suitable environment for her condition. This movie doesn’t use the typical gore and terror that films like The Substance and Midsommar do, but instead manipulates the environment and builds anticipation that completely relies on the instability of the female protagonist, Maria.

4. Hostel

Out of all of the movies on this list, Hostel does one of the most phenomenal jobs of using visuals to leave the reader feeling disgusted. The film follows three friends, three boys named Oli, Josh, and Paxton. These boys have traveled to Amsterdam with the goal of crossing off as many Rice Purity Score boxes as possible. That seems like an exaggeration, but in the first thirty minutes of the film, the boys are seen shacking up with several strangers, doing copious amounts of drugs, and endangering their lives to a severe level. However, the mix of psychedelics and physical intimacy isn’t what makes this movie terrifying.

After slipping up and missing the curfew of the hostel the boys are staying at while in Amsterdam, they meet an odd businessman of Dutch descent who raves about how beautiful Slovakian women are. They dismiss the conversation as odd, but their encounters with the businessman do not end there. The movie from here spirals into a sick and twisted game where all three boys are tortured in the most extreme ways possible. In one circumstance, one of the boys has both of his Achilles tendons cut open and is told to get up and walk out of the situation.

Hostel’s extreme gore and torture methods make it distinct among the many slasher films that exist in this genre; however, one of the scariest parts is the reality of human trafficking of people who travel to foreign countries. While the chances of becoming a victim of an underground torture ring are impossibly low, being kidnapped and trafficked in foreign countries is much more common than most would think.

3. Saw III

The first two Saw films set some very high expectations for the additions that followed. Now, whether or not those films met or exceeded those expectations is entirely up to the viewer. Saw III is often considered one of the better films before writer Leigh Wannell left to explore bigger-budget opportunities. It’s crucial to watch the previous movies in the series to understand the twists that occur in Saw III. This franchise follows serial killer Jigsaw and his sadistic mindset that leads to the murders of countless victims in brutal and horrifying ways. The third Saw movie is terrifying for all the right reasons. Jigsaw is miraculously above the law, and even if you can survive one of his perilous traps, there’s no guarantee that you will make it out alive. Not only does Jigsaw reach beyond the grave to continue his work, but his traps are intricately dedicated to the individual victim. 

Saw III has two of the most disgusting and uncomfortable traps in the entire series. One of which is the Angel Trap, a metal corset with prongs that have the ability to rip the rib cage open like angel wings. The trapped individual is hung in the air by metal chains, and if they were to escape, they would completely shred their torso. The victim of the trap has to fish through a container of acid for the key to the corset. 

The second trap that takes center stage in this movie is The Rack, a metal crucifix with restraints on each limb, including the skull. The crucifix is controlled by a gear system that has the ability to twist the restraints 360 degrees. While the concept of this alone is utterly terrifying, the limbs do not twist at the same time. They twist individually, leaving the head for last.

2. Would You Rather

Similar to Get Out, Would You Rather is a commentary horror movie that focuses on the mistreatment of the lower class. The movie follows Iris, an orphaned young adult who acts as a guardian for her extremely sick, younger brother. At an oncologist appointment, Iris is introduced to the insufferably wealthy Shephard Lambrick. The oncologist tells Iris that Lambrick, if she agrees to his terms, can help Iris pay for her brother’s medical bills. The only thing Iris has to do to get this money is play a game. Iris, motivated by the need to care for the only family member she has left, accepts almost immediately.

When she arrives at the dinner, Iris is sat among many others who are also struggling financially. What none of them know, is that all of them will be tortured until their bodies physically give out. The last one standing gets the money.

This movie is sickening. From the very beginning, the lower class is used as an object for pleasure. They are toyed with both physically and emotionally, with Lambrick at one point even making one of the players drink alcohol despite their pride in their sobriety. Outside of the mind games that are played against the desperate individuals, their physical torture is brutal. At one point, one of the men is directed to take a box razor to his eye, and cut it down the middle. If he chooses not to do so, he loses out on the opportunity of the money. 

1. Tusk

Tusk is arguably one of the most visually disturbing films of all time, the distress from the protagonist to the extreme body horror is enough to put someone off from horror permanently. Tusk begins with podcaster, Wallace Bryton, who flies to Manitoba, Canada to interview a boy who cut his leg off while playing with a katana. When that interview falls through due the unfortunate demise of the young boy, Wallace is set on dedicating the time to finding a hit story to cover. He answers an ad, which has proven to be the demise of any desperate person, to sit down with the wealthy Howard Howe. Howe tells Wallace that he has a lifetime of stories. The two sit down together for tea only for Wallace to be laced. When he comes to, he finds that one of his legs has been cut off, leaving him a partial paraplegic. Howe tells Wallace that since a life-saving encounter with a walrus many years ago, he has sought to help others become the most walrus version of themselves.

The movie continues to many outrageous and revolting shots of Wallace being taken apart and repieced as a walrus with scars and human skin. Howe encourages Wallace to surrender to his animalistic ways, to which Wallace eventually crumbles under the emotional stress of being warped into an absolute nightmare of a creature.

With halloween being right around the corner, now is the perfect time to immerse oneself into the true spirit of the season: fear. Whether you are someone that truly cannot stomach gore or someone that needs to feel an emotional tug to really be sickened, there’s something for every horror enjoyer out there. What movies would you add to this list?