An Introduction to Extreme Horror Films
Content warning: this article discusses films that deal with extreme violence, sexual violence and death. It contains no graphic description, but the films themselves are intended for adults only.
Extreme horror is a corner of the genre that most horror fans know about long before they actually watch any of it. These are films that set out to go further than mainstream horror: they show what other films cut away from, they often have tiny budgets, and many of them have been banned, cut or refused a release somewhere in the world. This introduction explains what people usually mean by the term and gives a short, factual overview of the extreme horror titles we carry officially licensed merch for.
What is extreme horror?
There's no official definition, but the label usually covers films that make graphic violence, cruelty or taboo subjects the main point rather than a single shock. Many are independent or underground productions, made outside the studio system and sold on DVD, at conventions or through specialist distributors. Some use a found footage style, presented as if they were real recordings, which is part of what makes them so unsettling to watch.
Censorship is a big part of the story. Several of the films below have been banned in at least one country or only released with cuts, and that reputation is often how people first hear about them. Fans tend to value them for their practical effects, their low-budget ingenuity and the way they test what cinema is allowed to show. Critics are often much less kind. Both reactions are part of why these films are still talked about years later.
A Serbian Film (2010)
A Serbian Film was directed by Srđan Spasojević, who co-wrote it with Aleksandar Radivojević, and was produced in Serbia by Contra Film. It premiered as a midnight screening at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, and drew widespread controversy almost at once. It has been banned in a number of countries, and its UK release required compulsory cuts. Our A Serbian Film range is licensed from Unearthed Films and Contra Film.
August Underground (2001)
August Underground was Fred Vogel's first film as director, written with Allen Peters, who is also the unseen person holding the camera. Shot on Hi8 and made to look like a worn, amateur home video, it has a cult following in extreme horror circles, and it was followed by August Underground's Mordum (2003) and August Underground's Penance (2007). Our range is licensed from Fred Vogel, ToeTag Pictures and Unearthed Films.
American Guinea Pig
American Guinea Pig is a series of films from Unearthed Films, begun in 2013 as a homage to the Japanese Guinea Pig series of the 1980s. Stephen Biro directed the first entry, Bouquet of Guts and Gore (2014), and later The Song of Solomon (2017); the series also includes Bloodshock (2015) and Sacrifice (2017). Our American Guinea Pig tees are licensed by Stephen Biro, and each design is limited to 50 worldwide.
Nekromantik (1987)
Nekromantik is a West German underground film directed by Jörg Buttgereit and co-written with Franz Rodenkirchen. It was never submitted to Germany's film rating body and was only sold to adults, it has been banned in a number of countries, and it only received a UK release in November 2014. Buttgereit followed it with Nekromantik 2 in 1991. Our Nekromantik range was made with Buttgereit himself.
American Mary (2012)
American Mary is written and directed by Jen & Sylvia Soska and stars Katharine Isabelle as Mary Mason, a medical student who, short of money, starts doing secret work for people in the extreme body modification world. It premiered at London FrightFest in 2012. It's more of a body horror film than the other titles here, but it shares their interest in what people will do to the human body. Our American Mary range is licensed from the Soska sisters.
Brian Paulin and Morbid Vision Films
Brian Paulin is an American filmmaker. His film Bone Sickness (2004), which he wrote and directed for Morbid Vision Films, is a low-budget zombie film about a man with a degenerative bone disease. We carry officially licensed merch for Bone Sickness and three more of his films: Septic, Fetus and Cryptic Plasm.
Domiziano Cristopharo
Domiziano Cristopharo is a director whose work often combines eroticism with brutal horror. We carry officially licensed tees for Deep Web XXX and House of Flesh Mannequins, each limited to 50 worldwide, and ELDORADO and LA PERDICION on DVD and t-shirt. Both DVDs are in Italian with English and Italian subtitles, and some festivals refused to screen the films for fear of censorship.
Human Hibachi (2019)
Human Hibachi is an American found footage horror film written and directed by Mario Cerrito. It follows a woman's 35th birthday party at a restaurant with a disturbing secret menu, and it has since been followed by sequels. Our Human Hibachi merch, the first ever made for the film, is officially licensed by 4th Dimension Pictures, the Human Hibachi Franchise and Mario Cerrito.
Where to start
If you're new to extreme horror, read up on a film before you press play, check the age rating and content warnings where they exist, and don't feel you have to watch everything. Most of these films are hard going on purpose.
If you already know what you like, you'll find all of the titles above in our Extreme Horror Merch collection. Every design there is officially licensed from the filmmakers, studios or distributors behind the film.