7) Goodnight Mommy: Roach Stomach
Goodnight Mommy itself is an unsettling, disturbing flick, based on a familial nightmare that blends childhood curiosity with real-life implications. Yet, there’s a scene that crawls under our skin more than any other visual image created by Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz. Bugs are nasty enough little pests as is, but a certain dream sequence makes use of some disgusting cockroaches in a way we never asked to see. Someone might want to check Mommy’s diet…
In the exact scene, we aren’t quite sure if reality is playing out or if it’s a dream sequence. Then a young lead character slices his mother’s stomach open and a swarm of roaches comes crawling out of the open wound. Yes, gag away – it’s as cringe-worthy as you’d expect. The insects skitter around the woman’s stomach, but then we learn it was all just fantasy.
Real or fake, it’s still a disturbing image that’ll never be erased from my mind.