2016’s cinematic existence was mostly one of beauty and wonder – if you ignore how f*#&ed certain aspects became. For every majestic La La Land or groundbreaking Moonlight, a The Greasy Strangler reared its malformed monstrosity of a head. Something grotesque, obscure, and so aggressively “WTF” that its very existence demands documentation. This can be a good “WTF” (Train To Busan) or a bad “WTF” (Wiener-Dog), but in any case, there’s something special about unhinged expressionism.
Last year wasn’t without a host of skin-crawling oddities, from split fingernails to gruesome practical effects work. Characters were hacked to little-itty bits and bodily fluids were used in ways that tapped into immediate gag reflexes. Movies are meant to push boundaries – that’s what they do – but did any films in 2016 go TOO far?
Join me as I recall some of the most insane moments from last year’s nastiest, most shocking films (comedy, horror, drama – any genre). A few festival flicks are being left off because they’ll be in my 2017 recap (looking at you, We Are The Flesh), but there’s still plenty of debauchery to choose from this year. Thanks for bringing it, filmmakers who want to tarnish my soul!