Image credit: Anchor Bay Films, United Artists, Focus Features, Hallmark Releasing Corp., Neon, Lions Gate Films, The Weinstein Company, Egg Films, RADiUS-TWC
Here are ten revenge-focused films that are worth not just a watch, but a rewatch.
Editor's note: please consider the MPAA rating and the fact that some of these movies focus on very dark and disturbing, explicit scenes.
1. I Spit on Your Grave (2010) Jennifer, a writer, rents a cabin in the woods to work on her novel. She endures a horrific assault by locals who leave her for dead. But Jennifer survives and meticulously plots her revenge.
She lures her attackers one by one, using their twisted desires against them. She stages some of the most brutal, wince-inducing acts of vengeance ever put to film. For example, she uses fish hooks and lye in ways they were never intended.
It's not for the faint of heart, but if you're into gut-wrenching revenge stories, this one takes the cake.
2. Carrie (1976) Who could forget that iconic prom scene? But before we get there, let's set the stage. Carrie is a high school girl with an abusive, religious fanatic of a mother. She discovers she has telekinetic powers after being humiliated by her classmates.
Sue, feeling guilty, persuades her boyfriend to invite Carrie to the prom. At the prom, a rigged election makes Carrie the prom queen, only for a bucket of pig's blood to be dumped on her. That's when all hell breaks loose. Carrie uses her powers to lock the doors and set the gym on fire, turning her humiliation into a fiery revenge.
3. The Last House on the Left (1972) Mari and Phyllis are excited about celebrating Mari's 17th birthday by attending a concert. Along the way, they're kidnapped by a gang of psychopaths led by Krug. They're assaulted and killed.
The gang, not knowing who they've messed with, then unknowingly seek shelter in Mari's home. When Mari's parents discover what happened to their daughter, they turn into the stuff of nightmares for the gang. They rig traps, use chainsaws, and display an eye-for-an-eye brutality.
4. Saw (2004) Two men wake up in a grimy bathroom, shackled to pipes. In the room is a dead man holding a revolver and a tape recorder. What's going on here? Well, they're the latest victims of Jigsaw, a man dying from cancer who puts people in traps to test their will to live. One man learns he's been chosen because he's a voyeuristic photographer, while the other, a doctor, is accused of not appreciating his perfect life.
They find saws, but the saws aren't strong enough to cut through their chains – just their feet.
5. Death Proof (2007) Stuntman Mike is a stunt double who gets his kicks by stalking and killing women with his "death-proof" car. No airbags, just sheer metal and speed. He encounters a group of women, but things don't go as planned.
The women are part of the movie industry: stuntwomen, makeup artists, and the like. After Mike kills one of their friends, they catch on and decide they aren't the type to play victims. They set a trap for Mike, using their own skills as stunt drivers to turn the hunter into the hunted.
6. Blue Ruin (2013) Dwight is a beach bum with a tragic past. His life takes a turn when he learns the man convicted of murdering his parents is being released from prison. Dwight, who's no action hero but just an ordinary guy with a rusty car, plans his revenge. After killing the man in a bathroom stall, he finds himself targeted by the deceased's vengeful family.
Dwight's aim isn't perfect, and his plans are far from foolproof. However, his desperate, clumsy quest for vengeance keeps you glued to the screen.
7. You're Next (2011) The Davison family gathers for a wedding anniversary celebration, but it turns out, there's a band of masked assailants with crossbows who have different plans for them. Little do the attackers know, one of the guests is Erin, a woman with a survivalist background.
Erin turns the tables in some home-alone-gone-adult style ways. She wires the house, booby traps the surroundings, and starts taking down the assailants one by one.
8. Oldboy (2003) Dae-Su is imprisoned in a cell-like room for 15 years and then released. Why? He doesn't know. His mission is to find his captor in five days. Armed with a hammer and an unbreakable will, he goes on a violent rampage, plowing through corridors of bad guys in a sequence that's nothing short of iconic.
As he gets closer to his captor and the reason behind his imprisonment, the stakes get increasingly personal.
9. Thirst (2009) A failed medical experiment turns a priest into a vampire. Sang-hyun is consumed by new violent and sexual urges. The twist? He's fallen for his friend's wife, Tae-ju, who's no saint herself. Together, they murder her husband, but this new life isn't as sweet as it seems. Their downward spiral into moral depravity culminates in a bloody, fatal confrontation.
10. Revenge (2017) Jen goes on a trip with her wealthy boyfriend, but things go horribly wrong when his hunting buddies show up and she's assaulted. Left for dead in the desert, she survives and metamorphoses from a helpless victim into a relentless avenger. And the landscape? It's as unforgiving as she is.
With peyote as her painkiller and a hunting rifle as her companion, she ensures that those who wronged her pay, and pay dearly.
