Just as audiences’ tastes change over the decades, so do their fears. Count Orlok’s shadow stalking the stairs in Nosferatu doesn’t quite inspire the terror in 2026 audiences as it did a hundred years prior. But some things remain distressing no matter how much time passes, and some films retain their ability to shock even as viewers grow numb to others. Almost 60 years after its controversial release, The Deer Hunter remains one of the most disturbing films in Hollywood history.
The film follows a trio of friends (Robert De Niro, John Cazale, Christopher Walken) who work in a steel mill before enlisting and heading out to fight. While in the jungles, they are confronted by the horrors of war they never could have foreseen, including the now-infamous forced game of Russian roulette. When the men return to their hometown, ravaged by PTSD and life-changing injuries, it’s clear that they can never go back to their past lives, and neither can the rest of the country.
