I Need Something Dark, and Gritty

[chiggerwood]

I'm wondering if anyone here at the escapist can help me. I like stories that are dark, gritty, mindbending, or a mixture of the three; in any medium what so ever. My favorites are Serial Experiments Lain, Akira, and Silent Hill 2 <-(no not because of ZP). These are crack to me, so what are your suggestions?
Please don't suggest Sin City and the like, that's wussy grit.

Thanks

 

[Blindrooster]

you want dark try donnie darko, and that movies so out there i stared at it drooling with a blank expression the entire movie...gah

 

[G1eet]

Fight Club. That's about as gritty and mindbending as you can get.

 

[APPCRASH]

Read a book. The less detailed the setting the more you can add in your own "grittiness."

 

[Starnerf]

Neon Genesis Evangelion gets pretty crazy at the end.

 

[InvisibleMilk]

District 9. Aboslutley a great, gritty, action packed (Cliche phrase, I know) and leaves you hungering for more.

 

[Last of the Chinchillas]

A beach at night?

Or the Dune series. You didn't specify your preferred media, but all six of those books are pretty damn good, violent at times, and gritty to a certain point.

 

[TheLastCylon]

Check out George Orwell's 1984, if you haven't already.

 

[AvsJoe]

Dark City. Great movie that no one remembers.

 

[Echelon_3]

Read Hammer of Daemons by Ben Counter. Warhammer 40K setting, so you know it's full of grim'n'dark. And without giving too much away - just because he's a Grey Knight doesn't mean he's the proverbial White Knight, either.

 

[-Drifter-]

Dark City. Great movie that no one remembers.

I remember it, if only because I recall hating the end. Try 'Unforgiven.' Clint Eastwood's best movie as far as I'm concerned, and there's plenty of metaphors to wrap your head around.

 

[SomeUnregPunk]

In Bruges
http://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&source=hp&q=In%20Bruges&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wv#

 

[shadowstriker86]

eat 700 skittles, then after you go to the bathroom, you'll see dark and gritty. or a movie equivalent to that is event horizon

 

[khaimera]

Try coffee grounds. Or just play condemned.

 

[Godavari]

Well, my two favorite movies of all time, "Watchmen" and "District 9" are pretty gritty, but you've probably seen them.
Other than that, I can't think of anything off the top of my head...

 

[Asymptote Angel]

Definitely play Condemned, watch Band of Brothers, and read Hamlet and Macbeth. All are dark, violent, and excellent.

Alternately, do a hallucinogenic drug and play Fisticuffs and Too Many Puppies by Primus and Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath on repeat. That's about as much emotional damage as you can do to yourself in my experience.

 

[City of Dis]

Granted it isn't a story, but the first album by Tomahawk qualifies as dark and gritty.
Dark and gritty story, though: The Gunslinger (Stephen King). IMO, the Dark Tower should never have been finished. However, the first book is still great and stands alone perfectly well enough. Very mixed and weird, but DEFINITELY dark and gritty.

 

[Ursus Astrorum]

Dark City. Great movie that no one remembers.

I'm pretty sure they tune it so that we don't. Conspiracy and all.

I can't recommend anything dark and gritty that hasn't been said, but I will throw in a suggestion for the mindfuck department.

A Clockwork Orange. Seriously, whoa. For more mindfuck, please play Eternal Darkness.

 

[Pm0n3y]

How about making a sand castle in your basement, with the lights off, in the middle of the night?

...Or Fight Club, if someone didn't mention it already.

 

[Satin6T]

George RR Martin, oh everything is happy
oh you like this character? he's goin to the guillatine
ahhhh isn't that little girl a rebel? she gets run down with an axe
ah man this kid has so much to live for! falls off a building and gets crippled