With the recent passing of film avant-gardist Jean-Luc Godard, movie fans are also subtly reminded of the significance of French cinema in promulgating the wonders of innovative film traditions. Most notably, the French New Wave has bestowed upon the world revolutionary works like Godard's Breathless.

RELATED: Remembering Jean-Luc Godard With His 11 Best Movies

What's more would be French cinema's influence on the horror genre, which feeds on viewers' ingrained fears of the worst with visceral dread. Take the French New Extremity movement for example, acting as a love letter to the body horror genre while offering audiences a taste of transgressive works of horror with limited to no humanity displayed or remained. French-langauge horror films have a way digging into the darkest parts of the human psyche and bringing them to fester on the surface.

Content warning: the following article contains references to sexual violence. Reader discretion is advised.

'Eyes Without A Face' (1960)

A woman wearing a silicone mask in Eyes Wihout a Face (1960)

A touching tale of a plastic surgeon who would do anything to keep his facially disfigured daughter happy, even if it means kidnappings and killing other young girls for their skin.

Eyes Without A Face is a controversial film when it was first released, featuring a disturbing facial surgery scene that had allegedly caused audience members at the 1960 Edinburgh Film Festival to pass out. Albeit a slow-burn compared to other entries on this list, the psychological horror film is inundated with poetic artistry on twisted affection, in turn influencing contemporary horror works like Pedro Almodóvar's The Skin I Live In.

'Titane' (2021)

A provocatively-dressed woman lying suggestively on a car surrounded by people inTitane (2021)

Fans of body horror films by David Cronenberg and automotive enthusiasts should not miss out on this high-tension, originally provocative film.

Receiving a nine-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival in 2021, Julia Ducournau's Titane centers around a female serial killer (Agathe Rousselle) who, as a child, has a titanium plate fitted to her head after a car accident. Her calamitous encounter renders her a lack of empathy towards her human companions but a growing infatuation with wheeled motor vehicles.

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'Martyrs' (2008)

Mylène Jampanoï in Martyrs (2008)
Image via Wild Bunch

Do not watch this if you can't stomach the sight of sadistic maltreatment and visually-commanding mutilated bodies that seem almost too tangible to watch. However, Martyrs might be a classic for torture porn movie fanatics with its nihilistic and polarizing approach to elucidating the horrors of cult societies.

One of the bloodiest horror films that ever existed, Martyrs follows Lucie (Mylène Jampanoï) on her quest for vengeance against her captors as a child. Together with her best friend Anna (Morjana Alaoui), also a victim of abuse, they embark on a journey of salvation without realizing their further decadence into a living hell.

'Irréversible' (2002)

Monica Bellucci and Vincent Cassel in Irreversible (2002)

Told in reverse chronological order, Irréversible is a riveting dissection and examination of the destructive nature of cause and effect. After the brutal assault and rape of Alex (Monica Bellucci), her boyfriend (Vincent Cassel) and ex-lover (Albert Dupontel) attempt to avenge her as they scour the city of Paris for her assailant.

Gaspar Noé's cautionary tale of time was the most walked-out-of film at the Cannes Film Festival in 2002, with 200 people leaving the premiere unable to deal with the film's graphic violence and barbarity against women. Nonetheless, the unique arrangement of narrative forces viewers to consume the horrendous display of cruelty, then contemplate its horrifying implications more in-depth.

'Diabolique' (1955)

Vera Clouzot and Simone Signoret in Diabolique (1955)

A classic that went on to inspire Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, Diabolique masterfully blends horror and thriller in this mystifying account of the murder.

Bearing a mutual hatred towards the cruel and abusive headmaster (Paul Meurisse) of a second-rate boarding school, two women, the headmaster's frail wife (Véra Clouzot) and his nimble mistress (Simone Signoret), plot to get rid of the tyrannical man forever. After drowning him and leaving his corpse in the school's swimming pool, the two women become frantic when the corpse mysteriously disappears into thin air when the pool is drained.

'Raw' (2016)

Still from 'Raw': Close up of Justine (Garance Marillier) glaring. She has a nosebleed.
Image via Petit Film.

Another entry from Cannes-winning director Ducournau comes from a female-empowered film that is a tour de force against nature's course of action. This coming-of-age film will disturb anyone, whether you're a vegetarian or a meat-lover.

Raw focuses on 16-year-old Justine (Garance Marillier) and her first year in vet school. Coming from a family of vets and vegetarians, Justine is compelled to eat raw meat for the first time in her life, yet she develops an unorthodox craving for human flesh, and her cannibalistic tendencies have slowly become her new norm.

RELATED: 8 Best Movies About Cannibalism

'Climax' (2018)

Sofia Boutella in Climax (2018)

Comprised of invigorating dance sequences and extended long takes, Noe's Climax is loosely based on a French urban legend in the '90s surrounding a young dance troupe. When the communal bowl of sangria is spiked with LSD, the dancers' celebratory night shifts into a night troubled with wild hallucinations and chaotic contentions.

Adopting the traditional detective mystery structure of a whodunit, Climax is an inventive exploration of humanity when transported from heaven to hell, a modern reenactment of the abhorrent consequences of eating the forbidden fruit from the Garden of Eden.

'Delicatessen' (1991)

Jean-Claude Dreyfus) as Clapet the Butcher in Delicatessen (1991)

Amazed by the picturesque world and sprightly spirit of Amélie? Witness directors Jean-Pierre Jeunet's and Marc Caro impeccable story-telling and world-building in his 1991 black comedy Delicatessen for some European-style romanticization of terror as well as crude humor drenched in sepia, an adventure drama brimming with classic horror elements for viewers with a faint of heart.

In a dystopian France where food supply is scarce, the unemployed circus clown Louison (Dominique Pinon) applies for the vacant position of a butcher's assistant. Unbeknownst to him, the butcher Clapet (Marie-Laure Dougnac) has a tendency to use his workers' flesh as cheap sources of meat to sell to his tenants. And unbeknownst to Clapet, his daughter Julie will soon develop romantic feelings for Louison.

'Man Bites Dog' (1992)

Ben the serial killer in Man Bites Dog (1992)

One of the best mockumentaries of the '90s, Man Bites Dog, revives audiences' disdain for homicide in this self-cautionary, revealing account of fictional serial killer Ben (Benoît Poelvoorde). As Ben's self-derived pleasure from killing and commentary on manslaughter tips are recorded by a consenting documentary crew, an unlikely friendship is kindled where the line between morality and immorality becomes bemuddle.

A stylish motion picture where the nonchalant act of laughing may be deemed disrespectful, Man Bites Dog is an audacious analysis of humanity when enticed with the opportunity to engage the taboo.

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'In My Skin' (2002)

Marina de Van in In My Skin (2002)

French cinema's adoration of body mutilation and cannibalistic themes ring true again with this 2002 horror drama In My Skin.

While attending a house party with colleagues, Esther (Marina de Van) accidentally hurts her leg, leaving her with a conspicuous injury that prompts her all-consuming curiosity over her own body. Despite leading a blissful life with a stable job and devoted boyfriend, Esther starts undertaking self-mutilating acts and becomes gradually dissociated from reality.

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