10 More Great Horror Movies That Are Ugly On Purpose

10. Death Proof (2007)

It stops, it starts, it stutters; it's Quentin Tarantino's ode to exploitation cinema of yore; it's Death Proof.

Presented alongside an array of fake film trailers created by some of cinema's best but which look as though they were made in someone's basement, the movie is an all-out homage to a kind of scrappy filmmaking that history has all but left behind. And Kurt Russell is front and centre as a stunt driver with a fatal case of misogyny.

Russell’s history in several classic John Carpenter films undoubtedly snagged him this role, particularly as The Thing (1982) is one of Tarantino’s all-time favourites, and Carpenter's old aesthetic speaks to the kind of movie Death Proof aims to be.

Such a meeting of minds was this collaboration, that Tarantino abandoned much of his usual practice and let Russell freewheel his performance throughout the film, dropping in lines here and there and channelling Marlon Brando. The results of this process are many, scattered all through the film, but by far the most memorable is the smile down the barrel of the camera - breaking the fourth wall just for the hell of it.

This faux pas is far from where the overall unsightliness of the film ends, however, as the effects are schlocky and OTT, there are cigarette burns, negative dirt, and reel changes prominent throughout, and everything looks like it needs a good wash. It certainly ain't pretty.