1. Vampire Hunter D (1985)
What To Expect: Mad Max meets Blade
Plot: In the year 12,090 AD the human race is having a hard time. In a post-apocalyptic world human beings are terrorized and hunted by vampires. 17 year old Doris Lang is attacked by vampire lord Magnus Lee who intends to make her his bride but the feisty heroine has other ideas. She enlists the help of D, a mysterious vampire hunter roaming the wastes to take the fight to the vamps. When Doris is kidnapped D must breach the Vampire Lords castle and rescue her. Based on the novels of the same name by Hideyuki Kikuchi and directed by Toyoo Ashida, this was one of the very first anime films released outside of Japan and has 'cult classic' written all over it. This dark science fiction tale bears the hallmarks of not only the horror genre but also the western written large in its enigmatic hero, the eponymous D. If you want to see where modern anime came from then watch this must-see classic.