8. Kill Bill Vol. 1
Quentin Tarantino is a director, who likes cinema. That sounds like an odd statement. In his films he often pays heavy homage to cult films, or genres. Thus it's not very surprising Kill Bill is an ode to the samurai slasher, the revenge tale, which draws from primarily Japanese cinema history. Kill Bill stands out on this list, as 1) a much more well-known and popular film, and 2) one that draws from Japanese culture instead of comparing and contrasting it to that of America. It's quite fair to say Kill Bill Vol. 1 isn't the best of Tarantino's work. The characters aren't as vivid, the plot is much more complex, cliche'd, and convoluted. The Bride (Uma Thurman) travels to Japan to continue her hunt, and kill the leader of the Yakuza, and queen of the Tokyo underground O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Liu). Apart from that, Kill Bill doesn't offer the same kind of cultural debates, or discussion as the rest of this list. As far as stylized slash-em ups go, it's a good film, but mostly belongs elsewhere.