1. Cannibal Holocaust (1980)
Why it's controversial: The ultimate film in that most Italian of horror subgenres - the Cannibal movie - Cannibal Holocaust was highly controversial upon release with director Ruggero Deodato nearly copping a murder rap in his native Italy due to the (erroneous) belief that the film was snuff. A couple of years later it gained infamy as the most famous of the Video Nasties. The first film to exploit the finding the lost film footage of a film crew who have gone missing, Cannibal Holocaust has more controversy in it than virtually all of the films in the list put together. There is real life animal slaughter - grotesque and protracted. There is native savagery - forced abortion on a woman and then burying the foetus in the mud, a woman being raped with a stone dildo, a woman impaled on a pole. There is then savagery wrought on the natives by the camera crew - the rape of a young girl, torching the natives' huts. And there is native on film crew violence - rape, disembowelment and the indignity of having their innards eaten.
Why it's good: It's a clever film - the whole adventure to retrieve the film tape and then piecing together what happened with growing horror makes for compulsive viewing. We know that things are going to go from bad to worse. Riz Ortolani's beautiful score has been accused of being highly inappropriate in view of what's happening on the screen. I do not agree with this, I see it as a leitmotif for compassion and peace and understanding in the world. We must see the similarities between ourselves, not the differences. The acting is excellent for an Italian film and the whole thing is only slightly marred by the silly "I wonder who the real savages are?" remark at the end. But if you are a horror fan and you haven't seen this one - it is compulsory viewing!
Like this list? Which films have we missed? Let us know in the comments section below.