7. The Last House On The Left
The Last House on the Left is a truly appalling film that is in no way an easy watch. The rape scene alone has become infamous and was extremely controversial when the movie was first released. It was one of the most notorious video nasties of its time but also one of the most important steps in the evolution of horror. The Vietnam War was extremely prevalent while the film was being made and served as a bit of subtext for the director, Wes Craven. The main idea of the narrative is that violence begets violence which is a reflection of the attitude that many young people of the 60s and 70s felt towards Vietnam. While The Last House on the Left is one of the greatest exploitation films of all time it is also one of the greatest remakes to ever be made. Wes Craven adapted Ingmar Bergmann's cerebral The Virgin Spring to great effect here and was able to do full justice to Bergmann's movie while crafting his own twisted story.