7. The Evil Dead (1981)
Why It's Controversial: Directed by horror supremo turned mainstream good guy Sam Raimi, The Evil Dead was one of the Video Nasties that attracted the most vitriol in the early 1980s. It was also one of the best films that did the most business. Five college students are staying in a remote cabin in the woods. They find an audiotape that releases demons and five are soon reduced to one. The Evil Dead is a huge cult film as well as regularly being cited as one of the best horror films of all time. The Evil Dead fought brave battles with the UK censors. They seemed to think it warranted Cannibal Holocaust levels of censorship. Crucial to this was the rape of one of the girls in the film by a demonic tree. There was considerable controversy that the book in The Evil Dead was the Necronicon. It was in fact a book titled Naturon Demonto.
Why It's Good: Considering that Raimi had damn all money to play with, you have to admire the special effects like the tree rape sequence and the gore effects in the film. The movie is fresh, fun and original - it was very idiosyncratic to Raimi and unlike any prior film that I can recall - it was inventive and ingenious. Black humour shone through as well as genuine frights. It is no wonder that the film was the number one VHS rental tape in circulation circa 1983. It was effectively remade with more money in Evil Dead II which is an hysterically funny film as Ash, the hero, does battle with his errant hand, but if you prefer something spookier, then check out the original Evil Dead.