4. A Serbian Film
While not many have had the guts/willpower/slightest possible inclination to watch A Serbian Film, it's a pretty safe bet to assume everyone's heard of it. The most modern entry on this list, Sran Spasojevi's 2010 film tells the story of a retired porn actor's last job. Approached by a supposedly artistic porn director, he is made an enticing financial offer and accepts, coming out of his retirement. The sexual depravity that lead character Miloš has to endure for this film includes necrophilia, rape and, of course, incest. Certain scenes are unquestionably some of the most disgusting moments ever espoused in the cinema, particularly of note is a scene depicting "new born porn"; a genre which unfortunately does everything it suggests on its paedophilic tin. For the filmmaker to assume that the film would pass uncut, or at the very least without controversy, would have been ridiculous. It is undeniably one of the most unpleasant film experiences of all time. The film was, and still is, banned in several countries including Spain, Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore. Almost no country, including the UK, passed the film for distribution without enforcing cuts. A Serbian Film is by no means the best film ever made, characterisation is at an all time low and the film's sexual violence seems to be placed in purely for sexual violence's sake. However it's clearly a very important film in terms of cinema's history. Rarely do modern films have the audacity to risk such levels of graphic content (with the potential exception of Grotesque - a little known 2009 Japanese film that it also banned in several countries for sadistic violence). Many horror films now unfortunately opt for 15, or even 12A certificates in hopes to enlarge their audience base and make as many dollar bills as possible. This is frankly a real shame as it limits the genre from pushing its boundaries. While I'm not a big fan of A Serbian Film, I salute it for its bravery in being so heinously explicit in a genre which is becoming increasingly tame.