6. Badlands (1973)
Based on the real life murders of Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate, Badlands is a panoramic view of America's plains. Through her southern drawl and a xylophone-based score, Sissy Spacek's dishearteningly callous Holly recounts her blossoming relationship with Kit. Kit, a garbageman, tries to woo Holly away from her home. When Holly tells Kit that her father wouldn't approve of such a thing, Kit decides to shoot him. Though what follows is a beautiful and brutal meditation on human nature and the insanity within all of us, Kit's initial decision, and likely initial murder, is the key one in this film. Later mimicked by Natural Born Killers, Kit's first violent act transforms him from a rebellious James-Dean wannabe into a ruthless killer. All that over Sissy Spacek. True madness. And speaking of Badlands...