9. Suicide Club
Year: 2001
Country: Japan
Director: Shion Sono Suicide Club has a complex narrative that begins with 54 cheery schoolgirls joining hands and jumping in front of a moving train in a mass suicide. A bag is left at the scene containing a roll of human skin, and a dot appears on a mysterious website for each girl killed in the event. The police spring into action trying to find the explanation for the seemingly ritualistic group suicide and uncover the secrets of the website. Meanwhile, a rash of suicides springs up across Japan, some counted by the website, others not. The investigation becomes ever more convoluted and hopeless as more and more people end their own lives and more bizarre leads turn up by the minute. Part detective thriller, part gory horror flick, and part pitch-black comedy, Suicide Club is above all a powerful social critique. It examines consumerism, conformity, and the nature of individualism in an over-the-top, brutal manner. It's by far the most convoluted and cerebral film on this list, and probably also the most controversial. Some (myself included) think it's a very solid, layered work, while others find it sloppy or irresponsible in the delivery of its message. Others miss the point entirely and see it as nothing more than a sick slaughterfest. No matter what your reaction, though, it's unlikely you'll forget it once you've seen it.