11. Maniac - You're My Mommy (1980)
I thought I would inject a little sleaze into the proceedings by including this film - Maniac. It has quite a sizeable fan base because of its reputation for ultraviolence and also because of the fact it features one of the most messed up serial killers to ever foul the screen up. Frank Zito is an overweight, Italian American who is landlord to a block of flats. He is also a crazed, violent schizophrenic killer. Tormented by visions and the voice of his horrible, abusive alcoholic mother, Frank goes out and kills women - scalping them and putting their scalps onto mannequins that he treats like his mother. Eventually he grows bored of them and seeks new scalps.. There is a lovely controversial sequence where we see Frank act out his perverted whims. He takes a girl called Rita home, talks to her as if she were his mother, ties her up, declares his undying love for her, stabs her to death and then mutilates her body. I have a copy of Maniac on my DVD shelves. It doesn't get many outings or else I would have to rename my house Prozac Lodge.