Favorite Films

Film: the matrix

Year: 1999

Directors: Lana Wachowski and Lily Wachowski

Cast: Keanu Reeves, Lawrence Fishburne, Carrie-Ann Moss and Hugo Weaving

 A computer hacker called neo find out the truth that he is part of an artificial computer simulation created in order to enslave mankind.

The Matrix was one of the first adult films that I ever watched and for that reason will always have a special place in my heart. The film has a perfect blend of amazing action, ground-breaking special effects with a deep and meaningful philosophy on life and the nature of existence.

 Film: Alien

Year:1979

Director: Ridley Scott

Cast: Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt, Veronica Cartwright

 Off to a spaceship receives an unknown transmission as a distress call the crew is attacked and killed 1 by 1 by mysterious life form.

Alien was also once the first adult films that I ever watched and has a special place in my heart. Alien has some of the greatest suspense and horror ever put the film with a sense of dread that carry’s the story throughout.

 Film: Natural Born Killers

Year:1994

Director: Oliver Stone

Cast: Woody Harrelson, Juliette Lewis, Tom Sizemore, Rodney Dangerfield

Two lovers turned serial killers on a killing spree as they are hunted by the police and glorified but the mass media.

Natural born killers his mother most interesting visual styles ever put to film the amount of philtres effects and the imagery used for create say interesting music visual style. As well as this the famous and interesting look at how horrific individuals are loom Philly I did I spy the mass media and general public.

Film: Trainspotting

Year:1994

Director: Danny Boyle

Cast: Ewan McGregor, Ewan Bremmer, Jonny Lee Miller, Kevin McKidd

In the Edinburgh drug scene of the 90’s Junkie Renton tries to clean up is act, but the drugs and his friends pull him back in.

Trainspotting is a perfect mix of black comedy and truly disturbing imagery, Combined with brilliant characters and dialogue. The boat isn’t maybe the focus as it more allows you to experience the characters’ lives and feel as if you were in the same situation as them.

 Film: Pulp Fiction

 Year: 1994

 Director: Quentin Tarantino

Cast: John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis

In a intertwining on chronological order of events the tales of Two Hitmen, a boxer, a gangster and his wife and the pair of mobsters intertwine.

The story structure of Pulp Fiction is still fresh interesting and indent wining dynamic linking always different scenarios together into one coherent whole. As well as this the violence in the film is by bloodthirsty and hilarious with some of the best characters and dialogue ever written.

Film: Taxi Driver

Year: 1976

Director: Martin Scorsese

Cast: Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Albert Brooks

A mentally and stable Vietnam veteran tend taxi driver works the night shift in New York, where he is loneliness and hatred of the urban environment urges him to take violent action by rescuing an underage prostitute from her pimp and trying to assassinate a presidential candidate.

Taxi driver is quite possibly one of the greatest character studies ever put to film. Allowing the audience to see through the eyes of the character throughout the story and to even gain certain amount of sympathy for him. As well as this taxi driver brilliantly captures the sleaze of 70s New York showcasing a look at an interesting time in American Society.

Film: A Clockwork Orange

Year: 1971

Director: Stanley Kubrick

Cast: Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee, Michael Bates, warren Clive

In a dystopian future the leader of a sadistic gang of teenagers is imprisoned and volunteers for way experimental behavioural improvement experiment involving torture. However, this does not go as planned and his life only becomes worse as a result.

A Clockwork Orange does an amazing job of getting the audience to feel sympathy for a character that is somewhat horrible. The film is also beautifully shot with Kubrick’s use of violence and classical music working perfectly. Not only this but the film poses several interesting questions about the concepts of choice, free will, good and evil, violence and the human mind.

Film: Oldboy

Year: 2003

Director: Park Chan-Wook

Cast: Choi Min-sik, Yoo Ji-Tae, Kang Hye-Jeong, Kim Byeong-Ok

After being kidnapped kidnapped and imprisoned for 15 years, Oh Dae-Su is suddenly released and embarks on a game with his captor to find out who he is and why he was imprisoned all within five days.

Oldboy is a film that presents a fascinating mystery and slowly unravels a twisting turning narrative to an unnerving and unexpected result. The film is truly disturbing but also beautiful and captivating with a story and characters that keep your interest throughout. The film is also beautifully shot with amazing music and truly questions the role of hero and villain within film.

Film: Apocalypse Now

Year: 1979

Director: Francis Ford Coppola

Cast: Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall

During the Vietnam War a U.S. Army captain is assign they classified mission to kill a rogue special forces American Colonel who both himself and his followers see as a god.

Apocalypse now is a hunting epic, filled with incredible set pieces showcasing the war on a mass scale. however more than that improve lips now is a character study of both failed for checking list and antagonist delving into the nature of evil and how can you fool change once an environment like war answers their psyche.

Film: Withnail and I

Year: 1987

Director: Bruce Robinson

Cast: Richard E Grant, Paul McGann, Richard Griffiths, Ralph Brown

In the late 60s two heavy smoking alcoholic unemployed actors go on holiday from there flat in Camden to their country size where things go from bad to worse.

Withnail and I is one of the funniest films ever made, with amazing dialogue and brilliant characters carrying the film throughout. However more than just a comedy the film is also a sad snapshot of the end of an era highlight is by friendship throughout the film which is also ending.

Film: Downfall

Year: 2004

Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel

Cast: Bruno Ganz, Alexandra Maria Lara, Ulrich Matthes, Juliane Kohler

The final days of Adult Hitler and the end of Nazi Germany are shown through the eyes of his young female secretary.

Downfall is one of the most moving films I have ever scene. The film paints a portrait of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party as characters who are not necessarily likable but are still nevertheless human, allowing the audience to have an understanding and almost sympathy with some of history’s most despicable people.

Film: Come and See

Year: 1985

Director: Elem Klimov

Cast: Aleksey Kravchenko, Olga Mironova, Liubomiras Laucevicius, Vladas Bagdonas

After finding an old rifle, a young boy joins the Soviet resistance movement against ruthless German forces and experiences the horrors of World War II.

Come and See is my favourite film of all time. No other film has ever affected me like Come and See. The most harrowing film ever made Come and See combines realism and surrealism perfectly to create an intense assault on the senses with documentary like camera work and an insane soundtrack allowing you to experience the horrors of war like no other film 

Film: Man Bites Dog

Year: 1992

Directors:  Rémy Belvaux, André Bonzel, Benoît Poelvoorde

Cast: Benoit Poelvooorde, Jacqueline Poelvoorde-Pappaert, Nelly Pappaert, Heactor Pappaert, Jenny Drye, Malou Madou, Willy Vandenbroeck

A film crew follows a ruthless thief and heartless killer as he goes about his daily routine. But complications set in when the film crew lose their objectivity and begin lending a hand.

Man Bites Dog is one of the most unique experiences put to film. The movie truly puts you in the perceptive of a killer and in a found-on footage way always to feel like a participant in ruthless acts of violence leading to one of the most unique films ever made.

Film: Last Tango in Paris

Year: 1972

Director: Bernardo Bertolucci

Cast: Marlon Brando, Maria Schneider, Maria Michi, Giovanna Galletti

A young Parisian woman meets a middle-aged American businessman who demands their clandestine relationship be based only on sex.

Last Tango in Paris is a gritty grimy film cantered around the fascinating dynamic between two equally broken charters. The performances of the two leads and their dynamic carry the film creating a sad tale of sex, abuse and misery.

Film: Brazil

Year: 1985

Director: Terry Gilliam

Cast: Johnathan Pryce, Kim Greist, Robert De Niro, Katherine Helmond

A bureaucrat in a dystopic society becomes an enemy of the state as he pursues the woman of his dreams.

Brazil paints a fascinating portrait of a world. That rings ever the truer in modern society. The fascinating story, amazing set design, unique direction, and imagery that is both hilarious and horrifying come together to create a reflection of society that is more relevant today than ever.

Film: Falling Down

Year: 1993

Director: Joel Schumacher

Cast: Michael Douglas, Robert Duvall, Barbara Hershey, Rachel Ticotin

An ordinary man frustrated with the various flaws he sees in society begins to psychotically and violently lash out against them.

Falling Down creates a fascinating Portrait of modern society and the way the avenge man snaps. The complexity of Falling Down is brilliant creating a character who isn’t necessarily crazy but rather the average man with a hidden violence that lashes out at his personal grieves of modern live in a violent way that only seems more and more relevant.

Film: Badlands

Year: 1973

Director: Terrence Malick

Cast: Martin Sheen, Sissy Spacek, Warren Oates, Ramon Bieri

An impressionable teenage girl from a dead-end town and her older greaser boyfriend embark on a killing spree in the South Dakota badlands.

Badlands is the beautiful haunting film. We are shown the journey of young lovers and their killings through innocent eyes allowing the film to feel like a dream. We might not like the protagonists in the traditional sense but within the film society doesn’t care them ever. The film is a snapshot of youth portrayed as a beautiful disturbing dream.

Film: The Balled of Narayama

Year: 1983

Director: Shohei Imamura

Cast: Ken Ogata, Sumiko Sakamoto Tonpei Hidari

In a poor 19^th century rural Japanese village, everyone who reaches the age of 70. Must climb a nearby mountain to die. An old woman is getting close to the cut of age, and we follow her last days with her family.

The Balled of Narayama is one of the greatest films every made. The film is a brutal yet beautiful tale of traditional in the face of direr circumstances and how people still abide by a set of morals despite both their own emotions and the hash brutal conditions of their way of life. With beautiful cinematography and an epic feel the balled of Narayama is a masterpiece.

Film: Gummo

Year: 1997

Director: Harmony Korine

Cast: Nick Sutton, Jacob Sewell, Lara Tosh, Jacob Reynolds

Lonely residents of a tornado-stricken Ohio town wander the deserted landscape trying to fulfil their boring, nihilistic lives.

Gummo is a fascinating snapshot at small town poverty stricken American life. The film follows several charters showing different aspects of there depress disturbing existence and is one of the most unique experiences I have ever gotten from a film.

Film: Week End

Year: 1967

Director: Jean-Luc Godard

Cast: Mireille Darc, Jean Yanne, Jean-pierre Kalfon, Yves Afonso

A surreal tale of a married couple going on a road trip to visit the wife’s parents with the intention of killing them for the inheritance.

Weekend is a strange unique experience. The film starts out like a road movie triller with our two leads set on killing the heroines’ parents to gain their inheritance, both of which have a secret lover and plan to kill the other to get all the money. But the film progress into an insane visual style complete with post-apocalyptic imagery and cannibalism creating a truly insane piece of art.

Film: Eraserhead

Year:1977

Director: David Lynch

Cast: Jack Nance, Charlotte Stewart, Allen Joseph, Jeanne Bates

Henry Spencer tries to survive his industrial environment, his angry girlfriend, and the unbearable screams of his newly born mutant child.

Eraserhead Is a film with a unique disturbing atmosphere. The rather straightforward story is told in a way that is whole unique. The direction, cinematography, and sound track all work together to create a truly unique atmosphere.

Film: Stalker

Year: 1979

Director: Andrei Tarkovsky

Cast: Alisa Freyndikh, Aleksandr, Kaydanovskly, Anatolly Solonitsyn, Nikolay Grinko

A guide leads two men through an area known as the Zone to find a room that grants wishes.

Stalker is my second favourite film of all time from my favourite director of all time. The film is an atmospheric haunting masterpiece, slow and brooding with genuine philosophical depth.

Film: Solaris

Year: 1972

Director: Andrie Tarkovsky

Cast: Natalya Bondarchuk, Donatas Banionis, Juri Jarvet, Vladislav Dvorzhetskly

A psychologist is sent to a station orbiting a distant planet in order to discover what has caused the crew to go insane.

Solaris is another masterpiece by Andrei Tarkovsky. The film is a strange surreal sci-fi art film that both contains the fantastical elements you would expect from a space epic but at the same time feel grounded showcasing a human driven narrative throughout.

Film: The Sacrifice

Year: 1986

Director: Andrei Tarkovsky

Cast: Erland Josephson, Susan Fleetwood, Allen Edwall, Guorun Gisladottir

At the dawn of World War III, a man searches for a way to restore peace to the world and finds he must give something in return.

Yet another Tarkovsky classic, The Sacrifice Showcases a beautiful brooding atmosphere on the eve of the end of the world. As opposed to any large sceptical however The Sacrifice combines a beautiful backdrop with a grounded realism to show a unique tale of the end of the world.

Film: Ivan’s Childhood

Year: 1962

Director: Andrei Tarkovsky

Cast: Nikolay Buryaev, Valentin Zubkov, Evengly Zharkov, Stepan Krylov

During WWII, Soviet orphan Ivan Bondarev strikes up a friendship with three sympathetic Soviet officers while working as a scout behind the German lines.

Ivan’s Childhood is a sad a moving story of war and youth. The loss of innocence and having to grow up in a hash environment trying to an adult but not quite ready is what make this such a sad and poetic film.

Film: Threads

Year: 1984

Director: Mick Jackson

Cast: Karen Meagher, Reece Dinsdale, David Birerly, Rita May

The effects of a nuclear holocaust on the working-class city of Sheffield, England and the eventual long-term effects of nuclear war on civilization.

Threads showcases the gritty realism of the effects of war in a fictional and educational manner. The gritty realism and documentary style nature of the film true immures you in an unforgiving experience.

Film: The Day After

Year: 1983

Director: Nicholas Meyer

Cast: Jason Roberts, JoBeth Williams, Steve Guttenberg, John Cullum

The effects of a devastating nuclear holocaust on small-town residents of eastern Kansas.

Similar to Threads The Day After Showcases a level of gritty realism in a documentary style setting. Unlike Threads however The Day After feels bigger budget and more epic than its British counterpart showing the wider scale destruction of nuclear war.

Film: When The Wind Blows

Year: 1986

Director: Jimmy T. Murakami

Cast: Peggy Ashcroft, John Mills, Robin Houston, James Russel

A naive elderly British rural couple survive the initial onslaught of a nuclear war.

When The Wind Blows is a very personal story about the horrors of nuclear war. As opposed to Threads and The Day After When the Wind Blows focuses on two characters story of survival creating a very sad and intermate peace of nuclear warring fiction.

Film: Requiem for a Dream

Year: 2000

Director: Darren Aronofsky

Cast: Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, Marlon Wayans

The drug-induced utopias of four Coney Island people are shattered when their addictions run deep.

Requiem for a Dream combines gritty realism and horrifying surrealism to create a story that is depressing and unforgiving. A spiral of destruction Requiem for a Dream is unflinching in its showing of addiction and the horrors it brings.

Film: Pi

Year 1998

Director: Darren Aronofsky

Cast: Sean Gullette, Mark Margolis, Ben Shenkman, Pamela Hart

 A paranoid mathematician searches for a key number that will unlock the universal patterns found in nature.

Pi uses its low budget grimy aesthetic to showcase a big concept idea. The gritty nature of the film combined with a surrealist mood helps to showcase a truly unique disturbing style for the film.

Film: Sorcerer

Year: 1977

Director: William Friedkin

Cast: Roy Scheider, Bruno Cremer, Francisco Rabal, Amidou

Four unfortunate men from different parts of the globe agree to risk their lives transporting gallons of nitro-glycerine across dangerous Latin American jungle.

Sorcerer in one of the most intense white knuckle ride epics every made. The film is grand in its scope and scale whilst also showcasing a feeling dread and terror throughout leading to truly edge of your seat experience.

Film: Rolling Thunder

Year: 1977

Director: John Flynn

Cast: William Devane, Tommy Lee Jones, Linda Haynes, James Best

A returning war veteran loses his family to a violent home invasion and decides to seek and retaliate against those responsible.

Rolling Thunder presents a facilitating charter study of a man damaged by the Vietnam war wrapped up in seventies exploitation. The film is violent and chaotic but at its core the movie is a charter study of the effects of war on the induvial and the detachment people go through under such conditions.

Film: The Devils

Year: 1971

Director: Ken Russell

Cast: Vanessa Redgrave, Oliver Reed, Dudley Sutton, Max Adrian

In 17th-century France, Father Urbain Grandier seeks to protect the city of Loudun from the corrupt establishment of Cardinal Richelieu. Hysteria occurs within the city when he is accused of witchcraft by a sexually repressed nun.

The Devils is a one-of-a-kind film. An epic feeling movie about sexuality and the abuse of authority the film. Highlights the dangers of people in positions of power over individuals and their inventible downfall. Beautifully shot and perfectly acted The Devils is a gritty, beautiful, insane classic.

Film: Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer

Year: 1986

Director: John McNaughton

Cast: Michael Rooker, Tracy Arnold, Tom Towles, Mary Demas

Arriving in Chicago, Henry moves in with ex-con acquaintance Otis and starts schooling him in the ways of the serial killer.

Henry: portrait of a Serial Killer is a truly disturbing film. Dark and brutal the film highlights the day the day activities of a serial killer and his acceptances in a gritty realistic way. With a perfect performance by incredible performance by Michael Rooker, Henry is truly a disturbing experience.

Film: Eyes Wide Shut

Year: 1999

Director: Stanley Kubrick

Cast: Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Todd Field, Sydney Pollack

A Manhattan doctor embarks on a bizarre, night-long odyssey after his wife’s admission of unfulfilled longing.

A beautiful sexual odyssey. Eyes Wide Shut is a fascinating questioning of people, love and relationships. It analyses human behaviour and an individual’s motivations within life. Beautiful like all Kubrick films Eyes Wide Shut is an underrated gem within Kubrick’s filmography.

Film: The Silence of the Lambs

Year: 1991

Director: Jonathan Demme

Cast: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Lawrence A. Bonney, Kasi Lemmons

A young F.B.I. cadet must receive the help of an incarcerated and manipulative cannibal killer to help catch another serial killer, a madman who skins his victims.

Silence of the Lambs is truly terrifying horror film. With amazing performances by Jodie foster and Anthony Hopkins. The film presents a fascinating three-way dynamic of a young detective caught in in the middle of a dangerous game. The gritty atmosphere and superb performances make The Silence of the Lambs one of the best horror films ever made.

Film: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Year: 1975

Director: Milos Forman

Cast: Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, Michael Berryman, Peter Brocco

 A criminal pleads insanity and is admitted to a mental institution, where he rebels against the oppressive nurse and rallies up the scared patients.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest sports a fantastic cast, notably an outstanding performance by Jack Nicolson in a unique film. The film ranges to hilarious, to heart-breaking to optimistic in a film unlike another about breaking free from control, dominance and restriction.

Film: Aguirre, the Wrath of God

Year: 1972

Director: Werner Herzog

Cast: Klaus Kinski, Ruy Guerra, Heleana Rojo, Del Negro

In the 16th century, the ruthless and insane Don Lope de Aguirre leads a Spanish expedition in search of El Dorado.

Aguirre, the Wrath of God is a unrelating movie. Grim and gritty in nature the film is a unrelating look at drive, ambition and insanity, showcasing explorations and great voyages for what they are, an unrelating hell.

Film: Repulsion

Year: 1965

Director: Roman Polanski

Cast: Catherine Deneuve, Ian Hendry, John Fraser, Yvonne Furneaux

A sex-repulsed woman who disapproves of her sister’s boyfriend sinks into depression and has horrific visions of rape and violence.

Repulsion contains a truly unnerving atmosphere throughout its minimalistic horror story. The atmosphere within the film is brilliant as the tension and paranoia created by the direction leads to a very unforgettable film as you feel yourself going crazy with our lead. Catherine Deneuves performance is amazing. Playing a traumatised character that through her paranoia and sexual frustration and repression slowly unravels herself into a truly deluded state of being.

Film: Pierrot Le Fou

Year: 1965

Director: Jean-Lou Godard

Cast: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Anna Karina, Graziella Galvani

Pierrot escapes his boring society and travels from Paris to the Mediterranean Sea with Marianne, a girl chased by hitmen from Algeria. They lead an unorthodox life, always on the run.

Like a French acid trip bonnie and Clyde Pierrot Le Fou centres around a crazed story between two individuals. The relationship between the two main charters acts as a great anchor for all the fourth wall breaking and heavy insanity in this Jean-Luc Godard classic.

Film: La Chinoise

Year: 1967

Director: Jean-Luc Godard

Cast: Anne Wiazenssky, Jean-Pierre Leaud, Juliet Berto, Michel Semeniako

A small group of French students are studying Mao, trying to find out their position in the world and how to change the world to a Maoistic community using terrorism.

The last Godard on the list La Chinoise is a surreal look at youthful rage and the misguide attempts to strive for revolution. Strangely mesmerising like all of Godard’s films La Chinosie combines youthful aggression with biting satire exploring these ideologies and asking if this revolution has any point or meaning in the first place.

Film: Zardoz

Year: 1974

Director: John Boorman

Cast: Sean Connery, Charlotte Ramping, Sara Kestelman

In the distant future, a savage trained only to kill finds a way into the community of bored immortals that those alone preservers humanity’s achievements.

Zardoz is a truly a one-of-a-kind film. The film is a Hodge podge of b-movie shlock and high concept art film. The film deals with complex concepts such as the meaning of life, the nature of existence, life, death, immortality, humanity, sexuality but presents this wrapped up in an insane cult movie complete with flying heads and Sean Connery in a red nappy. Although rough around the edges and hard to follow at times Zardoz is a one-of-a-kind experience that has be seen to be believed.

Film: House

Year: 1977

Director: Nobuhiko Obayashi

Cast: Kimiko Ikegami, Miki Jinbo, Kumiko Ohba, Ai Matsubara

A schoolgirl and six of her classmates travel to her aunt’s country home, which turns out to be haunted.

House is one of the strangest most unique experiences in cinema. The film is a surreal childlike acid grip into hell. The film has some of the most unique direction I have ever seen. The use of imagery projection, cut out animation and insane lighting effects come together to create one of the most unique experiences ever put to film. The direction of the film creates a childlike nightmare with the film simultaneously being horrific and horrifying at the same time. The film embraces its own absurdness and artificiality creating a unique style and tone unlike any other film I have ever seen.

Film: Videodrome

Year: 1983

Director: David Cronenberg

Cast: James Woods, Debbie Harry, Sonja Smits, Peter Dvorsky

A programmer at a TV station that specializes in adult entertainment searches for the producers of a dangerous and bizarre broadcast.

Videodrome is a Body Horror classic and of the most unique horror films ever made. The 80s horror classic utilizes it’s over the top body horror in order to showcase the way people can be controlled and manipulated by entertainment and the media by outside forces and how technology is slowly infesting mankind. The gory aesthetic is a source for demonstrating ideas of control and manipulation and how media and technology change a person. The film is also made up of truly original imagery from a video being inserted into Max’s stomach to his hand becoming a gun Videodrome is one of the most original films ever made.

  Film: They Live

  Year: 1988

  Director: John Carpenter

  Cast: Roddy Piper, Keith David, Meg Foster, George ‘Buck’     Flower

They influence our decisions without us knowing it. They numb our senses without us feeling it. They control our lives without us realizing it. They live.

They Live is a fun Sci Fi action b-movie that carriers a very important message. The aliens in the film are ultimately metaphors for Ragan era capitalism and the effect it has over society. Videodrome ultimately criticises the system of government that exploits the economy instances allowing the rich to get richer and the poor to get poor. A system that is hidden right before our eyes with the main charters sunglasses allowing him to see the truth. This social political commentary wraps up in a fun campy b-movie with some solid action scenes makes They Live one of my favourite films.

Film: Akira

Year: 1988

Director: Katsuhiro Otomo

Cast: Mitsuo Iwata, Nozomu Sasaki, Mami Koyama, Tesshô Genda

A secret military project endangers Neo-Tokyo when it turns a biker gang member into a rampaging psychic psychopath who can only be stopped by a teenager, his gang of biker friends and a group of psychics.

Akira is a lot of things rapped up in 2 hours of beautiful animation. The film is a smorgasbord of elements raging from angsty teenage youthful rebellion macho biker gang film, to dystopian social political commentary movie, to super villain film, to body horror movie.  The film creates a range of elements and balances then bountifully creating a fascinating engaging story in a world that truly feels alive in a story that is a both cool and entertaining as it is deep and impactful.

Film: Grave of the Fireflies

Year: 1988

Director: Isao Takahata

Cast: Tsutomu Tatsumi, Ayano Shiraishi, Akemi Yamaguchi, Yoshiko Shinohara

A young boy and his little sister struggle to survive in Japan during World War II.

Grave of the Fireflies in one of the most harrowing films ever made. With the beautiful animation the film is a harrowing tale of survival against a bleak oppressive backdrop of war. The simplistic story is shown thorough the eyes of inexperienced youth just trying the survive, highlighting the atrocities of war and how much an act has upon normal everyday people.

Film: Perfect Blue

Year: 1997

Director: Satoshi Kon

Cast: Junko Iwao, Rica Matsumoto, Shinpachi Tsuji, Masaaki Ôkura

A pop singer gives up her career to become an actress, but she slowly goes insane when she starts being stalked by an obsessed fan and what seems to be a ghost of her past.

Perfect Blue is an amazing psychological horror. With beautiful animation the film devise deep into the psychosis of its character, creating murderer mysteries were dreams and reality are one in the same. But through all its terror Perfect Blue acts as a criticism of Japanese’s consumerist culture, highlighting themes of perception, identity, voyeurism, and performance.

Film: Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion

Year: 1997

Directors: Hideaki Anno, Kazuya Tsurumaki

Cast: Megumi Ogata, Megumi Hayashibara, Yûko Miyamura, Kotono Mitsuishi

Concurrent theatrical ending of the TV series Neon Genesis Evangelion.

The End of Evangelion is the visual spectacle alternative film ending to one of my favourite anime shows of all time. Epic in nature the film dives into the heart of humanity, and the phycology of the human condition examining an individual’s loneliness and suffering. Surreal and disturbing The End of Evangelion is a confusing one-of-a-kind anime masterpiece.

 Film: Tetsuo: The Iron Man

Year: 1989

Director: Shin’ya Tsukamoto

Cast: Tomorô Taguchi, Kei Fujiwara, Nobu Kanaoka, Shin’ya Tsukamoto

A businessman accidentally kills The Metal Fetishist, who gets his revenge by slowly turning the man into a grotesque hybrid of flesh and rusty metal.

Tetsuo: The Iron Man is an insane film. The film is a mishmash of incredible DIY special effects and insane editing. The film is over the top in nature and concept the crazy story allowing for a true unique cinematic experience. But despite all the weirdness Tetsuo delves deep into the technological fear and paranoia of Japanese social showcasing technology and the ultimate marge of man and machine as both a horrifying and exciting prospect creating one of the most unique films ever made.

Film: Alice

Year: 1988

Director: Jan Svankmajer

Cast: Kristyna Kohoutova

A surrealistic revision of Alice in Wonderland.

Alice is a truly uniquely disturbing adaptation of Lewis Carols classic book. With incredible stop motion effects, the film is a unique blend of childlike fantasy offset by a truly disturbing tone throughout. The discussing almost post-apocalyptic vision of wonderland creates an uncomfortable feeling throughout whilst also creating a certain level of whimsy allowing the film to be one of the most unique film adaptations ever made.

Film: The Sword of Doom

Year: 1966

Director: Kihachi Okamoto

Cast: Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratama, Yuzo Kayama, Yoko Naito

Through his unconscionable actions against others, a sociopath samurai builds a trail of vendettas that follow him closely.

The Sword of Doom is my favourite samurai film ever. The film is quite unique compared to a lot of other films of the genre. The Sword of Doom ditches the idea of honour present throughout similar samurai films and instead gives us a sociopath killing for his own befit with an amazing performance by Tatsuya Nakadai. The action scenes are great with very impressive with some great sword work. To top it all off the film is beautifully shot allowing the audience to soak in all the hardships and cruelty creating one of the most unique samurai films ever made.

Film: El Topo

Year: 1970

Director: Alejandro Jodorowsky

Cast: Alejandro Jodorowsky, Brontis Jodorowsky, Jose Legarreta, Alfonso Arau

A mysterious black-clad gunfighter wanders a mystical Western landscape encountering multiple bizarre characters.

El Topo is a one-of-a-kind film. Drugged out insanity form start to finish the film shows beautiful moments of surrealism and violence amongst its ugly backdrop creating one of the most unusually beautiful films ever made. But more than that El Topo is an exploration on what it means to be God, how to wield power and ultimately an examination on way to live your life bot h for yourself and other. These fascinating themes combined with insane visuals makes El Topo a truly unique experience.

Film: The Holy Mountain

Year: 1973

Director: Alejandro Jodorowsky

Cast:  Alejandro Jodorowsky, Horacio Salinas, Zamira Saunders, Juan Ferrara

In a corrupt, greed-fuelled world, a powerful alchemist leads a messianic character and seven materialistic figures to the Holy Mountain, where they hope to achieve enlightenment.

Making a film about the meaning of life is a very daunting and complex task for a film and The Holy Mountain achieves this with ease. The film covers everything from the corruption of society through religion, to the manufacturing of weapons and war, the communalisation of art, how children are indoctrinated into war, political corruption, police brutality and the power given by governmental organisations and the way society is created in a way to oppress the masses. The film emphasises freeing yourself from the bonds that tie you and not worry about the meaning of exitance or the pointless material positions within your life and just to simply live, a message that becomes more and more relevant with each passing year.

Film: Panic High School

Year: 1978

Directors: Gakuryu Ishii and Yukihiro Sawada

Cast:  Shigeru Yamamoto, Atsuko Asano, Miyoko Akaza, Yoshirô Aoki

A high school student rallies his classmates into rebelling violently when the administration refuses to take responsibility for the suicide of one of the students.

For a film from 1978 Panic high School remains disturbing relevant. The film shows Ishii still at a stage of working things out but with a manic punk energy still at the centre. The film is disturbing and gripping attacking the Japanese education system. Violent and chaotic in nature the film creates an unsettling and up to date picture of youth and society at the edge of chaos and despair.

Film: Crazy Thunder Road

Year: 1980

Director: Gakuryu Ishii

Cast: Tatsuo Yamada, Masamitsu Ohike, Kôji Nanjô, Nenji Kobayashi

When the leader of the once-notorious biker gang of Tokyo falls in love with a barmaid and quickly loses his rebellious ideals, the rest of the gang feels betrayed. Especially the reputedly troubled kid Ken revolts against his former friend.

Wah Li, known as Fat Boy to his friends, lives with his Great-Uncle Yee. Together with his oddball friends Lai Li and Momo, Wah Li helps Uncle Yee run the local funeral services. When the body of one of Wah Li’s friends, Ma Lun Chio, is brought back to the village by a new wife and her “brother,” Wai Li is suspicious. Therefore, he sets out to find out how his friend died, but things are not what they seem.Crazy Thunder Road is a no holds barred biker gang warfare film briming with Ishi’s punk energy. The film showcases aimless directionless youth and alienated masculinity against a bleak backdrop. Young men with no outlet for their violence and rage hating the idea of being swallowed up by the system. Crazy Thunder Road acts as both a love letter to and a precursory warning to the punk ideals creating a mad biker gang warfare film that is unlike anything else.

Film: Burst City

Year: 1982

Director: Gakuryu Ishii

Cast: Michirô Endô, Kansai Eto, Shigeru Izumiya, Takanori Jinnai

Punk rock gangs and music groups clash with one another and the brutal police force in a futuristic Tokyo setting.

If punk was a film, it would be Burst City. The film is an angry, loud, chaotic, bombastic punch in the face at everyone and everything. The films plot is surface level and just an excuse string the scenes together to create a two-hour running time. However, the film uses its great soundtrack, solid action scenes and unique style and setting to create not only a unique universe but a style and feeling so raw it is quite like any other film.

Film: The Crazy Family

Year: 1984

Director: Gakuryû Ishii

Cast: Katsuya Kobayashi, Mitsuko Baishô, Yoshiki Arizono, Yûki Kudô

 After moving into a new house, a family starts acting crazier and crazier.

The last film of Ishii’s punk era and the bridge between his two distinctive eras. The Crazy Family is just as punk and insane as his early works put with a new angel towards his range and criticism. The film acts as a critique of the modern Japanese family and society as the destruction mounts to chaotic results. Just as mad as his previous works but forgoing some of the angsty rage The Crazy Family is truly a unique entry in Ishii’s filmography.

Film: Mr. Vampire

Year: 1985

Director: Ricky Lau

Cast: Ching-Ying Lam, Siu-Ho Chin,

The planned reburial of a town elder goes awry as the corpse resurrects into a hopping, bloodthirsty vampire, targeting everyone responsible for digging the grave. A Taoist Priest and his two disciples attempt to stop the terror.

Mr Vampire is unique crazy fun. The blend of genuinely great martial arts with over-the-top slap stick comedy horror creates a truly unique style and tone from start to finish. Its mix of action scenes and physical comedy allow it to set itself apart form a lot of other comedy horror films in order to create a truly unique experience.

Film: The Running Man

Year: 1987

Director: Paul Michael Glaser

Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Maria Conchita Alonso, Yaphet Kotto, Jim Brown

In a dystopian America, a falsely convicted policeman gets his shot at freedom when he must forcibly participate in a TV game show where convicts, runners, must battle killers for their freedom.

The Running Man uses its fun campy b-movie action bases to showcases some very relevant socio-political commentary. The film explores media and the publics love for exportation through violence and how the masses enjoy entertainment through sadistic torture. But more than a take of reality TV the film exposes media corruption showcasing how a society can be controlled and manipulated through the media as what’s real and what’s fake blur more and more, as well as commentating on the classist system of oppression and the people forced into sadistic entertainment by the masses. Although a fun dumb action movie and heart The Running Man has a fascinating sub text that seems more relevant today than ever.

Film: Deliverance

Year: 1972

Director: John Boorman

Cast: Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, Ronny Cox

Intent on seeing the Cahulawassee River before it’s dammed and turned into a lake, outdoor fanatic Lewis Medlock takes his friends on a canoeing trip they’ll never forget into the dangerous American back-country.

Deliverance is a one-of-a-kind classic truly disturbing and unlike any other film, Deliverance is a brutal story of survival against both fellow humans and nature itself. Unflinching and uncompromising with great performances and direction Deliverance is unlike any other Hollywood classic ever made.

 Film: Battle Royale

Year: 2000

Director: Kinji Fukasaku

Cast: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, Tarô Yamamoto, Chiaki Kuriyama

In the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill each other under the revolutionary “Battle Royale” act.

Battle Royale is a crazy and brutal tale of youth and survival. The anarchic aesthetic acts as a perfect backdrop to the violent and brutal story. At heart Battle Royale is ultimately a coming-of-age story about growing up in a hash and brutal environment and having to grow up and become a better person for a brighter future. Great action, good acting and interesting characters Battle Royale is a film not to be missed.

Film: Suspiria

Year: 1977

Director: Dario Argento

Cast: Jessica Harper, Stefania Casini, Flavio Bucci, Miguel Bose

An American newcomer to a prestigious German ballet academy comes to realize that the school is a front for something sinister amid a series of grisly murders.

Suspiria is a 70’s sleazy horror film that is more beautiful than it has any right to be. The film is a neon lite feast for the eyes with beauty and gore oozing from every frame. Combined with great music and gory unique kills Suspiria is a much watch horror classic.

Film: A Boy and His Dog

Year: 1975

Director: L.Q. Jones

Cast: Don Johnson, Jason Robards, Susanne Benton, Tim McIntire

A young man and his telepathic dog wander a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

A Boy and His Dog is a unique post-apocalyptic film. It follows characters you don’t practically like but then again you are not supposed to. The film is a tale of the apocalypse through the eyes of the youth filled with sex and violence as well as taken a surprising turn in its second half. With good performances by Don Jonson and Jason Roberts and a crazy twist ending A Boy and his Dog is a post-apocalyptic film so unique it can’t be missed.

Film: Elephant

Year: 2003

Director: Gus Van Sant

Cast: Elias McConnell, Alex Frost, Eric Deulen, John Robinson

Several ordinary high school students go through their daily routine as two others prepare for something more malevolent.

Elephant is an interesting retelling of columbine high school massacre. The film uses unique camera work to make you feel as if you are there with the students. Elephant doesn’t go into any real analysis of the shooters or their actions instead it simply presents the events as they are creating a compelling and unflinching film.

Film: Kill Bill Vol. 1

Year: 2003

Director: Quentin Tarantino

Cast: Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Daryl Hannah, Michael Madsen

After awakening from a four-year coma, a former assassin wreaks vengeance on the team of assassins who betrayed her.

Kill Bill is an epic violence packed revenge story wrapped up in a sea of different genres. The film straddles the line of samurai film, kung fu movie and spaghetti western perfectly all wrapped up in amazing blood-filled revenge. Epic in nature and with an emotional through line unlike any other Tarantino’s film Kill Bill truly is the filmmaker’s epic.

Film: Kill Bill: Vol. 2

Year: 2004

Director: Quentin Tarantino

Cast: Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Daryl Hannah, Michael Madsen

The bride continues her quest of vengeance against her former boss and lover Bill, the reclusive bouncer Budd, and the treacherous, one-eyed Elle.

The conclusion to the Kill Bill saga. This second instalment takes more of spaghetti western approach to its story than the previous instalment. With more of a focus on story and characters as opposed to action this last leg of the story acts as a perfect conclusion to the saga.

Film: Reservoir Dogs

Year: 1992

Director: Quentin Tarantino

Cast: Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Chris Penn

When a simple jewellery heist goes horribly wrong, the surviving criminals begin to suspect that one of them is a police informant.

Tarantino’s first film, Revisor Dogs is a basic but interesting stripped down crime film with a cast of great characters and brilliant dialogue. Revolving around a heist that we never see the film focuses more on the aftermath of the events and the twists and turns along the way leading to its dramatic conclusion. With great charters, dialogue and bloody violence throughout Reservoir Dogs is a Tarantino classic.

Film: Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood

Year: 2019

Director: Quentin Tarantino

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Emile Hirsch

A faded television actor and his stunt double strive to achieve fame and success in the final years of Hollywood’s Golden Age in 1969 Los Angeles.

Tarantino’s epic love letter to cinema, Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood is a film lover’s dream. The film truly puts you at the heart of late sixties Hollywood, giving a brilliantly character duo for audiences to follow throughout. With fantastic dialogue and an assortment of memorable scenes, Tarantino’s film about filmmaking is a must watch for any cinephile.

Film: Phantom of the Paradise

Year: 1974

Director: Brain De Palma

Cast: Paul Williams, William Finley, Jessica Harper, Gerrit Graham

A disfigured composer sells his soul for the woman he loves so that she will perform his music. However, an evil record tycoon betrays him and steals his music to open his rock palace, The Paradise.

Phantom of the Paradise is classic 70’s musical madness. The film revels in its own absurdity with a crazy plot and characters and great music throughout. However, look beneath the surface and the film is a fascinating look at the creative process within art, the constant battle between creator and producer with never one being shown as good or evil and how the product in the form of art is created. Phantom of the Paradise is intelligent musical madness with a relevance that still holds strong today.

Film: Frankenstein

Year:1931

Director: James Whale

Cast: Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, Boris Karloff, John Boles

Dr. Frankenstein dares to tamper with life and death by creating a human monster out of lifeless body parts.

Frankenstein is a horror classic that helped to define the monster and horror genre. What I love most of all about the film is that there is no clear hero or villain the doctor created the monster but didn’t what to make a creature to destroy the world, Frankenstein’s monster kills people but he does not known any better he was created by a mad scientist and acts like a child throughout the film, the mob kills the monster but it makes complete sense as a monster is destroying the town. The moral ambiguity of Frankenstein makes the film a horror classic.

Film: Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Year: 1975

Director: Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones

Cast: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam

King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table embark on a surreal, low-budget search for the Holy Grail, encountering many, very silly obstacles.

Monty Pythons first feature The Holy Grail is a unique anti-movie post-modern masterpiece. The film deconstructs itself throughout the running time form the idea of knights and medieval time, to religion, to the nature of film itself. Hilarious throughout the holy grail is a comedy like no other.

Film: Monty Python’s Life of Brian

Year: 1979

Director: Terry Jones

Cast: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam

Born on the original Christmas in the stable next door to Jesus Christ, Brian of Nazareth spends his life being mistaken for a messiah.

The Life of Brain is another hilarious Python classic that acts as a hilarious deconstruction and cometary of religion. Funny throughout the film exams the way people can be indoctrinated by a belief and how that can ultimately change their minds and the world around them potentially for the worse. A film that will make you simile throughout The Life of Brain is a comedy classic.

Film: The Meaning of Life

Year: 1983

Directors: Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam

Cast: John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones

The comedy team takes a look at life in all of its stages in their own uniquely silly way.

The last Python film, The Meaning of Life takes on several big philosophical ideas and presents them in a very clear and funny way. An analysis of very pat of humanity and exitance the film presents the idea of these. Big concepts to be simplistic and not worth worrying about ultimately dismissing the idea of a grandiose meaning in the first place hilarious but also dark and disturbing the python’s final film is a must watch.

Film: Twelve Monkeys

Year:1995

Director: Terry Gilliam

Cast: Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, Brad Pitt, Joseph Melito

In a future world devastated by disease, a convict is sent back in time to gather information about the man-made virus that wiped out most of the human population on the planet.

Twelve Monkeys is my favourite time travel movie. Fascinating and unique the film users its brilliant performances to tell a very intricate and detailed story of love and despair. The film also showcases brilliant performances by Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt. Confusing and time but neither the less in engaging Twelve Monkeys is a must watch from Gilliam’s filmography.

Film: Tideland

Year: 2005

Director: Terry Gilliam

Cast: Jeff Bridges, Jennifer Tilly, Jodelle Ferland, Janet McTeer

Because of the actions of her irresponsible parents, a young girl is left alone on a decrepit country estate and survives inside her fantastic imagination.

Tideland is an underrated Gilliam film. Unique and disturbing Tideland is a perfect showcase of a child’s mind. The film is a stream of consensus from the perfective of youth and showcases how a child thinks and feels offset but their disturbing environment. Although not a perfect film Tideland is too unique not to put on this list.

Film: Lady Snowblood

Year: 1973

Director: Toshiya Fujita

Cast: Meiko Kaji, Toshio Kurosawa, Masaaki Daimon, Miyoko Akaza

A strikingly beautiful young woman is trained from birth to be a deadly instrument of revenge against the swindlers who destroyed her family.

Lady Snowblood is a brilliant samurai revenge film. Beautifully shot with great music and an outstanding performance by Meiko Kaji the film is an artistic yet and the same time grindhouse style tale of bloody revenge. What is so impressive about the film however is how it flips the notion of revenge on its head with the main character also being the target for revenge by someone else. The main inspiration for Kill Bill Lady Snowblood is a must watch samurai classic.

Film: Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance

Year: 2002

Director: Park Chan-Wook

Cast: Kang-ho Song, Shin Ha-kyun, Bae Doona, Ji-Eun Lim

A recently laid off factory worker kidnaps his former boss’ friend’s daughter, hoping to use the ransom money to pay for his sister’s kidney transplant.

Another revenge film from the director of Oldboy, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance is a sad tale of revenge. A film about a simple man trying to do good as his life crumbles around hm in a prison of his own making Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance is a violent, brutal and sad film showcases the futility of revenge.

Film: Lady Vengeance

Year: 2005

Director: Park Chan-Wook

Cast: Nam-mi Kang, Jeong-nam Choi, Hye-Sook Go, Bok-hwa Baek

After being wrongfully imprisoned for thirteen years and having her child taken away from her, a woman seeks revenge through increasingly brutal means.

Arguably the most personal and emotionally driven of the vengeance trilogy, Lady Vengeance is a beautiful and violent story and revenge and redemption. The fascinating characters and their dynamics creating an interesting tone throughout as we watch a woman trying to repent for her sins. Brilliantly acted, beautifully shot and emotionally charged Lady Vengeance is a fitting conclusion to the trilogy.

Film: The Thing

Year: 1982

Director: John Carpenter

Cast: Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, Keith David, Richard Masur

A research team in Antarctica is hunted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of its victims.

The Thing is one of the greatest horror films ever made. The film boasts incredible special effects that look amazing even today. But behind that The Thing is a truly unsettling character piece about humanities decent into paranoia and deception. More than any other horror film The Thing truly puts you in the world of the characters making you feel the same fear they do creating a horror classic.

Film: The Fly

Year: 1986

Director: David Cronenberg

Cast: Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis, John Getz, Joy Boushel

A brilliant but eccentric scientist begins to transform into a giant man/fly hybrid after one of his experiments goes horribly wrong.

The Fly is a body horror classic. The film uses its incredible practical effects to demonstrate its subtext. The Fly could ultimately be seen as an allegory of the 780’s aids epidemic, as well as expressing themes about what it means to be human, evolution and the dangers of playing god. However, at the core of it all The Fly is a beautifully sad tragic love story with great performances by Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis.

Film: An American Werewolf in London

Year: 1981

Director: John Landis

Cast: David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, Joe Belcher, Griffin Dunne

Two American college students on a walking tour of Britain are attacked by a werewolf that none of the locals will admit exists.

An American Werewolf in London is a horror classic. Equal parts funny and frightening the film offsets its humour with genuine suspense, great gore and brilliant practical effects. However, like The Fly what makes An American Werewolf in London work so well is that at its heart the film is a tragic love story, with brilliant performances by David Naughton and Jenny Agutter.

Film: The Evil Dead

Year: 1981

Director: Sam Raimi

Cast: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeManincor, Betsy Baker

Five friends travel to a cabin in the woods, where they unknowingly release flesh-possessing demons.

The Evil Dead is one of the most charming films ever made. The film is everything that is great about DIY filmmaking complete with countless mistakes only adding to the charm. The film is fun throughout with great gore effects, surreal and creative editing and visual effects and zany campy fun. The Evil Dead shows what can be achieved with no money and a lot of passion.

Film: Evil Dead II

Year: 1987

Director: Sam Raimi

Cast: Bruce Campbell, Sarah Berry, Dan Hicks, Kassie Wesley DePaiva

The lone survivor of an onslaught of flesh-possessing spirits holes up in a cabin with a group of strangers while the demons continue their attack.

The second instalment in the Evil Dead trilogy. Evil Dead 2 combines horror and comedy seamless to create an over-the-top hilarious thrill ride. Still spraying as much gore as ever the film combines its violence with good old fashioned slap stick comedy to create one of the greatest comedy horror films ever made.

Film: Army of Darkness

Year: 1992

Director: Sam Raimi

Cast: Bruce Campbell, Embeth Davidtz, Marcus Gilbert, Ian Abercrombie

A sardonic hardware store clerk is accidentally transported to 1300 A.D., where he must retrieve the Necronomicon and battle an army of the dead so he can return home.

The final part of the Evil Dead trilogy, Army of Darkness forgoes its horror roots for full on slap-stick comedy. The result is a hilarious romp of a film feeling like a live action carton complete with great fight scenes, impressive special effects and good humour makes this a fitting end to the Evil Dead trilogy.

Film: Story of Ricky aka Riki-Oh

Year: 1991

Director: Ngai Choi Lam

Cast: Siu-Wong Fan, Mei Sheng Fan, Ka-Kui Ho, Yukari Oshima

Riki-Oh, a young man who has superhuman strength, is incarcerated at a private prison, where inmates are treated like slaves, and is forced to use his unstoppable form of martial arts to destroy the corrupt officials and their lackeys.

Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky is a fun over the top crazy kung fu gore fest. The film sports impressive practical effects making everything seem like a live action cartoon. The film is over the top and it knows exactly what it is, fun from start to finish Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky is a must watch for any gore fan.

Film: The Iron Giant

Year: 1999

Director: Brad Bird

Cast: Eli Marienthal, Harry Connick Jr., Jennifer Aniston, Vin Diesel

A young boy befriends a giant robot from outer space that a paranoid government agent wants to destroy.

The Iron Giant is my favourite children’s film ever. The film is a fun and heart-warming story about a boy’s friendship with aa robot with Great animation and a heart-breaking third act. Combined with beautiful 2D hand drawn animation The Iron Giant is a film every child should experience.

Film: Johnny Got His Gun

Year: 1971

Director: Dalton Trumbo

Cast: Timothy Bottoms, Kathy Fields, Marsha Hunt, Jason Robards

During World War I, a patriotic young American is rendered blind, deaf, limbless, and mute by a horrific artillery shell attack. Trapped in what’s left of his body, he desperately looks for a way to end his life.

Johnny Got His Gun is a horrifying and deeply personal war film. The film is about one solider wishing to die but unable to by the hands of other. Bleak with genuine emotion, a surreal atmosphere and a great performance by Timothy Bottoms Johnny Got His Gun is a truly unique war film and one everyone should experience.

Film: Irreversible

Year: 2002

Director: Gaspar Noe

Cast: Monica Bellucci, Vincent Cassel, Albert Dupontel, Jo Prestia

Events over the course of one traumatic night in Paris unfold in reverse-chronological order as the beautiful Alex is brutally raped and beaten by a stranger in the underpass.

Irreversible is truly one of the most disturbing films I have ever seen. The reverse chronology allows the film to show a true sense of despair as the audience is powerless to envision a happy ending the characters what starts off as a simply brutal act gets more disturbing as the film goes on and you learn more about the charters creating a truly unsettling experience.

Film: Pink Floyd: The Wall

Year: 1982

Director: Alan Parker

Cast: Bob Geldoff, Christine Hargreaves, James Laurenson, Eleanor David

A confined but troubled rock star descends into madness in the midst of his physical and social isolation from everyone.

Pink Floyd: The Wall is truly weird trippy one of a kind experience. The great music acts as a guide through this deeply personal film about Rogers Waters life, thoughts and feelings. The films visuals and production values are amazing witch its mixture of live action and animation coming together to create one of the most unique films ever made.

Film: This Is Spinal Tap

Year: 1984

Director: Rob Reiner

Cast: Rob Reiner, Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, Kimberly Stringer

Spinal Tap, one of England’s loudest bands, is chronicled by film director Marty DiBergi on what proves to be a fateful tour.

Spinal Tap is one my favourite comedy films of all time. The film is a love letter to cheesy 80’s metal and is back full of funny moments. However, despite the comedy Spinal Tap is a rather sweet film about friendship and doing what you love.

Film: Young Frankenstein

Year: 1974

Director: Mel Brooks

Cast: Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, Marty Fieldman, Peter Boyle

An American grandson of the infamous scientist, struggling to prove that his grandfather was not as insane as people believe, is invited to Transylvania, where he discovers the process that reanimates a dead body.

Young Frankenstein is one my favourite comedy films of all time. The film is a hilarious love letter to old horror films. The direction, cinematography and camera work all perfectly give off the vibe of an old horror film. This combined with brilliant performances make Young Frankenstein a great comedy film.

Film: Full Metal Jacket

Year: 1987

Director: Stanley Kubrick

Cast: Matthew Modine, R. Lee Ermey, Vincent D’Onofrio, Adam Baldwin

A pragmatic U.S. Marine observes the dehumanizing effects the Vietnam War has on his fellow recruits from their brutal boot camp training to the bloody street fighting in Hue.

Full Metal Jacket is another Kubrick classic. Like all Kubrick films it is beautifully shot like all Kubrick films. The way the film is split into two parts is very interesting with the first half showing the boot camp and the second half the Vietnam war, this combined with great action scenes make Full Metal Jacket a classic.

Film: Viy

Year: 1967

Directors: Konstantin Ershov, Georgiy Kropachyov

Cast: Leonid Kuravlyov, Natalya Varley, Aleksey Glazyrin, Nikolay Kutuzov

A young priest is ordered to preside over the wake of which in a small old wooden church of a remote village. This means spending three nights alone with the corpse with only his faith to protect him.

Viy is a surreal gritty fantasy film. The way that a film from the 60’s has such amazing effects, direction and art design is incredible. The film is a surreal in all the best ways with the incredible creature design helping to make this film something truly special.

Film: Ruslan and Ludmila

Year: 1972

Director: Aleksandr Ptushko

Cast: Valeri Kozinets, Natalya Petrova, Vladimir Fyodorov, Mariya Kapnist

Based on Russian poet Alexander Pushkin’s fairy tale poem of the same name. In the midst of the wedding party of Prince Ruslan and Ludmila, Ludmila is kidnapped by an evil sorcerer. Her father seeks help from his people, but of course Ruslan is the only one able to save her.

Ruslan and Ludmila is a soviet Russian epic classic. The film is an incredible journey with incredible sets and costumes and art design. The film contains incredible visuals and set pieces set across a sprawling landscape and a fantastical adventure story making the film feel truly epic.

Film: The Ascent

Year: 1977

Director: Larisa Shepitko

Cast: Boris Plotnikov, Vladimir Gostyukhin, Sergey Yakovlev, Lyudmila Polyakova

Two Soviet partisans on a mission to gather food contend with the winter cold, the occupying Germans, and their own psyches.

The Ascent is a brutal story of survival during war. The film is a hurryingly personal portrait of survival admits the atrocities of war. The film does not deal with vast battle scenes however, instead the scale of battle the film is a very intermate and personal story of survival admits a brutal backdrop making for a fantastic war movie.

Film: Vengeance Is Mine

Year: 1979

Director: Shohei Imamura

Cast: Ken Ogata, Rentaro Mikuni, Chocho Miyako, Misuko Baisho

Chronological exploits of Iwao Enokizu, a murderous thief on the run.

Vengeance is Mine is an epic crime story. The film is set up in a way that feels fresh an original. The film acts less like a crime thriller and more of a character study never giving you a clear explanation of the character as we see him through the eyes of various people in is life. The films direction turns what could be another serial killer film into a fascinating look at the mind of a killer with beautiful camera work. The film presents people stuck in a terrible situation and with the amazing direction creates a very engaging thriller.

Film: Encounters of the Spooky Kind

Year: 1980

Director: Sammo Kam-Bo Hung

Cast: Sammo Kam-Bo Hung, Fat Chung, Lung Chan, Ha Huang

A rickshaw driver’s wife and his rich client are secret lovers, and they decide to get rid of him without being implicated, so they hire a powerful sorcerer to kill him, but the sorcerer’s colleague intervenes to protect him.

Encounters of the Spooky Kind is a hilarious and crazy kung fu movie. The film boasts impressive fight scenes that help to highlight the insanity of the events. From sorcerers to zombies to ghosts the film throws everything at the audience leading to hilarious results and a very creative and original film.

Film: The Boxers Omen

Year: 1983

Director: Chih-Hung Kuei

Cast: Phillip Ko, Shao-Yen Lin, Kar-Man Wai, Lung-Wei Wang

While in Thailand to avenge his brother who was crippled in a fight with a corrupt Thai boxer, a man gets caught up in a web of fate, Buddhism and black magic.

The Boxers omen is one of the craziest films ever made. The film is a smorgasbord of over-the-top imagery and insane visuals. The film is memorable moment after memorable moment with the insanity building up more and more throughout the film. This insanity however is created with very ways and creativity and impressive film work busting from ever scene makes this film to unique for it not to be a favourite.

Film: Barefoot Gen

Year: 1983

Director: Mori Masaki

Cast: Issei Miyazaki, Catherine Battistone, Yoshie Shimamura, Iona Morris

A powerful statement against war, Barefoot Gen is a disturbing story about the effect of the atomic bomb on a boy’s life and the lives of the Japanese people.

Barefoot Gen is a sad disturbing tale of survival. The film presents a horrifying portrait of survival as the large-scale destruction is shown against very sad and personal stories of people just trying to survive. This tale of youth living in a desolate world with great animation makes barefoot gen one of my favourite anime films.

Film: Barefoot Gen 2

Year: 1986

Director: Toshio Hirata

Cast: Issei Miyaza, Masaki Koda, Kei Nakamura, Takami Aoyama

Three years after the Hiroshima bombing, a teenager helps a group of orphans to survive and find their new life.

A sequel to Barefoot Gen, this film deals less with the initial destruction and chaos and more with people trying to rebuild their lives. The film shows how the bomb has affected people’s lives in different ways and how the scars of war are still very much present, but society is still able to continue. Combined with great animation Barefoot Gen 2 is a sequel not to be missed.

Film: Labyrinth of Cinema

Year: 2019

Director: Nobuhiko Obayashi

Cast: Tadanobu Asano, Takuro Atsuki, Yoshihiko Hosoda, Takahito Hosoyamada

The story centres on a group of young people who travel back in time when they are in a movie theatre just before closing time. They witness deaths during the closing days of Japan’s feudal times and on the battlefront in China before they are sent to Hiroshima just before the Aug. 6, 1945, atomic bombing of the city.

Labyrinth of Cinema is Nobuhiko Obayashi’s final masterpiece and is a love letter to cinema. The film showcases how film can teach people about the world and something like history and be expressed through the power of cinema. The film is a film for film lovers and in an intimate portrait through history as told though film and is the ultimate cinema lovers movie.

Film: Belladonna of Sadness

Year: 1973

Director: Eiichi Yamamoto

Cast: Tatsuya Nakadai, Katsuyuki Ito, Aiko Nagayama, Shigako Shimegi

An evil feudal lord rapes a village girl on her wedding night and proceeds to ruin her and her husband’s lives. After she’s eventually banished from her village, the girl makes a pact with the devil to gain magical ability and take revenge.

Belladonna of Sadness is an arthouse masterpiece. The art is the film is beautiful were every frame looks like a watercolour painting. The film is a psychedelic trip with a truly unique style and amazing music. The film also has a great emotional pull with a female character that we truly feel sympathy for making a unique anime masterpiece.

Film: Profound Desires of the Gods

Year: 1968

Director: Shohei Iamura

Cast: Rentaro Mikuni, Choichiro Kawarasaki, Hideko Okiyama, Kanjuro Arashi

An engineer from Tokyo arrives on a drought-ridden tropical island to drill a well to power a nearby sugar mill. He meets the inbred Futori family, hated by the locals for breaking religious customs.

Profound Desires of the Gods is an epic unique masterpiece. The film is unique in its three-way battle between the workers, the locals and a family this simple three-way dichotomy however is used in order to showcase this epic backdrop and scenery making this one of the most unique masterpieces ever.

Film: Zegen

Year: 1987

Director: Shohei Imamura

Cast: Ken Ogata, Mitsuko Baisho, Chun-Hsiung Ko, Nirihei Miki

A Japanese immigrant in 1901 Hong Kong wishes to become a simple shopkeeper. Fate soon intervenes, allowing him to mix adventure and fervent patriotism with greed.

Another Shohei Imamura film Zegen is a tale of a person just trying to survive against an unjust system. The film is about people trying to achieve a good life in a world that doesn’t like them. The film is a saturation of Japanese society and how people’s patriotism and derrises lead to their downfall.

Film: Black Rain

Year: 1989

Director: Shohei Imamura

Cast: Yoshiko Tanaka, Kazuo Kitamura, Etsuko Ichihara, Shoichi Ozawa

The story of the aftermath of the Hiroshima bombing, based on Masuji Ibuse’s novel.

The final Imamura film on the list Black Rain is a personal story of one woman’s struggle to live after being condemned by being from Hiroshima. The black of the bomb is the first act of the film showcasing the brutal destruction and the second half is her life after the events and the tragedies of the aftermath of the bomb the film uses a grandiose scale of the bomb to show a very sad and personal story of a life destroyed by war.

Film: Angel’s Egg

Year: 1985

Director: Mamoru Oshii

Cast: Mako Hyodo,  Jinpachi Nezu, Kei’ichi Noda

A mysterious young girl wanders a desolate, otherworldly landscape, carrying a large egg.

Angels Egg is an arthouse masterpiece. The film is a surreal disturbing trip through a nightmarish landscape. Nothing about the film is ever explained however, the visuals, music, atmosphere and imagery compinged with beautiful animation help to create a truly one-of-a-kind experience.

Film: eXistenZ

Year: 1999

Director: David Cronenberg

Cast: Jude Law, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Ian Holm, Willem Dafoe

A game designer on the run from assassins must play her latest virtual reality creation with a marketing trainee to determine if the game has been damaged.

Existenz in some ways feels like an exploitation film version of the matrix. Both touch on similar themes only Existenz does it in a more grindhouse way. The film uses is body horror exterior complete with amazing practical effects to explore the notions of reality, the dangers of playing God and the nature of existence in this griping disgusting underrated body horror experience.

Film: Naked Lunch

Year: 1991

Director: David Cronenberg

Cast: Peter Weller, Judy Davis, Ian Holm, Julian Sands

After developing an addiction to the substance, he uses to kill bugs, an exterminator accidentally kills his wife, and becomes involved in a secret government plot being orchestrated by giant bugs in a port town in North Africa.

Naked Lunch is one of the most unique cinematic experiences ever. The film showcases an incredible array of practical effects and uses them in order to create one of the most surrealist atmospheres put to film. Naked Lunch is a lot more than just amazing practical effects, brilliant set pieces and incredible surrealism, however. The film is a study of addiction but also the creative process of individuals in general the film relishes in its dark material but never seeks to forget its sense of comedy. Naked lunch is a one-of-a-kind experience unlike any other.

Film: Hanagatami

Year: 2017

Director: Nobukio Obbayashi

Cast: Shunsuke Koubozuka, Honoka Yahagi, Keishi Nagatsuka, Takako Tokiwa

Shortly before World War II, a teenager returns to the coastal town of Karatsu from Amsterdam to stay with his aunt, where he and the neighbourhood kids are absorbed into the chaos of the times.

Hanagatami is a surreal art house epic like no other. The film takes themes of war in a beautiful and poetic way with incredible beauty and surrealism creating a truly unique powerful experience and a war epic like no other.

Film: School in the Crosshairs

Year: 1981

Director: Nobuhiko Obayashi

Cast: Hiroko Yakushimaru, Ryoichi Takayanagi, Masami Hasegawa

Mitamura Yuka is a normal shy middle school student that has psychic powers. When a new student with similar powers begins to show his skills, by stealing the student government election, Yuka and her friends vow to stop him. The election has uncovered something which will put Yuka’s powers to the ultimate test.

School in the Crosshairs is a very odd film. The mix of high school coming of age movie and surreal arthouse b-movie acid trip. School in the Cross hairs is a expense unlike any other. 

Film: The Dead and the Deadly

Year: 1982

 Director: Wu Ma

Cast: Sammo Kam-Bo Hung, Wu Ma, Ching-Ying Lam, Cherie Chung

Wah Li, known as Fat Boy to his friends, lives with his Great-Uncle Yee. Together with his oddball friends Lai Li and Momo, Wah Li helps Uncle Yee run the local funeral services. When the body of one of Wah Li’s friends, Ma Lun Chio, is brought back to the village by a new wife and her “brother,” Wai Li is suspicious. Therefore, he sets out to find out how his friend died, but things are not what they seem.

The Dead and the Deadly is a crazy fantasy comedy horror action film. The insane plot, trippy visuals, hailers moments great special effects and brilliant fight scenes make it one of my favourite films.