Fright (1971)

The Spiral Staircase (1945)

A mute girl becomes stalked by a serial killer.

A Gothic horror that uses the largely static lighting and camera technology at the time to successfully create a highly atmospheric chiller with an eerie style similar to a Hitchcock movie.

Blue Velvet (1986)

After finding a severed human ear in a field, a young man soon discovers a sinister underworld lying just beneath his idyllic suburban home town.

An off kilter conspiracy thriller from David Lynch and starring Twin Peaks' Kyle MacLachlan alongside a strong supporting cast including Isabella Rossellini and Dennis Hopper. The soundtrack and lighting lend it a trusting mood but Lynch uses techniques like widescreen shots in the houses to give the perspective on middle American life a distorted view. Uses tricks like slowly zooming out from extreme close ups to add intimate tension, he creates a surreal world of deception and intrigue like only David Lynch would.

Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls (1970)

Three girls come to Hollywood to make it big, but find only sex, drugs and sleaze.

For me, Russ Meyer is one of the big innovators of cult cinema. His perverse caricature of American life at the time runs through all of his movies, often revolving around attractive ladies with big boobs. But that's not to say that his films are chauvinistic, indeed many feature feminist statements that are graphically clear to the viewer. In Russ Meyer's world it's fine for the women to be powerful, as long as we can look at their bodies while they're doing it. 

This film surrounds the corrupting music industry and is not actually related to Valley Of The Dolls directed by Mark Robson, other than possible inspiration for the basic idea.

Future cult icon, Pam Grier, is also to be seen in her blink and miss debut as one of the background hotties.

Nil By Mouth (1997)

A working class London family go through a dramatic point in their lives.

An amazing directorial debut from world renowned character actor Gary Oldman. The cast perfectly match his script and the story is reckless, reminiscent of an Alan Clarke movie. Loosely based upon his own upbringing, Oldman paints a bleak picture which is so three dimensional that you feel like a fly on the wall throughout. It's easy to see why this film isn't everyone's cup of tea, with it's claustrophobic atmosphere and scenes featuring excessive swearing and domestic violence, however it is an absorbing and realistic portrayal of the darker side of London life, with no glamorizing or mercy for the viewer.

The War Zone (1999)

An alienated teenager, saddened that he has moved away from London, must find a way to deal with a dark family secret. 

Tim Roth's directorial debut is an unconventional choice. Centred around the theme of incestuous pedophilia, it is a disturbing film that doesn't hold back until your mind does the horrific work for you. A subject which, in the hands of many other directors, could turn out like a dirty porn is actually treated sensitively and any nudity from the leading actress, Lara Belmont, is not displayed to turn on the viewer. Ray Winstone plays "Dad" and again proves that he is not afraid of taking on edgy roles that represent the more unsettling elements of human nature.

Leon (1994)

Professional assassin Leon reluctantly takes care of 12-year-old Mathilda and teaches her his trade.

After his small but memorable role in La Femme Nikita as "the cleaner", Jean Reno had this movie designed around him by the director Luc Besson. It feels very European despite being set in New York and features many quirks of which most assassin films fail to include in order to lift them above all the others in the action genre. Instead, Leon is primarily a love story, focusing on the relationship blossoming between the naive, childlike Leon, and the savvy, grown up Mathilda. Because of the evident and illegal age gap, various scenes were even cut from the English version as they gave the impression that the couple were getting a bit too close for the censors liking, however in context with the characters there is nothing offensive about their suggested affections.

Gary Oldman hams it up to the maximum as the drug crazed bad guy, delivering another awesome performance in every scene and relishing each line of dialogue.
I fucking love this film, not least because it introduced the world to Nathalie Portman.

La Femme Nikita (1990)

Convicted felon Nikita, instead of going to jail, is given a new identity as a top secret spy.

This movie is the prototype for many Luc Besson films, featuring a rebellious female with cropped hair, people who are trained as efficient weapons and a stylish, slick atmosphere. The sexy hit-girl look has been copied many times since, even spawning a 1993 American remake with Bridget Fonda entitled The Assassin, along with countless TV adaptions. However, it is the french original which I would rate equal only to Leon as up there as top cult classics.

EXTE: Hair Extensions (2007)

Hair extensions attack the women that wear them.

The mere idea of making a movie about hair extensions that attack the women that wear them was enough to get me interested in this film. If it were made by a western studio then it would have probably turned out like low budget comedy, however its Japanese creators produce a surprisingly horrific portrayal of the ultimate bad hair day. Chiaki Kuriyama from Kill Bill: Vol. 1 and Battle Royale plays the lead.

Sweeney! (1977)

Hard-bitten Flying Squad officer Jack Regan gets embroiled in a deadly political plot when an old friend asks him to investigate the death of his girlfriend. Framed on a drunk-drive charge and suspended from the force, with his partner and best mate George Carter unable to help, Jack must rely on his wits to evade deadly government hitmen and expose the real villain of the piece.

A spin off from 1970s British television series, The Sweeney, this is truly a film of its time and to me a classic. John Thaw and Dennis Waterman have already honed their repartee, but this time we see their friendship strained to excess as Regan is compelled to clear his name. 

The excellent Barry Foster, from Frenzy and Twisted Nerve, also joins the mix as the slimy bad guy, McQueen.

Romeo Is Bleeding (1993)

A corrupt police sergeant bites off more than he can chew when he attempts to assassinate a beautiful but ruthless Russian hitwoman in this no holds barred thriller.

A gripping and tense noir, Romeo Is Bleeding sees Gary Oldman leading a superb cast that also features Michael Wincott, Annabella Sciorra, Juliette Lewis, Roy Scheider, Ron Perlman and other strong supporting actors. Hungarian born Peter Medak directs the film into a darkness that gives it more bite than most Hollywood efforts at the genre and leaves it compelling viewing.

Eraserhead (1977)

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

David Lynch's first feature film is a low budget and retro looking horror that pays homage to black and white movies of the past whilst disfiguring the mood to prey on hidden fears. It is uniquely distorted into an originally terrifying vision straight out of the warped brain of it's writer/director.

Dark Star (1974)

Low-budget story of four astronauts in deep space, whose mission is to destroy unstable planets in star systems which are to be colonised.

 

Dark Star began as just a student film, but after being extended and released to the cinemas in 1974, it is still clear to see its imprint in science fiction. From the Alien franchise to the British sitcom Red Dwarf, the idea of a realistically dull existence on board a space ship in deep space has become almost crucial to the genre. It also premiered the idea of the ship having its own "mother" role, which allows it to turn murderous if needed, as well as giving it a calm, unemotional voice. 

Heavy Traffic (1974)

An "underground" artist contends with his urban existence, where various unsavory elements serve as inspiration for his drawings. 

An adult animation depicting various extreme personalities that exist within the grubby streets of a 1970s American inner city. Written and directed by Ralph Bakshi, this is a hallucinogenic and experimental movie that mixes live action with Robert Crumb influenced cartoons to create a cynical parody of the lead character's life and surroundings.

Slam (1998)

Slam tells the story of Ray Joshua, an original, gifted young MC trapped in a war-zone housing project known as Dodge City. Unable to find a job, Ray copes with the despair and poverty of his neighborhood by using his wits and verbal talent.

This is a rough and ready film set in Washington, DC, which centers around the art of slamming and features acclaimed verbal stylist Saul Williams in the lead. The focus of this film is on the importance of knowledge being the key to your own wealth as opposed to the wrong track and yet the story doesn't wallow in sentimentality and become cheesy. 

Female Prisoner 701 Scorpion (1972)

Raped, imprisoned, tortured and abused, female prisoner #701 lives only for two things; escape from the hellhole of a woman's prison she is incarcerated in and revenge on her former lover, who used her for his benefit and is responsible for all her misery.

This women in prison movie is a prime piece of Japanese sub culture cinema and remains an exploitation classic. It stars one of the queens of pinky violence, Meiko Kaji, who later went onto become Lady Snowblood, in a role that still bares its heavy influence many decades later, most notably in the Kill Bill series.

Tokyo Gore Police (2008)

In futuristic Tokyo, Samurai-sword-wielding Ruka is a cop from a squad who's mission is to destroy homicidal mutant humans known as "engineers" possessing the ability to transform any injury to a weapon in and of itself.

When it comes to comic style violence, Tokyo Gore Police is one of the most entertaining viewings I've seen, depicting manga imagery as accurately in the live action form as possible on the low budget given. There is definitely a cheap quality about it, but the crazy imagination of the Japanese writers insures that there are enough funny ideas to keep it enjoyable.

Romper Stomper (1992)

A group of racist skinheads become alarmed at the way their neighbourhood is changing.

Set in Melbourne, Russell Crowe plays the tough leader of a gang of nazi skinheads, who attempt to threaten the Vietnamese immigrants out of their area by using brutal violence. Although the subject of race is primarily the source of the plot, this film also delves into the other prejudices associated with their fear of impurity and problems within their own kind.

Written and directed by Geoffrey Wright, this grimy movie features one of Crowe's most earthy performances and never fails to have impact.

Dogville (2003)

A woman on the run from the mob is reluctantly accepted in a small Colorado town. In exchange, she agrees to work for them. As a search visits town, she finds out that their support has a price. Yet her dangerous secret is never far away...

This film feels very much like you're watching a play. The reverse fairy tale and flipping of characters is almost comedic, yet there is an underlying quality to its campness that allows any acts of cruelty to seem believable. After getting used to the idea that the whole film is based upon a set with only lines on the floor to represent walls, its easy to accept the levels of depravity that the villagers are willing to sink to. It also adds another aspect to the perversity when you can see neighbors within helping distance, carrying on with their normal lives outside the nonexistent barrier.    

The Conversation (1974)

A paranoid and personally-secretive surveillance expert has a crisis of conscience when he suspects that a couple he is spying on will be murdered.
 

When people talk about Francis Ford Coppola, they usually mention The Godfathers or Apocalypse now, however to me The Conversation is an equal film in it's own right. There is an atmosphere captured in this film that reaches further than just another Hitchcockian thriller, and which manages to portray a realistic depiction of loneliness and suspicion in perfect timing to the plot. Gene Hackman said that he used a sinister bloke he was in the army with as inspiration for his role and he manages to nail the morally troubled paranoia of Harry Caul perfectly. Even though the supporting cast is strong, and features Harrison Ford, Robert Duvall and John Cazale in small roles, most of them under play it to leave their intentions ambiguous and Caul's imagination running wild. David Shire's solo piano score is the glue that solidifies this to me as one of my favourite films, and yet apparently the ending still remains a mystery to even Coppola and the movie's editor, Walter Murch.