Exploitation films

Africa Addio

Not staged, which makes it far worse. A repellent document.

Cannibal Ferox

Lenzi chasing Deodato with none of the argument. Real animal deaths, no defence.

City of the Living Dead

The drill scene. Otherwise thin, but the atmosphere is thick.

Four Flies on Grey Velvet

Argento's third. Unavailable for decades, and worth the wait for the last shot.

Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster

The film where Godzilla becomes a hero. Three of Toho's monsters team up against a golden space dragon.

Hercules Unchained

The sequel that turned one Hercules hit into an entire industry.

Ichi the Killer

Miike hands out sick bags at the premiere and earns every one of them.

Mondo Cane

The original. Oscar-nominated song, colonial gaze, half of it staged.

Shivers

Cronenberg's debut. A phallic parasite turns a luxury apartment tower into an orgy of the infected.

Silent Night, Deadly Night

The killer-Santa movie that got itself run out of cinemas in a week.

The Beastmaster

The one that is actually fun. Ferrets steal the film.

The Brood

Cronenberg turns a divorce into monsters. Rage made flesh, and it is about his own custody battle.

The Man Who Saves the World

Turkish Star Wars. Contains actual Star Wars footage. Not licensed.

The Toxic Avenger

Troma's only good film, and the head-crushing is still funny.

Two-Lane Blacktop

Almost no dialogue, almost no plot, and completely hypnotic.

Alligator

Sayles again. A flushed pet in the sewers, and it knows how silly that is.

Blacula

William Marshall plays it completely straight and almost saves it.

Carnival of Souls

Made by an industrial-film director for $33,000. Genuinely haunted.

Prom Night

Jamie Lee Curtis, a masked killer, and a decade-old secret. Halloween cashes in, disco included.

The Cat o' Nine Tails

Argento's least favourite of his own films. He is roughly right.

Vanishing Point

A white Challenger, amphetamines, and an existential crisis at speed.

A Tale of Two Sisters

Korea's classiest ghost story, and the one that actually rewards a rewatch.

Blood and Black Lace

The template, and still the best-looking film on this list.

Come Drink with Me

King Hu, Cheng Pei-pei, and the template for every wuxia since.

Hercules

Steve Reeves, a Mr Universe title, and the start of the Italian genre machine.

Ilsa, She-Wolf of the SS

Shot on the leftover Hogan's Heroes set. Nothing here is defensible; it's catalogued, not recommended.

Bad Taste

Shot at weekends over four years by Jackson and his friends. Astonishing.

Inferno

Argento's sequel to Suspiria. Even less plot, even more colour. A building that is alive.

I Walked with a Zombie

Val Lewton doing Jane Eyre in the Caribbean. Beautiful and barely horror.

Maniac Cop

A dead cop stalks New York in uniform. Larry Cohen writes, Robert Z'Dar's jaw does the rest.

A Bay of Blood

Bava invents the slasher a decade early. Friday the 13th copied two kills outright.

Black Sunday

Bava's debut as director. Barbara Steele and a mask full of spikes.

Death Rides a Horse

Revenge, Van Cleef, and a score Tarantino lifted wholesale.

El Topo

Jodorowsky's mystical, violent acid western. It essentially invented the midnight movie.

High Tension

Aja before Hollywood, at maximum brutality, with a twist that still starts fights.

Orca

The whale wants revenge and has a plan. Morricone score, oddly moving.