The films

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Turkey Shoot

The budget vanished mid-shoot and they kept going. Chaotic, mean, fun.

cult

Island of Death

Mykonos has never looked prettier or hosted anything uglier. Mastorakis dared himself to be banned and won.

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SS Experiment Camp

A DPP video nasty far better known for its poster than for anything in the film.

▶ watch⊘ bannedcult

Cannibal Apocalypse

Vietnam veterans as cannibals. Sillier and kinder than the jungle cycle.

▶ watch⊘ bannedcult

Contamination

Alien via Rome, with exploding chests and a Goblin score doing heavy lifting.

▶ watch⊘ bannedcult

Killer Nun

Anita Ekberg, morphine, and a plot that gives up around the hour mark.

▶ watch⊘ bannedcult

The House on the Edge of the Park

Deodato points Last House at a dinner party. Grubby, mean, effective.

▶ watch⊘ bannedknown

Anthropophagus

Almost entirely people walking around an island. Then two minutes of infamy.

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Eaten Alive!

Lenzi recycling other films' footage into a Jonestown story. Grim work.

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The Driller Killer

Abel Ferrara's debut. More interesting as a document of downtown New York.

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The New York Ripper

Genuinely nasty and hard to defend. The killer quacks. It doesn't help.

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Maniac

Savini's effects, Spinell's performance, and a very bleak little film.

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Mountain of the Cannibal God

The cannibal cycle in a dinner jacket, ex-Bond girl and real animal deaths included.

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The Burning

The raft scene is the best kill in any slasher. The rest is fine.

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Cannibal Ferox

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

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City of the Living Dead

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

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Possession

On the nasties list by pure bureaucratic accident. An actual masterpiece about divorce.

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Tenebrae

Argento's coldest and cleverest. That crane shot earns its reputation.

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The Beyond

Makes no sense whatsoever and is Fulci's best film. Dream logic, fully committed.

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Zombi 2

A zombie fights a shark. Fulci's splinter shot is still the worst thing here.

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I Spit on Your Grave

The most argued-about film on this site. Read the glossary entry before deciding.

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The Hills Have Eyes

Craven's meanest. The suburban family turn out to be the better killers.

▶ watch⊘ bannedcanon

The Last House on the Left

Bergman's Virgin Spring, brutalised. Genuinely unpleasant and knows it. Tonally a mess.

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Cannibal Holocaust

A serious film about media atrocity that committed real atrocity.

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The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

Almost bloodless, and still the most upsetting film here. The heat is the horror.

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The Evil Dead

Prosecuted in Britain. Actually a comedy, though it took years to admit it.