Synopsis: New York City taxi cab driver suffers from insomnia and obsesses over "freeing" a young prostitute.

Why top 100?: Scorcese's depiction of 70's New York City is a depiction of complete hell. Any Southerner who caught a glimpse of Taxi Driver before a planned trip to Times Square had to immediately cancel their reservations and spend a good week curled up under their bed. Scorsese makes the city itself the antagonist - It's garish, obscene lights bathe the streets in blood reds and urine yellows. Those who emerge from the shadows into light are an assortment of murderers, pimps, prostitutes, and madman - racial tension is everywhere, the streets are ready to explode at any moment. Through the chaos ex-Marine Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) glides in his cab both repulsed and fascinated (he chooses to ride in areas where other cabs won't go) by what he considers a city that should be, "flushed down the fucking toilet." There has been no greater depiction of the loneliness of one man immersed in a city of millions. De Niro's performance is one of the most often impersonated - his manic intensity hidden under a forced smile one of cinema's most unnerving. When he turns himself, literally, into a killing machine the viewer is left with a truly sickening feeling - you actually root for this repulsive character to be successful on his "mission." Life imitated art when John Hinckley shot Ronald Reagon in hopes of procuring the interests of Taxi Driver prostitute Jodie Foster. Bernard Herrmann's sleazy Jazz score was completed the day he died. The winner of the Golden Palm at Cannes and cited as one of the greatest "Horror" films by director David Cronenberg - Taxi Driver remains a hotly debatable film thirty years later. A gritty, extremely unpleasant blast to your senses.

Moment you won't soon forget: The gory final rampage that sees Bickle plug Sport (a mesmerizing Harvey Keitel - notice his long painted nail) before entering an apartment and blasting off fingers, stabbing hands, and blasting off heads at point blank range.

19) Harold and Maude (1971, Dir. Hal Ashby)

Synopsis: A suicidal young man and an eccentric old lady forge a friendship that leads to love.

Why top 100?: Bud Cort as 20 year old Harold - a suicide obsessed loner, and Ruth Gordon as Maude, an eighty year old Holocaust survivor with a lust for life and a serious nonconformist streak - make one of cinemas oddest love affairs. Hal Ashby's unique and brilliant cult classic - a perfect merger of black comedy and "fuck the system" mentality hit a nerve with 70's college kids - in some college towns playing for three years straight. A film about fake and real suicide, parental control, the Holocaust and war is somehow inexplicably life affirming in the hands of Ashby, the great Ruth Gordon and a cheery Cat Stevens score. A love affair that most critics found repulsive upon the films release, remains one of cinema's most touching - Harold under the control of an overbearing mother and fits of depression is given a new outlook on life by the spry Maude - an outlook that spills off the screen and invigorates the viewer.

Moment you won't soon forget: Harold's various faked suicide stunts which include drowning, stabbing, shooting and setting himself on fire - much to the chagrin of his mother and to the horror of his set up dates. Cat Stevens score - you know Cat Stevens is the man, no need to be ashamed!

18) Peeping Tom (1960, Dir. Michael Powell)

Synopsis: A young man subjected to horrific filmed experiments by his father as a boy, kills woman on film with a hidden blade on his cameras tripod.

Why top 100?: Michael Powell's mind blowing film of voyeurism, child abuse, sexual frustration and murder became one of the most vilified films in cinema history when in was released in England circa 1960. The rage of the British press was so great that the career of one of their most brilliant directors was forever ruined (this is Thief of Baghdad, Black Narcissus, The Red Shoes Michael Powell we're talking about!). In the late seventies director Martin Scorsese championed the film bringing an uncut print to New York City where it played to rave reviews. Peeping Tom remains one of the most unnerving cinematic experiences to date. From the horrific experiments the killer's scientist father conducted on him as a child (his father was studying the effects of fear on the nervous system - he uses his crying, screaming child in a slew of despicable "tests" - these scenes will haunt you for the rest of your miserable days) to the killer Mark's ingenious method of murder (He kills his female victims with a blade hidden in his tripod - their deaths are caught on film. He adds a nice little touch, the camera has a tiny mirror mounted on it so the girls can see their own horrified faces as they die - pleasant!) the film is sickening to the core. The long blade as penis and the frenzied pleasure Mark experiences while watching the deaths adds to the overall unpleasantness. One of cinemas great shockers.

Moment you won't soon forget: Mark's filmed death where he uses his own contraption for a filmed suicide - his reaction in the mirror is both fear and pleasure at seeing such fear - some serious horrifying shit.

17) Massacre at Central High (1976, Dir. Renee Daalder)

Synopsis: The new boy at a school run by a fascist group of High School bullies begins knocking them off. The original Heathers, but a helluva lot more fun.

Why top 100?: Political allegory? Sleazy exploitation? Art film? It's all of 'em rolled into one hell of an entertaining film. There is not one second of wasted screen time in this gem - from beginning to end this sucker is a rollicking good time. Shot in a measly three weeks, Massacre is surprisingly well shot and acted (even the creepy Andrew Stevens is good) with a tricky screenplay that makes for great debate. When new student David begins knocking off his foes it's a brilliant, trashy good time - but it's after David succeeds that Massacre gets really interesting. The bullied soon become bullies as various groups fight for control of the school. Daalder's film soon becomes a brilliant attack on the fascist "right" and the phony"left" exposing both sides as hypocritical as they fight for power. If all the action and intrigue wasn't enough we also get one of the great 70's second fiddles - the stunningly gorgeous Rainbeaux Smith - who prances around naked, gets into a threesome and finally gets crushed by a huge rolling boulder! One of the most entertaining cult films ever made.

Moment you won't soon forget: The tent threesome which is broken up by a massive rolling boulder!

16) Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965, Dir. Russ Meyer)

Synopsis: Three bad ass go-go dancing, drag car racing beauties cause havoc and plot to steal an old perverts money.

Why top 100?: Does it get any better than Russ Meyer's exploitation classic Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!? Beginning in a ridiculous strip bar full of the most intense patrons on earth, Meyer wastes no time laying down the sleaze in what John Waters considers the greatest movie ever made. Filmed in beautiful black and white Faster! introduces us to three go-go dancin', cat-fighting, drag-racing, kung-fu fighting, buxom beauties played with gusto by Lori Williams, Haji, and of course the one and only Tura Satana. The three bad asses spend the day drag-racing and go-go dancing in the desert before breaking a fellas back and plotting the robbery of a nasty old codger. Meyer's film is fast, funny and completely insane. Satana gives one of the legendary cult film performances spouting off hilarious one liners and prancing around in tight black bodysuits. Her kung fu, back breaking of a fellow drag racer is one of the defining moments in cult cinema.

Moment you won't soon forget: "You can still drive away buster!" warns Satana before delivering karate chops and the infamous back breaking blow to a feisty drag racer. Haji's hilarious tough girl accented dialogue and the luscious Lori Williams breaking into dance every other scene make Faster! a blast after numerous viewing.

15) Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971, Dir. Mel Stuart)

Synopsis: A young boy named Charlie wins a "Golden Ticket" which allows him to tour chocolate maker Willy Wonka's fantastic factory.

Why top 100?: One of the most unusual and unexplainable films of all time, the colorful and sinister Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory has amused and disturbed children of all ages for over 25 years. As a young child growing up in the late seventies this was my Wizard of Oz - a movie so full of color and delights that I would be damn near hysterical when it came on T.V. Director Mel Stuart does a fantastic job in capturing the dark side of Ronald Dahl's work. Dahl understood that children love to be scared, and thankfully Stuart follows through creating a truly demented Willy Wonka, a character who is one part funny goof and one part frightfully unhinged. Gene Wilder's "Willy Wonka" is an unhinged mess - his curly hair flopping about, his face turning from sincerity to biting sarcasm in a blink of an eye. He gains great delight from the torture of young children and relishes in their parents discomfort. Mind you the children are nasty buggers, but damn Wonka you are a sadist! Wonka also keeps a horde of orange faced midget slaves called "Oompa Loompa's" that defend their master's nasty actions through song and dance! Rumor has it that Oompa Loompa dolls were going to be mass produced - the plan fell through when the makers realized young theater goers were horrified by the creatures. The recent remake goes to show that CGI and a massive budget can't overcome the "pure imagination" of the original. I know that's corny but fuck you.

Moment you won't soon forget: The terrific performance by Julie Dawn Cole, every 70's kid first crush, as the spoiled bitch Veruca Salt. You must click on the thumbnail to see this bizarre still of Salt and her father! Yikes!

14) Five Deadly Venoms (1978, Dir. Chang Cheh)

Synopsis: Five kung fu fighters trained in individual deadly arts and a man trained in all do battle over a hidden fortune.

Why top 100?: The first in a series of Shaw Brothers productions utilizing the same core cast helped establish Hong Kong films as a force to be reckoned with. Gone were overdone plots and characterizations found in Hollywood flicks and in its place a wild and colorful style of beautifully choreographed chaos. It's brilliant simple plot is an action fans dream - Five men are trained in five deadly venom kung fu "styles," while a sixth man knows all but is master of none. The sixth man Yan Tieh (Chiang Sheng) must pair up with another venom to properly battle evil factions within the group. The only problem is they were all masked during training and Tieh doesn't know who is friend or foe. A simple, brilliant premise! Much of the fun is had in how cool the different styles are: Toad, Lizard, Centipede, Snake and Scorpion all have their unique, kick ass traits. The five leads - Chiang Sheng, Lo Mang, Kuo Chui, Lu Feng, Wei Pai and Sun Chien - are some serious jumping around, flipping, kung fu fighting madmen - and the Shaw Brothers contribution of graphic violence to their kung fu epics allows terrific scenes of guts being torn out and insane torture techniques (poor Toad!).

Moment you won't soon forget: Snake proclaiming, "I know who you are, you're the Scorpion!" is about as bad ass as it gets. The cool masks they get to wear are top notch also.

13) Liquid Sky (1982, Dir. Slava Tsukerman)

Synopsis: A Tiny UFO arrives in the East Village NY to feed of an addicts sexual partners - when they reach orgasm the aliens dissolve them.

Why top 100?: Tsukerman's almost avant-garde New York cult classic is one of the ultimate LSD flicks. Set amongst New York City New Wavers, in the early 80's East Village scene, the film contains outrageous fashions and make up, ridiculously retarded dance scenes, a mind blowing - baffling soundtrack and one of my favorite performances in film. Oh Paula Sheppard, what has become of you?!? Her performance as the cursing, knife yielding, "Rhythm Box" singing, dead man face humping, lunatic nymphomaniac is one of the true pleasures in cult cinema. You would think Hollywood would have been knocking down her door! It's a mesmerizing performance. Anne Carlisle co-wrote the script and acts in the duel role of Margaret - the drug addicted rape victim turn murdering seductress - and Jimmy - the creepy gay drug addict. The insane plot deals with a tiny UFO addict that digs the human pheromones released during orgasm better than smack and begins sucking up Margaret's many sexual partners. She begins using them as a way of knocking off all the horny, annoying creeps in her life. It's the insane low budget visual effects and oddball soundtrack that makes Liquid Sky a reigning cult film champion.

Moment you won't soon forget: Paula Sheppard screaming about "cunts," riding a dead dudes face, getting in a catfight with Margaret and singing the absolute classic tune, "Me and My Rhythm Box." The hilarious shots of a New Wave club with its insane costumes and robotic dancing.

12) Reefer Madness (1936, Dir. Louis Gasnier)

Synopsis: Partying young adults succumb to the evils of Marijuana and start murdering, raping and killing themselves.

Why top 100?: Louis Gasnier's absurd Reefer Madness was apparently created to give the PTA and other interested groups a weapon against marijuana. Yeah right - like DeMille's bible epics weren't an excuse to show sexy ass gals in as little clothes as possible doing ultra erotic stripteases! Reefer Madness stinks of pure, beautiful exploitation - Murders, suicide, rape attempts, vehicle manslaughter, insane asylums and shots of a sexy lass adjusting her stockings - all in the name of combating the drug epidemic that is - Marijuana! Mr. Gasnier had to realize how fun he made the Marijuana parties look - booze, wild dancing, sexy gals aplenty - ok a couple of people get knocked off and you wind up catatonic with large black rings under your eyes - but hell, things could be worse. It's all terribly shot and acted - but it's a lurid good time. The success of Reefer Madness spurned a slew of great, silly movies about a variety of drugs being consumed by once goody goody children turned murderers and rapists. NORML would scoop up the film for fund raising bringing it to a large group of college aged nitwits.

Moment you won't soon forget: The police raid on the drug den revealing the complete chaos of the drug world - an insane Ralph sits glued to a chair with raccoon like rings around his permanently stoned eyes. The terrific hit and run.

11) Plan 9 From Outer Space (1956, Dir. Ed Wood, Jr.)

Synopsis: A diabolical plan hatched by space invaders utilizing earths dead - God help us in the future!

Why top 100?: Often cited as the worst picture ever made and its maker, Ed Wood Jr., cinema's worst director - Plan 9 From Outer Space will play for years to come while celebrated hunks of shit - say Oscar winner A Beautiful Mind - will fade into obscurity. The drag wearing, madman of Z budget films has a style all his own. Shoot a scene and get on with the next as soon as humanly possible - half a set falls down during a shot? Well, Fuck it! We got a picture to make! Oh what glorious fun it is to witness a paper tombstone fall over or paper plate UFO's whiz through the skies on strings. The ultra sexy Vampira and the bald monstrosity Tor Johnson walk around for what seems like hours on end in a catatonic state. Ed Wood had a couple minutes worth of Bela Lugosi footage to work with after "Dracula" died an addicted disgrace. Of course death is no match for Wood who simply slapped a cape on his chiropractor! Easily one of the most enjoyable 80 minutes of film available.

Moment you won't soon forget: The inexplicable Criswell pleading to the viewer, "Future events like these will affect you in the future!...God help us in the future!"

Down to the nitty gritty - keep going!