Synopsis: A vomit inducing, surreal documentary on a French slaughterhouse.

Why top 100?: Franju's short black and white documentary on a French abattoir remains perhaps the most subversive film ever made. Franju opens his film with a slightly whimsical look at life in the city complete with children at play, a lovers kiss and a series of odd shots depicting the garbage that litters the "edge of city life." Enjoy it while you can - soon you are whisked off to the Vangiraud slaughterhouse where chain smoking Parisians nonchalantly smash in skulls, slice off limbs and gut various animals in pools of blood, vomit and shit. Words can't describe the shock, horror and strangely enough - beauty - of these dreamlike shots of the most savage brutality imaginable. Franju brings to light the horror hidden beneath the surface of societies sanitized version of life and he does so with a poet's eye. There has been nothing like it before or since.

Moment you won't soon forget: The slaughter of a group of calves. They are slammed onto benches and tied down. The narrator explains for the meat to be white they must be decapitated and drained of blood. Soon the workers begin slicing off the heads of the wild eyed and obviously horrified animals. The calves still living stretch their necks to observe their brethren being butchered. Soon all the heads and limbs are hacked off leaving a room full of twitching, gushing corpses. A succession of images impossible to forget.

29) An Andalusian Dog (Un Chien Andalou) (1929, Dir. Luis Bunuel and Salvador Dali)

Synopsis: A slew of horrific, creepy and disturbingly funny images that frustrate the viewer until it reaches its seemingly unexplainable ending.

Why top 100?: "It has no intention of attracting or pleasing the spectator - indeed, on the contrary, it attacks him to the degree to which he belongs to a society with surrealism is at war ... this film is meant to explode in the hands of its enemies." Stated Bunuel and he wasn't playing games. The infamous opening shots expanded cinema - anything now seemed possible. When Bunuel sharpens his straight razor and holds open a seemingly willing young woman's eyelids the viewer is highly distressed, when the razor actually slices the gooey eyeball it's a blast that remains a complete shock to this day. It's hard to fathom the effect this sequence had on viewers in the late 20's but we know riots ensued, the film was repeatedly burned and banned and that cinema was forever altered. Bunuel attacks the viewing public by obliterating the organ most vital to experiencing the arts therefore signifying shit is about to change and I'm the man to do it. No more will films be mere escapism - the audience will no longer merely escape the drudgery of their lives watching films that uphold the status quo. Bunuel is going to leave you distressed and confused, possibly leaving the theater with a feeling that shit isn't quite as normal as it was before. A film with almost magical powers.

Moment you won't soon forget: The sliced eyeball sequence which made it's away into The Pixies favorite - Debaser, the severed hand with ants crawling out of a hole and the whole fucking nutty flick.

28) Black Sunday (The Mask of the Demon) (1960, Dir. Mario Bava)

Synopsis: A beautiful witch vows revenge on her brother and his descendants before having her faced pulverized by an enormous spiked mask.

Why top 100?: One of the most sumptuous horror movies ever made. Cinematographer turned director Mario Bava creates a world of stunning decay complete with huge crumbling crypts, enormous cold castles filled with secret passageways, fog filled forests with gnarled trees and mysterious vistas under cold, silver skies - all in glorious, shimmering black and white. It's everything you imagined a horror movie should be as a child, a film that every genre lover needs to see at least once on the big screen. Cult favorite Barbara Steele glows in her first good/evil dual role as Asa/Katie. When Steele is the evil witch Asa her odd shaped head - when lit properly for maximum effect - becomes a sunken skull. This odd actress was a walking special effect. Banned for years in various countries and often censored, Black Sunday still delivers its share of shocks. The huge demon mask smashed into the witches face by the biggest mallet known to man and the removal years later of the witches mask to reveal holes littered with various creepy crawlies is still nightmarish shit. Black Sunday is at its best when Bava lets his camera glide through graveyards and crypts - a style Argento would take to new extremes a decade later. Black Sunday remains the classic Halloween/dark rainy night film.

Moment you won't soon forget: The mask being driven into Asa's face, the stunning Barbara Steele and the terrific - extremely creepy shots of the carriage gliding through the decrepit country side.

27) Erasurehead (1978, Dir. David Lynch)

Synopsis: A strange man living in a sparsely populated industrial wasteland cares for his mutated, endlessly crying baby in a squalid apartment.

Why top 100?: This infamous nightmare of a film by David Lynch was created in two years while he attended AFI and was co-produced by none other than the terrific Sissy Spaceck. A nearly plotless film sprinkled with hellish imagery and some of the darkest humor to be found in the history of cinema it became a Midnight Movie staple - its protagonist, John Nance as Henry Spencer, becoming an underground icon. It's stark, depressing black and white cinematography is both unnerving and at times strangely beautiful - but it is the barrage of sounds that makes Erasurehead the Surrealistic assault that is is. The continues clanging of machines, screaming bursts, unnerving songs delivered by the mutant woman living behind the radiator and the crying - the fucking crying of his deformed baby in his tiny depressing apartment makes the whole experience nearly unbearable. Henry's baby is one of the great creations in underground film, a putrid (especially when it is ill) frightening little tot so ugly and pathetic that you can't help becoming sympathetic towards it. The baby is so brilliantly brought to life that you soon forget it isn't a real, pitiful living creature. When Spencer starts changing from loving father to a man filled with hate for his deformed offspring Erasurehead becomes a truly difficult experience.

Moment you won't soon forget: The hilarious dinner with Mary's family that makes the Texas Chainsaw get togethers seem appealing. What Henry does to his baby will stick in your craw for weeks.

26) Duck Soup (1933, Dir. Leo McCarey)

Synopsis: A psychopathic dictator named Rufus T. Firefly takes over the country Freedonia with the expressed intent on destroying it through wars, mismanagement and corruption.

Why top 100?: The Marx Brothers completely mad Duck Soup was their first critical and financial bomb. It seems depression era moviegoers looking for escapism weren't in the mood for a vicious assault on Nationalism, politics, capitalism and the bourgeois. Soon after Duck Soup the Marx Brothers would leave Paramount for MGM where studio head Thalberg would nearly castrate the comedians turning them from raging sociopaths to gentler, more lovable troublemakers. Duck Soup remains a shockingly fresh and hilarious tour de force of chaos. Groucho Marx as Rufus T. Firefly, the leader of Freedonia, seems an almost prophetic character. When he promises during a raucous State of the Union musical number that if you think times are bad now, "Wait until I get through with you," you can't help think of our contemporary politicians who seem so hell bent on destroying the country. Duck Soup's depiction of complete political corruption and anarchy finally found its biggest audience with the youths of the 60's who saw in it its many pointed social criticisms under the sheen of slapstick. Groucho, Chico, Harpo and yes even fucking Zeppo at their best - a true comic masterpiece.

Moment you won't soon forget: The peanut vendor sabotage conducted by a delirious and frighteningly unhinged Harpo (a disturbing character to say the least!). Rufus blasting away at his own men during the war with Sylvania - when told they are his own army he replies, "Here's five dollars, keep it under your hat!"

25) The Tingler (1959, Dir. William Castle)

Synopsis: An obsessed (and sometimes tripping) doctor studying fear discovers a strange creature grows near the spine of people too frightened to scream. If they don't let a shriek loose, which would kill the beast, the creature will pulverize their innards.

Why top 100?: The "king of the movie gimmicks," the indispensable William Castle created one of the most loony and enjoyable films ever made. "I know I'm a darned good showman; no one can top my gimmicks," Castle once proclaimed and The Tingler may have been his greatest feat. Not only does the film contain a deliriously hammy performance by cult favorite Vincent Price (whose good doctor trips on LSD!), the film changes to color in one brilliant scene, and as any genre fan remembers with great pleasure the "Tingler" is let loose into a theater where Price implores you to scream for your life! The film begins to tear and soon the fucking creature scuttles across the empty screen! Brilliant! Castle famously created "Percepto!" - movie seats rigged with a device that gave a slight electric shock to every fifth patron. When the Tingler is let loose in the theater Percepto gave a charge to some teen girls ass sending her into complete delirium. A favorite blast of innocent fun from the glorious days of schlock cinema and one of the most gleefully enjoyable films ever created.

Moment you won't soon forget: When Price faces the audience in all his hammy glory and cries, "The Tingler is loose in the theater. For God's sake scream, scream for your lives!" Imagine being a kid in that theater circa 1959 - it had to be a blast.

24) Carnival of Souls (1963, Dir. Herk Harvey)

Synopsis: A withdrawn church organist survives a drag car accident but is soon plagued by hallucinations and a pale faced ghost.

Why top 100?: "I thought it was kind of far out for its time. Most horror films, even then, really weren't that Bizarre....," proclaimed director Herk Harvey on his odd low budget masterpiece. Made for a mere 30 grand Carnival of Souls plays out like a classic Twilight Episode on some serious LSD. The beautiful Candice Hilligoss emerges from the water of a car crash to enter a slightly skewed world where she often loses her sense of hearing and is followed by a creepy ghoul (played by Harvey). It's depiction of a young woman unable to connect with society is played out in oddly paced, creepy scenes that inexplicably get under the viewers skin. The intriguing Hilligoss delivers one of the genres great performances as the gliding lost girl - a performance reminiscent of Jessica Harper's brilliant performance in Argento's Suspiria years later (what happened to Hilligoss and has anyone else noticed the similarities between these two performances?). Carnival of Souls would have merely been a classic of low budget horror filmmaking if not for the legendary dance of the damned sequence at the conclusion. A brilliantly surreal sequence of film both ludicrous and highly distressing - it's one of the highlights of cult cinema. A cult classic that just recently began getting the respect its deserved - and please, for the love of anything good and decent in the world - avoid the sequel and if possible harm anyone involved in its production (kidding of course - or am I?).

Moment you won't soon forget: The first glimpse of the ghoul haunting our heroine. The dance of the damned carnival sequence with its cast of ghouls is about as bizarre as it gets.

23) Night of the Living Dead (1968, Dir. George A. Romero)

Synopsis: The dead have inexplicably come back to life and are feeding on the living. Two survivors - Ben and Barbara - hide in a vacant home hoping to survive until help comes.

Why top 100?: George Romero and his Pittsburgh production crew (which previously created Industrial films) banned together with a group of amateur actors and local townspeople (who portrayed the ghouls) to create one of the most groundbreaking and successful independent films in cinema history. One of the first and most popular Midnight movies ever made it is also one of the few to garnish critical respectability (shocking considering the majority of film critics seem hell bent in praising only the films that confirm their beliefs in a sane and rational world. Transgressive films that shake them out of their comfortable stupor tend to garner their wrath. Do a search on Roger Ebert's review of Lucio Fulci's masterpiece The Beyond and be prepared to wet your pants with laughter!), even being included in the Museum of Modern Art's permanate film collection. Romero's black and white shocker is a classic horror comic come to life complete with bizarrely composed expressionistic comic book styled compositions and a brutally depressing EC comic downer of an ending. And of course people get eaten in graphic detail - a big visual taboo for those unfamiliar with the underground genre offerings of Romero's predecessors. Much has been written about Ben (brilliantly played by Duane Jones) being a black protagonist as well as Night's underlining social commentary - the film is "an allegory meant to draw parrallels between what people are becoming and the idea that people are operating on many levels of insanity that are only clear to themselves" (Romero), what is inarguable is that Night of the Living Dead remains one of the most entertaining, nail biting genre films ever made. Its influence on horror cinema and film in general is beyond the scope of this "greatest of" list. It also scared the shit out of a whole lotta folks in the late 60's.

Moment you won't soon forget: "There coming to get you Barbara," of course. The way the film gets down to business right from the get go (in classic comic book style). The Tom and Judy car barbecue, the creepy daughter doing in her mom and the frustrating demise of Ben.

22) Touch of Evil (1958, Dir. Orson Welles)

Synopsis: A Mexican narcotics officer butts heads with an obese, corrupt Sheriff after a car blows up crossing the U.S./Mexico border.

Why top 100?: "The work reeks with moral putrefaction, cynicism and a humanism which is pitiless and anti-sentimental. A sordid tale, it subversively shows innocence to be ineffective against evil, goodness to have a club-foot, rationalism to be inadequate in an irrational world" (the great Amos Vogel on Touch of Evil). Arguably Welles greatest film and definitely one of the sleaziest in cinema history, Touch of Evil was butchered and fucked with by an extremely nervous Universal. Cuts were made and another director (!) brought in to try to rework Welles beautiful film of great ugliness. Thankfully it has been restored and we can all revel in what is the most gorgeous film of complete evil ever made. Touch of Evil kicks off with the ultimate cinematic shot - a glorious crane tracking shot so fluid and insane it makes Argento's shots look static. When we are introduced to Welles as the Police Captain Hank Quinlan we meet one of the most despicable characters in film. I'd rather have dinner with Welles' Harry Lime than this bloated, sweaty, nasty prick. If Quinlan wasn't enough a drug lord seeking revenge has the Mexican officer's (Charlton Heston) wife kidnapped, drugged and gang raped (! the viewer isn't sure what the fuck happened to his wife but we know one thing - it wasn't pretty!). By the way the wife is played by Janet Leigh and a sexier actress may not exist - she is a sight to behold. A groundbreaking film on so many levels is also the most insane film noir in history - feel the beads of sweat form on your brow and get a good whiff of the stench that is Touch of Evil - there is nothing else like it.

Moment you won't soon forget: The whole Janet Leigh motel scenario - damn Welles it was 1958 - what balls! Marlene Dietrich's classic line, "What can you say about anybody? He was some kind of man...," and obviously the stunning opening sequence. It's what cinema is all about.

21) The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919, Dir. Robert Wiene)

Synopsis: An evil hypnotist, Dr. Caligari, uses his somnambulist Cesare to do his evil bidding.

Why top 100?: Arguably the most important film in the history of cinema The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari was the first nightmare film - its Expressionistic set designs and its use of cinema to explore the madness of man and the world around him is groundbreaking. No longer did the camera have to be plunked before a natural set - the sets can be painted and artificial, buildings could tilt - the audience can now be completely engulfed in an artificial world - they can view a story through the eyes of a madman (A quite different experience from George Melies marvelously bent 1902 A Trip to the Moon). The film opened up cinema to new possibilities. The film was labeled Degenerate Art by the Nazis and the great Eisenstein said Cabinet was a "barbaric carnival of the destruction of the healthy human infancy of our art." The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari may also be the first example of the trick ending so often abused in contemporary horror/thrillers. When it's revealed at the end that Dr. Caligari is a helpful psychiatrist (or is he?!?!) and the whole story has been narrated by an inmate it's shocking stuff. One can imagine the confusion and anger this caused viewers in the early 20's. From the painted sets to the bizarre, jerky robot like movement of the actors - The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari holds its spell after all these years.

Moment you won't soon forget: The girls abduction by Cesare where he carries her across one of the most psychotic landscapes on film.

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