Extreme Cinema
The films listed below are (in)famous for arousing controversy on their initial release, be it for explicit scenes of violence, sex or extreme political beliefs . The best films in this collection use their notorious elements not merely to shock, but to provoke ('Salo' uses its disturbing sequences, borrowed from Sade, as a comment on Fascism, whilst the sickening rape scene in 'The Accused' rightly refused to soften the depiction of this despicable crime). The following films can still cause impassioned debate, in some cases decades after they were made...
See also the category 'Asia Extreme'.
Right: One of the most shocking debuts 'Man Bites Dog'.
The Beast (1975)
5.8/10
Director: Walerian Borowczyk
Starring: Guy Trejan, Lisabeth Hummel, Sirpa Lane, Elizabeth Kaza
AKA 'La Bete'. Passing New Zealand censors for the first time, Walerian Borowcyzyk's official director's cut of his controversial film can finally be... Read more
Intimacy (2000)
6.2/10
Director: Patrice Chereau
Starring: Mark Rylance, Kerry Fox, Timothy Spall
Kerry Fox and Mark Rylance give noteworthy performances in this tale of one man's sexual obsession and emotional weaknesses. This controversial offeri... Read more
Modify (2005)
7.1/10
When does body modification become mutilation? How do we all modify ourselves to become more of what we want to be? The filmmakers travelled the US... Read more
Only God Forgives ( Blu-ray ) (2013)
5.7/10
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Starring: Kristin Scott Thomas, Ryan Gosling, Vithaya Pansringarm
Ryan Gosling and the director of "Drive", Nicolas Winding Refn, reunite with this gorgeously designed and photographed Bangkok-set thriller. Julian (G... Read more
The New York Ripper (1982)
6.4/10
Director: Lucio Fulci
Starring: Jack Hedley, Almanta Keller
Start spreading the blood...I'm slashing today. if you want to wake up to the sound of a city that never stops screaming, then see Italian horror mast... Read more
A Ma Soeur! ( Fat Girl ) (2001)
6.5/10
Director: Catherine Breillat
Starring: Anais Reboux, Libero de Rienzo, Roxane Mesquida, Arsinee Khanjian
Aka "For My Sister", "Fat Girl". Disturbing, sexually graphic and violent French drama about an overweight 13-year-old Parisian girl who feels ostraci... Read more
Razor Eaters (2003)
6.1/10
Director: Shannon Young
Starring: Paul Moder, Richard Cawthorne, Fletcher Humphreys, Teague Rooke, Shannon Young,...
Loosely based on recent events in Australia, this provocative and shockingly violent film tracks the rise of a group of misfits who take it on themsel... Read more
Ebola Syndrome (1996)
6.6/10
Director: Herman Yau
Starring: Anthony Wong, Fui-On Shing, Yeung Ming Wan
Anthony Wong is Kai, a man with a grudge against the world. Fleeing from a murder charge he winds up in Africa where he rapes a dying woman. He cont... Read more
The Human Centipede (First Sequence) (2009)
4.4/10
Director: Tom Six
Starring: Akihiro Kitamura, Dieter Laser, Andreas Leupold, Ashley C Williams, Ashlynn Yenn...
Advertised as being 100% medically accurate, this outrageous horror film finds two stranded American tourists and a Japanese businessman held captive... Read more
Salo, or The 120 Days of Sodom (Blu-Ray) (1975)
6/10
Director: Pier Paolo Pasolini
Starring: Paolo Bonacelli, Giorgio Cataldi, Uberto P Quintavalle, Aldo Valetti
Nazi-Fascist Northern Italy, 1943-44. Four senior members of government, aided by henchmen and Nazi soldiers, kidnap a group of young men and women. T... Read more