The Hollywood blockbuster “The Departed” was based on this Chinese cult classic, but, I believe this film is much superior to it’s Hollywood copy. The plot centres around two men, Chan-Wing Yan (played by Tony Leung Chiu-Wai ) and Inspector Lau kin- Ming (played by Andy Lau). Leung’s character is a cop who goes undercover into a Triad gang, whereas, Lau’s character is a member of the triad gang masquerading as a police officer in order to feed information to his boss. There are plenty of twists and turns in the plot to keep you on the edge of your seat and the climax is breathtaking. Rent this movie and you won’t be disappointed.

2. OLDBOY

At number two, we have another Asian classic. Oldboy is a Korean movie starring Choi Min-Sik as the movies hero, or rather anti-hero Oh Dae-Su. Oh Dae-Su is a Korean businessman who is one day abducted from the street one night. He wakes up locked inside a single room, where he has no visitors and is fed through a slot. Fifteen years later, he is released with no idea what happened to him. The rest of the plot shows his attempts to find out what happened to him and to gain revenge on the perpetrators. This is a brutally violent film, but is equal in its brilliance. The plot is simply memorizing and I guarantee you will not see what is coming next. This is definitely a must see movie.

3. THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW

In my opinion this is the best musical ever made. It is funny, trashy and bizarre in equal measures. The songs are great fun and very memorable. The plot sees two young clean cut American kids enter the world of Dr Frank N Furter a transvestite alien with a love of seducing anyone and everyone he comes into contact with. He is brilliantly played by Tim Curry. This movie brilliantly spoofs all those old sci fi B movies. There is also an appearance by Meatloaf who plays biker Eddie. If you love corsets, stockings and sweet transvestites, this one’s for you.

4. BRAINDEAD

“ I Kick arse for the lord” is my favourite line from this very low budget horror film directed by Peter Jackson, who is now famous for directing the Lord Of the Rings trilogy. This is horror comedy at its best (and cheapest). Lionel lives with his controlling mother in a small town, when she is bitten by a monkey at the zoo, she becomes a zombie. Lionel loves his mother and he continues to look after her although she is now a member of the undead. He also takes on the task of looking after other zombies in his community, trying to control them with sedative injections, but, eventually all hell breaks loose. This is probably best watched with friends after a few beers.

5. BATTLE ROYALE

Yet another Asian entry, this time from Japan. This film is brutal from start to finish, with plenty of gore. It is set in a time when Japan is in chaos and adults fear children. So, to keep them in their place, every year they select a class of children, send them to a deserted island, arm them and make them fight to the death. The last person surviving gets to live. Oh, and just to ensure they can’t cheat they all have explosive devices strapped around their necks so if they don’t kill each other they will all explode! Although this movie sounds like nothing more than a bloodbath, it is also an intelligent and often sensitive movie. WATCH IT NOW!

6. MANIAC (1980)

This film belongs firmly in the slasher genre of horror. It is about a very disturbed young man who becomes a serial killer who kills his victims by removing their scalp. Frank is schizophrenic and talks to his dead mother at night in his bedroom (which is full of dismembered mannequins). He stalks women in the Bronx , kills them, removes their scalps and then attaches them to his precious mannequins. The ending to this one is a shocker. Watch this one with the lights on and the doors locked.

7. THE WARRIORS

The Warriors was released in 1979 and was based on a novel by Sol Yurick. It is set in New York and centres on gang war in the city. When the leader of the biggest most powerful gang in New York is murdered, The Warriors are falsely accused of being behind the assassination. They then have to make it back to safety in there own patch, Coney Island, without being caught and almost certainly killed by members of the various other New York gangs who are angry after the killing. The movie takes place all in one night. I recommend watching the directors cut of this movie.

8. BLADE RUNNER

This has to be one of the most visually stunning pieces of cinema ever. It was directed by Ridley Scott and starred Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer and Sean Young. The movie is set in 2019 where robots called replicants, who look exactly like humans are being used for dangerous work on “off world colonies”. Inevitably some of the replicants uprise and thus all replicants are banned. “Blade Runners” are sent to track down and dispose of the replicants. This is a must have for all science fiction fans.

9. PINK FLAMINGOES

This film was promoted as being “the most disgusting movie of all time” and it certainly lives up to its name. The star of the movie, transvestite, Divine, ate dog faeces for part of the film. The film centres on two families who are competing to see which family is the most disgusting. Fans of John waters will love this, but, if you are easily offended give it a miss.

10. ERASERHEAD

Probably one of the strangest movies ever made, that’s hardly surprising, as, it was directed by David Lynch who is known for his strange but brilliant cult movies. It is billed as a surrealist horror film and I think that is certainly a good was of describing it. I don’t even know how I would begin to describe it, but, believe me it is definitely worth watching, if only for the weirdness.

- Wes Craven

Ever since the first feature films filled the big screen, they have been surrounded by controversy. Some images have shocked and terrified audiences, some films have caused international outrage. Many of these shocking films have now become classics. Therefore, to prevent people writing letters of complaint or running out of the cinema, films have to be censored.

But what happens when censorship is taken too seriously?

• In 1932, Japan cut a scene of Sylvia Sidney being embraces by Cary Grant in Madame Butterfly because her left elbow was exposed.
• The 1920s was a time of ridiculous censorship laws in American states. Pennsylvania would not even allow scenes of women knitting baby garments.
• Mickey Mouse was banned in Romania in 1935 for fears that he was likely to scare the nation's children.
• Communist Albania banned all films that were seen as capitalist, but allowed Norman Wisdom films, because he was seen as portraying the common man overcoming oppression from the ruling classes!
• The Mexican censor cut huge chunks from the 1983 film Silkwood-all the scenes where Cher was shown as a lesbian.
• In early Clarabelle Cow (Minnie Mouse's friend) cartoons, for fear of upsetting the moral guardians, an apron was always discreetly draped over the cow's udders.

After the death of a much loved father and husband Karen Tunny (Lori Heuring) and her two daughters Sarah (Scout Taylor Compton) and Emma are forced due to financial pressures to flee the city and settle in the woods of a small Pennsylvania community in a house Karen's husband owned. The house a traditional dwelling used by miners back at the turn of the 20th century is in much need of repair, but offers solace for Karen; while Sarah takes a dim view of things, and Emma embraces the move. For young Emma a sweet 8 year old it offers a chance of new friendship in the form of Mary who to everyone else is just an imaginary friend. It seems however that Addytown's newest arrivals have either caused or arrived at the time of a great awakening, things are about to become dramatically more chilling.

I first saw Wicked Little Things as it was then known about 16 months ago, and to be perfectly honest with you I got half way through and could not be bothered to proceed on, to me it was like every other low budget horror movie of the time and I was stacked under a heavy workload. Unbeknown to me was that at that very moment I lost interest and turned off the stories tone changed and effectively was only just the beginning. For an avid horror fan like me this was the place to begin a grizzly death of some animal stock takes the movie back to the sort of shock! Horror! We witnessed at the start of the 1980's when so many movies were edited or outlawed all together.

While I won't pretend that Zombies is the best horror offering I have seen this year I will say it has some great echoes in horror movie past that will undoubtedly appeal to casual and hardcore horror movie fans. While others have compared the movie to The Omen, a similarity I cannot see I'm reminded most of John Carpenters 1978 movie The Fog, there is a great scene where a group of teenagers are desperately trying to escape a group of killer zombie children in a car that's back wheels are stuck in mud. The ambience of this moment are literally plucked from The Fog, but with one exception, the scene goes further and almost allows you to ask the question, what if Jamie Lee Curtis had not got that car started? What follows is probably one of the most harrowing scenes I have seen in an American horror movie for some time.

Ben Cross an actor best known from Chariots Of Fire and the BBC drama The Citadel plays a creepy hillside soothsayer for want of a better choice of words. The character of Hanks not only knows what to do, he knows what is going to happen, and while at first alienating the Tunny family with his creepy choice of wording and his spreading of blood to ward off evil; soon becomes the key to their survival, if of course they have any chance. Cross who is always around working, but never in anything most of us would probably watch does a sterling job as the movies oddball character. Although the movies villain role is taken by Martin McDougall as William Carlton, descendant of the Carlton mine and all that rests on the surrounding area.

Of our main cast Lori Heuring is pretty much a tool (no disrespect) of the movie, not essentially a needed part, the piece is lead by Scout Taylor Compton (An American Crime, Halloween) who as the teenage character of the movie most of the horror is endured through her eyes. Compton delivers a competent performance as the usual dysfunctional type character of the movie. Chloe Moretz (who back in 2006 was at the start of her career but is now pretty much an excepted part of Hollywood furniture) is the most watchable character, however because of child acting laws is dramatically underused in order to get the movie completed within a target time, overall a tragic mistake that may if it has not already cost the movie points in horror movie history offerings.

What was most enjoyable about the movie was the dark offing of children as the terrible force of the movies, now just Zombies these were the children of the mine nearly 100 years prior who feel not only wronged by events, but cursed in there vicious need to engage in the consumption of human flesh. These kids whom of course look sweet without the makeup are pretty darn scary, with their over emphasised teeth and their terrible lack of compassion, are genuinely creepy and with their bloody massacre at the mid section of the movie you are left with no doubt that these creatures are best not reckoned with.

Zombies is a movie you really need to stick with, and as I said earlier its first 30 minutes or so are hardly going to endear you to the piece. But if you have the patience a small pot of gold lies at the end of this rainbow, and judging by horror releases over the last two months this isthe best choice of salvation.

Released in the UK on the Momentum pictures label on the 21st of July, the movie has a short featurette as a special feature called Wicked Little Zombies, this feature shows you a glimpse behind the scenes and discusses the immense pressure of filming a movie with children, especially ones that have enough experience but are still young enough to pull off the terrifying performances effectively. Zombies is released with an RRP of £15.99.

Frightmare begins as it means to go on with the death of onetime Fawlty Towers star Andrew Sachs, killed after a visit to a funfair to see a clairvoyant. This opening scene was a shot in colour but later turned to black and white because the vision of gore you see was just too much for that moment in time. This event sees the condemning to prison of an unknown party, and at this point the movie moves forward from the 1950's to the 1970's. Frightmare is all about extreme family secrets and a thirst for something that you really are not meant to have, cannibalism.

Of all the Pete Walker movies of this time, Frightmare offers the most striking vision with some of the worst acting. The memories of Frightmare really stayed with me for years after seeing it, and were given a stark reminder when I made my most recent return to this horror movie as part of a self imposed Pete Walker season.

The story of Frightmare is incredibly slow moving, but this is not a criticism; because this slow delivery makes the terror at the end all the more striking. But don't be fooled into thinking the movie is about build up, all the way through there is an unhealthy amount of deaths to contend with, and some really quite extreme gore.

It is rumoured that director Abel Ferrara took a liking to this movie when conjuring up the story to his long banned movie Driller Killer, and as the movies killer moves through a choice of weaponry onto the electric drill you can see some real similarities, hard to believe that a small budget movie not really seen in America would be responsible for such a thing.

Pete Walker's regular cast favourite Sheila Keith plays Dorothy Yates the movies cannibal and drill obsessive, I have ruined nothing in this reveal, it's made blatantly obvious from the movies offset just who the villain of the piece is. But in Dorothy you feel a touch of sadness because the character is a victim of mental illness, and it's this slow development and understanding of mental illness that give Frightmare its extreme but winning formula. Upon first sight this aging woman seems charming, but as the "headaches" occur you can see the delivery of messages into Dorothy's head. Sheila Keith was the sort of actress that could be both charming and menacing, an aspect that director was more than aware of casting her more often than not in his movies as the villain.

Where you get this tug of love situation with the movie is in her husband Edmund Yates played by Rupert Davies, you discover that despite the fact that he never committed murder, that he shared the same sentence in prison as Dorothy for being fully in the knowledge of her actions. As the movie progresses your heart does go out to Edmund as you can see the years of recovery that he believes Dorothy has had falling around his feet. You see him wrestling with his emotions as he tries to prevent the inevitable all the time just thinking it's on the horizon, unaware this time that Dorothy is actually killing.

But this is not a two way relationship Jackie (Deborah Fairfax) and Debbie (Kim Butcher) are the grown up children of the couple, and it seems that Debbie the younger of the two sisters has the same sort of diabolical thirst for blood and raw meat that her mother has.

Frightmare is 34 years on (at the time of writing) pretty extreme, in fact it's not an uneven offering to partner off with movies like Saw and Hostel, if you have seen either they you might be just starting to get a feel of exactly how hardcore this movie was for the time.

While I cannot say that Frightmare scared me, I can easily see it scaring some, yes the acting is terrible, but the gore is extreme and although I was not frightened by the movie it is one that I will never forget for as long as I live.