1. Cannibal Holocaust

Apart from having probably the most memorable title of the “video nasties,” Cannibal Holocaust was so shocking to audiences that its director was actually accused of making a snuff movie. The scene with the woman impaled like a shish kebab is probably the pinnacle of 80s cannibal gore. Genuine animal violence (a monkey getting its scalp sliced off with a machete and a turtle being dismembered) also helps to make the film deeply disturbing.