The Best Cinema of Transgression Movies Of All-Time
“What are the best Cinema of Transgression Movies?” We looked at 85 of the top Cinema of Transgression films, aggregating and ranking them so we could answer that very question!
The top 29 films, all appearing on 2 or more “Best Cinema of Transgression” movie lists, are ranked below by how many times they appear. The remaining 50+ movies, as well as the sources we used, are in alphabetical order on the bottom of the page.
Happy Scrolling!
Top 29 Best Cinema of Transgression Movies Ever Made
29 .) Baby Doll (1982) directed by Tessa Hughes-Freeland
Lists It Appears On:
- IMDB 2
- MUBI
Tessa Hughes-Freeland’s “Baby Doll” is a tiny slice of cinéma vérité from 1982 about the girls working the now defunct Baby Doll Lounge on Church and White St. in downtown Manhattan. It captures a moment before NYC got sanitized.
28 .) Black Hearts Bleed Red (1992) directed by Jeri Cain Rossi
Lists It Appears On:
- IMDB
- MUBI
A stark adaptation of Flannery O’Connor’s short story A Good Man Is Hard To Find.
27 .) Horoscope (1991) directed by Richard Kern
Lists It Appears On:
- IMDB
- MUBI
Holly Adams plays an attractive but rather repressed young woman. She checks her horoscope, shambles homeward from her dull office job and promptly falls asleep in front of the TV. Two naked young men appear in her living room and begin dancing around for her pleasure.
26 .) Llik Your Idols directed by Angélique Bosio
Lists It Appears On:
- MUBI
- Wikipedia
Discover the New York underground scene during the 80s and throw yourself into an exciting, anarchic and repulsive world that you won’t forget.
25 .) My Nightmare (1993) directed by Richard Kern
Lists It Appears On:
- IMDB
- MUBI
The filmmaker Kern and a female subject in a chaotic fast-cut blend of sexual and hypnotic imagery.
24 .) Raw Nerves: A Lacanian Thriller directed by Manuel Delanda
Lists It Appears On:
- MUBI
- Wikipedia
A noir mostly set in a bathroom stall and stairwell. A private dick trapped in a tight spot. A narrator searching for a way out of the story. Toilet humor and pulp fiction captured in colors like you’ve never seen.
23 .) Sewing Circle (1992) directed by Richard Kern
Lists It Appears On:
- IMDB
- IMDB 2
A woman’s vagina is sewn shut.
22 .) Stigmata directed by Beth B.
Lists It Appears On:
- MUBI
- Wikipedia
21 .) Submit to Me Now (1987) directed by Richard Kern
Lists It Appears On:
- IMDB
- MUBI
Sadomasochistic images of self-mutilation.
20 .) The Bitches (1992) directed by Richard Kern
Lists It Appears On:
- IMDB
- MUBI
Two girls are in a sparsely furnished apartment, scantily clad, and being generally unpleasant to each other.
19 .) The Right Side of My Brain (1985) directed by Richard Kern
Lists It Appears On:
- IMDB
- MUBI
The sexual misadventures of a sexually insane girl.
18 .) The Wild World of Lydia Lunch (1983) directed by Nick Zedd
Lists It Appears On:
- IMDB
- IMDB 2
A filmmaker follows his girlfriend around London with a camera featuring narration from a cassette tape she made for him to break-up the relationship.
17 .) They Eat Scum (1979) directed by Nick Zedd
Lists It Appears On:
- IMDB
- MUBI
The rise, fall and rise of a teen death-rock idol.
16 .) Vortex (1982) directed by Beth B
Lists It Appears On:
- IMDB
- MUBI
A film noirish atmosphere is created to show detective Lunch (a popular underground musician and poet) plow her way through the plans of a corporate businessman who seeks government defense contracts through real “corporate wars” and the manipulation of politicians.
15 .) Where Evil Dwells directed by David Wojnarowicz & Tommy Turner
Lists It Appears On:
- MUBI
- Wikipedia
Loosely based on an infamous 1984 Long Island murder case involving Satan-worshiping, teenage drug freaks (Knights of the Black Circle), David Wojnarowicz and Tommy Turner’s Where Evil Dwells is a low-budget D.I.Y. movie that walks the jagged lines between splatter flick, experimental film and transgressive art. The original footage was destroyed in a fire and the only footage that survived is this 28 minute preview that was put together for the Downtown New York Film Festival in 1985. ×
14 .) Why Do You Exist directed by Nick Zedd
Lists It Appears On:
- MUBI
- Wikipedia
13 .) X Is Y (1990) directed by Richard Kern
Lists It Appears On:
- IMDB
- MUBI
Experimental film consisting of images of young women handling automatic handguns and rifles.
12 .) Black Box (1979) directed by Beth B
Lists It Appears On:
- IMDB
- IMDB 2
- MUBI
A man is tortured by his girlfriend and then locked inside a black box.
11 .) Blank City (2010) directed by Celine Danhier
Lists It Appears On:
- IMDB
- MUBI
- Wikipedia
In the years before Ronald Reagan took office, Manhattan was in ruins. But true art has never come from comfort, and it was precisely those dire circumstances that inspired artists like Jim Jarmusch, Lizzy Borden, and Amos Poe to produce some of their best works. Taking their cues from punk rock and new wave music, these young maverick filmmakers confronted viewers with a stark reality that stood in powerful contrast to the escapist product being churned out by Hollywood. ×
10 .) Fingered (1988) directed by Richard Kern
Lists It Appears On:
- IMDB
- IMDB 2
- MUBI
One of Richard Kern’s most ambitious works is Fingered (1986), whose sarcastic disclaimer says “although it is not our sole intention to shock, insult, or irritate, you have been warned that we are catering only to our own preferences as members of the sexual minority.”
9 .) Mommy Mommy Where’s My Brain (1986) directed by Jon Moritsugu
Lists It Appears On:
- IMDB
- MUBI
- Wikipedia
Part AC/DC, part Jacques Derrida. An experimental film made as a response to the critical theory aspects of the filmmakers degree and academic film criticism.
8 .) Submit to Me (1985) directed by Richard Kern
Lists It Appears On:
- IMDB
- IMDB 2
- MUBI
Oddballs dancing, leering at camera, guy shaving a nontraditional part of his body and man ripping his own throat out, woman stabbing herself to death.
7 .) The Bogus Man (1980) directed by Nick Zedd
Lists It Appears On:
- IMDB
- IMDB 2
- MUBI
A look at a conspiracy involving the United States president.
6 .) The Offenders (1980) directed by Beth B
Lists It Appears On:
- IMDB
- IMDB 2
- MUBI
A punk savage satire about a kidnapping.
5 .) Thrust in Me (1985) directed by Richard Kern
Lists It Appears On:
- IMDB
- IMDB
- IMDB 2
Zedd plays dual roles in this short-film as a street-wandering guy and a suicidal female.
4 .) War Is Menstrual Envy (1992) directed by Nick Zedd
Lists It Appears On:
- IMDB
- IMDB 2
- MUBI
Set in a post-apocalyptic future, the story finds a handful of ragged survivors attempting to communicate with dolphins, while another cadre of survivors have made it their crusade to destroy all the world’s religions.
3 .) Wrecked on Cannibal Island (1986) directed by Casandra Stark
Lists It Appears On:
- IMDB
- MUBI
- Wikipedia
Casandra and Natz pose as a couple locked in a domestic dispute documenting the futility of human relationships and the pointlessness of love.
2 .) You Killed Me First (1985) directed by Richard Kern
Lists It Appears On:
- IMDB
- MUBI
- Wikipedia
A girl (Lung leg) bristles at the religious directives of her parents, asserting her right to personhood outside demure hairstyles and turkey dinners, constructing voodoo dolls and entertaining other manners of dark drawing in her dank emo-den. When confronted with the humanity and hypocrisy of her tormentors, the young antihero vanquishes their belief systems (and bodies) asserting, “You killed me first!”
1 .) Nymphomania (1994) directed by Tessa Hughes-Freeland
Lists It Appears On:
- IMDB
- IMDB 2
- MUBI
- Wikipedia
A film exploring the nature of sex and gender roles. Nymph, a fairy, walks and dances through a woodland before being pursued by Pan, an evil spirit.
The 50+ Additional Best Cinema of Transgression Films
| # | Movie | Director | Lists |
| 30 | Belladonna (1989) | Beth B | IMDB |
| 31 | Blutsfreundschaft (2009) | Medium | |
| 32 | Death Valley 69 | MUBI | |
| 33 | Die toten Körper der Lebenden (2007) | Medium | |
| 34 | Donauleichen (2005) | Medium | |
| 35 | Ecstasy in Entropy (1999) | Nick Zedd | IMDB |
| 36 | Electra Elf: The Beginning Parts One & Two (2005 Video) | Nick Zedd | IMDB |
| 37 | Elf Panties: The Movie (2001 Video) | Nick Zedd | IMDB |
| 38 | G Man (1978) | Beth B | IMDB 2 |
| 39 | Geek Maggot Bingo or The Freak from Suckweasel Mountain (1983) | Nick Zedd | IMDB |
| 40 | Go to Hell (1986) | David Rutsala | IMDB |
| 41 | Goo (1991 Video) | Ray Agony | IMDB |
| 42 | Goodbye 42nd Street (1986) | Richard Kern | IMDB |
| 43 | Guerillere Talks (1978) | Vivienne Dick | IMDB 2 |
| 44 | Heroin | MUBI | |
| 45 | I Hate You Now (1985) | Richard Kern | IMDB |
| 46 | I Was a Quality of Life Violation (2004) | Nick Zedd | IMDB |
| 47 | Incontinence: A Diarrhetic Flow of Mismatches (1978) | Manuel De Landa | IMDB |
| 48 | King Blank (1983) | Michael Oblowitz | IMDB 2 |
| 49 | King Kongs Tränen (2010) | Medium | |
| 50 | King of Sex (1986) | Richard Kern | IMDB |
| 51 | Kiss Me Goodbye (1986) | Nick Zedd | IMDB |
| 52 | Letters to Dad | MUBI | |
| 53 | Lord of the Cockrings (2002 Video) | Nick Zedd | IMDB |
| 54 | Manhattan Love Suicides (1985) | Richard Kern | IMDB |
| 55 | Minus Zero (1979) | Michael Oblowitz | IMDB 2 |
| 56 | Money Love | MUBI | |
| 57 | Mörderschwestern (2011) | Medium | |
| 58 | Mutable Fire (1984) | Bradley Eros | IMDB |
| 59 | Nazi (1991) | Richard Kern | IMDB |
| 60 | Pierce (1990) | Richard Kern | IMDB |
| 61 | Police State (1987) | Nick Zedd | IMDB |
| 62 | Red Spirit Lake | MUBI | |
| 63 | Salvation!: Have You Said Your Prayers Today? (1987) | Beth B | IMDB |
| 64 | School of Shame (1984) | Nick Zedd | IMDB |
| 65 | Smiling Faces Tell Lies (1995) | Nick Zedd | IMDB |
| 66 | Sonic Youth Feat. Lydia Lunch: Death Valley 69 (1986 Video) | Judith Barry | IMDB |
| 67 | Sonic Youth: Scooter + Jinx (Moneylove) (1990 Video) | Richard Kern | IMDB |
| 68 | Stray Dogs (1985) | Richard Kern | IMDB |
| 69 | The Adventures of Electra Elf (2005–2010) | Noel Dinneen | IMDB |
| 70 | The Evil Cameraman (1990) | Richard Kern | IMDB |
| 71 | The Manhattan Love Suicides | MUBI | |
| 72 | The Sewing Circle | MUBI | |
| 73 | The Trap Door (1980) | Beth B | IMDB |
| 74 | Tom Thumb in the Land of the Giants (1999) | Nick Zedd | IMDB |
| 75 | Totem of the Depraved (1983) | Ela Troyano | IMDB |
| 76 | Tumble (1991) | Richard Kern | IMDB |
| 77 | Two Small Bodies (1993) | Beth B | IMDB |
| 78 | Underground U.S.A | Eric Mitchell | IMDB 2 |
| 79 | Visiting Desire (1996) | Beth B | IMDB |
| 80 | We Are Not to Blame (1989) | Casandra Stark | IMDB |
| 81 | Woman at the Wheel (1985) | Richard Kern | IMDB |
| 82 | Worm Movie (1985) | Lung Leg | IMDB |
| 83 | You Are Not I (1981) | Sara Driver | IMDB 2 |
| 84 | Zombie Hunger (1984) | Richard Kern | IMDB |
| 85 | Zombie Hunger 2 (1984) | Richard Kern | IMDB |
5 Best Cinema of Transgression Film Sources/Lists
| Source | Article |
| IMDB | Cinema of Transgression |
| IMDB 2 | Cinema of Transgression |
| Medium | The cultural implications and backdrop of the Transgressive Cinema of … |
| MUBI | Cinema of Transgression |
| Wikipedia | Cinema of Transgression |
