9 Most Controversial Movies of All Time, Which Left You Most Impression?

Films have been challenging the boundaries of "decent entertainment" since they were first introduced. Films like The Wild Bunch and Psycho would never have been created if filmmakers could not take risks, were unwilling to dare to challenge the system, and chose to follow the line. Happily, there has always been dissent from the establishment in the form of artists. To my knowledge, these are the most divisive films of all time.
Films like Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange, among others, were deemed too violent and offensive to be shown in public. Rosemary's Baby and The Exorcist, two horror classics, may seem modest by today's standards, but when they were first released, audiences and reviewers alike were horrified by the content.
Several films on this list are included only for their shocking nature. Films like Cannibal Holocaust are part of the horror genre, which aims to shock and challenge audiences' sense of taste, while others, like Midnight Cowboy and Bonnie and Clyde, have become enduring Hollywood classics.For better or worse, these films are the most divisive in cinematic history. If you don't enjoy the movie but believe it's controversial, vote it up.

1. Happiness

Source: Happiness

The audience in Todd Solondz's independent film from 1998 is tricked into feeling sympathy for criminals. When the film won the International Critics' Prize and Universal Pictures agreed to fund it, the studio finally decided not to distribute it for "moral reasons." A separate studio eventually distributed the film without submitting it for an MPAA rating.

2. Cannibal Holocaust

Source: Cannibal Holocaust

The 1980 horror film is still prohibited in several countries owing to its violent depiction of animals. Authorities even investigated director Ruggero Deodato because of a scene in which a lady was stabbed on camera (it was just excellent special effects work).

3. Faces of Death

Source: Faces of Death

This shocking documentary has been banned in 46 countries because it purports to reveal "actual" deaths during overnight parties. There are five movies in the series.

4. The Birth of a Nation

Source: The Birth of a Nation

The Clansman, D.W. Griffith's silent cinema classic from 1915 that was originally named, has been called out for its perceived glorification of the Ku Klux Klan. Even though it's been around for a while and is widely recognized as a cinematic classic, people still get angry when they see it shown on television.

5. The Last House on the Left

Source: The Last House on the Left

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) gave Wes Craven's 1972 picture an X classification when he was still a writer/director. Seven minutes were slashed from the original running duration of the horror picture due to its violent material.

6. I Spit on Your Grave

Source: I Spit on Your Grave

When it was released in 1978, this controversial vengeance film was severely panned by reviewers. The horror film was prohibited in several countries for "glorifying [violence] against women," including Ireland, Iceland, Norway, and the former West Germany.

7. Lolita

Source: A Clockwork Orange

The controversial novel by Vladimir Nabokov is adapted by Stanley Kubrick, who adds a touch of societal satire to the film. The movie follows an adult man's affair with a teenage girl.

8. Kids

Source: Getty Images

Larry Clark presents a grim picture of drug use and juvenile sexual promiscuity in New York City. The effects of the AIDS epidemic on the group are also explored at length in the film.

9. A Clockwork Orange

Source: A Clockwork Orange

In his X-rated, Oscar-nominated film, Stanley Kubrick dissects the roots of violence. Britain was one of several nations to prohibit the cult movie from 1971 because it "posed a risk to society by inciting the exact [violence] it was aiming to study and characterize."