Snowtown (Daniel Henshaw, 2011)

There should be a special Oscar for the best portrayal of a psychopath, and I'm not sure I've seen better than Daniel Henshaw's gripping portrayal of Australia's worst serial killer, John Bunting (as memorable as Andy Serkis playing Ian Brady). Not since my first viewing of The Exorcist have I remained as tense and uncomfortable during a film's entirety. Snowtown depicts a psychopath's takeover of a family in crisis, including its vulnerable children, and it is a true story. As with Sleep Tight, the film unnervingly portrays the behaviour of a manipulative, charismatic, but ultimately malignant narcissist driven by uncontrollable sadistic impulses that gradually build to a critical mass - a character, perhaps, of our times. The realism of the coercion Bunting enacts on his victims may remove any further doubts as to how Charles Manson and Jim Jones managed to get so far before their inevitable self-destruction.

Snowtownis the only horror film about which I feel a reticence when recommending it to people that I don't know well. It probably sits in my top ten horror films of all time. It's also the only film that ever made me put the catch on the front door at night too.