Favorite Abel Ferrara Films

Granted, the underground, overlooked New York based filmmaker, Abel Ferrara, hasn't made a truly watchable film since 1996, but during the beginning and middle of his career, he was on fire.

Below are a list of my favorite films from the zany director.

1. China Girl (1987)

A beautifully lit, beautifully performed, cautionary tale. A modern telling of "Romeo & Juliet" centering on a young Chinese girl and a young Italian boy who fall in love on the streets of New York. Causing an all out gang war between the two families.

2. Bad Lieutenant (1992)

Abel's flawless masterpiece. A New York police lieutenant (Harvey Keitel) is a junkie, gambler, thief, and even a killer. He soon finds redemption when he is assigned a case regarding a young nun who is viciously raped in her church by two Hispanic hoodlums.

3. King of New York (1990)

Very stylish retelling of "Robin Hood" set on the gritty streets of New York City. Powerful drug lord, Frank White (Christopher Walken) is released from prison and is eager to back into the swing of things. But this time, using all the profits he makes from the drug running, to donate to local, broken down hospitals. All the while, beating out his competition.

4. The Funeral (1996)

Very underrated period piece. A powerful 1930s crime family is caught in a lethal crossfire between union organizers and brutal corporate bosses.

5. Body Snatchers (1993)

Yet another version of the fascinating "Body Snatchers" saga. This time taking place on a military base in Alabama. A young girl (Gabrielle Anwar), her half-brother, her Step-Mother (Meg Tilley) and her Father (Terry Kinney) try to survive the epidemic.

6. The Addiction (1995)

Ultra cool black & white docu-drama centering on a young Anthropology major in New York (Lili Taylor) who must adapt to her new lifestyle as a vampire, after she is bitten by one (Annabella Sciorra).

7. Dangerous Game (1993)

Fascinating, yet complicated, experimental character study revolving around a Hollywood independent film director, Eddie Israel (Harvey Keitel) who, for his newest film, takes two married movie stars (Madonna and James Russo) and has them play a married couple in the film. But through rehearsals and long rolling takes, fiction begins to merge with reality causing a destruction of their own humanity. Including Eddie Israel.

8. The Driller Killer (1979)

The complex, yet disturbing birth of Abel Ferrara, in this practically self-produced exploatation bloodbath. A young troubled painter (Played by Ferrara himself), living in a New York loft with two female roommates, decides to plow through the urban streets slaughtering people with a power drill, because of how frustrated he is with society.