Matador

The cast includes a young Antonio Banderas, who is fascinated by death and has major Catholic guilt issues because of his madre, causing him to confess to things he didn't do; a bullfighting teacher who gets off (literally) on violence; and Banderas's abogado, who has Xenia Onatopp's proclivity for climaxing while killing someone. Yes, it's a Pedro Almodovar film.

This 1986, NC-17 effort shows early stages of Almodovar's signature style, such as the strikingly colorful sets and outfits, the character-driven plots, and the almost disturbingly dismissive, comic treatment of violence against women, also seen later in "Tie me up! Tie me down!" And with its link of sex and death, it prefigures such later classics as "Kissed," a grossly underseen indy film with a truly unforgettable ending.