I spent most of my teenage years bingeing horror films, but it’s the stranger, more mind-bending ones that really get under my skin—the ones that make you question what you’ve just watched, or even what reality is. Donnie Darko is probably my all-time favourite. I hardly ever rewatch films, but that one I could loop endlessly.

Other films that blew my mind and left me scribbling as soon as the credits rolled include Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Being John Malkovich. I could easily list hundreds of favourites, but it’s these kinds of films—strange, emotional, surreal—that really spark something and send me reaching for a pencil.

Here's just a few of my favourite movies:

• Donnie Darko
• Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind
• 2001: A Space Odyssey
• A Clockwork Orange
• Requiem For a Dream
• Mandy
• Mulholland Drive
• Dawn of The Dead
• Being John Malkovich
• Twelve Monkeys
• Strange Days
• Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas
• Evil Dead
• Ring
• After Hours
• Moon
• Her
• Mother!
• The Greasy Strangler
• Lost Highway
• Altered States