Favorite Weird Movies

Tools    





I did a search for weird and strange and nothing surfaced, so if this is a duplicate thread don't get pissed off at me.

What are some weird movies that you really liked?
Some of mine are:

Videodrome
Naked Lunch
Existenz
Donny Darko
Jacob's Ladder
Angel Heart
Southland Tales
Blue Velvet
Wild at Heart

I know I'll think of more later.



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
Singapore Sling
Brain Dead aka Dead Alive
Re-Animator
The Happiness of the Katakuris
Urotsukidôji (The Wandering Kid)
Little Otik
Meet the Feebles
Alice in Wonderland (Disney, for sure)
Freaks
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Santa Sangre
Altered States
__________________
It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
My IMDb page



I did a search for weird and strange and nothing surfaced, so if this is a duplicate thread don't get pissed off at me.

What are some weird movies that you really liked?
Some of mine are:

Videodrome
Naked Lunch
Existenz
Donny Darko
Jacob's Ladder
Angel Heart
Southland Tales
Blue Velvet
Wild at Heart

I know I'll think of more later.
The list is impressive,but please not angel heart.But yes opinions may vary.How about scary movie and angel eyes.



Save the Green Planet, Tetsuo the Iron Man, Gohatto (about gay samurais literally), and as always Alice in Wonderland.
__________________




Donnie Darko,speaks for itself i think
Immortel ad vitam (immortals)
Being John Malkovich

Maybe Alice in Wonderland too, but i love it! Fav disney movie
__________________
I Amsterdam

And do check my "art": Deviant



FernTree's Avatar
Colour out of Time
A few from me ... some surreal, some just wierd

Liquid Sky (1982)


The Cars That Ate Paris (1974)


Suspiria (1977)


Terminal City Ricochet (1990)


The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)


Even Dwarfs Started Small (1970)


Repo Man (1984)


Basket Case (1982)


Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970)


The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980)


Polyester (1981)


Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959)


Attack of the Killer Tomatoes! (1978)
__________________
That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange aeons even death may die.
The Call of Cthulhu - H.P.Lovecraft



Yep, those are pretty weird, especially Liquid Sky; a very odd movie.

Although compared to some of John Waters' earlier work, Polyester is downright mainstream!

Off the top of my head, I have to go with this on:



..and of course the grandaddy of weirdness:



Woops, you already had Basket Case. My apologies.



I think the reason there's never been a thread dedicated to "weird" or "strange" movies is that it's too malleable a term. Are we just going to use a bastardized Supreme Court ruling of, 'I know it when I see it'?

I think Mark's inclusion of Alice Wonderland fits well enough, but on the other hand it's a Disney cartoon so how far from the norm can you really classify it? Put Disney's version of Lewis Carroll up against Jan Svankmajer's and all of the sudden Walt's is pure vanilla. But compare it to Disney's Cinderella and it's clearly darker and more disturbing and subversive, which was unusual for the Disney factory in the 1950s (or even today).

Even something like Forrest Gump, I'd argue that's a pretty weird movie but it also happens to star one of the day's most popular movie stars, it made lots and lots of money and won a truck full of big awards, including the Oscar for Best Picture. Is it "weird" in terms of an Oscar-winning blockbuster? Perhaps. Is it weird compared to Tod Browning's Freaks or Eraserhead? I think we'd all agree much less so.



Couldn't you say any and every horror movie is "weird", at least in comparison to what people consider the mainstream? And by that same logic, isn't virtually any "independent" movie. As Prospero points out regarding John Waters, if the only one of his movies you've ever seen is Cry Baby or Serial Mom they might seem very weird, but if you watch Multiple Maniacs or Pink Flamingos, Cry Baby looks like a made-for-TV movie for the Lifetime network. In comparing it to the other Hollywood films of its day, isn't Citizen Kane a truly "weird" movie? But how weird is Kane in comparison to Being John Malkovich or when viewed through the prism of time where its groundbreaking narrative and cinematic techniques are now commonplace? Can the consistent critical consensus for the greatest film ever made still be seen as a "weird" movie? Is The Seventh Seal weird, or is it just unique? Is there a distinction?


I have the same problem when people start trying to classify what a "cult movie" is, as in THIS thread.


But as you were.
__________________
"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra



A system of cells interlinked
I would have to put this at the top of my "weird" list. Actually, it's at the top of any list for me, as it's my favorite film, ever (depending on the mood or day, when only Blade Runner usurps the number one position).

Mulholland Drive
(Lynch, 2001)



It's the bomb.

And Just under MD on the weird list:

Inland Empire (Lynch, 2006)




Obviously, Eraserhead and Blue Velvet belong on this list, but I want to try to keep my list a bit varied, instead of a list of great Lynch work.

Southland Tales (Kelly, 2007)



Absurd as well as brilliant. Right up my alley.

Repo Man (Cox, 1984)



Cox's seminal classic. If you haven't seen this, do so, and fast.

City of Lost Children (Juenet, 1995)



Dreamlike, acidic, dystopic... Love it.


More later!




__________________
“It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.” ― Thomas Sowell



Registered Creature
I don't know why, but most indie films I find weird, especially the ones that try really hard to be indie. (Don't get me wrong, I do like indie films).

I'm still trying to think of an example...



king_of_movies_316's Avatar
The King of Movies
I don't know why, but most indie films I find weird, especially the ones that try really hard to be indie. (Don't get me wrong, I do like indie films).

I'm still trying to think of an example...
i hate those types of films when they try to be indie, what even anoys me more is when the ones that try to be indie have massive bugets.



Joe's Apartment Tops The List For Sure



Welcome to the human race...
Man, how did Repo Man slip my mind? I freaking love that movie, yet it never really registered as a "weird movie" for me.

I have some weird standards for weirdness.



I have a couple of new favorites in the scary movie category. "The Devil's Chair" is a great scary movie that has the best concepts. Its one of those films thats as much psychological as it is visually scary. I can't even begin to explain the head trip I got watching this. "Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer" is new favorite for the exact opposite reason I liked The Devil's Chair". While Devil's Chair was psychologically unnerving, Jack Brooks:Monster Slayer is and over the top horror film. This film literally brings me back to the scary films of the 70's and 80's. From the story line to the Visual effects, these films are more shockers than scary. This film was just as much an action movie as it was a scary movie. PLUS it has Robert Englund. Lastly I picked up my first Blu-Ray Discs. Of course I had to buy the "Ray Harryhausen Collection". These are classics and the first scary movies my dad let me watch. 7th Voyage of Sinbad is an all time classic that I believe every body should have the pleasure of seeing at least once.









Whenever somebody asks me for a really weird cult or underground movie, one of my first thoughts is Timothy Carey's little-seen micro-budgeted The World's Greatest Sinner (1962). I had heard about this legendary flick for years and got to see it for myself at the Maryland Film Festival a while back, when John Waters selected it as part of a late-night double-feature he was hosting (with the dark dog movie Baxter). Its reputation for being one of the wildest trips around was not unwarranted. It has only been available on VHS through a website maintained by Carey's son and the occasional screening somewhere (Scorsese once requested it for a Festival when they asked him what a great Rock & Roll movie was). I own it as part of my collection and I like to share it with those who I think are in the need of a truly bizarre cinematic experience.

Well, after over four decades it's finally making its major broadcast premiere. It plays tonight on Turner Classic Movies at 2:00AM EST/11:00PM PST. Set your DVRs accordingly.


World's Greatest Sinner was written, directed by and stars Timothy Carey. Classic film fans may recognize this odd character actor from roles such as Kubrick's The Killing (1956) and Paths of Glory (1957), Brando's One-Eyed Jacks (1961), Elia Kazan's East of Eden (1955), Cassavetes' The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976) and Minnie and Moskowitz (1971) or any of the dozens and dozens of B-movies and TV guest spots he made over his career that stretched from the 1950s until his death in 1994.

World's Greatest Sinner is about a mild-mannered life insurance salesman named Clarence Hilliard (Carey), who after we see him frolicking happily with his wife and children the Devil himself, in the form of a large snake, decides to tempt Clarence and make him his agent to mock God on Earth. Clarence has a very quick personality change overnight and no longer believes much in insurance or organized society, for that matter. Then he starts preaching his true religion on the street corner, and his ramblings get him a couple followers. Then they get the bright idea that since Rock & Roll music is so popular and draws such large crowds, he should remake himself in the image of an Elvis-type musician. He renames himself God Hilliard and takes to the stage! Soon his base of followers is growing exponentially, as are his moneys and opportunities for sex with young girls.


So, that's the kind of ride you're in for. Oh, and the music that God Hilliard plays was written by a young up-and-comer named Frank Zappa (under the name Baby Ray & The Ferns). Zappa later disowned the movie, but this Rockabillyish noise was indeed written by him.

It really has to be seen to be believed. So be sure to check out Turner Classic Movies, tonight!