Know a weird movie? Something strange that glued you to the screen with awe, amazement or reverence, while your more mundane minded friends left the room (or theater) in boredom, confusion or disgust? A movie whose omission from a list of the 366 weirdest movies of all time would offend you on a personal level? Something even I haven’t heard of or considered? There are potentially thousands of forgotten films, critically dismissed films, foreign or independent films that never got a proper release, or misplaced oddities hiding out there that may deserve a place at the table. One man can’t be expected to track them all down. Here is the place to mention those treasured curios that no one else seems to have even heard of. Nominate a movie in the suggestion box and I’ll move it up on my review queue, or at the very least, explain why I’m not going to review it.
NOTICE: The “Suggest of Weird Movie!” feature has become a victim of its own success. At the time of this update, we have about 250 reader suggestions (!) in queue. Since we can only do 1 or maybe 2 reviews a week, be aware there may be a huge delay—currently, possibly over a year!—between the time you make a suggestion and the point at which it’s actually reviewed. I considered shutting down the suggestion box as of 2011, but I decided to let you keep your suggestions coming (if nothing else, it tells us what types of movies readers are interested in seeing reviews of). Just be aware that when you make a suggestion, it may not receive the promptest of attention.
If you can’t wait for one of our staff to review your movie, why not review it yourself and submit it to us via the contact form? We can’t swear we’ll publish every submission we receive, but we want reader participation and we are fairly liberal.
To prevent spam, commenting require registration. We will not share your email with third parties. All serious suggestions will receive a response, as well as all most non-serious ones.
Aw, crap, I’ve made my way into the suggestion box again. Oh well, I’ve decided to keep it going until the queue becomes an actual living organism. Let’s pump more life into it by adding Night of the Hunter. A little bit of love. A little bit of hate. A whole lotta weird by the time Reverend Powell is chasing the kiddies through the backwoods and swamps.
Robert Mitchum was one of the great ones, as this film and Cape Fear can attest. He was even great in his last small role in Dead Man. Which, subsequently, I feel should eventually get promoted from it’s Borderline status. Dead Man is definately weird & and absolutely beautiful to look at.
At the risk of becoming an Eric “groupie” I agree with The Night Of The Hunter recommendation. My son and I were just discussing the other week what a scary guy Robert Mitchum can be. There’s just a really thick, creepy American gothic aura about this one; gorgeous film.
I’d like to suggest Hyung-gon Lee’s The Fox Family for a review. Shape shifting fox spirits, a street riot that becomes a dance off and the oddest use of a Wonder Woman costume I’ve ever seen (and I’ve seen some odd ones!). You can’t go wrong really.
Oh and Studio Ghibli’s Pom Poko. The fox spirits just reminded me. Shape shifting raccoons who can fly by using their over sized scrotums as hang gliders, and a fantastic parade of ghost and goblins. Actually there’s quite a lot of weirdness in Ghibli’s output generally.
I haven’t read through this entire thread, so forgive me if I repeat any titles, but here are some suggestions.
“Midnight Skater” One of the first films by the Campbell brothers while they were still in college, the acting is bad but the writing is brilliant.
“City of Lost Children” Great French Movie with Ron Pearlmen. About a creepy old guy who steals dreams from children.
“Battle Royale” Japanese movie where school children have to kill each other. Focuses more on how they deal with the situation than gore.
“The Specials” Indie superhero movie starring Rob Lowe and Jamie Kennedy. There are no fight scenes, and no villians.
“Freaked” very weird, fun movie by the other guy from Bill and Ted.
“Killer Klowns from Outer Space” Really the title says it all, alot of WTF moments.
“Bio Zombie” Chinese zombie movie comedy, plays for laughs the whole movie, then has one of the most depressing endings.
“Big Trouble in Little China” Great John Carpenter movie, a classic from when I was a kid.
“Cannibal the Musical” The South Park guy’s movie from film school. The True story of Alfred Packer, the first person convicted of cannibalism in the United States told in song.
-Rob
Eric SG: I’ve been waiting for someone to suggest Night of the Hunter. Should have guessed it would be you! You’ll just have to wait on a final decision for Dead Man, though.
Kat: We’ll check out The Fox Family for sure—presuming we can find a DVD. It looks rare.
AngryRob: I accept that it’s difficult to read through all 500+ suggestions. I will mention that City of Lost Children already made the List. We also gave Killer Klowns from Outer Space a fair shake: verdict was it’s a fun b-movie, but more silly than weird. Battle Royale and Freaked are sitting in the review queue as we speak. That leaves us with your first suggestion, Midnight Skater, which I had not heard of, so we will give it a try. I’ll put it into the queue.
Still haven’t watched all Majewski’s movies, but all of them deserve a place at the list, especially…
Angelus (2000) – http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0295168/ – a mix of unorthodox comedy, absurd drama & fantastic mystery, with a cult of Silesian miners & painters as a focal point of the story.
“When it isn’t exciting the eye with its precise, painterly imagery, Lech Majewski’s ‘Angelus’ amuses in a wry, absurdist fashion… The film’s mode of setting up fantastically designed and lensed tableaux shots, has a nearly hallucinating impact on the eye… There’s a purified aura of beauty in ‘Angelus’ that creates a sometimes stunning sense of the imagination overcoming all obstacles.” – Robert Koehler, Variety
Thanks, NGboo, Angelus another one I hadn’t heard of that we need to look at—precisely what this “suggestion thread” was made for. I just hope I can find a copy, I’m not sure it’s been released over here.
ha, yeah I read the list AFTER posting, sorry about that. Some great movies in there, filled up my netflix queue looking through there.
A correction to my suggestion post – most of Majewski’s movies that I watched deserve to be on the list, not all of them… :D
Suggestion for today…
Maybe it’s only a borderline case but “Cloudy with a chance of meatballs” (2009) had my ‘weirdy’ senses tingling on a number of occasions. There is a thread of darkness running through the story that positions it well away from the average kiddy movie. The villain is positively disturbing, the animation and design border on rubbery abstraction, the jokes come thick and fast, it’s in 3D, and there’s a scene where a grown man wearing only a nappy (‘diaper’ to you Americans) under his giant roast chicken suit battles an army of roast chickens inside a cloud of malevolent food in the sky.
It’s worth a look for just that.
kengo, I never really considered the possibility that Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs might be “weird.” But children’s films are more free to take liberties with reality. I’ll take a look at it!
Dan Zukovic’s “THE LAST BIG THING”, called “furiously original” by the Village Voice and the “best unknown American film of the 1990′s” in the film book “Great Moments in Movies” (Editor: Chris Fujiwara), will finally be released on DVD on June 29 through Vanguard Cinema. (www.vanguardcinema.com/thelastbigthing/thelastbigthing) Featuring an important early role by Mark Ruffalo (“Shutter Island”, “Zodiac”, “Collateral”), “THE LAST BIG THING” had a US theatrical release in 1998, and gained a cult following over several years of screenings on the Showtime Networks.
“A distinctly brilliant and original work.” Kevin Thomas – Los Angeles Times
“A satire whose best moments echo the tone of a Nathanial West novel…Nasty Fun!”
Stephen Holden – New York Times
“One of the few truly original low budget comedies of recent years.” John Hartl – Seattle Times
“‘The Last Big Thing’ is freakin’ hilarious! The most important and overlooked
indie film of the 1990′s. ” Chris Gore – Film Threat
Sounds more like an ad than a suggestion. I’ll pass unless a real live person tells me why it should be considered “weird.”
You have your work cut out for you, friend. This is an ambitious list!! Stock up on booze, cuz you’re gonna need it. ;)
I am a huge Crispin Glover fan, and I’m glad to see Rubin & Ed and the Beaver Trilogy suggested. But I had to order my VHS copies from the director (with a personal check!) so I doubt they are on DVD. They are worth the hunt if you can find them.
I would like to suggest one of my other favorites, Twister. Not to be confused with that Helen Hunt crap, this Twister stars Harry Dean Stanton as patriarch of an insane family, including a bullwhip-wielding Crispin Glover in one of his trademark terrible wigs. I love it, and I hope you will too.
Best of luck on your suicide mission!!
dthoren: Booze is no problem. It takes no more than 4 beers for me to get through the worst movie. I will put Twister into the queue; Crispin Glover is always a blast to watch.
Yeah, I can’t sleep again. Might as well post a suggestion. Of course I feel all of my previous suggestions are worthy contenders of making the list. However, my next suggestion, Yokai Monsters, Vol. 1: Spook Warfare, is an absolute must. I just watched it yesterday and I’m still blown away by it’s insanity. I will not even give a brief description of it because it just has to be seen. I’m telling you…the list will be incomplete without it.
What about “Brittania Hospital”? It’s the sequel to “O lucky man!” and seems a bit odd.
After re-watching it the other day, I’d like to suggest Benjamin Christensen’s Haxan. Back in 1922 it was the most expensive Scandinavian film ever made and it shows. Really impressive film and not in a condescending “good for it’s time” sort of way. The final section where he relates witchcraft to modern day psychology pops up from left field for a bit of a giggle but it wasn’t enough to make me forget some of the decidedly disturbing stuff that had gone before.
Eric: Yokai Monsters, Vol. 1: Spook Warfare is also know as Big Monster War, and it sounds promising. Into the queue.
Leo: Yeah, Britannia Hospital is “a bit” odd. Critics consider it the least of the Lindsay Anderson/Malcolm McDowell movies, but that doesn’t mean it won’t make the List! We’ll take a look.
Kat: Haxan is a must view, we’ll do it! The only question is how to review it: in the original form, the Witchcraft Through the Ages version, or both.
The Tartan release that I have here has both the 1922 and 1968, perhaps something similar is available in the US, so that both versions could be reviewed?
That’s what I’m hoping for!
1. Andrew Kötting’s “This Filthy Earth” (2001). This weird film based on Emil Zola’s novel La Terre with its grotesque country scenery and the sick relations between the village’s people is certainly worthy of a review.
2. Greek film “Kynodontas” (Dogtooth-2009) by Giorgos Lanthimos is for sure one of the biggest surprises of 2009. Watch this and you won’t miss.
kostman: We’ll put This Filthy Earth in queue. I’ve had my eye on Dogtooth since Cannes 2009, but it’s in very limited release here in the States and I may have to wait for the DVD.
Basically any feature film by Jan Svankmajer, father of czech surrealism:
-Alice (1988)
-Faust (1995)
-Conspirators Of Pleasure (1997)
-Little Otik (2001)
-Lunacy (2005)
Institue Benjamenta (1996) by the Quay Brothers.
The Hourglass Snatorium (1973) by Wojciech Has.
Freaks (1932) by Todd Browning.
El dia de la bestia (The Day Of The Beast) (1995) by Alex de la Iglesia, really funny and twisted. Actually any film by de la Iglesia works in that sense.
I’ll Keep thinking
Sorry I forgot to name a few reasons for the films to be weird:
Svankmajer: Incredible imagery created with live action plus stop motion animation and creepy puppets. REAL slices o flesh and organs moving everywhere. Quite disturbing images.
The Quays: beautiful and strange Mitteleuropäisches mood involving people in neverending tasks, almost automatons.
W. Has: polish surrealism based on Bruno Schultz’s works.
De la Iglesia: funniest gore ever.
Very good choices Alvaro! Svankmejer’s Alice, Faust, Little Otik and Lunacy are already in our queue, but we’ll add Conspirators of Pleasure. Hourglass Sanitarium is also already in our queue. Institute Benjamenta was just re-issued on Region 2, and we’re keeping our fingers crossed that a Region 1 release will follow soon. And, you can check out Alfred Eaker’s take on Freaks here. And we won’t forget Day of the Beast either.
Here’s the updated reader-suggested queue: Trash Humpers (we’re still waiting for the DVD release); Altered States; Nightmare Before Christmas/Vincent/Frankenweenie; The Science of Sleep; The Attic Expeditions; After Last Season; Getting Any?; Performance; Being John Malkovich; The Apple; Southland Tales; Arizona Dream; Spider (2002); Songs From The Second Floor; Singapore Sling; Alice [Neco z Alenky]; Necromentia; Hour of the Wolf; MirrorMask; Possession; Suspiria; Mary and Max; Wild Zero; 4; Nothing (2003); The Peanut Butter Solution; Ninja Scroll; Perfume: The Story of a Murderer; Danger: Diabolik; Faust; Sublime; Battle Royale; Pink Floyd: The Wall; Escanaba In Da Moonlight; Jesus Christ, Vampire Hunter; Zardoz; The Films of Suzan Pitt; Toto the Hero [Toto le Héros]; Paprika; The Holy Mountain; Brazil; The Casserole Masters; Dark Crystal; Throw Away Your Books, Rally in the Streets; The Nines; 964 Pinocchio; The Pillow Book; Final Flesh; Lunacy [Sílení]; Inmortel; Tetsuo; Dead Ringers; Kairo [AKA Pulse]; The Guatemalan Handshake; Dead Leaves; The Seventh Seal; Primer; Maniac (1934); Hausu; A Boy and His Dog; 200 Motels; Walkabout; Private Parts (1972); Saddest Music in the World; Mulholland Drive; The American Astronaut; Blood Tea and Red Strings; The Films of Kenneth Anger, Vol. II (for Lucifer Rising, among others); Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory ; The Bride of Frank; La Grande Bouffe; Uzumaki [Spiral]; Hedwig and the Angry Inch; Even Dwarves Started Small; Bunny & the Bull; “I Killed My Lesbian Wife, Hung Her on a Meat Hook, and Now I Have a Three-Picture Deal at Disney” (assuming I can find it); Cinema 16: European Short Films; Freaked; Session 9; Schizopolis; Strings; Dellamorte Dellamore [AKA Cemetery Man]; The Hour-glass Sanatorium [Saanatorium pod klepsidra]; The Addiction; Liquid Sky; The Quiet; Shock Treatment; Tuvalu; “Zombie Jesus” (if we can locate it); 3 Dev Adam; Fantastic Planet; “Twin Peaks” (TV series); Society; May; The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension; Little Otik; Final Programme; Careful; Sweet Movie; The Triplets of Belleville; “Foutaises” (short); Johnny Suede; “Jam” (TV, UK, 2000), The Tale of the Floating World, Un Chien Andalou, Bloodsucking Freaks; Fellini Satyricon; Three Crowns of the Sailor; 8 1/2; Death Race 2000; Dororo; Lost Highway; Valerie and Her Week of Wonders; Dogville; and Julien Donkey-boy; Amelie; The Ten; The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao; 1; Fast, Cheap and Out of Control; Tokyo Gore Police; At Midnight I’ll Take Your Soul; The Trial [Le procès) (1962); Marquis; Hell Comes to Frogtown; Hellzapoppin’; Seom [The Isle]; Allegro Non Troppo; Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus; Lust in the Dust; Celine and Julie Go Boating; “Franz Kafka’s It’s a Wonderful Life;” The Magic Christian; Black Cat, White Cat; The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T; Abnormal: The Sinema of Nick Zedd; Robot Monster; Nightdreams; 3 Women; Rubin & Ed; Teeth; Vera; Weirdsville; Prospero’s Books; Inferno; Garden State; Persona; and The Real McCoy; Rat Pfink a Boo Boo; Themroc; Candy (1968); Run Lola Run; Pink Flamingos; Buffalo ’66; Northfork; Weekend; The Room; Glen or Glenda?; Night of the Hunter; The Fox Family; Midnight Skater; Angelus; Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs; Twister (1989); Yokai Monsters, Vol. 1: Spook Warfare [AKA Big Monster War]; Britannia Hospital; Haxan; This Filthy Earth; and Conspirators of Pleasure.
Alvaro’s Quay Brothers suggestions has reminded me of their feature length film The Piano Tuner Of Earthquakes. Beautiful dreamlike imagery and some all too short sequences of the Quay’s miniature automata.
Excellent suggestion as always Kat. Piano Tuner of Earthquakes goes into queue.
Where is Possession (1981)? Thats probably the first tentacle rape AND the first liquified child miscarriage ever put on film! Where is it?!
Garret: It’s the 20th movie in the queue listed above.
Is the queue in any particular order? If not would it be possible to alphabeticise it, because as it keeps growing it is easy to miss the movie you’re looking for?
That’s a good idea, Kat. I may try alphabetizing the queue the next time I post it. You would lose the order, but for purposes of seeing if a movie has been already suggested it would be more useful.
A BOY AND HIS DOG
Looks like I will have to alphabetize that long list. A Boy and His Dog is already there, currently at position #60.
There are obvious pros an cons with alphabetizing the queue. Personally, I think many of the regular readers may want to see what is due to be reviewed soon by reading the order. However, the alphabetizing will cut down on unnecessary suggestions (Holy Mountain anyone)? I guess I’m gonna have to memorize the order. There’s only what, like 160? While we’re at it, let’s add my favorite weird film about schizophrenia…Clean, Shaven.
Eric: I will add Clean, Shaven to the queue. Do you have a copy of my private notebook of List candidates, or what? For schizophrenia movies, though, it’s hard to top Repulsion.
As for alphabetizing the queue: what I’ll do is put it in alphabetical order on this thread, but continue to list it in submission order in the weekly “What’s in the Pipeline” column. Hopefully that will please everyone.
How about Northfork.
duddley: Already in the queue, though it’s near the end. Still, we’ll get to it sooner than if you were the first to nominate it.
I promise I will alphabetize that list someday soon…
I’ve got a pair of hyphenated bastards for ya.
“Bubba Ho-Tep”
“Julien Donkey-Boy”
Both great, both weeeiiirrddd.
Finally, a winner! Though Julien-Donkey Boy is already in the queue, Don Coscarelli’s Bubba Ho-Tep is not. In it goes!
I’m back with the re-tailored 366weirdmovies which seems to be definitely better looking, more like a professional movie reviewing rather than a kind of a amateur bloggish site. Congratulations!
Hope you will not object to my new suggestion. This time it’s a French movie titled Sheitan (2006) (or “Satan” ) Kim Chapiron as the director, Vincent Cassel as a lead. I have not found it in your list of the readers suggestions. “If you’re a fun of twisted, strange, disturbing movies, Sheitan is for you…” Such is an opinion of a reviewer at IMDB.
Oh you pipped me at the post, I was thinking of Sheitan last night. I originally sought it out because I’m a Vincent Cassel fan, and he is wild and crazy in this.
I’d like to suggest Lucile Hadzihalilovic’s Innocence (2004) which is a dreamy, beautifully filmed tale set in an isolated girl’s school where the new pupils arrive in casket like crates and take on the colour coded hair ribbons from the previous year’s pupils.
Hi Irene, nice to see you again! I have seen Sheitan and I agree it counts as a weird movie, though I didn’t personally like it. I deserves a review/reconsideration, though. Maybe I will let another reviewer give their opinion.
Kat: I will add Innocence to the queue as well.
I wish there was a way to politely remind people of Ctrl+F. I was about to suggest Tetsuo: The Iron Man, but, after using the function to browse the page, I found that it had already been suggested.
Chingaso The Clown
http://www.chingasotheclown.com/
Can be viewed at
http://www.revver.com/video/341771/chingaso-the-clown-short/
Dark, intense, violent, funny — left me wanting more, more more….
We’ll take a look at it.
Apropos of nothing, just a general, random observation, not directed at anyone in particular: if you’re involved with the film you’re suggesting on this thread, you can tell us. It will create good will.
I find tomatoes revolting. After watching my next suggestion, Leolo, even moreso. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t deserve consideration. Like tomatoes though, the film is not for all tastes. Scenes of masturbation, beastiality, incest…all of those wholesome things are involved. Too bad director Jean-Claude Lauzon died in a plane crash and never had a chance to give the world more great films like this one.
Eric, I could have sworn Leolo had already been mentioned, but I can’t find it anywhere. In the queue it goes.
I have to suggest 2001: A Space Odyssey. I looked in your queue, and I was surprised it wasn’t in there, so I thought it would be the perfect suggestion.
Caleb: Strange what people overlook, isn’t it? I expected 2001 to be a popular request. I will put it in queue posthaste.
I’m sure I’m missing it here in the suggestions thread, but David Lynch’s “Blue Velvet” is a cinematic triumph for weird movie fans the world over, as it was nominated for an academy award for Best Picture (Lynch’s “Mulholland Drive” comes to mind, as well). Perhaps, in the interest of not listing every film, certain directors might be given their own page here, as when it comes to Lynch, Korine, Cronenberg, et all.. some directors have multiple bizarre films. Just an idea. Other suggestions:
*Tideland (2005) – I think this tops my list, even over “Gummo.” This film left me utterly speechless. Beyond weird, beyond disturbing, and yet a mesmerizing film.
*Masters of Horror: Imprint (2005) – horrible lead male, but the others do quite well
*How To Get A Head in Advertising (1989) – heady film… pun intended
*Motorama (1991) – Oddball surreal fun, with interesting characters.
*Cube (remember the very first time you saw this… weird, right?)
*In My Skin (2002) – the “whoa” effect
Oregon Jay: Blue Velvet is, of course, a perfect suggestion. I’ll put it in queue.
We have covered some of the others you mentioned: Tideland already made the List, and Pamela reviewed In My Skin (I haven’t seen it).
As for director pages, Alfred has written a few articles on directors, including David Lynch and Tim Burton, in the category Director Retrospective. We’d like to do some more of these down the line.
Radu suggests the following, via email (not recommended, by the way): Spiklenci Slasti aka Conspirators of Pleasure (1996),Trapped Ashes (2006),Uzumaki (2000),IDO aka ID (2005), Ice from the Sun (1999),Tetsuo the Iron Man (1989) and the beloved Bubba Ho-Tep.
All of those but three are already in the queue, and of the unique ones ID sounds like the more promising entry. So, into the queue it goes.
As recently promised (if you read my comments concerning Kung Fu Arts), my favorite weird Kung Fu pic…Master of the Flying Guillotine. The structure seems conventional enough, but once you meet the comantants in the tournament you realise you’ve stumbled upon something pretty crazy, mostly due to the presence of the Indian fighter with elongated arms. It’s crazy and fun. An obvious influence with the makers of various video games such as Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter. Also cool is that ominous beat that plays when the blind master is on the prowl. It is eerily similar to The Iggy Pop song “Nightclubbing”. Could you put this in the queue please?
I don’t know if it’s been suggested before, but the weirdest movie I’ve seen in a while is “Yesterday Was a Lie” (2008). I don’t have time to write a review, so here’s what Variety’s Peter DeBruge had to say:
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117941794.html?categoryid=31&cs=1
Not only weird, but also a very good movie. It’s available on Netflix instant streaming for those who are interested.
Should read combatants above. I was tired when writing that submission. Sorry.
I’ve been meaning to mention this one for a while, Blatty’s The Ninth Configuration.There’s nothing visually weird about it, apart from the moon scene, but there’s just an atmosphere of overwrought emotion and barely concealed hysteria about the whole thing that left me feeling a bit creeped out. That and Shakespeare with a cast of dogs of course.
Eric: Master of the Flying Guillotine is a good suggestion, I will check it out. I caught part of it on television when I was younger and the bizarre weapon and fight stagings stuck in my mind, though I’ve never seen it all the way through.
Bogart’s Hat: Yesterday Was a Lie looks worthy of our attention, I will add it to the queue as well.
Kat: We would have gotten to The Ninth Configuration someday, but now we’ll get to it sooner!
366- Thank you so much for this amazing site! I never knew there were so many fellow weird movie lovers out there! Here is one of my favorite movies:
Love Me If You Dare- “It’s a fairy tale of our time with a great dose of realism” IMDB user. “As adults, best friends Julien and Sophie continue the odd game they started as children — a fearless competition to outdo one another with daring and outrageous stunts” IMDB.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtzjUjVQe9Q
I realize this movie might not be weird enough (but the greatness of it, in my humble opinion, cancels that factor out) and if not let me know so I can suggest another :) Thanks again!
tross13: Thanks for the compliments. We will give Love Me If You Dare a fair shot. If it’s great it could make it even if it is less weird.
You are always allowed to make multiple suggestions, we only require you let someone else have a turn before making another one.
I’m trying to refrain from suggesting too many films by only submitting one recommendation per week. It seems the suggestions have become a little more sparse recently. There’s many more out there folks, keep searchin’!
I know this one would eventually come up anyway, but here it is…Forbidden Zone.
Eric: I’m a bit surprised Forbidden Zone lasted this long. Into the queue with it!
I’ve looked hard and can’t see this one on the list, so I’d like to suggest a guilty pleasure of mine, the mumbly crazyfest that is The Cell (2000)