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.
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four movies for your consideration. Not over the top weird but recommended because they have decent production values and good to great acting.
Dead Ringers (1988) David Cronenberg
Videodrome (1983) David Cronenberg
The Draughtsman’s Contract (1982) Peter Greenaway
Drowning by Numbers (1988) Peter Greenaway
Cube (1997) Vincenzo Natali
Five!
Caribou gorn: I am surprised no one suggested Tetsuo yet myself. I will put that one in queue.
A correction on Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Cure: I didn’t reject it for the List outright. I put it in the “Borderline” category because I may circle back to it and give it another chance later. It’s a bit like the Baseball Hall of Fame: legends make it in on the first ballot, while some other very good players may have to wait their turn, but they get in eventually.
Mighty Utar: I will put Dead Ringers in queue. I haven;t seen it since it first came out and I need to evaluate it (almost anything by Cronenberg is of interest to us). Several of those others you mentioned have a very good chance to make it, as well…
Your baseball comparison doesn’t really speak to me (not american, sorry ;-) ) but I see what you mean : I understand why “Cure” can be seen as “borderline weird”, after all it is still a detective story.. That’s why I suggested “Kairo” which I think is more weird (people becoming stains on a wall???)!
I remembered a few other movies that I think you should consider :
– “Dark at noon” (L’oeil qui ment) by Raoul Ruiz (other Ruiz movies might have a chance also) – definitely strange!
– “Creatures” (Les créatures) Agnès Varda – everyone in the movie is a chess piece
– “The element of crime” Lars Von Trier (most of his movies could get in the list! “Epidemic”, “Europa” etc…)
– “The tune” Bill Plympton (or maybe “Mutant aliens”?)
Caribou: sorry about the baseball analogy, but you get the drift. Films that are “borderline” could make the List someday, they just weren’t good enough to unequivocally make it on the first pass. I will put Kairo [AKA Pulse] into queue. As for von Trier, his latest, Antichrist, is going to make the List (just waiting for the video release to make it official). And we really need to get around to reviewing some Bill Plympton.
Updating the queue: Santa Sangre; Monday (assuming I can find an English language version); The Abominable Dr. Phibes; Barton Fink; What? (Diary of Forbidden Dreams); Meatball Machine; Xtro; Basket Case; Suicide Club; O Lucky Man!; Trash Humpers (when/if released); Gozu; Tales of Ordinary Madness; The Wayward Cloud; Kwaidan; Six-String Samurai; Andy Warhol’s Trash; Altered States; Memento; Nightmare Before Christmas/Vincent/Frankenweenie; The Science of Sleep; Gothic (jumping in line to come out next week!); 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]; Necromania (1971, Ed Wood); 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; and Kairo [AKA Pulse].
The Guatemalan Handshake
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnTsMHTOcQU
“In the confusion following a massive power outage, an awkward demolition derby driver vanishes, setting in motion a series of events affecting his pregnant girlfriend, his helplessly car-less father, a pack of wild boy scouts, a lactose intolerant roller rink employee, an elderly woman in search of her lost dog, and his best friend – a ten-year-old girl named Turkeylegs.
Pieces of the mystery begin to come together as Turkeylegs sets out to find her missing friend. Cars drive circles in the dirt, a woman attends her own funeral, the sun rises sideways and an orange vehicle trades hands again and again. Everything eventually culminates in a massive demolition derby that throws all of the characters into different directions.”
Funky,
Sure, I will put The Guatemalan Handshake into queue. Sounds weird, and I hadn’t heard of it before.
- Püha Tõnu kiusamine (a.k.a. The Temptation of St. Tony, 2009), by Veiko Õunpuu – a beautiful (and weird, of course) Estonian gem, that combines the art of Tarkovsky, Bunuel, Lynch, Kubrick & Bergman (more than) successfully, without being a copycat.
And, as I promised, some anime & Japanese experimental animation suggestions:
- Kanashimi no Beradona (Belladona of Sadness, 1973) – artistic, psychodelic & a little bit perverse…
- Deddo Rîbusu (Dead Leaves, 2004) – fast, loud, wicked & filled with ultimate animated weirdos
- Genius Party (2007) & Genius Party Beyond (2008) – anthologies of shorts by Studio 4°C (well, most of their works fit in some strange categories…)
- short animations of Kōji Yamamura (Inaka Isha, for example, is a great adaptation of Kafka’s short story A Country Doctor)
- Memorîzu (Memories, 1995) – sci-fi weridness
- Shôjo Tsubaki (Midori, 1992) – carnies!
- Kujira No Chouyaku (Glassy Ocean, 1998) – a beautiful & contemplative fantasy
- Neo Tokyo (Meikyû Monogatari, 1986) – it’s translated as Labyrinth Tales, as well…
I see Oshii’s masterpiece, Tenshi no Tamago (Angel’s Egg), is already suggested, but I have to mention it again. :)
Hi again NGBoo!
Re: The Temptation of St. Tony. I have already mentioned it, and since it’s something we plan to cover anyway I won’t use it as your suggestion.
Looking at your list of anime suggestions, I find that Dead Leaves (2004) is readily available, so that the one I’ll put in queue.
Angel’s Egg is in our list of movies we hope will be re-released someday. I couldn’t find a legitimate release of the movie, used copies were being sold for exorbitant prices, and versions with English subs were rare. I even asked a specialty retailer for help in locating a copy and he came up blank. So, we will keep an eye on it and hope it gets released someday…
“Frownland” and “The American Astronaut” come to mind.
Rob,
How odd that you should mention Frownland. Just last week, Eric was discussing movies from his recent viewings he might review and this was a name that came up. You may have lucked out with your suggestion by asking for something that was coming up soon anyway! We’ll put it in the queue.
Great. What about the “Cremaster” films, “Taxidermia”, “I Stand Alone”, “Little Otik” and “Satan’s Brew”.
Just found your site a few days ago, and now I can’t stay away! You already have most of my personal favorites (eg. films by Lynch, Cronenberg, Greenaway.. so many others too!). My only suggestion right now is ‘The Seventh Seal’ – it’s on a lot of critics’ lists as one of the greatest movies of all time, but it’s also wonderfully weird, I think :-)
Oh, I just realized that Matthew Barney and Little Otik was mentioned before. “Repo Man” and a very new one called “Dogtooth” are two more.
If any film is worthy of being on the list, it would be “Taxidermia”. Extremely weird AND good. I mentioned it earlier, but I’d just like to put it at the front of my suggestion list.
If you can find a film called “Crime Wave” by John Paizs, you should check it out. He also has a short film called “Springtime in Greenland” which might fit the bill. Both are extremely hard to find though. Another film called “Crime Wave” by the Coen Brothers AND Sam Raimi might even be good enough for the list.
“Death of the Tinman” is another awesome short film (which you can find online). You might already have it on the list though, I haven’t looked at the short film section of this site yet.
Another personal favourite of mine is “The Honeymoon Killers”. It’s Bonnie and Clyde if it were shot by John Waters and David Lynch.
And don’t forget about “Even Dwarfs Started Small”.
Excuse this comment barrage, I just find this site to be a such a great resource for those with an interest in the bizarre.
Nightingail: I would be thrilled to take a look at The Seventh Seal! We need more suggestions for classic older films.
Rob: I don’t like to take multiple requests from the same reader in a row (especially since people will often list a dozen or so picks at a time), but Nightingail slipped in before you, so I will take your suggestion of Taxidermia and put it in queue. It’s another one we were planning to get to soon anyway; in fact, I have it’s Region 1 DVD release date of March 23 circled on my calendar!
No need to apologize for the comment barrage, it’s people like you who keep us going! And I promise we won’t forget about Even Dwarfs Started Small.
Primer! Check it out it is weird. Requiem for a Dream? koyaanistie or how ever you spell it would be a good candidate and what about The Wall the epic Wall?? Re-cycle and that other one about the forest that kills ppl they were weird.
Snowcrash: Primer (2004) is a great suggestion, I’ll put it in the queue. The others you mention are all appropriate for review someday, and Pink Floyd: The Wall is already in the queue.
AN OLDER FILM CALLED “THE MANIAC”. B/W 1934 OR 30? THIS MOVIE IS SO WEIRD YOUR LAWN WILL DIE AS YOU WATCH IT. VERY CHEAP BUT GRABS YOU LIKE NO OTHER. I GIVE IT 4 STARS. I LOOKED THUR THE LIST AND DIDN’T SEE IT IN QUEUE.
BRUCE: Maniac (1934) is a great call! There’s nothing else in the world quite like this exploitative pre-Code oddity. We would have gotten around to it even if you hadn’t suggested it, but this will move it up on our priorities list.
Speaking of which, here’s an update of the reader-suggested queue: Santa Sangre (next week); The Abominable Dr. Phibes; What? (Diary of Forbidden Dreams); Meatball Machine; Xtro; Basket Case; Suicide Club; O Lucky Man!; Trash Humpers (when/if released); Gozu; Tales of Ordinary Madness; The Wayward Cloud; Kwaidan; Six-String Samurai; Andy Warhol’s Trash; Altered States; Memento; Nightmare Before Christmas/Vincent/Frankenweenie; The Science of Sleep; Gothic (jumping in line to come out next week!); 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]; Necromania (1971, Ed Wood); 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; Frownland; The Seventh Seal; Taxidermia; Primer; and Maniac (1934). Be patient, we’re only a few months behind on these!
After looking through all these suggestions (which took ages) and my own collection of weird movies, i couldn’t see a suggestion for the japanese movie “Hausu” (1977). Very weird & amazing film.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076162/
Others which i didn’t see listed which should be considered:
Skidoo (1968) – a classic but hard to find.
B.J Lang Presents (aka The Manipulator)(1971) – just the most off the wall insane movie, a real stunning piece of weirdness.
Mumsy,Nanny,Sonny & Girly (1970) – hard to find.
Sonny Boy (1989).
One Way Pendulum (1964) – very bizarre but extremely rare.
Would list more but i can see you are inundated with suggestions.
Hi Gerby,
We’ll try to think of a way to make the search to see what we’ve already mentioned easier! I have discovered many weird movies I never knew existed through this suggestion page, and I hope others have to.
I will put Hausu in queue. It was mentioned on director Graham Reznick’s list of his 10 favorite weird films, so you can see a micro-review of the movie there.
I would love to see Otto Preminger’s Skidoo sometime, but as you said it’s hard to find: it was never released on video to my knowledge. It did air on the TCM cable network a while back, leading to speculation that it might be released, but nothing happened. I’m not familiar with the other titles you list except Sonny Boy, which would merit a review. But discovering new leads is half the fun of this project.
Have you viewed “A Boy and His Dog”? Not great, but definitely some weird ideas floating around there.
Kathryn,
I wouldn’t say A Boy and His Dog is not great… OK, it’s probably not great, but it is a very interesting film that younger readers may have missed! I’ll add it to the queue.
ANOTHER ONE TO THINK ABOUT IS FRANK ZAPPA’S 200 MOTELS. A COMEDY WITH RINGO STARR AS “LARRY THE DWARF DRESSED UP TO LOOK LIKE FRANK ZAPPA”. FLOATING NUNS, CARTOONS ABOUT STEALING ITEMS OUT OF MOTELS, KEITH MOON, AND “CENTERVILLE A REAL NICE PLACE TO RAISE YOUR KIDS”! VERY FUNNY AND VERY WEIRD. TAKE A BREAK FROM YOUR “HEAVY” FILMS AND WATCH THIS ONE.- THANKS. A NOTE TO KATHRYN: A COMIC BOOK CAME OUT BY RICH CORBIN ON “A BOY AND HIS DOG”, VERY NICE, AND EASY TO GET AT MOST COMIC SHOPS OR ONLINE.
BRUCE:
200 Motels is another great suggestion! I’ll put it in queue. We do need more “lighter” titles for a change of pace.
Walkabout
The man who fell to earth
Eating Raoul
Robert, I’m guessing you’re a Nic Roeg fan. The other two films you mentioned will definitely get coverage someday, but I hadn’t considered Walkabout (1971), so I’ll give that one a chance.
The suggestion of Paul Bartel’s “Eating Raoul” just made me remember his first film “Private Parts” (1972). That was a strange one! Dunno if it’s already been covered but it’s a goodie and a much more lighter title.
Gerby: Sure, I’ll put Private Parts into the queue. Paul Bartel is a fascinating director, and I like him as an actor too. For a long time the movie was very hard to find, but I see it was reissued on DVD by Warner Brothers a while back!
Possession (1981)
It is so weird that it has to be seen to be believed. The acting is spectatular. The plot ranges from self-mutilation, sex with a tentacled monster, lots of muder and of course loving devotion. It is actually worth watching, but be warned: its intensity and absurdity is potent.
Love the Queue!!!!
Maddy: I put Possession in queue, and I’ll heed your warning.
Snowcrash: There’s lots to love in the queue. It’s a nice mix of classics and guilty pleasures. Here it is updated: The Abominable Dr. Phibes (next week); What? (Diary of Forbidden Dreams); Meatball Machine; Xtro; Basket Case; Suicide Club; O Lucky Man!; Trash Humpers (when/if released); Gozu; Tales of Ordinary Madness; The Wayward Cloud; Kwaidan; Six-String Samurai; Andy Warhol’s Trash; Altered States; Memento; 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]; Necromania (1971, Ed Wood); 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; Frownland; The Seventh Seal; Taxidermia; Primer; Maniac (1934); Hausu; A Boy and His Dog; 200 Motels; Walkabout; Private Parts (1972); and Possession.
I don’t know if anyone has mentioned then yet, but “The Saddest Music in the World” and “May” are a couple of my favorite weird ones.
also “La cité des enfants perdus” (The City of Lost Children) is a good one
Good stuff, found your wonderful site while looking for reviews of Ink.
I see a lot of great odd films here, a lot of B movie stuff new and old, wonderful…
and a striking lack of David Lynch. What’s up with that? Sure, I see eraserhead..but where’s Mullholland Drive, Wild at Heart, Blue Velvet, Lost Highway? Don’t feed me no borscht about only non mainstream flicks, I see Kubrick in there!
Oh yeah..and Lynch’ twisted progeny churned out Boxing Helena, a film Kim Basinger was signed onto but backed out of once she found out about it, wound up sued for 9 million, and she lost!
American Astronaut (2001)
A strange little film put out by the band the Billy Nayer Show.
It may not make your list, but it’s definitely worthy of watching. The movie features a character known only as “The Boy Who Actually Saw a Woman’s Breast.”
I’m pretty sure you couldn’t not watch that.
- Blood Tea and Red Strings (2006), by Christiane Cegavske – one of the most creative and imaginative fantasies. Surreal, enigmatic, bittersweet, cutely-morbid & bizarre stop-motion animation.
- Monobloc (2005), by Luis Ortega – slow-paced & hypnotic absurd drama about 3(+2) women stuck in the wasted world. Very underrated.
Alexis: Saddest Music in the World is an excellent suggestion. We have a lot of Guy Maddin here already.
MtnGoat: I will put Mulholland Drive in queue just for you. We do have some Lynch here, including a possibly controversial retrospective of his career from Alfred Eaker. But the straightforward answer to your question is that, with 366 movies to select, I didn’t want to do all of Lynch at once, and then have nothing of his left for people to look forward to. We’ll get to his enitre ouvre…
Rob: The American Astronaut has quite a cult following and I’d be thrilled to consider it. Look in our last “weird horizon” column and you’ll see the trailer for Stingray Sam, a newer Cory McAbee film we just learned about. The Variety reviewer said it’s in the same style of American Astronaut but he liked it even better.
NGboo: I look forward to covering Blood Tea and Red Strings. You really uncover some interesting stuff I never heard of!
By the way, any of you readers may write a review of these movies on your own and we’ll publish it. It won’t stop us from getting to the movie “officially” later on. We’re even offering a free DVD to the best reader review this month. Just a reminder.
I convey toward utmost degree of recommendation for the film
Altered States (1980), which is science film adaptation of the Paddy Chayefsky novel of identical name. Film is based on actual sensory deprivation research of John C. Lilly that incorporate combination plate of isolation tanks and psychoactive drugs. Director Ken Russell employs magnificent
volume of special effects for graphic depictions on various sequences of science fiction, with references towards such issues as mind expansion, genetic consciousness, religion and metaphysics. While emphasis might exist on the subject of psychedelic substance, beyond shadow of doubt this film also touches on the question of mankind’s abstract notions of human identity versus other elements (animal, vegetable, mineral, gas, etc.)
I must insist this film (i.e., 1980′s Ken Russell film, Altered States) is given serious consideration for the category of Weird.COOL THANKS
Valentine: I’m afraid someone beat you to it, Altered States is already in the reader-suggested queue. You can suggest another title if you like.
I don’t know if its quite weird enough, but you might like “American Movie.” It’s this documentary about these two, kind of off, guys trying to make this low budget horror movie in a small town. It’s more entertaining than the trailer makes it out to be, oddly.
also, “malice in wonderland” was a recent one I saw that was pretty good and strange
Hi Alexis,
American Movie is definitely an interesting sounding film, and one of those I’ve always wanted to see but just have never gotten around to, but I agree that it’s probably not weird enough. So I’m going to take the suggestion of Malice in Wonderland and put it in the queue instead. We definitely have a thing for Alice in Wonderland adaptations around here!
Lucifer Rising
just thought it might be fun to get to reference Manson and the Rolling Stones in a review of film from an era when people were doing drugs to make movies to do drugs to.
Reminds me of a longer, darker version the Easy Rider LSD trip scene with crappy music.
Hi Funky, I changed your link to point to a trailer for the compilation volume. I will put The Films of Kenneth Anger Vol. II (which contains Lucifer Rising along with Scorpio Rising and others) into queue. I’ve been wondering what to do about short films like Lucifer (which only runs 29 minutes); I think it’s probably better to review the entire DVD set than just the single movie. Although I leave open the possibility that a short film may make it onto the list by itself.
Human Centipede