In between watching whatever comes his way, Niels Matthijs has been dedicating his time and effort to highlighting the films he loves. With a soft spot for contemporary Asian genre cinema and a sweet spot somewhere between auteur and genre, he has written for ScreenAnarchy while keeping a fully detailed overview of all his watches, review and interviews on onderhond.com.

Rather than give a regular rundown of my all-time favorite weird films, I figured it would be more interesting to highlight some films that have fallen (or are on the verge of falling) through the cracks. Films that are so odd, different and out there that they managed to divide even the most hardcore fans of unusual cinema.

Back when I was first becoming serious about film (the late 90s) the internet wasn’t what it is now. When I got my hands on VHS cassettes with bad copies of  Tetsuo or Eraserhead, I felt like I had just made the biggest underground discovery ever. Things are different now, with many websites and communities out there doing their very best to spread the word about weird and off-kilter cinema. Nowadays, talking about Tetsuo doesn’t feel too different from gushing about the latest Marvel film, so it felt unnecessary to go that route. But from time to time I’ll hit a film so delightfully different that I can’t imagine how it could’ve slipped under the radar. These are the films I would love to give that extra push.

I made a first draft for my shortlist, which turned out to be rather voluminous. To narrow it further down to 10 films, I checked IMDb and Letterboxd for sub-1K vote counts. I also tried to stay away from familiar directors and took a bit of care not to swamp my list with Japanese films (a personal soft spot and a country known for having poor export channels). The result is the following list of beauties, which I’m sure will hold some secrets for even the most hardened cult fan. In alphabetical order:

01. Ambiguous Places [Uron na Tokoro] by Akira Ikeda

Don’t be fooled by the low-key poster of Ambiguous Places, this is not a simple Japanese drama. Ikeda was supposedly inspired by dream logic when making this film, and boy does he have some crazy dreams. It’s a wildly absurd comedy about a small rural town and its oddball inhabitants, made even stranger by the utterly deadpan delivery of the comedy. The mix of wacky creatures, odd rituals and near-comatose performances makes this a tough sell, but it sure made me laugh out loud a lot.

02. Baby Bump by Kuba Czekaj

“Weird” is not a genre, aptly illustrated by Czekaj’s Baby Bump. The idea of watching a Polish coming-of-age drama didn’t sound too appealing at first, but this was anything but a dreary Eastern-European art-house slog. The quirky and confident direction, the outspoken fantastical elements and the bold visual style all help to set the film apart from more conventional dramas. Czekaj actively challenges genre conventions and delivers a film that is sure to worm itself into your brain.

03. Colonel Panics by Cho Jinseok

Though Japan and South Korea both have powerhouse film industries, there’s very little synergy between the two countries. That makes the fact that Cho Jinseok went to Japan to make a guerilla film about South Korean comfort women all the more peculiar. Colonel Panics is a raw, angry and unrelenting production that alternates between different genres. Cyberpunk and horror cinema lie at its core, exploitation, thriller and sci-fi elements add to the intrigue. It’s not a very easy or pleasant watch, but it’s certain to leave an impression.

https://youtu.be/TEyoRAQHRrw

04. Daemonium: Underground Soldier by Pablo Parés

Pablo Parés has been making a name for himself with his limited budget cult horror productions. What I hadn’t expected to see was an Argentinian director deliver something that could’ve been distributed by Sushi Typhoon. Daemonium feels like a Japanese splatter comedy, including the bold styling, the unhinged (but still intricate) lore, and the outrageous creature designs. It never felt like the film was held back by its budgetary limitations, on the contrary even, it’s the boundless creative freedom that obviously made this film a true spectacle.

05. Godkiller: Walk Among Us by Matt Pizzolo

Though cyberpunk has been making somewhat of a comeback lately, the modern version doesn’t appear to be all that cyber, let alone very punk. Godkiller is. The film has a dirty art style, a gritty soundtrack, and it is set in a grizzly, filthy cyber-fueled universe. It’s also what some would call an “illustrated film”: not quite animation, but static illustrations with added motion effects. It’s a divisive technique, but it does allow for more distinctive and unique art styles, something director/writer Matt Pizzolo used to his full advantage.

[Matt Pizzolo has put the entirety of Godkiller:Walk Among Us on YouTube for free]

06. Hotel Poseidon by Stefan Lernous

This one is currently doing the festival rounds (it also just landed on Arrow’s streaming service), so it still has every chance of making it big. But since it’s by far one of the best films I’ve seen this past decade, and the reception so far seems to be somewhat lukewarm, I’m including it here anyway. It’s a mix of early Lynch and  Jeunet/Caro, but with a strong touch of Flemish dark comedy. A dark, absurd and nightmarish vision of a hotel owner who tries to rebuild his parents’ legacy. Strange characters, surreal visions and visceral film making turn this into a bewildering experience.

07. Lee’s Adventure [Li Xian Ji Li Xian Ji] by Frant Gwo & Yang Li

The 00s were a confusing decade for Chinese cinema. After years and years of local dramas and art-house cinema, they suddenly saw their commercial and genre pillars starting to boom. They spent the next decade desperately looking for a style, an identity, which resulted in some very odd and peculiar films. Lee’s Adventure is a latecomer, but it’s a prime example of what I’m talking about. A film based off of an online novel that mixes animation and live-action, while serving a unique mix of urban fantasy and romance/drama. It’s an energetic, vibrant movie that trades in coherence for experimentation and creativity.

08. Nuit Noire by Olivier Smolders

There is no good reason why Olivier Smolder’s Nuit Noire didn’t become a cult hit, but here we are. The film echos the early work of Lynch, but also films like Cronenberg‘s Naked Lunch. The plot’s a little puzzling and mostly symbolic, but the basics aren’t too hard to grasp. Lovely sets, superb special effects, an eerie soundtrack and thoroughly freaky designs offer more than enough appeal for those who don’t care about the extra layers, but ultimately Smolder delivers on both accounts. A real treat.

09. Punk Samurai Slash Down [Panku-zamurai, Kirarete Sôrô] by Gakuryû Ishii [AKA Sogo Ishii]

Sogo Ishii is probably the most notable director of this bunch. Still, it seems many people forgot about him after he changed his name from Sogo to Gakuryû. That’s a bit of a bummer, but ultimately it’s also the point of why introduced his new persona: he needed a fresh start. Punk Samurai Slash Down may start as a pretty standard jidai genki (though with a clear Ishii touch), it becomes progressively weirder as oddball cults and monkey armies join the fun. The finale is just batshit crazy, doing proper justice to its title.

10. The Land of Cards [Tasher Desh] by Qaushiq Mukherjee

Many people conflate Indian cinema with Bollywood, but there’s more out there than overly long epics that go through every genre imaginable in the span of 3-4 hours. Qaushiq Mukherjee is one of those directors who won’t conform to any expectations. Together with cinematographer Manuel Dacosse he created a mystic, startling and unique fantasy world, based on a short story by Tagore. It’s a very difficult film to describe, so just take a leap of faith and experience it yourself.