Please do not ask “what was that movie?” questions on this page. We set up an entire site here to answer those questions. This page is for suggesting movies to be reviewed.
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. (More than that since I last updated the page)! 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. The best you can really hope for at this point is to bring something to our attention that we might have overlooked. (Also note that although we prioritize the earliest nominations later suggestions may get reviewed before earlier ones if they receive a re-release on DVD or Blu-ray, or interest us for our own inscrutable reasons).
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.
All serious suggestions will receive a response, as well as all most non-serious ones.
Here’s the review queue of reader suggestions that have yet to be reviewed, in alphabetical order. You can always see this list ordered according to intended order of publication in the weekly “What’s in the Pipeline” column (published on Sundays).
Be aware that, given the number of titles here, there will be a (long and ever-growing ) delay between suggesting a title and its eventual review.
1 (2009); 1Day; 3 Women; The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao; 2001: A Space Odyssey; 11:14; “2012 Aficionado DVD Zine Issue #0”; The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T; Abnormal: The Sinema of Nick Zedd; “The Act of Seeing With One’s Own Eyes”; The Adventures of Mark Twain; The Adventures of Picasso; L’Âge d’or; Aguirre, the Wrath of God; Air Doll; Akira; Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams; “Alicia” (1994); Allegro Non Troppo; All That Jazz; Alphaville; Amazon Women on the Moon; Amelie; Amanece, que no es poco; “Analog”; L’Ange; Angel in the Flesh: The Confidential Report on Mr. Dennis Duggan AKA The King of Super 8 (if it’s ever released); Angelus; Anguish [Angustia]; The Annunciation; La antena; The Appointment (1981); Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters; Arrebato; Ascension; At Midnight I’ll Take Your Soul; The Atrocity Exhibition; Audition; Avida; Bad Taste; Bad Timing (AKA Bad Timing: A Sensual Obsession); Battle in Heaven; Beauty and the Beast (1978); Bernie (depending on availability); The Beyond; Big Man Japan (official review); Big River Man; Big Time; “The Big Shave”; Birth of the Overfiend; Black Cat, White Cat; Black Devil Doll; Bliss; Bloodsucking Freaks; Blue (1993, Jarman); Blue Velvet; The Bothersome Man; The Boxer’s Omen [aka Mo]; Boxing Helena; Brain Damage; Brain Dead (1990, d. Adam Simon); The Brave Little Toaster; Breakfast of Champions; Brick; Britannia Hospital; “Broken Glass”; Bruce Lee vs. Gay Power; Bubba Ho-Tep; Buddy Boy (1999); Buffalo ’66; Buffet Froid; Cafe Flesh; Calamari Wrestler; Candy (1968); The Cars That Ate Paris; Casino Royale (1967); Cat Soup; Celine and Julie Go Boating; The Cell; The Cement Garden; Chappaqua; “Charleston Parade”; Charly: Dias de Sangre; Chingsao the Clown; Christmas on Mars; La cicatrice intérieure; City of Pirates; Clean, Shaven; Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs; Color of Pomegranates; Conspirators of Pleasure; The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover; Coonskin; Cosmopolis; Crash (Cronenberg); La Cravate; Creatures of Destiny; Crimewave; Cutie Honey; Dance With The Devil; Dante’s Inferno (2007); Dark Arc; Dark City; The Dark Side of the Heart; Dark Waters; Daymaker; Death Powder (1986); Decasia; The Devils; Dirty Duck; Django Kill!; A Dog Called Pain; Dogville; La Dolce Vita; The Doom Generation; The Double Life of Veronique; The Drifting Classroom; Drowning by Numbers; Drunken Wu Tang; Dumplings; The Earl Sessions; Electric Dragon 80,000 V; The Element of Crime; Evil Ed; Executive Koala; Exterminating Angel; Eyes Wide Shut; The Fall; The Falls; Fando y Lis; Fast, Cheap and Out of Control; Feherlofia; Felidae; Fido; Final Programme; Finisterrae; Forbidden Zone; The Fountain; “Foutaises” (short); The Fox Family; Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster; “Franz Kafka’s It’s a Wonderful Life”; From Beyond; Fudge 44; Funeral Parade of Roses; Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus; Gahjini; Garden State (official review); Genius Party; The Glamorous Life of Sachiko Hanai; Glen or Glenda?; The Godmonster of Indian Flats; Goke, Body Snatcher From Hell; Goodbye 20th Century; Goodbye Uncle Tom; Grendel Grendel Grendel; Haggard; Hair Extensions; Hanger; Happiness; Hard Candy; “Harpya”; Head; Heart of Glass; Heavenly Creatures; Hell Comes to Frogtown; Holy Motors; Horror Express; The Hour-glass Sanatorium [Saanatorium pod klepsidra]; I Am Here Now; Ichi the Killer; ID; The Idiots; I [Heart] Huckabees; The Illustrated Man; Incubus; Innocence (2004); Insidious (2010); In the Mouth of Madness; I Will Walk Like a Crazy Horse; Jack and the Beanstalk (1974, Japan); Julien Donkey-boy; Killer Joe; Killer Nun; Killdozer; Killer Condom; Koyaanisqatsi; Krysar (AKA The Pied Piper of Hamelin); La Razon de Mi Vida; The Last Days of Planet Earth; Last Life in the Universe; The Last Sunset; Last Year in Marienbad; Leolo; Let the Right One In; Liquid Sky (re-review); Lisa and the Devil; Litan; Little Deaths; Little Otik; Lo; Lost Highway; Love Me If You Dare; Lovers on the Bridge; Lucky; Lust in the Dust; Mad Detective; The Magic Christian; Man Facing Southeast; Marebito; Marquis; Master of the Flying Guillotine; Me and You and Everyone We Know; Meet the Feebles; Meet the Hollowheads; Memento Mori; Mermaid in a Manhole; Metropia; Midnight Skater; “The Mighty Boosh” (TV show); The Million Dollar Hotel; Mind Game; Moebius (1996); Momo (1986); Monobloc; Monty Python and the Holy Grail; Mr. Nobody; Multiple Maniacs; Murder Party; Mutant Aliens; My Dinner with Andre; Mystics in Bali; Nails; Natural Born Killers; The Neverending Story; Night Across The Street; Nightdreams; Night of the Hunter; The Nine Lives of Thomas Katz; The Ninth Configuration; Noroi; Northfork; No Smoking; Nuit Noire; One Eyed Monster; “One Soldier”; On the Silver Globe; Organ; Orpheus; The Ossuary; Parents; Perfect Blue; Period Piece; Persona; Phantasm IV; The Phantom of Liberty; Phantom of the Paradise; Piano Tuner of Earthquakes; Picnic at Hanging Rock; Pierrot Le Fou; Pink Flamingos; Pink Narcissus; The Pit; Porcile [AKA Pigpen]; Portrait of Jennie; “Premium” (if it can be found); “Prometheus’ Garden”; Prospero’s Books; The Quiet; The Quiet Earth; Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure; Rampo Noir; Rat Pfink a Boo Boo; The Real McCoy; Reflections of Evil; Repo Man; Return to Oz; Revolver; Robot Monster; Roller Blade; The Room; Rubin & Ed; The Ruling Class; Run Lola Run; Russian Ark; Safe; The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea; Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom; Santa Claus (1959); The Saragossa Manuscript (official review); Savages; Save the Green Planet; A Scanner Darkly; Schramm; Screamplay; The Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb; Seom [The Isle]; “Serial Experiments: Lain” (TV show); The Shape of Things; Sheitan; The Shout; The Signal; Singapore Sling (official review); Sir Henry at Rawlinson End; Sitcom; Skeletons; Slacker; SLC Punk; Sleepaway Camp; “Slow Bob in the Lower Dimensions”; A Snake of June; Society (official review); Space Is the Place (re-review); Space Thang; Spermula; Spirited Away; Spirits of the Air, Gremlins of the Clouds; “Star Maidens” (TV show); Static; Strange Circus; Street Trash; Stroszek; Suicide Club (re-review); Svidd neger (depending on availability); Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song; Symbol; The Tale of the Floating World; Tales from the Quadead Zone; Tampopo; Tank Girl; The Taste of Tea; Teeth; Teknolust; The Ten; The Tenant; La Teta y La Luna; That Deadwood Feeling; Themroc; They Came Back; Things; This Filthy Earth; Thriller: A Cruel Picture; Thundercrack!; Time Masters; The Tin Drum; Titicut Follies; Der Todersking; Tokyo Gore Police; Tourist Trap (1979); The Trial [Le procès] (1962); Troll 2; “Turkish Star Wars” [Dunyayi Kurtaran Adam]; Twister (1989); Uncle Meat; Underground; Uzumaki [AKA Spiral] (official re-review); Vakvagany; Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (official review); Vase de Noces; Vera; Vermillion Souls; Versus; Videodrome; Visions of Suffering; Visitor of a Museum [Posetitel muzeya]; Waiting for Godot; The War Zone; Watership Down; Wax, or The Discovery of Television Among the Bees; Weekend; Weirdsville; Wicked City (1992 live-action version); Wild at Heart; Wool 100%; W.R.-Mysteries of the Organism; Yesterday Was a Lie; Yokai Monsters, Vol. 1: Spook Warfare [AKA Big Monster War]; Zachariah; A Zed and Two Noughts.
You guys who are looking for movie names should ask here.
Sam – yes, we can cover Peeping Tom.
I would recommend Koyaanisqatsi!
I’m trying to find the name of a movie that aired in the mid sixties about a man who read so many books his head got huge. It scared the heck out my brother and I and we still talk about it all these years later. Thanks.
I recommend a recent spanish movie called Diamond Flash, I leave a link to imdb page if anyone is interested. It´s weird as hell
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2281189/
Ching Se (Green Snake) from 1993 should be a lovely candidate.
“Rubber”, a french movie about a killing tyre, was excellent.
Sorry I haven’t been looking in on this thread for a while, guys. Alex and Jane Christine, Koyaanisqatsi and Rubber are already in the queue (which I will update soon, I swear!). Shere and Morgan, I’ll add Diamond Flash and Green Snake.
Sharon: you might try posting your question here instead: http://366weirdmovies.com/forum/?mingleforumaction=viewforum&f=2.0
I would like to suggest the film Lo directed by Travis Betz. I don’t know…it’s easy to follow but the set design, story, characters and impromptu musical numbers are enough to make it quite the odd little horror/comedy.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1047490/
The Cremaster Cycle
Saw 8 1/2 and Satyricon on the list, but if we’re talking Fellini at his most “lay it out there cause I’ve got problems with women” best, then we are talking City of Women. Opening sequence of birth set in the City Museum, STL, USA, insane ramblings, Dr. Zuberkok. Therapy in a film, Frued would have been thrilled, and yet, Fellini’s honesty makes it more than male angst, makes it faltering. Dr. Zuberkok is desperate and insular, hiding out against change, alone in a fortress.
Either way, great site, Every page has at least 2 – 3 films that I enjoyed massively growing up.
You have reviewed “Blue Beard” but what about other films directed by Catherine Breillat? I think “Romance” or “Anatomy of Hell” are worth including in the List, if only for their cold and nightmarish depiction of human sexuality. “Anatomy…” is especially worth looking at, because of its rejection of a traditional plot.
First of, Irene asked, in a different thread, “I’m not sure you have this movie LA DECIMA VITTIMA by Carlo Ponti directed by Elia Petri in your list, with Marcello Mastroianni as a male lead.” and then “I’m sorry for posting my recommendation at a wrong place. If possible please relocate it adding to the main list of recommendations.” English speakers know this movie as The 10th Victim, and I’ll add it to the queue.
Ashleigh: Lo is already in the queue (I haven’t found time to update it and post it at the top of the page yet).
dw: We’re holding off on official reviewing the Cremasters to see if Matthew Barney ever relents and authorizes a DVD release—don’t worry, we won’t forget about it.
Thanks for the compliments Miguel, and I’ll add City of Women.
Motyka: Consider Anatomy of Hell in the queue.
Crass- Christ the movie.
not sure if this is even a movie. but seems to be an experience through the eyes of an extremely drunk and stoned punk. definately weird. let me know what you think.:)
I don’t know if this one is in the “queue list” but here is my little contribution to your excellent initiative: Last year in marienbad
http://www.amazon.ca/NEW-Last-Year-Marienbad-DVD/dp/B001WLMOLO/
Robin Hood sun: I can put Christ the Movie in the queue, although it doesn’t look like it’s widely available.
Cetfan: Marienbad is indeed already in the queue.
probably not a good candidate then because it’s hard to find. but any net pirate would how to get a hold of it. ps: it’s a movie by the punk band. CRASS. that might help you find it?
Comedy movie made in 2000’s but takes place in the 50’s and some kids are going to throw a house party and a keg is arriving on a delivery truck as the parents are leaving. later the party is going on and some kids find a pistol and sum kid pounds a bottle of booze and shoots a hole in the wall and then gets rolled up in a rug and put in the corner. Some other random scene where there getting a car that is in a lake and theres fish swimming in the dashboard? WHAT is the movie called i cant find it anywhere.
There was a weird movie I saw and can’t remember the name to . It was about a young boy who has sex with his half sister or maybe she was his real sister and he gets an idea to go rob I think It was a bank or a grocery store and that’s when she finds out she’s pregnant and in the end the police has the place surrounded and he goes outside and ends up getting killed . It was a really weird movie . Please help me figure it out . Thanks !
Anant Yatra is a really weird movie. The story goes like this: The life of middle-aged businessman Godbole is changed by a mysterious phone call from a Parsi named Jaduwalla. Godbole’s mundane existence undergoes a transformation through a singularly curious item of furniture. It’s an Indian movie and a very rare one. I remember having watched it when I was a kid. It was shown on Indian television way back in 1985. It was never shown again. It’s not available online. The film has some interesting scenes like a man walking on a treadmill (symbolizing endless journey), a man who discovers a live snake under his office table, and a guy who gets transported to a fictional world inhabited by characters from the play Abhigyanasakuntalam written by the renowned Classical Sanskrit writer Kalidasa.
the movie where the girl ends up in a white room theres a house and she looks into it and sees herself theres a bad and good version of her, there are wanted posters all over the room she also encounters an old women with creepy cats;whats the movie that a girl goes to a different world she is wanted and is helped by a guy there are strange creatures and she’s in a room with wanted posters of her everywhere; shes walking in the street its dark, this weird creature thing appears, and i think a guy is there to help her; shes in some strange world; main characters a girl, brown or black hair. DOES IT RING A BELL TO ANYONE? D: I NEED TO FIND THIS MOVIE!!!!!
If you’re looking for the name of a forgotten movie you need to post here. This thread is to suggest movies for review.
debasish, Anant Yatra sounds like an interesting movie but I don’t see how we would get the chance to review it if it’s not available anywhere. If you ever hear of a copy surfacing you can let us know. Sometimes these movies get a second life; World on a Wire only aired twice on German television and was nearly forgotten but then got released by Criterion, for example.
I remember Anant Yatra too. As mentioned by Debashish, I saw it only once long time ago nearly 25 odd years ago but it has stuck in the head. Different for sure.
Subash
“Pola X”: from the director of “Holy Motors”, the movie tells a story of a young writer’s descent into darkness and depravity. It sounds pretty normal, but this movie has rivers of blood and Scott Walker music. Definitely weird.
Thanks Motyka, Pola X is a very fine suggestion. I’ll add it to the queue.
I can’t believe nobody has even mentioned the work of Saul Bass. Movie direction, mind you, not poster work. Get Phase IV up there, G.
I forgot (if I ever knew) that Saul Bass directed the killer ant attack flop Phase IV. I will put it in the queue You know what you’re getting into here, Morgan!
I would like to recommend “Welcome to the Dollhouse”. Uncomfortable to watch at times, but watched it several times since it came out in the mid-90s.
Repo! The Genetic Opera should definitely be on this list. It’s in the same vein as Rocky Horror Picture Show in terms of the level of camp, but it’s much darker and more twisted. Also, the music is so weirdly wonderful, you’ll have it stuck in your head for weeks. And The Devil’s Carnival, it’s produced by the same guys that created Repo! and it’s absolutely incredibly for an extremely low budget indie film.
Frank, I can see why you would consider Welcome to the Dollhouse weird. It’s worth covering eventually so I’ll add it to queue.
Zoe: Believe it or not, we actually rejected Repo! The Genetic Opera—although, after watching The Devil’s Carnival, I’m tempted to reconsider it.. Repo! is truly a cult movie that hits some people hard and leaves others (like our staff) flat. I won’t rule out reconsidering Repo! and adding it to the List. Every little vote helps its case.
Thanks G. Smalley for ur reply to my post on Anant Yatra (Indian surreal movie). I just heard that the makers of the movie (a director couple) are not ready to release any print of the movie for public viewing (strange!). A close relative of the couple living in Bombay had requested them to do so, but it seems they’ll stick to their decision not to release the movie. That’s very sad! The film has some haunting surreal images that would surely appeal to serious moviegoers. And did I mention another Indian movie called “No Smoking”? This movie is widely available and in all formats. It’s about a guy who decides to quit smoking and consults a mysterious man who claims he can help him quit smoking. What follows is a series of bizarre events and situations in which dream, fantasy and reality all merge into one whole. The guy starts hallucinating and finds himself in nightmarish situations. In one scene, he suddenly wakes up and finds himself in a log cabin in a snowy landscape. As he steps out of the cabin he’s chased by armed guards speaking in a foreign language (maybe Russian). In another scene, the guy suddenly comes across a huge book about cigarettes and smoking. He opens it and flips the pages hurriedly while the sun rises and sets outside the room. The sun just goes on rising and setting while he goes on turning the pages fast and reading! This is how the film progresses from one scene to the other. Critics have their own interpretations of the movie, but I believe that what the guy experiences are the hallucinatory effects of drugs that he was administered to help him quit smoking. However, that’s my interpretation; others don’t have to agree to it. But “No Smoking” definitely deserves to be on a weird movies list :))
Hi Debashish, even I contacted the Director to check if the copy is available on any portal (Webmall shows it but with 0 stock).The Director replied of his film pirated by someone in USA and is available there.(I saw the movie name on some other portal too). I am still trying to follow up the Director and wish he make it public one day..Thanks.
A small addition: ‘No Smoking’ has a plot that might resemble Quitters, Inc. by Stephen King, but the movie just takes the basic plot from SK’s story. All the scenes in it are original and are unique/different from both the story and from its adaptation as one of the three stories in Cat’s Eye (1985 film). I mentioned this lest one might think the film is just a copy of a Hollywood movie :))
Check out http://www.kobalttheklown.com for the weirdest videos…all of them are on Youtube, surreal,sinister,spooky and just plain mad!!!
A time travelling, teleporting eon old klown goes on adventures through time and space, oh and other dimensions! Watch out for the people with no faces! There coming to get yah…yes you!
A boy receives a video game that takes place in his neighbourhood, in the game he plays as a serial killer but what he doesn’t know is that the kills happen for real. It’s not Brainscan or Stay Alive.. I just remember this teenager reading a lot of serial killer books so he knows how to kill..
debashish: We’ll be happy to consider No Smoking as we definitely need some Indian films on the List, and we have very few candidates.
Kobalt: looks good! We may take a look at some of those for a Saturday Short.
Sofie: You’re in the wrong section (this page is for suggestions), please ask your question here.
I saw “Next Floor” in the basement of a modern art museum and later bought it on iTunes. A little short, only 11 minutes, but plenty unusual.
Angel’s Egg (Japanese: Tenshi no Tamago) is a 71 minute Anime film which contains something in the region of 7 lines of dialogue. It’s beautifully drawn and tells the tale of a girl who lives alone on a barren planet until a boy comes to invade it with a bunch of machines. There’s probably some potent metaphor for something cheery like birth-trauma/periods/puberty/rape if you search hard enough, otherwise you can just allow the surrealist imagery to wash over you. It’s a beautiful/desolate experience to watch and definitely definitely worthy of the title: weird.
Berberian Sound Studio (2012) is the weirdest film i have seen since Inland Empire. very well made with an intruiging plot, set in the 70s, it follows a British sounds engineers descent into madness while creating the sound effects on a ‘Giallo’ Italian horror film, The Equestrian Vortex.
Seems there’s a couple of Ken Russell movies up. But, doesn’t seem the list has the absolute crown jewel of Ken Russell weirdness: Lisztomania.
Even if it’s a biopic of the world famous composer, it is lightyears away from a realistic film. One could argue that a scene with Roger Daltry from the who dressed in 19th century burgouise garb, growing an 8 foot long, 3 foot wide penis, and walking forward as four or five extremely eccentric showgirls dance sitting utop it, making his way to a guiloteen operated by the Russian Czaress who is possessed by the spirit of lucifer is well weird.
L’Inferno (1911)
The All-Barkie Dogville Comedies (1929-1931)
Betty Boop, MD and Minnie the Moocher (1932)
Snow White (1933)
All that Money Can Buy aka Devil and Daniel Webster(1941)
The Snake Pit (1948)
Jigoku (1960)
The Alphabet (1967)
The Canterbury Tales (1972)
Mansion of Madness aka Dr. Tarr’s Torture Dungeon (1973)
Heartbeeps from 1981. Strongly recommended.
Ed: We can put “Next Floor” in queue but it will be a while before we get to it.
Gespar: Angel’s Egg is in our “Top Unreleased Movies” holding bin. We’re holding out hope that someday this will be re-released and we can review it then; but we won’t forget about it.
Dean Champ: Great to hear that you thought so highly of Berberian Sound Studio, a movie we’ve had our eye on. When it gets an American release we will be on it immediately!
Ervin: This is weird. I thought Lisztomania was already in queue and had already planned a review. However, looking through my list I can’t find it! Since the review is already ready to go you’re in luck; your suggestion won’t have to wait its turn in that long, long line.
Pete: Nice list, especially the older films (we need to add more films from the 1920s and before). I’ll add L’Inferno into the queue. As a side note we had Betty Boop’s “Snow White” (1933) up on the site, believing it to be public domain, but the video was removed from YouTube. Several of those early Fleischer Brothers cartoons were weird, weird, weird!
John: The robot romantic comedy Heartbeeps is at least worth a look.
I recommend Melancholia and also Take Shelter.. Not weird but they fit perfectly in this series of films
“The Bothersome Man” “I’m a Cyborg, but That’s OK” “Zift” “C’est pas moi, je le jure!” “You the Living” “The Turin Horse” “Songs from the Second Floor” “Keyhole”
“Bibliotheque Pascal”
I have fairly enough information about this movie. I had to have watched it between the years 1999 to 2004, but I’m not positively certain on when the movie was released. It was about two teens who were having a sexual relationship and the mother of one catches them. The mother says to the girl, “as soon as you get your period (menstrual), this stops. The two get older and the girl gets a new boy toy. The old one gets jealous. That’s all I can remember. Please help!!! I’ve been trying to find this movie for YEARS!!!
river: we already reviewed Melancholia. I considered reviewing Take Shelter last year when it was out in theaters but ultimately decided it wasn’t weird enough to warrant coverage here. I did officially vote for Michael Shannon for best actor last year.
Kurt: We already Certified I’m a Cyborg, You the Living, and Songs from the Second Floor, and shortlisted Keyhole, so I’d say you’re on the right track. The Bothersome Man was suggested by someone else and is already in the queue. Of your remaining suggestions, Bibliotheque Pascal looks the weirdest, and that’s the one I’ll add to the queue.
Chris: Wrong thread, please try asking here.
An Indian movie called Marutirtha Hinglaj may well be on the list. It’s a movie about a pilgrimage to Hinglaj, now in Pakistan. A group of people (sinners mostly) are going on a pilgrimage to the sacred Temple, which is revered by Hindoos and Moslems alike. The pilgrims walk hundreds of miles through the deserts of Rajputana, braving nature, bandits, and rapacious locals to reach there. The film depicts the travellers’ hardships, their camarederie and their conflicts. The rugged desert terrain, hallucinations of the pilgrims, suicidal tendencies of one, and the metaphorical journey from sin to salvation are all told in remarkable visual sequences. It’s a very existential movie with spiritual and surreal undertones.
“A Pure Formality”: Giuseppe Tornatore’s thriller film seems to be a standard procedural feature but turns out to have more symbolic and allegorical undertones. Gerard Depardieu is interrogated by Roman Polanski – his presece is weirdness personified – about a murder or maybe about something else entirely?
As a kid in the 70s I saw a brief clip on television of a person in what looked to be a white KKK outfit. As a kid I didn’t make this connection, but I also don’t know if it was intended to be. Anyway, it was a shot of the person running down a road and through traffic in fast motion. It may have been a Disney movie and it was hilarious. I know it is little to go on, but if you can name the movie I will buy you a cigar.
Dan: wrong location for asking that question, please try here.
debasish: Thanks for another Indian suggestion. Marutirtha Hinglaj may be hard to find (especially in English), but a review is a long way away and we can cross that bridge when we come to it.
Motkya: A Pure Formality is a great suggestion, I’m surprised it took this long for someone to mention it. Into the queue it goes.
Thanks for your reply Smalley. Yes, it seems the movie is hard to find. I have some Indian movies on my mind that are easily available and are really weird in nature. Will post about them soon. Btw, your site is just GREAT! Now I can’t wait to watch movies like Keyhole and Bibliotheque Pascal that have been shortlisted here. Those that are already on the list are by far the best ones that fall in the weird category. India has been making many movies with bizarre plots and surreal storylines since the early fifties. But it’s sad that Indian movies don’t have too much of an international exposure, so most of our thought-provoking movies don’t reach the international audience. Just yesterday I was watching a movie called “Hey Ram” (released in 2000). This movie is easy to find. ‘Hey Ram’ in Hindi means ‘O Lord’. These are believed to be the last words that Gandhi uttered before he fell after receiving the bullets of his assassin. Now this movie has some bizarre scenes in which the film’s protagonist Saket (an Indian archeologist who had worked with Mortimer Wheeler at the famous excavation site of Mohenjo Daro) sees some weird images such as a lizard crawling in a pool of blood, a blind girl stretching out her arms and enquiring about her dead uncle and so on. Saket is a disturbed man who goes on a killing spree after his wife was brutally killed during the riots that followed in the wake of the Indian partition (into India and Pakistan). There’s a love-making scene in the film in which Saket suddenly feels the bed has collasped and he and his girl are falling from the sky right on the excavated ruins of Mohenjo Daro (btw, ‘Mohenjo Daro’ means ‘land of the dead’). In another scene, a woman morphs into a gun and Saket kisses it passionately. Saket is actually on a mission to assassinate Gandhi. I’d suggest people to watch a 5-minute video of the movie on Youtube titled “Hey Ram – No Way Back (with Kamal Hassan, Shah Rukh Khan and Rani Mukherjee)” to get a rough idea of what the movie is all about.