Right. Thanks. The theory backfired on Krank, I believe.
I forgot to mention “O Lucky Man”, directed by Lindsay Anderson and starring Malcolm McDowell. Has some surreal moments, but none as surreal (or twisted) as the Pig Man.
Wait, I thought of another one:
Parents http://www.fright.com/edge/parents.html
You will note two of the movies reference in the OP are mentioned in that synopsis.
Hmm. Lots of films I’ve seen but could use another viewing.
Freaks I loved. Also Meet the Applegates and Parents, which I’m surprised didn’t float to the surface of my brain when I was typing the OP. I’ve also seen two different versions of Humanoids From the Deep (ending wise).
Didn’t much care for A Boy and His Dog. I’ve read the Harlan Ellison story, and the movie is a sacrilege.
Anyhoo, thanks for the suggestions, and keep 'em coming.
Beyond is…seriously fugged up.
I loved it.
The bit playing behind the closing credits is…unique. And for good reason.
I mean, how many movies could have a reanimated rat getting its ass kicked by a mobile, and apparently semi-sentient severed penis?
Jeffrey Combs is something of a god.
This reminded of another movie, released in the US by Troma :
Killer Condom
Crispin Glover + Dennis Hopper = delicious
“I know she’s a doll!”
“Fe-e-e-eck!”
“KIDS” (Larry Clark, 1995)
Gotta love a flick in which characters like “Girl #1”, “Little Girl”, “Deli Owner” and “Korean Guy” are at the top of the bill.
Oh, to be young and punk again in 1981.
Trivia: Excene Cervenka was married for 10 years to Viggo Mortensen. It was their boy, in fact, who convinced Viggo to do LOTR. Watch this film and try to comprehend that.
Any of the Toxic Avenger movies, classified as comedy/horror (???).
A new movie just released, The Machinist is definately in the bizarre category.
Ooh, good choice. One of the few serial killer flicks that actually works. Someone mentioned Ed Gein above, but I can’t recommend it, although it was better than Deranged. Matthew Bright’s Bundy is similarly lacklustre, as is Clive Saunders’ Gacy.
I haven’t seen Brian Dennehy as Gacy in To Catch A Killer, but I hear consistently good things about it. Anyone here seen it?
Purely visual – sometimes bizarre and often disturbing:
Koyaanisqatsi (Life Out of Balance): “The scene near the end of the film with firefighters and emergency service crews walking about is video from riots, looting, and fires after the two-day blackout in New York City in July, 1977.”
Powaqqatsi (Life in Transformation): “An exploration of the efforts of developing nations and the effect the transition to moderernization has had on them.”
Naqoyqatsi (Life as War): “A visual montage portrait of our contemporary world dominated by gobalized technology and violence.”
The Austrian movie Funny Games by Michael Haneke
Thisn [link](Michael Haneke) goes to a not-very-favourable review of the movie.
I kinda-sorta liked parts of it, but my wife has never forgiven me for choosing it out of all the possible foreign movies to see that day…
Of all the movies listed so far on this thread, Audition is the only one I wish I hadn’t seen. Not because it’s bad, but because it stays with you for a long, long time.
The slow buildup when you know something horrible is going to happen is bad enough, but then when the horrible things start happening, they exceed your expectations.
If you are still about, Gadfly, is Uzumaki in the same league as Audition? It’s on my Netflix queue. It looks more supernatural. Could you give me a brief, spoiler-free account of what it’s about?
Some good mentions thus far.
Some others off the top of my pointy little head:
Santa Sangre (really, anything by Alejandro Jodorowski; but this is my fav of his work)
The Reflecting Skin (featuring a pre-Hobbit movie Viggo Mortensen)
Of Freaks and Men
The Interview (Craig Monahan, 1998)
Hugo Weaving is brilliant.
My advice – watch this one cold. Don’t read any reviews, don’t even read the back of the box at the video store.
I know that’s asking a lot, but really, it’s better that way.
PS: Anyone know what Hugo’s accent really sounds like? His Australian here is as good as his American is in The Matrix. (I know he took up residence in Australia at the age of 16, but by then one’s accent is largely set, I think.)
A Takashi Miike film that I absolutely loved, in fact the only one I have seen, is Happiness of the Katakuris. No real gore, not much of a horror story, just bizarre and twisted in a fun musical zombie claymation sort of way.
Some more ones that have not been recomended:
Naked Lunch, Cremaster Cycle, Clockwork Orange, and this documentary I can not name right now but consists of this artist that paints little odd creatures
Morvern Callar So bleak, yet I couldn’t stop watching. (Get your cat to sit near you and purr as you watch this. mrrr mrrr mrrr. Adds to the gut discomfort. I thought it was part of the soundtrack.)
Scotland, PA Macbeth, in a diner, with Christopher Walken.
Phantom of the Paradise Paul Williams was born to play Swan.
House of 1000 Corpses Cheesey, over the top violence, bunny suits. Hahahahaha.
I enthusiastically second this recommendation. It’s nothing like Audition, which was so horrifying that I had to stop it about 5 minutes before it was over, or Ichee the Killer, which I watched through the holes in my afgan blanket.
*Happiness of the Katakuris is so bizarre and fabulous, though. I bought it for two of my family members for Christmas.
ZJ
It’s very much a slow, creeping horror movie - it’s very supernatural - and the level of terror is just slowly ramped up, and it’s maintained there. Throughout the movie, after the buildup, you’re at least constantly unnerved, if not completely freaked out.
It’s about spirals - a bizarre curse involving spirals.