# Strangest Movie You Ever Saw? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 7, 2019, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangest-movie-you-ever-saw/833616 "2019-05-07T14:50:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangest-movie-you-ever-saw/833616/21 "2019-05-07T17:21:16Z")
> [@LC\_Strawhouse](#): > > I won’t mention “intentionally strange” movies (David Lynch and the like) because it’s just too easy. > > I think the most truly strange movie was 1999’s “Friends and Lovers”. Supposedly a romantic indie comedy (with a solid cast including Robert Downey Jr.), it is a bizarre blend of rank amateur and well-made filmmaking, with lots of “what the hell was that” moments mingled with some actual funny stuff. It provides more surrealist entertainment than a dozen wannabe cult films combined. Okay, if you want to go with strange movies that weren’t intentionally strange, I’m nominated [_The Room_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Room_(film)). ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangest-movie-you-ever-saw/833616/22 "2019-05-07T17:26:18Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > The tiny budget 1980 film _[Forbidden Zone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbidden_Zone)_ is memorable, unfortunately. Once seen, cannot be unseen. > > Thread Crossover Spotting: > > At one point Danny Elfman as Satan sings a version of _Minnie the Moocher_. > > I wonder whatever happened to that guy? 😉 > > It’s 88% at [RT](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/forbidden_zone_1980). I just … don’t … have … words. I once showed this at one of my yearly Bad Film Festivals (THe theme that year was “Failed Cult Movies”). Only partway through the opening credits, my wife begged me to turn it off. She was outvoted, but five minutes later, everyone else voted to turn it off. Aside from people on this Board, I’m the only one I know who has watched it all the way through. Yet the first time I saw it was on HBO. And they had it prominently available for rental at the video rental place I used for years. I think a lot of people saw it and don’t want to admit it. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangest-movie-you-ever-saw/833616/23 "2019-05-07T17:35:36Z")
It’s Whoopi Goldberg in The Telephone. ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangest-movie-you-ever-saw/833616/24 "2019-05-07T17:38:04Z")
The Greasy Strangler. About someone who likes to grease himself up and strangle people until their eyes pop. Then go and wash it off down the local automatic carwash which is run by a blind man. Especially the two minute sequence based around the pronounciation of the word [Potato](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfsVTGmBpoY). ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangest-movie-you-ever-saw/833616/25 "2019-05-07T17:42:07Z")
Mandy with Nick Cage has to be on this list ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangest-movie-you-ever-saw/833616/26 "2019-05-07T17:53:39Z")
_Holy Motors_ was supposed to be mainstream, wasn’t it? It certainly did ok at film festivals. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_Tightlips](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/57b2e6/32.png) [@Joey\_Tightlips](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_Tightlips)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangest-movie-you-ever-saw/833616/27 "2019-05-07T19:06:38Z")
I love weird movies including all the Terry Gilliam ones mentioned. The _ **mother** _ of weird movies for me has to be Darren Aronofsky’s “Mother!” with Jennifer Lawrence. It starts off kinda quirky, but man, when it gets rolling, it’s hard to imagine filming anything weirder. I can’t say I **enjoyed** it, but it’s definitely memorable. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangest-movie-you-ever-saw/833616/28 "2019-05-07T19:10:09Z")
For mainstream, after watching [Even Cowgirls Get the Blues](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Even_Cowgirls_Get_the_Blues_(film)) I was left wondering “what the fuck did I just watch?”. I still couldn’t describe the plot to this day, other than Uma Thurman had huge thumbs. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangest-movie-you-ever-saw/833616/29 "2019-05-07T19:15:07Z")
Most of the good(?) ones have already been mentioned, so I’ll go with [Gentlemen Broncos](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1161418/), which featured(?) one of the most bizarre projectile vomiting scenes I’ve ever witnessed. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangest-movie-you-ever-saw/833616/30 "2019-05-07T19:16:56Z")
I’ve seen “Pink Flamingos”. Need I say more? 😛 The weirdest “documentary” I’ve ever seen has to be a low-budget doco I got from Netflix called “Patient Seventeen”. It was ostensibly about a podiatrist (who died before filming completed) who was willing to remove alien implants from people’s feet and lower legs, and then it veered off the rails and they interviewed some people who seemed shady in ways I couldn’t seem to define. I Googled one of them, and he turned out to be one of the people who was interviewed as John Doe #2 in the Oklahoma City bombing, and still hasn’t been fully exonerated. Other people on this board have talked about a low-budget movie called “Gummo” that is loosely based on the tornado that nearly destroyed Xenia, Ohio. That was really weird, too. My local PBS station aired a cut-for-length movie a while back called “Rat Film” that was a total mind-fart, and I shut it off halfway through. I thought it had critical parts scissored out and that was why I couldn’t understand it, but IMDB said otherwise. Apparently, it won some awards at SXSW and that’s how it landed on PBS. ---
**Author:** ![somepumpkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@somepumpkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/somepumpkin)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangest-movie-you-ever-saw/833616/31 "2019-05-07T19:17:46Z")
_My Brother’s Keeper_, a documentary with the tagline, “A Heartwarming Tale of Murder”. It really made one think about life, death, justice, morality etc. _Donny Darko_. My brain is still mushy from those 2 hours. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangest-movie-you-ever-saw/833616/32 "2019-05-07T19:18:30Z")
I’ve not seen Forbidden Zone, but a movie mindfuck with a similar name is [The Forbidden Room](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3066630/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1). ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangest-movie-you-ever-saw/833616/33 "2019-05-07T19:23:48Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Eraserhead. I once dated a man who, when the relationship started to deteriorate, said, “I should have known, when you told me you liked ‘Eraserhead’.” :o Anyway, he and I watched “Kentucky Fried Movie” together on Betamax, and when I was in college a few years later, I found it on VHS and I watched it with my BFF. Neither of us thought it was all that funny, this time around, and when my roommate came home after closing down a bar, put it in the VCR and while watching it, thought, “I cannot believe NWH would watch something like this.” TCM sometimes shows really bad modern movies, and one they show a couple times a year is called “Heavenly Bodies.” Len Maltin rated it “BOMB” and said, “The first Aerobics Musical, and with any luck, the last.” It’s an unintentional comedy. “Koyaanisqatsi” is absolutely brilliant, but you have to be able to watch it from start to finish without a break to really appreciate it. “Powaqqatsi” is nowhere near as good, and I haven’t seen “Nagoyqatsi.” ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangest-movie-you-ever-saw/833616/34 "2019-05-07T19:27:20Z")
> [@somepumpkin](#): > > _My Brother’s Keeper_, a documentary with the tagline, “A Heartwarming Tale of Murder”. It really made one think about life, death, justice, morality etc. I saw it on VHS not long after it came out, and later on DVD when that became available. I listened to the commentary track, and the filmmakers did say at the end what they thought really happened. I personally disagreed; I will explain if anyone PMs me. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangest-movie-you-ever-saw/833616/35 "2019-05-07T19:30:45Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > “Koyaanisqatsi” is absolutely brilliant, but you have to be able to watch it from start to finish without a break to really appreciate it. “Powaqqatsi” is nowhere near as good, and I haven’t seen “Nagoyqatsi.” If you liked Koyaanisqatsi then I would recommend [Samsara](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0770802/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1). IMO, it is better than Powaqqatsi and Nagoyqatsi. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangest-movie-you-ever-saw/833616/36 "2019-05-07T19:36:27Z")
Mainstream (ish): **Sir Henry At Rawlinson End**. Hard to describe - a brain-dump of Vivian Stanshall gives you some idea. Small, Arty etc: **I Was Catherine the Great’s Stable Boy** , a 5 minute short which is, well, pretty much what it says on the can. The weirdest thing about it is how anyone thought that making it was a good idea. j ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangest-movie-you-ever-saw/833616/37 "2019-05-07T19:38:46Z")
[**House**](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076162/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_3) No, not the American one. The Japanese one. I had to watch it twice b/c the first time through I kept saying to myself “I can’t believe this is actually happening.” (The link has a trailer right there. Tell me that ain’t some weird shit.) ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangest-movie-you-ever-saw/833616/38 "2019-05-07T19:39:23Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > TCM sometimes shows really bad modern movies, and one they show a couple times a year is called “Heavenly Bodies.” Len Maltin rated it “BOMB” and said, “The first Aerobics Musical, and with any luck, the last.” It’s an unintentional comedy. That’s where I was first made aware of a little weird one called [Nothing Lasts Forever.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nothing_Lasts_Forever_(film)) I’m not sure what they were smoking when they wrote it, but they should have switched dealers. It’s not as strange as some of the others listed, but it’s up there. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangest-movie-you-ever-saw/833616/39 "2019-05-07T19:42:46Z")
For mainstream movies, “Buckaroo Banzai” was pretty far off the wall. I also accidentally saw Synecdoche New York. It’s very bizarre, got very good ratings, and I disliked it rather a lot. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangest-movie-you-ever-saw/833616/40 "2019-05-07T19:50:42Z")
Some of the weird movies I’ve watched recently: _Synecdoche, New York Brazil Timecode Memento_ Of these, _Memento_ is the one I’d recommend. I like time travel movies, but this is in a sense _opposite_ to time travel! And, instead of science fiction, experts say it presents anterograde amnesia realistically. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangest-movie-you-ever-saw/833616.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangest-movie-you-ever-saw/833616.md?page=3)