# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangest-movie-you-ever-saw/833616/41 "2019-05-07T19:51:01Z")
The strangest movie I’ve **actually** watched in its entirety is _Cube_, a science fiction/horror film released in 1997 about a group of people trapped in a maze of cube-shaped rooms. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cube\_(film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cube_(film)) ---
**Author:** ![borschevsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/97f17d/32.png) [@borschevsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/borschevsky)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangest-movie-you-ever-saw/833616/42 "2019-05-07T19:53:09Z")
Doctor Strange ---
**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, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangest-movie-you-ever-saw/833616/43 "2019-05-07T19:54:21Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > 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)). It has 3.7 Imdb points — I didn’t realize their scale went that low. I’m tempted to watch it just to what such a bad but strange movie is about! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangest-movie-you-ever-saw/833616/44 "2019-05-07T20:44:07Z")
[Beyond the Black Rainbow](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWF0bBKhe6o) ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangest-movie-you-ever-saw/833616/45 "2019-05-07T20:44:25Z")
I’ve seen _Forbidden Zone_ at least 3-4 times and have always enjoyed it. Taken as homage to the ethos of Fleischer Studio cartoons of the 1930s, it’s not even all that strange. I’ve also seen _Possession_ – on a Betamax tape! – and found it not so much strange as awful and virtually unwatchable. The same director (Andrzej Zulawski) made _L’amour braque_ (1985). > **[L'amour braque (1985) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088714/?ref_=rvi_tt)** > > L'amour braque: Directed by Andrzej Zulawski. With Sophie Marceau, Francis Huster, Tchéky Karyo, Christiane Jean. A bank robber tries to return his girl, but crazy way of life coupled with insane company make the case only worse. I have tried to watch it twice, getting no more than 30 minutes in either time. The first time, I thought I was the victim of a horrendously bad English translation. Upon further investigation, I discovered this was not accurate; almost every line of dialogue in the film is a non-sequitur or nonsense. And it’s “based” on a Dostoevsky novel! _Horrors of Malformed Men_ (1969) > **[Horrors of Malformed Men (1969) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0142257/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1)** > > Horrors of Malformed Men: Directed by Teruo Ishii. With Teruo Yoshida, Yukie Kagawa, Teruko Yumi, Mitsuko Aoi. After escaping from an insane asylum, a medical student assumes the identity of a mysterious dead man, who appeared to be his doppelganger,... Not a cheesy horror film, but a dysfunctional family drama, emphasis on dysfunctional. One of very few movies I have ever seen to truly capture a dream-like state of existence. _Erendira_ (1983) > **[Erendira (1983) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085501/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1)** > > Erendira: Directed by Ruy Guerra. With Irene Papas, Claudia Ohana, Michael Lonsdale, Oliver Wehe. While Erendira, a beautiful teenage girl, has a surreal mystical vision, her grandmother's house catches on fire and burns to the ground. Her... Based on the novel by Gabriel García Márquez, who also wrote the screenplay, this is a very watchable piece of Magical Realism. _Marquis_ (1989) > **[Marquis (1989) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097839/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1)** > > Marquis: Directed by Henri Xhonneux. With François Marthouret, Valérie Kling, Michel Robin, Isabelle Wolfe. The scene is a pre-French Revolution Bastille, where various political prisoners are being held: a woman who was raped and impregnated by the... Sometimes disgusting flick has actors in minimally expressive animal suits playing out a 19th century Bastille-based story centering on the Marquis - a dog with a talking penis (voiced by a woman) - among other perverse faux-fauna. Notwithstanding the gimmick, it’s intelligent and entertaining for discriminating viewers. _Toto Who Lived Twice_ (1998) > **[Toto Who Lived Twice (1998) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0144646/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1)** > > Toto Who Lived Twice: Directed by Daniele Ciprì, Franco Maresco. With Marcello Miranda, Carlo Giordano, Pietro Arciadiacono, Salvatore Gattuso. Paletta steals from a shrine to pay a prostitute. Fefè, an aging homosexual, attends his lover's wake and... I watched 7.5 minutes in all. The first scene was some guy having sex with a cow. I take it for granted the rest was strange as well. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangest-movie-you-ever-saw/833616/46 "2019-05-07T20:53:25Z")
\*\*\*Curdled Harold and Maude Succubus\*\*\* ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangest-movie-you-ever-saw/833616/47 "2019-05-07T21:04:09Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Strangest I think I’ve seen was [The American Astronaut](https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0243759/?ref_=m_nv_sr_2) (2001.) It only grossed $36,000 so that’s a pretty small film. A bizarre black and white sci-fi musical. > > The new film “In Fabric” is also pretty damn surreal! I saw it at a film festival, it opens later this year. Astronaut is also my choice for strangest film. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangest-movie-you-ever-saw/833616/48 "2019-05-07T21:19:24Z")
While there are weirder films, I think the works of Ken Russel have been sadly ignored in this thread, especially as they were intended to be relatively “mainstream” films, at least for their (very strange) period. I’d suggest [Lizstomania](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073298/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1), a biopic (in the broadest sense of the word) of 19th Century composer Franz Liszt, starring Roger Daltrey, a giant prosthetic penis, Nazis and Ringo Starr as the Pope. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangest-movie-you-ever-saw/833616/49 "2019-05-07T21:31:42Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I suppose [The Lobster](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lobster) qualifies as a general release movie, but I doubt it played a lot of multiplexes. With the premise being that single people have to find a partner within 45 days or they get turned into animals, it’s pretty strange, as are all of director Yorgos Lanthimos’s movies. _The Lobster_ and _Dogtooth_ (also by Lanthimos) were the first movies that came to mind. Also: Mulholland Drive by David Lynch Oldboy (the original Korean film by Park Chan-wook) ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangest-movie-you-ever-saw/833616/50 "2019-05-07T21:40:23Z")
_Skidoo._ I mean, I always wanted to see Jackie Gleason trip out on acid… :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangest-movie-you-ever-saw/833616/51 "2019-05-07T21:40:27Z")
> [@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. What, Leonard Maltin never saw [Staying Alive](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086361/)? ---
**Author:** ![ruh-roh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ruh-roh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruh-roh)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangest-movie-you-ever-saw/833616/52 "2019-05-07T21:52:58Z")
1967 - The Day The Fish Came Out with Candice Bergen. I think I came across it in the mid 70’s on PBS. Haven’t been able to find it on streaming services. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangest-movie-you-ever-saw/833616/53 "2019-05-07T21:58:23Z")
A possibility for the strangest but biggest box-officed ones I’ve seen is [_Yellow Submarine_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_Submarine_(film)). Speaking of Terry Gilliam, there is [_Tideland_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tideland_(film)), which is pretty controversial, but I like it. ([trailer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pySXc-6GoU)) Similar in that it stars a young girl is Jan Švankmajer’s [_Alice_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_(1988_film)), a mix of stop-motion and live-action and based on Alice in Wonderland. ([trailer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MLafk3imk4)) Similar in being stop-motion is [_Blood Tea and Red String_](https://366weirdmovies.com/blood-tea-and-red-string-2006/). ([trailer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlr9Vo-L3zA)) I especially like [_Naisu no Mori_/_Funky Forest_](https://366weirdmovies.com/31-funky-forest-the-first-contact-naisu-no-mori-the-first-contact-2005/) ([whole damn movie–watch it](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFVC_Ktge7Y)) And by the same director [_Cha no Aji_/_The Taste of Tea_](https://366weirdmovies.com/343-the-taste-of-tea-2004/). ([trailer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NcBL6cYGL4)) ([fan-made trailer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgQVZSveauc)) Japan has plenty of candidates for strangest, though–for instance, [_Big Man Japan_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Man_Japan). ([trailer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRny1wok0Ao)) ([movie](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MROcw5CEGY)) ---
**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, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangest-movie-you-ever-saw/833616/54 "2019-05-07T22:06:33Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > 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. I see from the wikipedia page that Leonard Maltin agreed with me. “there is not enough peyote in the entire American Southwest to render this movie comprehensible or endurable” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangest-movie-you-ever-saw/833616/55 "2019-05-07T23:58:10Z")
Streets of Fire: [Streets of Fire - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streets_of_Fire) It’s just really odd. Most of it is like they started something and then gave up. I don’t mean because it’s multi-genre; that is probably the underlying reason, but multi-genre films can work well. This felt like everyone on a student project being given a camera and a cast and then someone put it all together at the last minute. The overall feel is really, really weird. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangest-movie-you-ever-saw/833616/56 "2019-05-07T23:59:47Z")
What? No love for [Upstream Color](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2084989/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1)? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2019, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangest-movie-you-ever-saw/833616/57 "2019-05-08T00:01:53Z")
I saw _ **Time Bandits** _ bombed out of my mind, which is really the only way to watch it. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2019, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangest-movie-you-ever-saw/833616/58 "2019-05-08T00:25:24Z")
What, no mention of _Freaks_ ? And _7 Faces of Dr. Lao,_ with Tony Randall playing seven odd roles. And then there’s _The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T._ ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2019, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangest-movie-you-ever-saw/833616/59 "2019-05-08T00:30:36Z")
Tie between Satyricon and The Holy Mountain. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2019, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangest-movie-you-ever-saw/833616/60 "2019-05-08T00:35:04Z")
Hmm I could make a long list, but you’ll be able to google for similar lists. Off the top of my head, picking ones obscure enough I don’t remember others talking about them… Wax or the Discovery of Bees in Television (something like that) about a worker in some sort of airforce flight simulator installation who gets mentally obsessed or possessed with some sort of bee archetype Drawing Restraint 9, a thematic conclusion of sorts to abstract things artist Matthew Barney (?) does art about, starting him and Bjork as lovers who conduct a ritualistic tea ceremony on a whaling ship which turns them into sea creatures. You have to be able to enjoy a slow hypnotic but kinda trippy pace, but if you do, it’s fascinating. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangest-movie-you-ever-saw/833616.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangest-movie-you-ever-saw/833616.md?page=4)