# The best movie no one ever heard of. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 18, 2005, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922 "2005-07-18T00:56:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/1 "2005-07-18T00:56:14Z")
My vote (for the moment) goes to [The Sadist](http://imdb.com/title/tt0057465/). Starring that star of stars…Arch Hall Jr! Who went on to fame as an airline pilot. His biggest claim to fame before this flick was [Eegah](http://imdb.com/title/tt0055946/) co starring with a young Richard “Jaws” Keil. The Sadist is losely based on the Starkweather/Fugate murder spree from the late 50’s and it’s a great movie. Very intense for it’s time (1963). Hall does great job as the crazed Charlie who has not one ounce of remorse. Marilyn Manning does a great job as his gum chewing teeny bopper girlfriend. If you get a chance…catch this movie. Well worth your time. One last thing…I love the way he meets his end. Don’t read this if you think you might see the movie. He falls in a pit of rattlesnakes. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/2 "2005-07-18T00:59:23Z")
I’ll offer up a little number that I played in the current Movie Game: [Inserts.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073172/) Hollywood at the dawn of talkies, a nekkid Jessica Harper…what’s not to love? 😃 ---
**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:** [July 18, 2005, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/3 "2005-07-18T02:21:47Z")
_The 7 Faces of Dr Lao_ - I have it on DVD and everyone I’ve loaned it to has thought it was great. But it’s virtually unknown. (With the exception that Joel on MST3K said it was his favorite movie of all time.) ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/4 "2005-07-18T03:12:08Z")
Equilibrium. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/5 "2005-07-18T03:46:49Z")
_The Blue Igauna_, starring a pre-_Practice_ Dylan McDermott. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/6 "2005-07-18T03:47:59Z")
[I am the Wizard of Speed and Time](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/6303340997/103-8768347-0810252?v=glance#product-details) Jaw dropping special effects all done without CGI. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/7 "2005-07-18T04:36:35Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > [I am the Wizard of Speed and Time](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/6303340997/103-8768347-0810252?v=glance#product-details) > Jaw dropping special effects all done without CGI. Oh my cod! Holy mackerel! Going to have to buy that sucker while I remember to. ---
**Author:** ![GrizzRich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7ba0ec/32.png) [@GrizzRich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrizzRich)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/8 "2005-07-18T05:39:56Z")
[A Polish Vampire in Burbank](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089823/) is such campy fun! Written, directed and starring [Mark Pirro](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0685314/); I believe he thinks himself a modern-day Ed Wood. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/9 "2005-07-18T06:21:07Z")
I’m a big fan of [Closet Land](http://imdb.com/title/tt0101597/), and I’m pretty sure most people never heard of it. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/10 "2005-07-18T06:57:54Z")
How unknown is [Last Night](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0156729/)? That, and I always thought [Zeppelin](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068014/) had a certain quirky charm to it. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/11 "2005-07-18T08:06:30Z")
[Return of the Secaucus 7](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081420/) A great John Sayles flick. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/12 "2005-07-18T13:02:40Z")
[The Business of Fancydancing](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0303313/). Taken from Sherman Alexei’s book of short stories, the script is like filmed poetry. Amazing stuff on a shoestring budget. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/13 "2005-07-18T13:14:04Z")
[The Well](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0044202/) – great social drama, years ahead of its time. [Black Moon](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0072709/) – weird and wonderful [Deathwatch (Le Mort en direct)](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0081182/) – Probably the best adaptation of a science fiction novel ever. Barely released. [Picking Up the Pieces](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0192455/) – wild little comedy. Probably has the greatest number of well-known actors of any movie in this thread (see the full credits), but no one has seen it. [Playtime](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0062136/) – one of the greatest comedies ever – but you must watch it in a theater. Even a big-screen TV isn’t big enough. ---
**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:** [July 18, 2005, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/14 "2005-07-18T13:46:12Z")
Hmmm – I’'ve seen **The Seven Faces of Doctor Lao**. It was fairly famous when it came out – it’s hard to think of it as a movie “nobody knows”. Saw **The SWizard of Speed and Time** , and met its director, Mike Jittlov. He’s got a lot of other shorts, equally wonderful, and I have no idea where you’d see them. If you get a chance, watch is **Animato**. It’s his “audition” piece, showing what he can do. Incidentally, he described his plans for a full-length feature versiion of TWOSAT back when he had just made the short version, and it was very different from the version released in 1989. I suspect he couldn’t get the money he needed, which is a shame. His _planned_ version of TWOSAT would’ve been a helluva flick. I’ve seen **Deathwatch** – it showed in art movie houses, and I’ve even taped it from TV. Interesting, but slow-moving. Others: I’ve mentioned **Panic in Year Zero** on these Boards before (and pretty recently, too). Ray Milland plays a father trying to save his family after unnamed Bad Guys (undoubtedly Commie Rooskies) nuke LA. Made about 1960 on a very low budgetm, but very well done. **Creation of the Humanoids** – offbeat SF movie supposedly based on Jack Williamson’s novel “The Humanoids” (which the recent movie “I, Robot” resembles a lot more than it does Asimov’s novel), but which differs from its source radically. Worth watching. **The Hidden** – might not be as unknown, but I’m surprised how few people seem to know about it. **Robinson Crusoe on Mars** - ditto. Siurprisingly good SF from the early 1960s. Features a pre-Batman Adam West. ---
**Author:** ![Balle\_M](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/13edae/32.png) [@Balle\_M](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balle_M)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/15 "2005-07-18T14:02:31Z")
[Talvisota (Winter War)](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0098437/) Good flick about the Russian invasion of Finland in '39. ---
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/16 "2005-07-18T14:16:16Z")
[Cold Feet](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0097076/) - You get 94 minutes of Tom Waits, and he is magnificent! ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/17 "2005-07-18T14:17:27Z")
**Sorcerer** , which is itself a remake of **The Wages Of Fear** , also a too-little-known movie. Plot: Deep in the jungle of Central America, an oil well catches fire. To snuff the flames, they need dynamite, but the only TNT they can find is in a shed deep in the woods; it hasn’t been turned in ages, so the highly-volatile nitroglycerine has leached out of the sticks, meaning the slightest bump could cause an explosion. Four desperate men, who came to Central America to escape their pasts and have nothing to lose, are hired to drive two trucks across 200 miles of unforgiving jungle terrain, carrying the TNT to its destination. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/18 "2005-07-18T14:21:27Z")
[url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0166396/]Waking Ned Devine. [/quote] My claiming that “no one’s ever heard of it” here on the SD is a pretty big risk; we’re international, so odds are someone, _somewhere_, will have heard of it. On a personal note, I really like this movie. A lot. One o fmy faves. Since the Commitments and The Snapper are also on my personal faves list, Ireland has a better track record with me by far with movies than Hollywood. Irish Dopers: feel free to recommend me some more good Irish flicks. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/19 "2005-07-18T14:22:29Z")
[Waking Ned Devine.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0166396/) :smack: ---
**Author:** ![SisterCoyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@SisterCoyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SisterCoyote)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/20 "2005-07-18T14:22:15Z")
> [@Ellis Dee](#): > > I’m a big fan of [Closet Land](http://imdb.com/title/tt0101597/), and I’m pretty sure most people never heard of it. I’ve not only heard of it, I’ve seen it. [Boondock Saints](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0144117/) gets my vote, although it’s a bloody movie. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922.md?page=2)