# The most bizarre flicks. Suggestions please. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 30, 2001, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-bizarre-flicks-suggestions-please/84591 "2001-09-30T04:17:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![medstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-bizarre-flicks-suggestions-please/84591/61 "2001-10-01T22:48:55Z")
I can’t believe that someone mentioned “Mr. Mike’s Mondo Video”. I hope I don’t offend anyone, but in my opinion, that movie wasn’t worth the film it was printed on. As I recall, the whole movie was a bunch of unrelated scenes that seemed like rejected SNL sketches that were edited into 2 hours worth of crap just to make money. I’m wondering if Mariah Carey’s new movie Glitter might be better than this dreck or maybe even Battlefield Earth. Not that I’ve seen either of these two movies. But don’t let my opinion stop you. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-bizarre-flicks-suggestions-please/84591/62 "2001-10-01T23:07:47Z")
Disney’s “Three Caballeros” starts out as a cartoon travelogue about South America (with a South Pole-themed short thrown in for padding), but then devolves into a surrealist nightmare with Donald Duck whipped into a sexual frenzy over Mexican women. This and the “Pink Elephant” sequence from “Dumbo” make me nostalgic for when Disney movies were more than jumping-boards for Broadway war horses and Icecapades. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-bizarre-flicks-suggestions-please/84591/63 "2001-10-01T23:17:01Z")
Bizarre is his speciality. Just to name a few: Videodrome Crash Dead Ringers Naked Lunch The Fly (okay, this one is mainstream but still a tad bizarre) ---
**Author:** ![Lucifer12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b38774/32.png) [@Lucifer12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucifer12)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-bizarre-flicks-suggestions-please/84591/64 "2001-10-01T23:41:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bourbonstew \* > \*\*This real winner, [Forbidden Zone](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0080752) features Herve Villechaise (yes, Tattoo), as the king of some wierd realm reached from the basement of one of the local wierdo’s homes. Another plot summary, from IMDB: "A French midget king of the sixth dimension, complete with his two battling wives and a slew of topless concubines, capture unwitting commoners, including Squeezit Henderson the Chicken Boy. " > > Features a fantastic turn by Danny Elfman doing a Cab Calloway riff as Satan, a frog in a tux, english dudes in diapers smacking each other, and some terrible/terribly funny show tunes. Unsane. \*\* Oh yeah, this one’s high on the bizarro list! God I love it-it’s basically a Betty Boop jazz cartoon with kinky sex and Oingo Boingo, Herve Villechaise and a painting by Robert Blue. Good call, sir! For pure weirdness I would recommend ‘Alice’ by Jan Svankmajer. Here’s the link: [http://amazon.imdb.com/Title?0095715](http://amazon.imdb.com/Title?0095715) It’s incredibly unsettling-‘Alice In Wonderland’ done by Kafka with fucked-up, creepy stop-motion characters. Cripes, it was _days_ before I could get that damn White Rabbit out of my head…brrrr! Also, The Brothers Quay Collection: Ten Astonishing Short Films 1984-1993 is a real mind-fuck. ---
**Author:** ![caircair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/91b2a8/32.png) [@caircair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caircair)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2001, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-bizarre-flicks-suggestions-please/84591/65 "2001-10-02T00:22:38Z")
Good lord! No one’s mentioned ANYTHING by Ed Wood, Jr. yet? Glen or Glenda Bride of the Monster and my favorite: Plan 9 from Outer Space. How much more bizarre do you need? ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2001, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-bizarre-flicks-suggestions-please/84591/66 "2001-10-02T03:22:20Z")
Freaks was mentioned already… so that makes twice But anyway, one of these posts reminded me…there is a movie starring Rosie Perez as the girlfriend of a Mexican voodoo priest guy. He kidnaps two teenagers (one played by Heather Graham’s little sister). The name of the film is the female character’s name. Like “Perdita Whatshername” or something like that. It is weird, violent, rambling, and bizarre. Lots of sex scenes, too. ---
**Author:** ![Whitedove](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Whitedove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whitedove)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2001, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-bizarre-flicks-suggestions-please/84591/67 "2001-10-02T03:47:29Z")
Wow! I’m bowled-over by all the suggestions! I’m printing out all of these and keeping a copy in my glove box in the car so that I can keep it handy for those unexpected trips into the video store. It’s going to be a busy winter with lots of movies to see. Hope my family can hack some of these. heh. I’ve seen several of these movies already and I agree with most of the choices. Thanks everyone! Greatly appreciated! ---
**Author:** ![strikerhooey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/57b2e6/32.png) [@strikerhooey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/strikerhooey)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2001, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-bizarre-flicks-suggestions-please/84591/68 "2001-10-02T07:59:01Z")
The Fourth Man directed by Paul Verhoven (before he left Holland for Hollywood) is amazing. It was written by Gerard Reve and stars Jeroen Krabbe. Avoid the dubbed version. ---
**Author:** ![Philo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e495f1/32.png) [@Philo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philo)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2001, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-bizarre-flicks-suggestions-please/84591/69 "2001-10-02T10:57:11Z")
I’ll recommend Greaser’s Palace. I don’t think I’ve seen anything weirder. ---
**Author:** ![Ace\_Face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/858c86/32.png) [@Ace\_Face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace_Face)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2001, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-bizarre-flicks-suggestions-please/84591/70 "2001-10-02T21:53:01Z")
One bizzare film I saw at the Seattle International Film Festival this year: **Battle Royale** is a Japanese flick with Beat Takeshi in which junior high school students are forced to kill each other off, in incredibly gruesome fashion, on a remote island. Some of it is effective satire, but mostly this movie just creeped me out. I keep wondering if this film will see a broader release. I doubt any American distributer will touch it, especially in the wake of Columbine and 9/11. A few people mentioned **Tetsuo** – **Tetsuo II: Bodyhammer** is equally strange. I would categorize most Jim Jarmush films as bizzare (and overrated, but that’s another story). ---
**Author:** ![Swampwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Swampwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swampwolf)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2001, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-bizarre-flicks-suggestions-please/84591/71 "2001-10-02T23:06:51Z")
I can’t believe nobody’s mentioned “Sindbad of the Seven Seas,” starring Lou Ferrigno! Very bad, very bizarre (and has some interesting parallels with Disney’s “Aladdin”) “B.C. Rock,” An animated film. I saw it once in High school and haven’t been able to get it out of my head. “Metropolis,” The first science-fiction film ever released. 1926–silent. There are others that I can’t think of at the moment. I’ll post them when I remember. If I remember to post them. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-bizarre-flicks-suggestions-please/84591/72 "2001-10-03T00:34:26Z")
All my nominations have been named already… I will just say that even if _Pi_ and _Jacob’s Ladder_ are not the most bizarre movies, they are my favorite bizarre movies. _Lost Highway_ was Lynch’s rather flaccid attempt to get bizarre, but didn’t quite succeed in being good. I haven’t seen _Naked Lunch_, but I will someday. I’m told it was quite faithful to William Burroughs’s book. Haven’t seen _Zardoz_ either but I want to. _The Crying Game_ does not count as a bizarre movie. It is not even that good. It’s just about playing a trick on the audience. “Ha ha! Made ya look!” _A Boy and His Dog_—more grim than bizarre, but it did have that bizarre touch. One thing that stood out was the combat sequence early on: it took several pages to describe in the book, but when filmed it took about ten seconds. It was very tightly directed. The semen-milking machine was the bizarre part but that was not in Harlan Ellison’s original story. I can’t believe no one has mentioned _Mondo Cane_: the bizarre movie that added the word _mondo_ to slang English. Actually, _mondo_ is Italian for ‘world’; _mondo cane_, ‘dog world’. (_Koyanisqaatsi_ and _Baraka_ played that theme far better without so much bizarrity but with more heart.) _Henry and June_ was really sexy, but I don’t know why you would consider it “bizarre.” Hey, how about James Coburn in _The President’s Analyst_? That was such a hip, funny, weirdo movie, one of the best of 60s psychedelia combined with political satire. _Lisztomania_—oh yeah, that one :eek: I saw it when I was 16 and it permanently warped my mind. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-bizarre-flicks-suggestions-please/84591/73 "2001-10-03T00:43:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by blessedwolf \* > \*\* > > “Metropolis,” The first science-fiction film ever released. 1926–silent. > > \*\* Wrong. Sorry. _From The Earth To The Moon_ based on Jules Verne’s novel, came first. Around 1906-09? However, _Metropolis_ is the **best** sf/silent film, I’ll give ya that. ---
**Author:** ![dogbutler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogbutler/32/428_2.png) [@dogbutler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dogbutler)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-bizarre-flicks-suggestions-please/84591/74 "2001-10-03T00:58:39Z")
How about \*\* Repo Man\*\*? ---
**Author:** ![Barney111](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@Barney111](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barney111)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-bizarre-flicks-suggestions-please/84591/75 "2001-10-03T01:53:27Z")
Barton Fink. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-bizarre-flicks-suggestions-please/84591/76 "2001-10-07T11:01:48Z")
Ed and His Dead Mother with Steve Buscemi ---
**Author:** ![HairyPotter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ab097/32.png) [@HairyPotter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HairyPotter)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-bizarre-flicks-suggestions-please/84591/77 "2001-10-07T13:35:26Z")
**Hedwig and the Angry Inch** involves a botched trans-sexual operation and a really off-the-wall band touring a chain of seafood restaurants. **Rocky Horror Picture Show** - I didn’t notice anyone mention this classic involving cross-dressing aliens. **The Sound of Music** presents a family of aristocrats as wholesome, down-to-earth people, as opposed to traditional oppresors of the common man. **Carnival** presents domestic violence as a valid means of expressing affection. **Bonzo Goes to College** provides an accurate preview of the Regan presidency. ---
**Author:** ![HairyPotter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ab097/32.png) [@HairyPotter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HairyPotter)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-bizarre-flicks-suggestions-please/84591/78 "2001-10-07T13:40:17Z")
Sorry about the bolding in my previous post. I forgot another bizarre favorite: **Putney Swope** concerns an African American becoming Chairman of the Board of a successful advertising firm. The ads that come out of this transformed firm are a riot! ---
**Author:** ![wariat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@wariat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wariat)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-bizarre-flicks-suggestions-please/84591/79 "2001-10-07T16:42:29Z")
I’m going to give “Eraserhead” another mention, (a) because it really is a bizarre film and (b) because it has personal meaning for me: it was the first film I saw after I moved into my new flat and it set the tone of the next five years, until in the end I abandoned the place. (I still have dreams about that wretched chicken). For my own contribution, however, “Micky One” was pretty peculiar, and “Lilith” was quite odd also (not to mention “Dr Mabuse”). Happy watching ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-bizarre-flicks-suggestions-please/84591/80 "2001-10-07T16:59:32Z")
Anything based on a Roald Dahl book, specifically **Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory** and **The Witches**. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-bizarre-flicks-suggestions-please/84591.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-bizarre-flicks-suggestions-please/84591.md?page=5)