Weirdest Films You've seen

Watch the K Foundation Burn a Million Quid, no doubt.

Cremaster Series, Werckmeister Harmonies, anything by Jodorowsky.

Stan Brakhage's The Act of Seeing With Ones Own Eyes

. . oh, yeah, Kenneth Anger

Hmm, I think Heaven and Earth Magic is also a contender: it's 60+ minutes of black-and-white animated cut-out figures doing all sorts of weird shit; kinda like a precursor to Terry Gilliams opening credit animations for Monty Python, but much slower and lacking the humour.

Probably something early and shouty by John Waters.

The Way Things Go

Flicker

Peep

Jeff and Souk totally on point here. If you're not talking about 70s and post era video art, you're really not even in the ballpark for wierdest. That said, I'll totally admit that Jodorowsky is freakbait par excellence, as far as the normal run of things.

How about a nice bit of Svankmajer?

http://www.abc.net.au/arts/film/stories/img/baldwin/trib1.jpg

http://www.abc.net.au/arts/film/stories/img/baldwin/trib2.jpg

http://www.matthewlangley.com/blog/uploaded_images/thurs_film-754748.jpg

Svankmeyer is great (I love the Quays, too) but they still keep narrative at the center. I guess it's just a prejudice of mine to consider non-narrative wierder than narrative.

Zulawski's "Possession".

We have Svankmajer's "Alice" at my work and I can't WAIT to watch it when I start again next monday.

Weirdest:

Daisies (Chytilova)
Querelle (Fassbinder)
El Topo (Jodorowsky)
Pink Flamingos (Waters)
Eraserhead (Lynch)

Kenneth Anger wasn't that bad from what I've seen.

http://uashome.alaska.edu/~jndfg20/website/ninth.gif

http://www.itsonlyamovie.co.uk/COVERS%209/THE%20NINTH%20CONFIGURATION%20PRE%20CERT.jpg

Sweet Movie is pretty weird, especially if you don't know enough about Yugoslavian political history.

salo

Scott is OTM re:Tribulation 99. That is some fucked-up shit

Welcome back Aja :D

Fando y Lis is probably the weirdest.
August Underground was the most disturbing (in a visceral/grotesque/bum-out sense.)

i'm scared

in the bad/weird movies i love category:

http://www.pixposters.com/images/eye_us.jpg

That reminds me of another weird/bad Ashley Judd movie.

http://ec2.images-amazon.com/images/P/B0007V9WRY.01-A1B3J5I78TWGTA._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

I saw a girl in a SD/Aja shirt steal a bottle of wine out of the grocery store today.

Japanese Cyberpunk:
Death Powder
Tetsuo: Iron Man
Pinocchio 964

jed otm.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35Y7XHMJSA4

http://www.cinergie.be/film/malpertuis/cover.jpg

I saw a film on Film4 a few months ago called Dumplings - "to rejuvenate you have to start from the inside" - it was strangely captivating.

fezaffe, i chased that one up after your "three frames" thread. it's utterly bewildering from beginning to end.

Yes! Malpertuis is an all-time fave. Saw it quite by chance late night on C4 in the 80's, and it's haunted me ever since. I have since acquired a totally hammered big-box VHS, a bootleg DVD with non-removable subtitles and, sooner or later, I'm going to have to spring for the deluxe reissue that came out recently. Harry Kumel also did the wonderful 'Daughters of Darkness'.

There's a lovely edition of the novel by Jean Ray available from @las press.

OMG The Ninth Configuration, THAT shit

made all the weirder by how it could easily be re-made today and end up being another david fincher blockbuster

+ how the hell did that get the globe for best screenplay oh right 1980

I'm sure it'll just seem dated on a rewatch but Liquid Sky certainly did my head in when I was 16.

No, Liquid Sky just gets better. Saw it again recently and the club scenes are time-capsule stuff: guys wearing brightly coloured women's blouses back-to-front - I'd forgotten blokes did that. Hardcore NY underground clubs with about a dozen real freaks and everyone else super-straight in stonewashed jeans. I thought that just happened in the provinces. Over and above that sort of nonsense, there's a real sense of amorality which is still disturbing.

Saw this for the second time at the CULT! festival in Edinburgh a couple of years back, where I also caught 'Posession' and Ivan Zulueta's 'Arrebato' - now there's a fantastic rarity: really creepy stuff about freaky druggies in Franco's Spain, apparently a big inspiration to Almodovar, but much sarker.

I watched Forbidden Zone again the other night and it just made me depressed because it's not the same stoned and I promised myself I would never smoke weed again. I had to turn it off 30 minutes in.

Not the same NOT stoned I should say. I am a dipshit.

. . er, that was 'darker', though sarker would be interesting. Also saw THUNDERCRACK! at the CULT! fest, which everyone should see at least once, though you may never eat cucumber again.

Crash (Cronenberg version)
Seconds

- Woody Vasulka's "The Commission"
http://www.vasulka.org/Videomasters/pages_stills/thumbnails/TheCommission_31.jpg

- Philippe Grandrieux's "Sombre"
http://www2.uol.com.br/mostra/23/images/filmes/18f.jpg

- Noe's "Seul Contre Tous"
http://www.culturevulture.net/Movies/images/seulcont1a.jpg

- "I Drink Your Blood"

and a million more. Jodorowsky would win, and so would a bunch of really fucked-up horror movies I've seen...

"The Commission" is possibly one of the most amazing things I've ever seen, tho. If you have access to a great University library, try to find it.

Weird documentary: F4iry Tracks

(the whole film is like that trailer...no, don't waste time on it)

surprised no one mentioned 'Funny Games' yet.

http://filmjournal.net/clydefro/files/2006/08/funnygames2.jpg

http://youtube.com/watch?v=C_72--eXB6o

Begotten wins. End.

"Approximately eight to ten hours of optical work - re-photographing, visual treatments, and filtering - was required to produce one minute of film. The total postproduction period for the 78-minute movie was eight months."

That looks amazing!

It is... Don't want to spoil the plot. It's interesting to say the least. Just read the first sentence on imdb if you want to know.

"spoil the plot!"

Oh when I took an art + film class in undergrad we had to watch the water dripping film for like 12 minutes and also this one that was all about the conflation of the watermelon in american race relations. and the one with the simulated razor-cutting-an-eyeball bit. those were all weird.

Has 'Begotten' been reissued on DVD yet? If not, what's the problem - I can't be the only one ready to pay for a copy!

NO!! But I found it on bt today and will be acquiring it soon. I've been chasing it for yeaaarrss.

I mean it was released on DVD but quickly went OOP and now fetches upwards of 100 i think

http://www.echocave.net/Beaver_Trilogy.html

The Beaver Trilogy

Yay! The local video store has a copy.

Not to be offensive, but among the absolute strangest I've seen has to be Gay Niggers From Outer Space. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0274518/

"Capt. B. Dick: I know you're afraid ArmInAss, but my son- this is just step on the long road to becoming a GayNigger.

Capt. B. Dick: It started when you're father gave birth to you... and who knows, maybe after this mission, you'll get the sign of the brown ring- and can truly call yourself a GayNigger.

Capt. B. Dick: And that's what you've been preparing for since you went to GayAgent School.

ArmInAss: You really think so sir? "

I liked Decasia. It is very abstract, though. Falling asleep on drugs seems a reasonable response, though I'm a bit surprised anyone found it depressing.

A long time ago, I got bored with films where the proposition seems to be that the director will put you through as much upsetting realistic violence as he can come up with, and you have to sit there and see if you can take it. (in Haneke's case, my understanding is he adds the rider "mmm, y'know this is BAD 'kay?" )

Even Dwarfs Started Small

http://www.mitternachtskino.de/Auch-Zwerge_streifen.jpg

I don't think that either Funny Games or Audition are 'weird', and I like them both. What do you guys think is weird about them?

(I would probably go with a Jodorowsky, or maybe Even Dwarfs Started Small... even though they contain so many 'weird' tropes that it almost becomes unweird)

http://img1.nnm.ru/imagez/gallery/f/e/f/f/5/feff5259e2bdf075eb033b9ac9699149_full.jpg

oh fuckity, let's try that again.

http://img1.nnm.ru/imagez/gallery/f/e/f/f/5/feff5259e2bdf075eb033b9ac9699149_full.jpg

I saw this Russian film called <i>Kostroma</i> on the International Channel once. The plot involved a girl telling her father that she was pregnant, causing him to try to kill her. Then she waded out into a lake and he turned into a rabbit. The rest of the film had nowhere near this level of coherence. I wanted to beat my head against a wall when it ended.

Haha, the one review on IMDB:

I recently saw this movie and thought that is was the most strange movie I had ever seen. The woman was topless in some scenes which really confused me. Why couldn't she just cover herself up with leaves? In some parts, the camera was focused on a lake for several minutes. I could not stand this movie! Although there are some good parts to the movie: the scenery was nice in some parts and it was very colorful. The woman looked like Sertab Erener. I couldn't understand why the braid and the cat kept coming out of the hole. This movie is full of randomness. If you don't know what I'm talking about, then go see the movie yourself. If you are a random person then you'll really like this movie.5/10 stars

"themroc" off the top of my head. old-skool art-house classic in which a french worker tires of his life as a drone in the industrial society, turns his apartment into a cave and indulges in incest and cannibalism. Thje trailer is on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3aUD2up25E

It's heavy going, but also pretty funny in places.

It's got great music as well, I wish I could find the soundtrack!

http://kungfucinema.com/reviews/dueltothedeath_061705.htm

I understand why people would find decasia depressing - it's about decay, dissolution, it can lead you to dwell on your own mortality. movies in general carry an implicit promise about immortality, and decasia, in a haunting way, exposes the flipside of that promise. it's a deathdream.

I don't think that either Funny Games or Audition are 'weird', and I like them both. What do you guys think is weird about them?

the term is general, but the original poster seemed to be looking for examples of disturbing films that don't play by the rules. audition goes off the rails hardcore, and the "rewind" bit in funny games puts it in a similar vein.

the term is general, but the original poster seemed to be looking for examples of disturbing films that don't play by the rules.

In that case, that bit in "Gummo" where the guy smashes up a chair in his kitchen

I remember being confused by "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen", and "Buckaroo Banzai" as a kid.

The chair-wrestling part in Gummo is good. I like begotten for it's looks. Don't know if I'll watch it again any time soon though.
Duel to the death is an old must see classic! I dug up Lord of the Wu Tang again the other day too. The guy who's... "stuck"?? in the boulder is great!

I never thought Audition was half as weird as Gozu or Visitor Q. I am actually afraid to watch Imprint.

I'm nominating Gregg Araki movies, especially Nowhere.

http://services.windowsmedia.com/dvdcover/cov150/drt500/t558/t55809e6j94.jpg

Society! It starts off as the cheesiest 80s high school movie, before turning into a super-weird Cronenberg style body shock horror film. Perhaps not that weird in itself, but the disjuncture between the two parts of the film is incredibly jarring.

I am actually afraid to watch Imprint.

I watched it with my cousin, a grown man, who begged me to turn it off. it's a freefloating montage of repulsion. just when you think it can't get any more sick + twisted, oh, it does. but miike's got style to burn and he conveys the human nature of his characters, it's not just grindhouse grossouts. highly recommended A++++

Are any of these movies in English?

Society and Araki movies are.

Araki did Nowhere. I guess that was really strange, but I loved that movie.

actually you know what else ought to qualify here is Beastmaster.

Are any of these movies in English?

imprint was miike's first english language film. decasia contains no dialogue.

anyone know the name of a movie where a guy gets trapped inside a phonebox, some dudes plant it in a busy town centre at the start and leave the door open. This guy walks in and the door snaps shut. He spends the whole movie trapped inside trying to get passers by to help him escape. The dudes return at the end and they take him to a big room full of other people trapped in phone boxes, most of them skeletons.

"La Cabina"

haha "The Phone Box"

http://www.crispinglover.com/What-Is-It-poster-copy.jpg

I've been wanting to see What Is It but I can't find it anywheres.

I think my all-time answer for this is Reflecting Skin.

oh yeah What Is It looks to be fairly horrifying.

Thread about "La Cabina". I found the whole thing on youtube the other day:

"la cabina" c/d?

Saw 'Imprint' at Dead By dawn this year. It's grim, and very close to my personal limits, but there's a lot more going on than pure gross-out.

Has no-one mentioned 'Snake of June' yet?

I don't really understand how excessive violence/gross-out content = "weird"

that Timothy Carey film The World's Greatest Sinner is high on this list...

eraserhead and gozu are weird

I don't think that either Funny Games or Audition are 'weird', and I like them both. What do you guys think is weird about them?

the term is general, but the original poster seemed to be looking for examples of disturbing films that don't play by the rules. audition goes off the rails hardcore, and the "rewind" bit in funny games puts it in a similar vein.

I see where you're coming from, but from what I remember of Audition there was a definite build towards the 'off the rails' bit, rather than a completely subverted narrative, and with Funny Games, the purpose of the 'rewind'is made explicitly clear - it's a bolstering of a singular message. I guess I consider 'weird' to be either towards a need for interpretation and deep thought, or very unsettling, or just batshit insane. I suppose Audition fits the second criterion, but to be properly weird I'd demand a bit of all three. For example, I was going to proffer The Saragossa Manuscript on this thread, but I think it just makes too much sense, despite its odd narrative structure and bizarre motifs.

Anyway, there is much stuff that has been mentioned that I have never seen, so I shall be doing plenty of digging this summer, oh yes.

ok, that's spooky you suddenly finding La Cabina this week.

ALEX IN NYC!!~!

that Timothy Carey film The World's Greatest Sinner is high on this list...

I used to want to see that because of the Zappa connection. Is it worth looking for?

Yet to see it, but Michael 'Psychotronic' Weldon seriously rates it, and reccomendations don't come much higher in this field

Troll 2. Besides being legendary for its awfulness, it's really awful in some of the most random, weird, surreal ways. i'd say it's up there with Manos: the Hands of Fate.

The poseter for WHAT IS IT with naked Shirley Temple in Nazi gear scared the shit out of me all on its lonesome. There was an interview w/Crispin Glover about the movie w/photo stills in a book called Apocalypse Culture II, which I did not open before I checked out from the library. A good third of it was in praise of child pornography...I turned the book back in about 3 hours later. Fucking creepy.

yeah here's an interview wth the guy who edited published that book (he's a friend of Glover and other "counter-cultural" folks like Boyd Rice):

http://www.reason.com/news/show/28565.html

kind of a twat

(though admittedly his company Feral House has published some good books)

Yeah, I loved Sex & Rockets and Lords of Chaos, tho I did not realize they were the same publishing company as that who realeased the book that starts out by complaining no one would print or sell their book with so many pictures of naked children in sexy poses and chapter-long masturbatory fantasies about Jon-Benet Ramsey.

I way preferred Loompanics, who just died recently. So sad.

Abbott, I have a friend who is trying to fuck C. Glover and they have phone chats a lot

and she told me about this movie@!

The director's commentary on the Willard extra music video for "Ben" has him talking at super-fast pace about his future movie projects and how he plans to fund them. The more of his stuff I see, the more of a worthless creep he seems.

Here's the pic of the first What Is It movie poster, really fucked up and w/a naked Shirley Temple fondling herself w/a riding crop. not safe for work or maybe anywhere else. You can delete this post if it's inappropriate:

http://www.lowculture.com/archives/images/whatthefuck.jpg

Troll 2. Besides being legendary for its awfulness, it's really awful in some of the most random, weird, surreal ways.

the dinner table scene is one big pile of WTF

I just love the fact that Troll 1 was Julia Louis-Dreyfus' first movie. It's shit compared to number two though.