Can you recommend any obscure, weird or disturbing films...?

Question

...films like Blue Velvet, Clockwork Orange, City of the Lost Children etc... & if you know the director even better. No objection against foreign films either.

Answer 1

Anything by David Lynch, especially if you can get ahold of his early experimental work.

I'd also recommend Pi by Darren Aronofsky and 8 1/2 by Federico Fellini

Answer 2

Eraserhead. Director: David Lynch. You probably already know about this one. It is oblique and far out and strange and hypnotic and bizarre and if you are super smart, boring. There are others. But no list of obscure, weird and disturbing films can be complete with including Eraserhead. It is in black and white. I can almost guarantee you will want to get up and leave the room before it's over, but there is something about it that is hypnotic... and I just wish you good luck, getting through it. Any others? Wait... Session 9 could have been a contender, but it took itself too seriously and didn't explain its story line clearly enough as the movie progressed, sooooo... but it is about being inside Danvers Mental Hospital in Danvers, Massachusetts, U.S.A. and you can fill in the blanks from there... what else? I give up. Read the other answers. I am sure you will find some gems! Sent with good energies from Chris in South Portland, Maine, U.S.A. (I am 63 years old.)

Answer 3

UPDATED ANSWER:

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977, Dir. Richard Brooks; starring Diane Keaton) - Based on Judith Rossner's book. Both the book and the movie will make you shitt your pants. Seriously.. you HAVE TO see this movie. Currently only on VHS not DVD.

The Nightporter (1974, dir. Liliana Cavani, starring Charlotte Rampling): Very disturbing and controversial. About the sadomasochistic relationship between a former Nazi officer and the concentration camp survivor he tormented. The former nazi officer is now a hotel nightporter and the concentration camp survivor is a hotel visitor. They reunite for the first time and revive their sadomasochistic relationship. Very weird.

Taxi Driver is another good one but you've probably already seen it.

Cabaret: (1972, dir. Bob Fosse, starring Liza Minnelli) another movie that will disturb you (about Weimar-era Berlin / 1930's). Even though its considered a musical, it is so much more than that, the ending (if you consider the historical/social implications) is unsettling..

The Damned ("La Caduta Degli Dei"): (1969 dir. Luchino Visconti; starring Helmut Berger, Helmut Griem, Dirk Bogarde) kind of along the same lines as Cabaret; about the Night of The Long Knives, when Hitler had the Nazi Party purged of all homosexuals. The film is also about a wealthy German family collapsing as a result of their decadence and debauchery during the early 1930's. Very disturbing gay orgy/massacre scene.

Bent: (1997, dir. Sean Mathias; starring Clive Owen) Sad, sad movie about a homosexual who is sent to Dachau.

Muriel's Wedding: (1994, dir. PJ Hogan, starring Toni Collette) a great movie. Don't let the DVD cover fool you. It's not a light and fluffy comedy a la My Best Friends Wedding. It is very touching yet can be very uncomfortable and unsettling to watch.

Answer 4

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Oh that was so weird, but it's one to enjoy. It's a semi-parody of Hamlet, and it focuses on the two characters, Rosnecranz and Guildenstern, who obviously die in the play... and are some underlying themes that make you think...

You should rent it, watch it, and laugh. Some parts are really disturbing, like the players and the ideas behind the movie. After that or before, read the play too by Tom Stoppard.

You have to watch the latest version because I heard that the older ones are really lame. Check it out on this site!

Answer 5

Kill Bill 1 and 2
L' Amant (The Lover -- Annaud)
Paths of Glory
The Crying Game
The Passion of the Christ
Falling Down
To Have and Have Not
The Holy Mountain (Jodorowsky)
El Topo
Un Chien Andalou
Le Charme discret de la bourgeoisie (Bunuel)
L'Age D'Or
Turkish Delight (Verhoven)
Viskningar och rop (Cries and Whispers -- Bergman)
La Strada
Vampires (Carpenter)
Kafka (Soderbergh)
Assault on Precinct 13 (the original -- Carpenter)

Answer 6

Jacob's Ladder...

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099871/

Eyes Wide Shut...

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120663/

The Peanut Butter Solution

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089789/

What Dreams May Come

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120889/

Answer 7

I'm surprised no one has mentioned "Vulgar the Clown". It is a movie by Kevin Smith (director of Mall Rats, Clerks, Jay and Silent Bob, etc.). I can't tell what is so disturbing about it or I would ruin it. Let's just say the name says it all. This movie is a must see.

Answer 8

"Wrony" (or "Crows" in english). Depressing Polish movie. It's okay.
"A Friend Of the Deceased" Ukrainian. This guy's wife leaves him; he hires a hitman to kill the "other man," but decides to put the hit on himself instead. Then he falls for a hooker and has to hire a 2nd hitman to take out the first....really good movie. I'm not doing it justice.
"The Trip" Old 60's LSD movie. Peter Fonda wants to try LSD. It's just him walking around LA tripping (supposedly for real). Strange!

Answer 9

Requiem for a Dream
Maria Full of Grace (in Spanish w/ english subtitles)

Both very good movies
also:
Trainspotting- though I've only seen a portion of it was very disturbing.

Answer 10

Well, A Clockwork orange is really disturbing...Strangeland was REALLY wierd.....American Beauty was wierd but not disturbing..VERY good!!
American History X was a bit disturbing at parts-VERY good...Ever see Rocky Horror PIcture Show? Not disturbing (at least not to me, but it was quite strange....