It's probably not a surprise to any of the regulars here that I like strange movies.   Through the years I've seen a large number of odd movies.    It would be hard for me to pick the strangest.   However, I'm going to try.  

Je t'aime, je t'aime by Alain Resnais  



This is the full movie - only watch if you like strange films.  

This movie is a sci-fi movie about time travel.  Experimenters pick a hopeless suicide case as their test subject for a time travel device they've invented because they figure the experiment is quite dangerous and who better to man the test than someone who already wants to die.  The time travel works and takes him into the past, only it's his past, the memories that caused him his misery.  

Yes, it's very French.  But it's also very strange.  The story is told almost randomly through excerpts of the non-important moments of this man's life.  

Is it something I'd watch over and over.  No, not really.  But it is a very strange experience to view it.

There, I've only listed one.  I left plenty for all of you to list.  I'm curious to see if you come up with something I haven't seen yet.    

Firstly, Je t'aime je t'aime's idea is golden, Michael. I wish I'd thought of it first. I'm probably going to watch it sometime.

It's those French filmmakers isn't it? Always making those strange movies.

I've got two, both from French directors. I can't narrow it down between these two. ;D

The first is called The Science of Sleep. Very, very strange movie, the dream sequences are entrancing in a way, really pulled me in. It's about this man with a sleep disorder where he confuses his dreams with reality, who moves to France after the death of his father but falls in love with his neighbour.



The second is Enter the Void. I really can't think of anything so strange, some really confronting scenes that leave you awestruck. It's basically about this drug dealer who dies in a deal and his spirit roams over the ones he loved and he observes them. Occasionally we see some flashbacks as well. The whole movie is shown either through the main character's POV or from over his shoulder.



Both great movies by the way.

The first movie I remember thinking it was bizarre and got me into trying to find those perfect weird movies was Jacob's Ladder directed by Adrian Lyne. I haven't watched it in years, though, so I could have a different take now a thousand movies later.

The other one that comes to mind as weird isn't weird for the plot, but weird for the genre mash-up that didn't work. Tim Burton tossed out a movie called Corpse Bride a couple years back that they're trying to sell by bundling it with some good movies. Corpse Bride was weird because it mashed up two genres that really should not be mashed up. Horror and Romantic Comedy. it contained elements of both and did it pretty decently, as I recall. But so decently that it came off as very bizarre and in the end, I did not like it because I didn't know what to think by the end of it. Horror with comedy with if it goes camp and doesn't take itself seriously. This one took itself dead serious on both sides of the equation going for classic Romcom moments against a horrific backdrop. As I said: weird.

What's strange is that our own ideas about 'strange' probably come from a complete ignorance of knowing the inspiration behind these things. Probably also depends on our state of sobriety, too.

I'd kinda venture to say that Apocalypse Now is a pretty strange movie in that it's coherent, made in a classical sense, but the end result is dark and psychedelic. I've never been on an acid trip, but I would imagine watching the movie is something like that, only in the end you realize you were sober the whole time. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, on the other hand, leaves that realization a bit ambiguous.

As for total-nonsense strange, La Jetée could be up at the top. I've never seen it all the way through, but it gives me the impression that it's a little out there. Also, I made a film in college that was strange in itself, The Pregnancy of Daniel Ball. If you want to see it, you're on your own. It's out there somewhere. It's experimental to say the least. :)

Twilight!

I still find it strange that anybody likes this crap

Mark

For me, that would be Alejandro Jodorowsky's The Holy Mountain. Jodorowsky's best-known work is his spaghetti western El Topo, but Holy Mountain probably takes it for sheer strangeness. Plus it's intense as hell (ho ho).



EDIT: Silly me. Basket reminded me; I've forgotten the most bizarre, and the awesomest, GREATEST HORROR-COMEDY EVER, namely, Hausu. Criterion released an edition of this utterly insane flick on my birthday a couple years ago, and the world hasn't been the same since (of course, this can be said of any event in history).

My favourite director of all time is a Japanese guy called Shinya Tsukamoto. If you haven't seen any of his films, and want to experience images and sound you may not have done before, check them out.

But don't blame me, he's clearly not for everyone.

The weirdest film I ever saw was David Lynch's. Eraserhead.

Quoted from George Willson The first movie I remember thinking it was bizarre and got me into trying to find those perfect weird movies was Jacob's Ladder directed by Brian DePalma. I haven't watched it in years, though, so I could have a different take now a thousand movies later..

Jacob's Ladder was actually an Adrian Lyne film.  It did have those bizarre hallucinatory scenes, but at least we got the explanation about the drug at the end.  For sheer inexplicable weirdness, it's hard to beat Black Moon, a 1975 film by Louis Malle.  Surprise, surprise, another Frenchman.  It's something about a future war between men and women, but there's no real story, just a bunch of bizarro scenes strung togther like a dream.  And don't forget the talking unicorn.

@Heretic -- Hausu is wonderful. Kung-Fu was my favourite character.  :)

Big love for Eraserhead, obviously. Not so much for Enter the Void. I like Gasper Noe's other stuff but Void hung around way too long for my liking.

I'll have to mention an Italian on this thread so I'll throw in Lucio Fulci's "The Beyond".

Andrzej Zulawski "Possession" is also one that left an impression on me, namely when I found out the guy that did some of the weirdest in camera effects work was also the guy that created E.T. for Speilberg.

And I better throw in Brian Yuzna's "Society" which is the best of the 'Body Melt' sub genre.

I also remember watching the Hungarian movie "Taxidermia" which had a bit of a reputation as being the strangest movies of recent times but I found it boring.

I'll probably remember more later. If I go up into my loft (where I keep my DVD collection) I'd probably come back down with a list in treble figures, but then people may hunt me down.  

Enjoy!

Great thread.

I'd be hard pressed to pick the strangest I've ever seen as there've been so many strange films but out of this thread, I'll pick Enter the Void and Holy Mountain.

I've seen Enter the Void twice at this point, once on the big screen, and while it does get tedious, I can definitely say I've never seen another film like it. For me, it was, for better or for worse, truly a transcendent experience.

For surrealist/quasi-surrealist cinema, I think Holy Mountain is definitely the most immediately and obviously strange. The imagery alone from start to finish is so dense and bombarding, it's borderline sensory overload. The metaphysical element only serves to compound the intensity. I dare say, Jodorowsky has changed the way I think about film. There's certainly no unseeing his stuff.

I'd recommend you, Chris, check out the DVD commentary. It's quite brilliant.

Anyway, I love and highly recommend both films. Strangely, I think Holy Mountain would be more palatable for most people.

--

In the interest of contributing to the thread, the strangest film I've seen recently would be Beyond the Black Rainbow, currently available on Netflix InstantWatch. I'll let the trailer speak for itself.

Quoted from B.C. Andrzej Zulawski "Possession" is also one that left an impression on me, namely when I found out the guy that did some of the weirdest in camera effects work was also the guy that created E.T. for Speilberg.

Love this flick as well. Absolutely bonkers on every level. One of the best.

Some great suggestions here and surprisingly a few I haven't seen.   Most notably, The Holy Mountain which I'm very surprised I somehow missed.

Keep them coming.  

@James -- I'll be checking out Beyond the Black Rainbow, that looks interesting.

I may as well through in "Keoma", which is a really surreal Spag Western by Enzo Casterelli. It's full of plague, a ghost like figure, and has flashbacks done within a scene (without actually cutting to a flashback). Really technically brilliant stuff (you can understand why Tarantino likes his work so much). Oh, and yeah...it still has all the revenge elements and annoying music that goes with the Italian Western, naturally.

Oh and I forgot to mention the Prague filmaker Jan Svankmajer -- I watched the movie 'Lunacy' recently. His 80's take on Alice in Wonderland is also worth a look.

Big Props for the Duffster loving on Hausu!
Saw that on the big screen stoned beyond words last year! ;D

And Louis Malle's Black Moon is a sweet riff on Alice in Wonderland.

I'll throw a kooky road trip flick into the proverbial bonfire! ;D
Bunny and the Bull!

3 movies pop into mind (and I'm not saying they're bad) :

The Fountain
The Science of Sleep
Mulholland Drive

Hated The Fountain. Liked the other two.

:-)

Quoted from Ryan1 Jacob's Ladder was actually an Adrian Lyne film.

Indeed it was. I've lost my mind recently, and I've yet to find it. I'm currently carrying a roll of Smarties that I could swear were SweetTarts when I picked them up. Oh well.

Noticed someone mentioned Mulholland Drive. Yeah, that's a bizarre one as well. As a matter of fact, most of David Lynch's stuff is pretty odd.

Strange movies, huh…not really my department. The one that springs to mind to me is Being John Malkovich, but a definite mention to Jacob’s Ladder as well.

Quoted from MacDuff Hated The Fountain. Liked the other two. :-)

MacDuff! You disappoint me! ;D ;D

...surprised no-one's mentioned Cronenberg's Naked Lunch (and it's typewriter-cockroach...)

Just sayin'.

Quoted from nawazm11 MacDuff! You disappoint me! ;D ;D

Haha. From an entertainment point of view, it just didn't work for me. Love Aronofsky's other work (Black Swan, The Wrestler, Requiem).

Oh well.

:-)

Quoted from CoopBazinga The one that springs to mind to me is Being John Malkovich...

Yes. This.

Also, if it counts, then The Prestige. Awesome, but... not sure it's a film at all. Did my nut in right to the CGI-ed Tesla machine, then blew my mind.

The Holy Mountain.

Any of Jodorowsky work that I’ve seen will challenge your weirdness threshold!

Inland Empire is particularly strange even for the great Lynch.

Mulholland Dr. is his masterpiece in my opinion and does make sense if you know his intentions. Check out the F.A.Q on IMDb, it has the most logical explanation I've come across. It doesn't explain everything but gives you a intriguing insight.

Just watched Enter the Void and I dug it.  It was strangely both disquieting and comforting at the same time.   I thought the ending was a bit on the corny side, however it was exactly the ending the film needed.

I'd certainly think that a telekinetic car tire would fit the bill...

I really freakin' dug Rubber. Obnoxious as all hell, but it knew what it was doing, and felt very sure of itself. Plus, it was just damn good-lookin' indie filmmaking.

The odd thing about Rubber, too, is that even though it is very evidently weird, it's so internally coherent that it doesn't really feel weird while you're watching it...at least not in the way that Lynch or Jodorowsky might. Not that I don't think those guys aren't coherent in their own way -- just that their wavelengths aren't quite as easy to get on. For me, anyway.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation.

Seriously, it's so horrible and so freakin clever and "meta"(i hate that word) and frankly is just way too smart for its targeted audience. What's worse is that it's disguised as a horribly made movie. You wanna see weird... this is it. Easily one of the worst, and yet, one of the smartest movies I've ever seen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOSyxiDY0_E - not sure how to post a video here, but here is a link.

~Zack~

I agree about Rubber.  The best comments about that movie were from the people that stopped watching and when they stopped watching because it showed how well that movie knew it's audience.  

I checked out Beyond the Black Rainbow and really liked the first half.   It was pure atmospheric weirdness.  The director nailed that 1970's vision of the future.  Fantastically eerie musical score.  Gotta love those Sentionauts. The story began to lose focus in the second half though and then went off the cliff in a laughable third act.  Still, I admire the daring the filmmakers had in creating that retro-future vibe.

This is an interesting thread, thanks for starting it Michael

I would have to say "The Toxic Avenger" though it would not be politically correct in this day and age.

Not sure if you guys remember it though it was a few sicko's that got points for running kids on bikes over with cars.

Regards Alex

Quoted from Zack Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation. Seriously, it's so horrible and so freakin clever and "meta"(i hate that word) and frankly is just way too smart for its targeted audience. What's worse is that it's disguised as a horribly made movie. You wanna see weird... this is it. Easily one of the worst, and yet, one of the smartest movies I've ever seen. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOSyxiDY0_E - not sure how to post a video here, but here is a link. ~Zack~

I've never seen this one.
There was an earlier attempt at dark humor.
I did catch that deal with Dennis Hopper...

I HATED part 2. Actually, part 2 is kinda what inspired The Next Generation to be so strange.

~Zack~

Quoted from Zack I HATED part 2. Actually, part 2 is kinda what inspired The Next Generation to be so strange. ~Zack~

My thinking too.
I've never seen Next Gen.
So, I grabbed a copy of that and the Uncut BluRay of Part 2.

We'll see if that's where all this zany chainsaw meta jokes started.
And part 2 was all Tobe Hooper. ;D

Regards,
E.D.