A list of the best weird movies.


The Abominable Dr, Phibes (1971, dir. Robert Fuest, 94 minutes)

 

A mute widower (Vincent Price) takes revenge on his deceased wife’s medical team in a series of murders based on the Plagues of Egypt. See also Theater of Blood.


Abre los ojos (1997, dir. Alejandro Amenábar, 119 minutes)

 

Action Jackson (1988, dir. Craig R. Baxley, 96 minutes)

 

Harvard Law-educated Detroit cop Jericho “Action” Jackson (Carl Weathers) gets revenge on the businessman (Craig T. Nelson) who got him demoted to desk duty.


After Hours (1985, dir. Martin Scorsese, 97 minutes)

 

A New Yorker (Griffin Dunne) attempts to go home and fails.


Alice (1988, dir. Jan Svankmajer, 86 minutes)

 

All Cheerleaders Die (2013, dir. Lucky McKee, 89 minutes)

 

Army of Darkness (1992, dir. Sam Raimi, 81 minutes)

 

Ash (Bruce Campbell), now a hardware store clerk, is transported to the Middle Ages, where he must fight an army of Ray Harryhausen-style skeletons so he can return home.


The Astrologer (1976, dir. Craig Denney, 96 minutes)

 

An astrologer (Craig Denney) cons circus patrons, smuggles conflict diamonds, survives a Kenyan prison, produces a movie starring himself, makes predictions for the U.S. military—you know, typical astrologer stuff, and all in 96 minutes.


The Baby (1973, dir. Ted Post, 84 minutes)

The Baby (1973)

A social worker (Anjanette Comer) investigates a family that includes an adult man (David Mooney) who has been raised, and who therefore behaves, like a baby.


Bad Black (2016, dir. Nabwana I.G.G., 68 minutes)

Follows the escapades of a trafficked child turned crime syndicate leader (Nalwanga Gloria) and an American doctor (Alan Ssali Hofmanis) forced to learn kung fu from his sidekick, a child named Wesley Snipes (Kasule Rolean). Both a tribute to ‘eighties action movies and wholly unlike anything else, in large part due to VJ Emmie, the “Video Joker” who narrates throughout and serves as a combination hype man, color commentator, and peanut gallery.


Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009, dir. Werner Herzog, 122 minutes)

 

Nic Cage and Werner Herzog tear up New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.


Bad Milo! (2013, dir. Jacob Vaughan, 85 minutes)

 

When Ken Marino gets too stressed, a monster comes out of his butt and kills people.


Baghead (2008, dirs. Jay Duplass & Mark Duplass, 84 minutes)

 

Ballet Mécanique (1924, dirs. Fernand Léger & Dudley Murphy, 19 minutes)

 

Barb and Star Go to the Vista Del Mar (2021, dir. Josh Greenbaum, 107 minutes)

 

Barb Wire (1996, dir. David Hogan, 98 minutes)

 

Pamela Anderson takes the Humphrey Bogart role in this sci-fi remake of Casablanca.


Barton Fink (1991, dirs. Joel & Ethan Coen, 116 minutes)

 

Battlefield Baseball (2003, dir. Yudai Yamaguchi, 87 minutes)

 

Seido High plays a kind of “fighting baseball,” where death is common but not always permanent.


Battle Royale (2000, dir. Kinji Fukasaku, 114 minutes)

 

In order to curb juvenile delinquency, the Japanese government organizes an annual fight to the death among a random middle school class.


A Bay of Blood (1971, dir. Mario Bava, 84 minutes)

 

Down by the bay, everyone is getting murdered, and only some of them for reasons that become clear.


Beau Is Afraid (2023, dir. Ari Aster, 179 minutes)

 

A Jewish man (Joaquin Phoenix) fails to reach maturity because of his overbearing mother (Zoe Lister-Jones and Patti LuPone); features an attic-dwelling giant penis monster.


The Beaver Trilogy (2000, dir. Trent Harris, 83 minutes)

 

Three shorts combine to make a feature.  The first is a documentary about Groovin’ Gary, a resident of Beaver, Utah who just wants to dress up as and sing like Olivia Newton-John; the other two are dramatizations of Gary’s life starring Sean Penn and Crispin Glover.


The Beguiled (1971, dir. Don Siegel, 105 minutes)

 

Clint Eastwood is a wounded Union soldier recuperating in a Confederate girls’ school, and all of them want to fuck him.


Beetlejuice (1988, dir. Tim Burton, 92 minnutes)

 

Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006, dir. Scott Glosserman, 92 minutes)

 

Being There (1979, dir. Hal Ashby, 130 minutes)

 

After his employer dies, a dim-witted gardener (Peter Sellers) is forced to leave the property for the first time in his life and accidentally becomes a political prodigy.


Berberian Sound Studio (2012, dir. Peter Strickland, 92 minutes)

 

Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970, dir. Russ Meyer, 109 minutes)

 

Big Trouble in Little China (1986, dir. John Carpenter, 99 minutes)

 

Birdemic: Shock and Terror (2010, dir. James Nguyen, 105 minutes)

 

Birth (2004, dir. Jonathan Glazer, 100 minutes)

 

A ten-year-old boy (Cameron Bright) convinces Nicole Kidman that he is the reincarnation of her dead husband.


Blind Fury (1989, dir. Philip Noyce, 86 minutes)

 

Blonde Cobra (1963, dir. Ken Jacobs, 33 minutes)

 

Blow-Up (1966, dir. Michelangelo Antonioni, 111 minutes)

 

Did a photographer (David Hemmings) witness and document a murder?


Bluebeard (2009, dir. Catherine Breillat, 80 minutes)

 

Border (2018, dir. Ali Abbasi, 110 minutes)

 

Le Boucher (1970, dir. Claude Chabrol, 93 minutes)

 

Brain Damage (1988, dir. Frank Henenlotter, 84 minutes)

 

A young man (Rick Hearst) becomes host to a phallic parasite (John Zacherle) that controls him through an addictive, hallucinatory “juice” it injects into his neck.


Brand upon the Brain! (2006, dir. Guy Maddin, 95 minutes)

 

Brewster McCloud (1970, dir. Robert Altman, 105 minutes)

 

Bubba Ho-Tep (2002, dir. Don Coscarelli, 92 minutes)

 

Elvis Presley (Bruce Campbell) and JFK (Ossie Davis), both still alive, must save their nursing home from a soul-eating mummy.


A Bucket of Blood (1959, dir. Roger Corman, 66 minutes)

 

Dick Miller is an unassuming busboy who uses the body of a dead cat to create a sculpture that will impress the beatnik customers at his café; their response is positive, and Miller turns to murder to supply models for new work.


Bulworth (1998, dir. Warren Beatty, 108 minutes)

 

A California senator (Warren Beatty) facing a primary challenge from the left buys life insurance, takes a hit out on himself, and picks up rapping.


Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker (1981, dir. William Asher, 96 minutes)

 

Celine and Julie Go Boating (1974, dir. Jacques Rivette, 193 minutes)

 

The Chase (1994, dir. Adam Rifkin, 94 minutes)

 

The entire movie is a car chase, but that doesn’t stop writer/director Rifkin from including a sex scene.


Chopping Mall (1986, dir. Jim Wynorski, 77 minutes)

 

Teenage mall employees stay past closing to party and fall victim to malfunctioning security robots.


The City of Lost Children (dirs. Marc Caro & Jean-Pierre Jeunet)

 

Class of 1984 (1982, dir. Mark L. Lester, 98 minutes)

 

Le Cochon Danseur (1907, dir. unknown, 4 minutes)

 

A Clockwork Orange (1971, dir. Stanley Kubrick, 136 minutes)

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

A juvenile delinquent (Malcolm McDowell) undergoes experimental conditioning therapy.


Cocktail (1988, dir. Roger Donaldson, 104 minutes)

 

In this unabashed endorsement of ’eighties materialism, Tom Cruise finds his American Dream in New York’s flair bartending scene.


The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989, dir. Peter Greenaway, 124 minutes)

 

Cool as Ice (1991, dir. David Kellogg, 91 minutes)

Cool as Ice (1991)

It’s the Vanilla Ice Wild One remake we’ve all been asking for.


The Dark Backward (1991, dir. Adam Rifkin, 101 minutes)

 

Judd Nelson is a bad comic whose career takes a turn when he grows a third arm out his back.


Dead End Drive-In (1986, dir. Brian Trenchard-Smith, 88 minutes)

 

In a near dystopian future, a drive-in theater is used as a concentration camp for undesirables, mostly unemployed teenagers.


Dead Heat (1988, dir. Mark Goldblatt, 84 minutes)

 

A buddy cop movie where one buddy is Joe Piscopo and the other (Treat Williams) is a zombie.


Deadly Friend (1986, dir. Wes Craven, 91 minutes)

 

The new kid (Matthew Labyorteaux) puts his robot into the brain of a neighbor (Kristy Swanson) who is killed by her abusive father (Richard Marcus). Joe Bob Briggs calls it “a Breakfast Club version of Bride of Frankenstein.


Deadly Prey (1987, dir. David A. Prior, 88 minutes)

 

A mercenary leader (David Campbell) directs his men to kidnap people for use in their war games, but their latest captive (Ted Prior) is his former, and greatest, student. Before it ends, a man is beaten to death with his own, dismembered arm.


Dead Man (1995, dir. Jim Jarmusch, 121 minutes)

 

Death Race 2000 (1975, dir. Paul Bartel, 80 minutes)

Death Race 2000 (1975)

Frankenstein (David Carradine) competes in a cross-country race used to placate the population of a totalitarian regime; bonus points for hitting men (10), women (20), babies (40), the elderly (70), and the disabled (100) along the way.


D.E.B.S. (2004, dir. Angela Robinson, 91 minutes)

 

A group of schoolgirls are recruited to join an elite national defense group.


Deep Blue Sea (1999, dir. Renny Harlin, 105 minutes)

 

Thomas Jane, Samuel L. Jackson, and LL Cool J, playing a chef named Preacher, battle hyperintelligent sharks who are pissed their brain tissue has been harvested for Alzheimer’s research.


The Devils (1971, dir. Ken Russell, 111 minutes)

 

Deerskin (2019, dir. Quentin Dupieux, 77 minutes)

 

After falling in love with his fringed deerskin, Jean Dujardin goes to increasing lengths to ensure he is the only person wearing a jacket.


The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972, dir. Luis Buñuel, 102 minutes)

 

A group of bourgeoisie are interrupted whenever they sit down for dinner.


Dogville (2003, dir. Lars von Trier, 178 minutes)

 

Don’t Look Now (1973, dir. Nicolas Roeg, 110 minutes)

 

Doom Asylum (1987, dir. Richard Friedman, 77 minutes)

 

A group of teenagers party at an asylum that was abandoned after its coroners tried to dissect a lawyer who was still alive—and now kills.


Dr. Giggles (1992, dir. Manny Coto, 95 minutes)

 

The Double Life of Véronique (1991, dir. Krzysztof Kieslowski, 98 minutes)

 

Dream Scenario (2023, dir. Kristoffer Borgli, 102 minutes)

 

A boring man (Nicolas Cage) starts showing up in everybody’s dreams.


Duck Amuck (1953, dir. Chuck Jones, 7 minutes)

Duck Amuck (1953)

Daffy Duck (Mel Blanc) fights with his illustrator.


Dumplings (2004, dir. Fruit Chan, 91 minutes)

 

Are people the secret ingredient in Aunt Mei’s (Bai Ling) dumplings?


Eating Raoul (1982, dir. Paul Bartel, 90 minutes)

 

The Editor (2014, dirs. Adam Brooks & Matthew Kennedy, 95 minutes)

 

Eega (2012, dir S.S. Rajamouli, 145 minutes)

 

A man (Nani) is reincarnated as a housefly, but that doesn’t stop him from seeking revenge on his killer (Sudeep).


Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022, dirs. Dan Kwan & Daniel Scheinert)

 

The owner of a laundromat (Michelle Yeoh) attempts to sort out her problems with the IRS but is drawn into a multi-universe battle over the fate of the world—but really, it’s about family.


Evil Dead II (1987, dir. Sam Raimi, 84 minutes)

Evil Dead II (1987)

Ash (Bruce Campbell) returns to the cabin in the woods to do battle with the Deadites and his dismembered hand. A Three Stooges horror comedy.


Evil Ed (1995, dir. Anders Jacobsson, 93 minutes)

 

Face/Off (1997, dir. John Woo, 138 minutes)

 

Nic Cage and John Travolta switch faces and do impressions of each other.


The Fall (2006, dir. Tarsem Singh, 117 minutes)

 

Fantastic Planet (1973, dir. René Laloux, 72 minutes)

 

Fast, Cheap & Out of Control (1997, dir. Errol Morris, 80 minutes)

 

The documentary that asks the question, What do a lion tamer, a robotics expert, a topiary gardener, and a naked mole rat specialist have in common?


F for Fake (1973, dir. Orson Welles, 89 minutes)

 

Flash Gordon (1980, dir. Mike Hodges, 111 minutes)

 

Freaked (1993, dirs. Tom Stern & Alex Winter, 86 minutes)

Randy Quaid runs a freak show where the customers get turned into the entertainment.


Gattaca (1997, dir. Andrew Niccol, 106 minutes)

 

Ghoulies III: Ghoulies Go to College (1990, dir. John Carl Buechler, 94 minutes)

 

If writer Brent Olson is not a horny nine-year-old who thinks college primarily consists of boobies and practical jokes, I will eat my hat.


Glen or Glenda (1953, dir. Ed Wood, 65 minutes)

 

Ed Wood makes a sincere attempt to explain cross-dressing (Glen/Glenda) and transgenderism (Alan/Anne).


Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990, dir. Joe Dante, 106 minutes)

Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)

The madcap gremlins take over a Trump Tower-type building. Perhaps the closest we’ll come to a live-action Looney Tunes movie. See also Hellzapoppin’.


Gummo (1997, dir. Harmony Korine, 89 minutes)

 

Happiness (1998, dir. Todd Solondz, 134 minutes)

 

Hard Ticket to Hawaii (1987, dir. Andy Sidaris, 96 minutes)

Hard Ticket to Hawaii (1987)

If I had to guess, I would say Hard Ticket to Hawaii is either about the witness protection program, a jewel heist, or a killer snake infected with the toxins from cancer-infested rats. Dialogue, acting, costumes, makeup, and soundtrack are straight out of a softcore porno. This movie is out of control.


Harlequin (1980, dir. Simon Wincer, 95 minutes)

 

Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001, dir. John Cameron Mitchell, 95 minutes)

 

Hell Comes to Frogtown (1988, dir. Donald G. Jackson and R.J. Kizer, 86 minutes)

 

The exceptionally potent Sam Hell (Roddy Piper) is captured and forced to rescue and impregnate a group of fertile women who have been kidnapped by post-atomic mutant amphibians.


Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II (1987, dir. Bruce Pittman, 97 minutes)

 

The ghost of a 1957 prom queen (Lisa Schrage)—killed during her crowing by a stink bomb fire—is released from a trunk in the school basement and takes possession of a 1987 prom queen nominee (Wendy Lyon).


Hellraiser (1987, dir. Clive Barker, 94 minutes)

 

Solve the puzzle box ("the Lament Configuration”) and you summon the Cenobites: sadomasochistic, extra-dimensional demons who cannot differentiate between pleasure and pain.


Hellzapoppin’ (1941, dir. H.C. Potter, 84 minutes)

 

High-Rise (2015, dir. Ben Wheatley, 119 minutes)

 

Hold Me While I’m Naked (1966, dir. George Kuchar, 17 minutes)

 

An actress (Donna Kerness) walks off set after her director (George Kuchar) fails to convince her that he needs nudity in every single scene; the film-within-the-film is a thriller that falls somewhere between classical Hollywood noir and the work of Cindy Sherman and David Lynch.


Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers (1988, dir. Fred Olen Ray, 75 minutes)

Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers (1988)

A detective (Jay Richardson) investigates murders committed by a cult of Egyptian chain-wielding hookers in Hollywood.


How to Get Ahead in Advertising (1989, dir. Bruce Robison, 90 minutes)

 

An advertising executive (Richard E. Grant) has a mental breakdown while working on a campaign for pimple cream and grows a second head (Bruce Robinson).


Hudson Hawk (1991, dir. Michael Lehmann, 100 minutes)

 

Bruce Willis and Danny Aiello are cat burglars who synchronize their heists by singing pop standards (“Swinging on a Star,” “Side by Side,” etc.). Alternately, a movie about Willis’ quest to sip a cappuccino.


The Hunger (1983, dir. Tony Scott, 97 minutes)

 

If… (1968, dir. Lindsay Anderson, 111 minutes)

 

I’m a Cyborg, but That’s OK (2006, dir. Park Chan-wook, 107 minutes)

 

In the Mood for Love (2000, dir. Kar-Wai Wong, 98 minutes)

 

A man (Tony Chiu-Wai Leung) and a woman (Maggie Cheung) learn their spouses are sleeping with each other and embark on a moody, platonic affair of their own.


Invasion U.S.A. (1985, dir. Joseph Zito, 107 minutes)

 

Invocation of My Demon Brother (1969, dir. Kenneth Anger, 12 minutes)

 

Ishtar (1987, dir. Elaine May, 107 minutes)

 

Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty are a Simon and Garfunkel-like folk duo (“Telling the truth can be dangerous business, / Honest and popular don’t go hand in hand, / If you admit that can you play the accordion, / No one’ll hire you in our rock-and-roll band”) who get caught up in CIA hijinks in the Middle East, à la the Bob Hope/Bing Crosby Road to… movies.


Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer (2007, dir. Jon Knautz, 85 minutes)

 

Jacob’s Ladder (1990, dir. Adrian Lyne, 113 minutes)

 

Jaws: The Revenge (1987, dir. Joseph Sargent, 89 minutes)

 

Michael Cain helps the Brody family battle a shark that is seeking revenge for the marine killings in the first three Jaws movies.


JCVD (2008, dir. Mabrouk el Mechri, 97 minutes)

 

A down-on-his-luck Jean-Claude van Damme goes to a post office to retrieve a wire transfer and is pulled into a hostage situation. The actor is not the hero of his movies, but he is ready for a nearly seven-minute monologue delivered to the camera.


La Jetée (1962, dir. Chris Marker, 28 minutes)

 

Jingle All the Way (1996, dir. Brian Levant, 89 minutes)

 

Arnold Schwarzenegger is a workaholic dad who really needs to get a doll for his son (Jake Lloyd) for Christmas. Sinbad is a postal worker who also needs a doll for his kid and is willing to threaten terrorism to get one.


John Dies at the End (2012, dir. Don Coscarelli, 99 minutes)

 

Kaboom (2010, dir. Gregg Araki, 86 minutes)

 

Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988, dir. Stephen Chiodo, 88 minutes)

Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988)

The title pretty much says it all.


The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007, dir. Seth Gordon, 79 minutes)

 

Documentary about the world of competitive Donkey Kong; the villain is a Florida restauranteur and hot sauce salesman who looks like Lucifer.


Knightriders (1982, dir. George A. Romero, 146 minutes)

 

King Billy (Ed Harris) faces challenges to his leadership of a renaissance fair motorcycle jousting troupe.


Lady Terminator (1989, dir. Tjut Djalil, 82 minutes)

 

An ancient sex goddess (Fortunella) who castrates men with a serpent that lives in her vagina takes possession of the great-granddaughter (Barbara Ann Contable) of a man who turns the serpent into a dagger.


Last Year at Marienbad (1961, dir. Alain Resnais, 94 minutes)

 

A man (Giorgio Albertazzi) tries to convince a woman (Delphine Seyrig) they met last year at Marienbad and planned to reunite here and now to run away together. She says she’s never met him.


The Legend of Billie Jean (1985, dir. Matthew Robbins, 96 minutes)

 

License to Drive (1988, dir. Greg Beeman, 88 minutes)

 

The Lift (1983, dir. Dick Maas, 95 minutes)

 

A killer elevator movie.


The Little Shop of Horrors (1960, dir. Roger Corman, 72 minutes)

 

The Lobster (2015, dir. Yorgos Lanthimos, 119 minutes)

 

At The Hotel, you find a mate in forty-five days or you are transformed into an animal and released into the wild.


Mac and Me (1988, dir. Stewart Raffill, 99 minutes)

 

Mandy (2018, dir. Panos Cosmatos, 121 minutes)

 

Nic Cage seeks revenge against a hippie cult leader (Linus Roache) who kidnaps and murders his wife (Andrea Riseborough).


Meet the Feebles (1989, dir. Peter Jackson, 97 minutes)

Meet the Feebles (1989)

Puppets attempting to bring their Muppet-style show to syndication are foiled by sex, cocaine, pornography, Vietnam flashbacks, and mass murder.


Miami Connection (1987, dir. Woo-sang Park and Y.K. Kim, 83 minutes)

Miami Connection (1987)

A Taekwondo pop band staffed by orphaned college students battle ninjas and sing about martial arts and friendship (“Friends through eternity! Loyalty! Honesty!”).


Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985, dir. Paul Schrader, 120 minutes)

 

Mortal Kombat (1995, dir. Paul W.S. Anderson, 101 minutes)

 

Motel Hell (1980, dir. Kevin Connor, 101 minutes)

Motel Hell (1980)

When they say, “It takes all kinds of critters to make Farmer Vincent’s fritters,” they’re talking about people. His fritters are people. But no preservatives.


The Movie Orgy (1968, dir. Joe Dante, 275 minutes)

 

Supercut of drive-in movies, TV shows, educational films, advertisements, and bloopers.


Mulholland Drive (2001, dir. David Lynch, 147 minutes)

 

My Own Private Idaho (1994, dir. Gus Van Sant, 104 minutes)

 

Night of the Comet (1984, dir. Thom Eberhardt, 95 minutes)

Night of the Comet (1984)

Two Valley Girls (Keli Maroney and Catherine Mary Stewart) are among the only survivors of a comet that turned humans into zombies.


Nocturnal Animals (2016, dir. Tom Ford, 116 minutes)

 

No Holds Barred (1989, dir. Thomas J. Wright, 93 minutes)

 

Nurse Betty (2000, dir. Neil LaBute, 110 minutes)

 

Over the Top (1987, dir. Menahem Golan, 93 minutes)

A trucker named Lincoln Hawk (Sylvester Stallone) wins the affection of his estranged son (David Mendenhall) by introducing him to competitive arm wrestling.


Pain & Gain (2013, dir. Michael Bay, 129 minutes)

 

Three bodybuilders (Mark Wahlberg, The Rock, and Anthony Mackie) get involved in extortion and kidnapping; Michael Bay’s small, personal film.


Phantom of the Paradise (1974, dir. Brian de Palma, 91 minutes)

 

Phenomena (1985, dir. Dario Argento, 116 minutes)

 

An American student in Switzerland (Jennifer Connelly) investigates a series of murders with the help of an entomologist (Donald Pleasance), his pet chimp, and her friends, the insects.


Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975, dir. Peter Weir, 115 minutes)

 

Pieces (1982, dir. Juan Piquer Simón, 85 minutes)

 

A university student (Ian Sera), a pair of police officers (Christopher George and Frank Braña), and a former tennis pro turned undercover cop (Linda Day) hunt a killer who is creating a human jigsaw puzzle from his victim’s body parts; there’s also a cameo from a Bruce Lee imitator named Bruce Le.


Pinocchio (1940, dirs. Ben Sharpsteen & Hamilton Luske, 88 minutes)

Pinocchio (1940)

An inexhaustibly naive puppet wants to be a real boy and falls prey to every danger in his path.


Point Blank (1967, dir. John Boorman, 92 minutes)

 

Point Break (1991, dir. Kathryn Bigelow, 122 minutes)

 

Keanu Reeves goes undercover with a gang of surfers led by Patrick Swayze who rob banks while wearing masks of American presidents.


Possession (1981, dir. Andrzej Zulawksi, 124 minnutes)

 

Prayer of the Rollerboys (1990, dir. Rick King, 95 minutes)

Prayer of the Rollerboys (1990)

Corey Haim infiltrates a gang of drug-dealing, rollerblading neo-Nazis—in the future.


Pretty Maids All in a Row (1971, dir. Roger Vadim, 91 minutes)

Pretty Maids All in a Row (1971)

Rock Hudson is a high school football coach who sleeps with female students while Telly Savalas investigates a serial killer targeting his school.


Punch-Drunk Love (2002, dir. Paul Thomas Anderson, 95 minutes)

 

Quest for Fire (1981, dir. Jean-Jacques Annaud, 100 minutes)

 

Re-Animator (1985, dir. Stuart Gordon, 84 minutes)

Re-Animator (1985)

As Kevin Spacey says in American Beauty, it’s “that movie where the body’s walking around holding its own head, and then the head goes down on that babe.”


The Reflecting Skin (1990, dir. Philip Ridley, 96 minutes)

 

Return of the Killer Tomatoes! (1988, dir. John De Bello, 98 minutes)

 

George Clooney helps fight a second invasion of killer tomatoes.


The Return of the Living Dead (1985, dir. Dan O’Bannon, 91 minutes)

The Return of the Living Dead (1985)

When Night of the Living Dead co-writer John Russo split with George Romero, he retained the rights to the “living dead” part of the title, and the result is this comedy sequel.


Rhinestone (1984, dir. Bob Clark, 111 minutes)

 

It’s Pygmalion, but Dolly Parton has to teach New York cab driver Sylvester Stallone how to sing country music.


Road House (1989, dir. Rowdy Herrington, 114 minutes)

Patrick Swayze is the world’s best bouncer in a world that cares very, very much about bouncing.


The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975, dir. Jim Sharman, 100 minutes)

Familiarity has dulled the weirdness of Rocky Horror, but its vision of sexual hedonism remains radical today. How many movies feature an antagonist who sleeps with both heroine and hero?


Roma (1972, dir. Federico Fellini, 120 minutes)

 

A panoramic view of Rome in both the ’thirties and the ’seventies, with visits to brothels, boarding houses, schools, churches, catacombs, tunnels, streets, and theaters—an orgy of food, sex, and religion.


The Ruling Class (1972, dir. Peter Medak, 154 minutes)

 

The new Earl of Gurney (Peter O’Toole) thinks he’s Jesus Christ and acts accordingly.


The Running Man (1987, dir. Paul Michael Glaser, 101 minutes)

 

A Safe Place (1971, dir. Henry Jaglom, 94 minutes)

 

Tuesday Weld is a flower child who retreats into fantasies of her childhood (the “safe place”) and Orson Welles plays a Central Park magician and lapsed rabbi.


Schizopolis (1996, dir. Steven Soderbergh, 96 minutes)

 

The Science of Sleep (2006, dir. Michel Gondry, 105 minutes)

 

Secretary (2002, dir. Steven Shainberg, 107 minutes)

 

Sexy Beast (2000, dir. Jonathan Glazer, 89 minutes)

 

Shadow of the Vampire (2000, dir. E. Elias Merhige, 92 minutes)

 

Turns out Max Schreck (Willem Dafoe) really was a vampire.


Shock Treatment (1981, dir. Jim Sharman, 94 minutes)

 

Sequel to Rocky Horror has Brad (Cliff De Young) and Janet (Jessica Harper) as audience members-turned-participants in a game show set in Denton, USA, a small town that doubles as a television studio (“You'll find happy hearts, and smiling faces / And tolerance for the ethnic races—in Denton”).


Showgirls (1995, dir. Paul Verhoeven, 128 minutes)

 

An All about Eve story, but set in a strip club and directed by Paul Verhoeven.


The Skin I Live In (2011, dir. Pedro Almodóvar, 120 minutes)

 

Slacker (1990, dir. Richard Linklater, 97 minutes)

 

Society (1989, dir. Brian Yuzna, 99 minutes)

 

A teenager (Billy Warlock) discovers his adoptive family belongs to an incestuous sex cult that literally feeds on the poor.


Solyaris (1972, dir. Andrei Tarkovsky, 167 minutes)

 

Sorry to Bother You (2018, dir. Boots Riley, 112 minutes)

 

Southland Tales (2006, dir. Richard Kelly, 145 minutes)

 

Spookies (1986, dir. Brendan Faulkner, Thomas Doran, and Eugenie Joseph, 85 minutes)

 

Stay Tuned (1992, dir. Peter Hyams, 88 minutes)

 

A TV-addicted suburban dad (John Ritter) gets sucked into his set and endures a series of torturous cameos in a variety of programs.


Surviving the Game (1994, dir. Ernest R. Dickerson, 96 minutes)

 

A Most Dangerous Game with Ice-T hunted by Rutger Hauer, Gary Busey, and F. Murray Abraham.


Swept Away…by an Unusual Destiny in the Blue Sea of August (1974, dir. Lina Wertmüller, 114 minutes)

 

Synecdoche, New York (2008, dir. Charlie Kaufman, 124 minutes)

 

Philip Seymour Hoffman is a director whose commitment to realism has him building a life-sized replica of New York City inside a warehouse in the Theater District.


Tammy and the T-Rex (1994, dir. Stewart Raffill, 82 minutes)

 

An evil scientist (Terry Kiser) may have transplanted his brain into the body of a Tyrannosaurus rex, but at least Michael (Paul Walker) still has the love of his sweetheart Tammy (Denise Richards).


The Tenant (1976, dir. Roman Polansk, 126 minutes)

 

TerrorVision (1986, dir. Ted Nicolaou, 85 minutes)

 

A family opens a passageway to an alien planet through their DIY cable TV antenna.


Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989, dir. Shin'ya Tsukamoto, 67 minutes)

 

A white-collar worker (Tomorowo Taguchi) turns into metal.


The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974, dir. Tobe Hooper, 83 minutes)

 

A local family slaughterhouse business sources its meat from tourists; little violence despite its reputation.


The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986, dir. Tobe Hooper, 101 minutes)

 

Like the original, but a comedy.


Theater of Blood (1973, dir. Douglas Hickox, 104 minutes)

 

A hammy actor (Vincent Price) takes revenge on his critics in a series of murders recreated from the plays of William Shakespeare. See also The Abominable Dr. Phibes.


They Live (1988, dir. John Carpenter, 94 minutes)

They Live (1988)

“Rowdy” Roddy Piper is a drifter whose sunglasses reveal the aliens manipulating the media to fuel man’s slavish devotion to consumer capitalism.


Things (1989, dir. Andrew Jordan, 83 minutes)

 

At the end, the credits read, "You have just experienced Things,” which is both a fact and just about the only thing you can say about the movie.


Tickled (2016, dirs. David Farrier & Dylan Reeve, 92 minutes)

 

The Tin Drum (1979, dir. Volker Schlöndorff, 142 minutes)

 

The Tingler (1959, dir. William Castle, 82 minutes)

The Tingler (1959)

A scientist (Vincent Price) discovers a parasite that feeds on fear and is vulnerable to screams.


Titicut Follies (1967, dir. Frederick Wiseman, 84 minutes)

 

Frederick Wiseman’s vérité documentary about a hospital for the criminally insane is so damning that it was the first movie in U.S. history to be banned for reasons other than obscenity, immorality, or national security.


El Topo (1970, dir. Alejandro Jodorowsky, 125 minutes)

 

Trancers (1984, dir. Charles Band, 76 minutes)

 

Triangle of Sadness (2022, dir. Ruben Östlund, 147 minutes)

 

A Trip to the Moon (1902, dir. Georges Méliès, 13 minutes)

 

Six astronomers fly to the moon, encounter Greek and Roman gods, and fight humanoid, chicken-like aliens.


The Trouble with Harry (1955, dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 99 minutes)

 

Turbulence 3: Heavy Metal (2001, dir. Jorge Montesi, 96 minutes)

 

A heavy metal rocker (John Mann) has to do a Die Hard when his plane is hijacked by Satanists.


The Unbelievable Truth (1989, dir. Hal Hartley, 90 minutes)

 

Upgrade (2018, dir. Leigh Whannell, 100 minutes)

 

Vampire’s Kiss (1988, dir. Robert Bierman, 103 minutes)

 

Nic Cage is a literary agent who is bitten on the neck during a one-night stand and now believes he is a vampire.


Videodrome (1983, dir. David Cronenberg, 87 minutes)

 

Vibrations (1996, dir. Michael Paseornek, 104 minutes)

 

A musician (James Marshall) on the cusp of success loses his hands in a car crash but becomes a techno superstar after a new friend (David Burke) builds him robotic prosthetics.


Vinyl (1965, dir. Andy Warhol, 70 minutes)

Vinyl (1965)

Andy Warhol’s S&M adaptation of A Clockwork Orange has only two cuts—one because film reels only last 33 minutes.


Visitor Q (2001, dir. Takashi Miike, 84 minutes)

 

Voyage of the Rock Aliens (1984, dir. James Fargo, 97 minutes)

 

Musical about aliens searching for the source of rock and roll, which leads them to a small-town Battle of the Bands.  Subplots feature Michael Berryman as an escaped lunatic and Ruth Gordon as the local sheriff.


Walker (1987, dir. Alex Cox, 94 minutes)

 

Cornelius Vanderbilt (Peter Boyle) hires William Walker (Ed Harris) to overthrow the Nicaraguan government. Satirical, anachronsitic, and filmed on location, with Sandinista support, during the Contra War.


Walking the Edge (1985, dir. Norbert Meisel, 93 minutes)

 

Robert Forster is an L.A. cab driver is who remarkably nonchalant when his fare (Nancy Kwan) entangles him in her revenge mission against the mobster (Joe Spinell) who murdered her husband and son.


Weekend (1967, dir. Jean-Luc Godard, 105 minutes)

 

Were the World Mine (2008, dir. Tom Gustafson, 95 minutes)

 

While rehearsing A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a gay, bullied high school student (Tanner Cohen) uses Cupid’s love juice to turn a good deal of his conservative town queer.


Werckmeister Harmonies (2000, dirs. Béla Tarr & Ágnes Hranitzky, 145 minutes)

 

What Is It? (2005, dir. Crispin Glover, 72 minutes)

 

Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988, dir. Robert Zemeckis, 104 minutes)

 

The Wicker Man (1973, dir. Robin Hardy, 88 minutes)

 

Wild Wild West (1999, dir. Barry Sonnenfeld, 106 minutes)

Wild Wild West (1999)

Will Smith turned down The Matrix to star in this sci-fi western mashup reboot. I say he made the right choice.


Wings of Desire (1987, dir. Wim Wenders, 128 minutes)

 

An angel (Bruno Gantz) who can hear the thoughts of people forfeits immortality to pursue a lonely trapeze artist (Solveig Dommartin). Peter Falk, also a former angel, plays himself.


Winsor McCay, the Famous Cartoonist of the N.Y. Herald and His Moving Comics (1911, dir. Winsor McCay and J. Stuart Blackton, 7 minutes)

 

The Witch (2015, dir. Robert Eggers, 92 minutes)

 

Witching and Bitching (2013, dir. Álex de la Iglesia, 112 minutes)

 

Low-level criminals fresh off a robbery flee to a village populated by witches and are forced to save Western civilization.


Wittgenstein (1993, dir. Derek Jarman, 72 minutes)

 

WolfCop (2014, dir. Lowell Dean, 79 minutes)

 

Boozy Canadian werewolf movie that takes an inordinate interest in genital transformation.


Woman in the Dunes (1964, dir. Hiroshi Teshigahara, 147 minutes)

 

World’s Greatest Dad (2009, dir. Bobcat Goldthwait, 99 minutes)

 

Robin Williams is a failed novelist who finally finds literary success when his son dies in a masturbation accident and he forges a suicide note.


W.R.: Mysteries of the Organism (1971, dir. Dusan Makavejev, 84 minutes)

 

Collage film features two main stories, one a documentary about psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich, whose theories about the “orgone” were repressed by the U.S. government, the other a narrative about a liberated Yugoslavian woman and a repressed Soviet ice skater.


Zardoz (1974, dir. John Boorman, 104 minutes)

 

Zelig (1983, dir. Woody Allen, 79 minutes)

 

Email us at bestweirdmovies@gmail.com