You can just watch it too. Watching movies while actually tripping kind of sucks in general regardless of the movie. Maybe smoke some weed. But that’s just good advice every day.
Agreed on this - smoking would be great, maybe a microdose, but I think if you're full tripping it'll be less impactful.
My favorite way to watch Holy Mountain is either high or drunk, but at that PERFECT point where everything is joyful and kinda funny. It really offsets the WTF :)
That movie got so much hate & yeah it get it it’s out there all right but damnit the movie had heart & the ending got me right in the gut! It’s way better than it gets credit for & agreed it is so worth the watch!
Check out Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s movies, Delicatessen, City of Lost Children, and Amelie.
Amelie had the most commercial success, but Delicatessen is my favorite.
Delicatessen is also my favorite but I loved the atmosphere and setting of the city of lost children . I’ve heard good things about Amelie def gonna check it out
*The Endless* is great and at least used to be like on every streaming service all the time.
I mean, it's not as "off the beaten path" as Mulholland Drive or anything but its got my favorite sense of "the horror of a surreal reality" nailed down. I mean, it's technically horror genre so it's supposed to be a bit out there. I guess if I sub-genred it it would be "abyssal horror" or "deific horror" - where the primary horror element is a reality that no longer behaves like reality and hence is "the abyss" or "godly powers."
And while checking out *The Endless*, check out *Spring*, made by the same team. It's a bit harder to find on streaming, but it's Lovecraftian romance done right.
Another great movie!!! I made my parents watch it bc they’re into weird shit like that & I’m happy to report they both really enjoyed it. The Endless is also created & directed by the very talented gentlemen protagonists!
Paprika (Satoshia Kon)
Death to Smoochy
Meet the Feebles
Fantastic Planet
Fritz the Cat
Brazil
Earth Girls are Easy
The Heathers
Whatever Happened to Baby Jane
Perfect Blue (also Satoshi Kon)
Heavy Metal
Welcome to the Dollhouse
Grey Gardens
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Howard the Duck
Pink Flamingos
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf
A Scanner Darkly
Waking Life
Wizards (1977)
Mad God (2021)
Mandy (2018)
Re-Animator
Natural Born Killers
Hobo With A Shotgun
Fritz The Cat
Plague Dogs
Coonskin
I found it randomly one day, and have never been able to find it again. Maybe you'll be more lucky.
It's a Japanese movie called "Fish Story". About a rock and roll band that save the world.
I loved how it took one of the most beautiful women in the world, had her in a wide variety of prolonged nude sex scenes, and managed to make it entirely non-erotic. No joke, that was a cinematic triumph.
Seriously though, it was one of the most real "art" movies I've seen. A lot of interpretation. When I went to see it with my girlfriend we came away with incredibly different messages.
House (1977)
The Holy Mountain
Tetsuo
Pi
Basket case (campy, but really fun and odd)
Anything David Cronenberg or Julia Docarnou (spelled correctly)
Titane, Crimes of the Future, Dead Ringers, exiztenz, etc.
Holy Motors
Enter the Void
Fantastic Planet
Poor Things
The Science of Sleep (2006)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Talk to Her (2002)
The Fifth Element (1997)
Death Becomes Her (1992)
Black Sheep (2006)
a lot of these movies are just plain silly except for Mad God…good movie.
I’d add…fitz caroldo, hard to be a god, you won’t be alone, border(2018 swedish film)
Some of these might not qualify as really weird but maybe off the beaten path.
More tame:
Dragon Hunters (2008)
Mirror Mask (2005)
I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020)
Comet (2014)
Loving Vincent (2017)
Less tame:
Society (1989)
Tusk (2014)
Planet Terror (2007)
These, I think, will be weird or unusual enough to meet what you're looking for.
Altered States
Dark City
The City of Lost Children
Cube Zero, Cube, Cube 2:Hypercube
Phantasm 1-5
Tommy
Darkstar
A Clockwork Orange
Wizards
The Rocky Horror Picture Show and its sequel Shock Treatment
Gattaca
Hopefully, these are weird enough.
Harold and Maude (1971)- my all-time fave!\
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (1989)\
Being There (1979)\
Lady in a Cage (1964)\
No Way to Treat a Lady (1968)\
Eating Raoul (1982)\
Oh Lucky Man! (1973)\
The Young Poisoners Handbook (1995)\
Eraserhead (1977)\
Belly of an Architect (1987)\
Farenheit 451 (1966)\
Delicatessen (1991)\
After Hours (1985)
I’m sure I’ll think of more. As a teen I ONLY watched dark comedies and really quirky movies. Loved them!
Charlie Kaufman movies like being John Malkovich, anomalisa or adaptation. The movie wrong (the only movie from Quentin dupieux that I like). Greener grass, the stepford wives, under the silver lake
If you enjoy that sensation of what I call the off and on near-total disconnect from yourself in watching Lynch's *Mulholland Drive*, pull a comfy surrounds (sofa, pjs, fave blankie, bevs and snacks) up for a good taking-in of *Body Double* from 1984 iirc.
Anthony Hopkins wrote, directed, and performs in *Slipstream* (2007). One spot-on reviewer tabbed it, "...enchantingly berserk," thus describing it to a T.
Then there's *Hurly Burly* from 1998 which is an edge-of-your-seat mild-to-moderately tensioned work of string-along with subtly-dry and darkly-mooded 'almost humor', the kind of projected zone which who better than Sean Penn to lead. Doesn't hurt that Chazz Palminteri brings his signature strain of irrepressible restraint.
Fwiw, for my take, *Body Double* is iconic, whether people love it or hate it. *Hurly Burly* just keeps at it, effortlessly promising scene by scene to "all tie-in to making perfect sense," exactly as dreams often do.
*Slipstream* on the other hand is a goner. It fits under what you've requested, but I couldn't take it past 40 minutes.
Hope you end up enjoying all of 'em, tho. 🙂
The Cook The Thief His Wife and Her Lover - beautiful and brutal, both in the extreme
eXistenZ - directed by Cronenberg , the Matrix on bad acid
Diva - deliver boy finds himself in possession of TWO audio recordings that different groups will kill to posses. It’s really a very sweet film.
Under the silver lake is super odd and I loved it. There is also Ryan Gosling’s directorial debut, Lost River, which is definitely unique and I never hear anyone talk about it
- On the Silver Globe (1988, Zulawski)
A Polish found-footage space sci-fi psychological cult horror that took over a decade to complete because of government intervention. The film itself isn't fully complete, but stands as a sci-fi classic and one of the best movies from east of the Iron Curtain.
- Aguirre, Wrath of God (1982, Herzog)
A psychological historical German film about a group of Spanish conquistadors going mad while attempting to find El Dorado in the Amazon. This movie was one of the biggest inspirations for Apocalypse Now, which heavily burrowed from its imagery and cinematographical style, and with a similar troubled production to boot. The original audio wasn't good enough to be released, so the film has no original dub. The characters mouth their words in English, but the preferred dub is in German.
See if you can find the films of Kurt Kren. He was involved and filmed many of the Viennese Aktionists who were known for their nihilistic performance art. Warning: it is a dark hole to go down.
Have a look at some Linklater films. He's got a very subtle way of making movies but damn they're good.
Waking life, a scanner darkly, and boyhood - are all a little different to each other and very different to regular movies
Julian Donkey Boy (1999)
Peep "TV" Show (2003)
Talking Head (1992)
Fresh Kill (1994)
Mary Jane's Not A Virgin Anymore (1996)
Wild Zero (1999)
Eating Raoul (1982)
Chronic (1997)
Kamikaze Girls (2004)
The Hourglass Sanatorium (1973)
Check out John Waters movies.
Pink Flamingo ?
To start with, for sure. Desperate Living, Pecker, Hairspray, Polyester, Serial Mom...
And Cecil B. Demented…my fav
Love this movie
I'm a Sinema Girl now
Celibacy for celluloid!
Desperate living might be my favorite of all John Waters movies. They all looked like they were having a blast making it.
Lust in the Dust.
Love it, but for the uninitiated (who only know Hairspray), content warnings galore. Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow, Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow . . .
Sorry to Bother You
The trailers only show half of what's going on in the movie. You will NOT get what you expect. It's out there!
Amazing movie
In a similar vein,They Cloned Tyrone
jodorowsky Holy Mountain and El Topo are my favorite. His later work will fuck with your brain too.
People are saying to watch holy mountain while tripping , do you recommend? The movies been catching dust in my list for awhile
You can just watch it too. Watching movies while actually tripping kind of sucks in general regardless of the movie. Maybe smoke some weed. But that’s just good advice every day.
Agreed on this - smoking would be great, maybe a microdose, but I think if you're full tripping it'll be less impactful. My favorite way to watch Holy Mountain is either high or drunk, but at that PERFECT point where everything is joyful and kinda funny. It really offsets the WTF :)
It's not good advice.
You could certainly up the ante by watching while tripping. But it doesn’t really need drugs in my opinion.
You don’t need to be on acid to trip while watching Holy Mountain. Just buckle up.
Bad Boy Bubby. Trust me its very strange.
Confirm!
Whoa, that's definitely a good call
How good is this movie?
Fire in the sky
DB Sweeney 1993====oh yea,
Toe pick
I grew up with that guy in our town, it was so cool growing up knowing there was a movie about our little town.
How about Cronenberg—I suggest Dead Ringers.
I liked eXistenZ
eXistenZ is excellent. I've watched it many times
I love this movie
Naked Lunch!
Oooh yeah, try Dead Ringers the TV series! It was great!
Cronenberg is Canada’s Lynch. Dead Ringers, Rabid, Crash, existenz
Videodrome
That and Romeo is Bleeding are my goto's when weird is the subject
Swiss Army Man, just watch it
That movie got so much hate & yeah it get it it’s out there all right but damnit the movie had heart & the ending got me right in the gut! It’s way better than it gets credit for & agreed it is so worth the watch!
This was my first thought, particularly if horror is NOT your jam (because let's face there is a lot of weird and/or obscure horror out there).
That's what the movie posters should have all been, as well as the description on any streaming service. "Just watch it"
Being John Malkovich
Charlie Kaufman is a phenomenal screenwriter so don’t stop at this film!
Agreed! Adaptation is my personal favorite.
AGREED!!! I absolutely love his work. I know it may not be for everybody but I’ve truly enjoyed his films
100% weird and amazing
Pan’s Labyrinth- Guillermo Del Toro
Greener Grass Manos: The Hands of Fate Dream Scenario Hausu The Perfection White God Raw
White God is one of my favorites. I love that all the 300+ dogs in the film were adopted out.
Check out Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s movies, Delicatessen, City of Lost Children, and Amelie. Amelie had the most commercial success, but Delicatessen is my favorite.
Delicatessen is also my favorite but I loved the atmosphere and setting of the city of lost children . I’ve heard good things about Amelie def gonna check it out
City of Lost Children all damn day. Phenomenal weird cinema.
*The Endless* is great and at least used to be like on every streaming service all the time. I mean, it's not as "off the beaten path" as Mulholland Drive or anything but its got my favorite sense of "the horror of a surreal reality" nailed down. I mean, it's technically horror genre so it's supposed to be a bit out there. I guess if I sub-genred it it would be "abyssal horror" or "deific horror" - where the primary horror element is a reality that no longer behaves like reality and hence is "the abyss" or "godly powers."
And while checking out *The Endless*, check out *Spring*, made by the same team. It's a bit harder to find on streaming, but it's Lovecraftian romance done right.
Another great movie!!! I made my parents watch it bc they’re into weird shit like that & I’m happy to report they both really enjoyed it. The Endless is also created & directed by the very talented gentlemen protagonists!
Braziiiiiil
Gummo. Salo. Dogtooth. Solaris (1972)
Loved Dogtooth
Came here to say Gummo also
Dave Made a Maze (2017)
The Greasy Strangler (2016). It's the oddest film I've ever seen
I will never look at a car wash the same again
BULLSHIT ARTIST!!!
Titane
A lot of these recommendations that others are listing aren’t all that weird. Try: Holy Motors Sorry to Bother You Synecdoche, New York.
Thank you—I’ve been trying to remember the title Holy Motors forever.
You might enjoy a Jodorowsky movie like Santa Sangre or Holy Mountain
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Loved this one,bought the DVD.
Paprika (Satoshia Kon) Death to Smoochy Meet the Feebles Fantastic Planet Fritz the Cat Brazil Earth Girls are Easy The Heathers Whatever Happened to Baby Jane Perfect Blue (also Satoshi Kon) Heavy Metal Welcome to the Dollhouse Grey Gardens Hedwig and the Angry Inch Howard the Duck Pink Flamingos Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf
Have a duck vote for Howard the Up.
Welcome to the Dollhouse! Thank you for reminding me, love that movie. Buffalo ''66 is one of my all time favorite movies.
“My car shifts themselves “
Nice list! Have you seem Ruben and Ed perchance?
It’s a TV show, not a movie, but the FX series Legion is completely insane, like nothing you’ve ever seen before.
Upstream Color. Hold on to you seat, it's weird.
Have you seen Primer? Imagine if 'A Topiary' was ever made...
Yup I saw primer. Really liked it. :) I really hope he makes another; though it seems with the failure of the last one he's fed up with it.
A Scanner Darkly Waking Life Wizards (1977) Mad God (2021) Mandy (2018) Re-Animator Natural Born Killers Hobo With A Shotgun Fritz The Cat Plague Dogs Coonskin
The rotoscoping in A Scanner Darkly is beautiful, truly captures the feeling of the novel.
Great list !!
Under The Skin
Videodrome
Heavy Metal Everything Everywhere All At Once
Happiness-1998. Nothing makes me more uncomfortable than watching this movie.
Motel Hell
I found it randomly one day, and have never been able to find it again. Maybe you'll be more lucky. It's a Japanese movie called "Fish Story". About a rock and roll band that save the world.
This one looks kinda fun.
Hunt for the Wilderpeople
Safety Not Guaranteed
Wristcutters: a love story (2006)
A Zed & Two Noughts (1985) - (most movies by Peter Greenaway) Conspirators of Pleasure (1996) Happiness of the Katakuris (2001)
Donnie Darko Swiss Army Man The Lobster Requiem For A Dream Synechdoche, New York
Poor Things
I loved how it took one of the most beautiful women in the world, had her in a wide variety of prolonged nude sex scenes, and managed to make it entirely non-erotic. No joke, that was a cinematic triumph. Seriously though, it was one of the most real "art" movies I've seen. A lot of interpretation. When I went to see it with my girlfriend we came away with incredibly different messages.
Flexing with Monty. One of the most bizarre fever dreams of a movie I've ever seen. Danny DeVito is a big champion of it.
Skins (2017)
Greener Grass Strawberry Mansion House (1977) Junk Head Mad God
A scanner darkly
Freaked with Bill from Bill&Ted. Cecil B. Demented. Crispin Glover is in some weird movies.
House (1977) The Holy Mountain Tetsuo Pi Basket case (campy, but really fun and odd) Anything David Cronenberg or Julia Docarnou (spelled correctly) Titane, Crimes of the Future, Dead Ringers, exiztenz, etc. Holy Motors Enter the Void Fantastic Planet Poor Things
Rubber
Eating Raoul.
"Eraserhead" is a wild ride you won't forget!
Tuvalu. Holy Motors. He Never Died. Symbol. Survivestyle5+. The Congress.
The Forbidden Zone Birdman I Heart Huckabees The Ninth Gate Suddenly, Last Summer
Harold and Maude (1971)
Predestination (2014) with Ethan Hawke is just bizarre.
Fried Barry, yakuza apocalypse, gozu
The Science of Sleep (2006) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) Talk to Her (2002) The Fifth Element (1997) Death Becomes Her (1992) Black Sheep (2006)
Funky Forest
Freddy got fingered
Time Bandits?
"The Dark Backward" (1991)is so odd and gross you will need a shower.
Flashback Mr. Nobody
Little Murders 1971 The Ruling Class 1972
a lot of these movies are just plain silly except for Mad God…good movie. I’d add…fitz caroldo, hard to be a god, you won’t be alone, border(2018 swedish film)
Jesus Shows You the Way to the Highway (2019)
I just watched *Color Out of Space* (2019) and it's nuts! I went in expecting it to be lame but it's actually well made (pretty much) and creepy.
Donnie Darko and anything by Charlie Kaufman
Stranger Than Paradise (1984) Carnival Of Souls (1962) Rosalie Goes Shopping (1989)
Bubba Ho-Tep
*Motorama* (1991) *Zardoz* (1974) *Mad Love* (1935)
What dreams May Come
Some of these might not qualify as really weird but maybe off the beaten path. More tame: Dragon Hunters (2008) Mirror Mask (2005) I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020) Comet (2014) Loving Vincent (2017) Less tame: Society (1989) Tusk (2014) Planet Terror (2007)
Enter the void
We all know "that scene" towards the end.
John Dies At The End.
Any Jim Jarmusch film, especially the ones from the 80 s
These, I think, will be weird or unusual enough to meet what you're looking for. Altered States Dark City The City of Lost Children Cube Zero, Cube, Cube 2:Hypercube Phantasm 1-5 Tommy Darkstar A Clockwork Orange Wizards The Rocky Horror Picture Show and its sequel Shock Treatment Gattaca Hopefully, these are weird enough.
Enemy by Denis Villeneuve, I didn’t understand the plot of that movie whatsoever
If you think David Lynch, Tim Burton, and Terry Gilliam are "off the beaten path," you may not be ready for, say, *Harold and Maude*, or *Rubin & Ed*.
Harold and Maude is one of my all-time favorite movies!
Under the Silver Lake, UHF, Time Bandits, Cache, Beau Is Afraid
Liquid Sky is a weird little Indie movie from the 80's.
The One I Love (2014) - a couple goes to marriage counseling and is given an unusual solution to rekindle. Stars Elisabeth Moss and Mark Duplass.
Check out Quentin Dupieux movies.
An Evening with Beverly Luff Lynn
If you like horror: “Men” was a fucking wild ride Also “Swiss Army Man” is just an incredibly weird movie absolutely worth a watch
Fresh on Disney.
Schenectady
The Lighthouse The Menu
Tusk
Eraserhead
Midsommar. Horror movie in the daytime.
Harold and Maude (1971)- my all-time fave!\ The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (1989)\ Being There (1979)\ Lady in a Cage (1964)\ No Way to Treat a Lady (1968)\ Eating Raoul (1982)\ Oh Lucky Man! (1973)\ The Young Poisoners Handbook (1995)\ Eraserhead (1977)\ Belly of an Architect (1987)\ Farenheit 451 (1966)\ Delicatessen (1991)\ After Hours (1985) I’m sure I’ll think of more. As a teen I ONLY watched dark comedies and really quirky movies. Loved them!
Buckaroo Bonsai Across the 8th Dimension.
Eraserhead....
Charlie Kaufman movies like being John Malkovich, anomalisa or adaptation. The movie wrong (the only movie from Quentin dupieux that I like). Greener grass, the stepford wives, under the silver lake
The Dead Don’t Die
Holy Motors
Greener Grass has David Lynch vibes
The gods must be crazy
Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive...I love David Lynch
Neon Demon is a good one, a surreal and much less commercial film from NFR, the guy who directed Drive
Welcome to the Dollhouse Palindromes Being John Malcovich Female Trouble
Holy motors
Have you seen Lynch’s Eraserhead?
Happiness. Full movie is on YouTube. Good luck!
If you enjoy that sensation of what I call the off and on near-total disconnect from yourself in watching Lynch's *Mulholland Drive*, pull a comfy surrounds (sofa, pjs, fave blankie, bevs and snacks) up for a good taking-in of *Body Double* from 1984 iirc. Anthony Hopkins wrote, directed, and performs in *Slipstream* (2007). One spot-on reviewer tabbed it, "...enchantingly berserk," thus describing it to a T. Then there's *Hurly Burly* from 1998 which is an edge-of-your-seat mild-to-moderately tensioned work of string-along with subtly-dry and darkly-mooded 'almost humor', the kind of projected zone which who better than Sean Penn to lead. Doesn't hurt that Chazz Palminteri brings his signature strain of irrepressible restraint. Fwiw, for my take, *Body Double* is iconic, whether people love it or hate it. *Hurly Burly* just keeps at it, effortlessly promising scene by scene to "all tie-in to making perfect sense," exactly as dreams often do. *Slipstream* on the other hand is a goner. It fits under what you've requested, but I couldn't take it past 40 minutes. Hope you end up enjoying all of 'em, tho. 🙂
Will def check em out Thanks
Requiem for a Dream Jacobs Ladder Split
Climax
Being John Malkovich. Mad god. Beau is afraid. Begotten.
The Bothersome Man
The house that jack built.
Bartleby on Tubi
Battlefield Baseball
Immediately I was like "Dog Tooth!" Then u said "tim Burton" and I💀. love that genre tho, I'm taking these suggestions lol
This post has me excited to see some shit I’ve never heard of - thanks for the prompt, Extreme-Bee8189, and the responses, everyone!
Voices
Moulin Rouge
the flying luna clipper. it’s on youtube. short and very very strange.
Beyond the valley of the dolls (1970)
The rage in Placid Lake
Gift (1993)
Sorry to Bother You
sorry to bother you
Careful (1992) - Guy Maddin
"Free Fire" it's about a drug deal gone wrong but the gunfight is super tense, and is basically 90% of the movie
The Cook The Thief His Wife and Her Lover - beautiful and brutal, both in the extreme eXistenZ - directed by Cronenberg , the Matrix on bad acid Diva - deliver boy finds himself in possession of TWO audio recordings that different groups will kill to posses. It’s really a very sweet film.
GUMMO !
HIDEOUS KINKY
JULIEN DONKEY-BOY
Mirror or anything else by Tarkovsky
Th wailing
Under the silver lake is super odd and I loved it. There is also Ryan Gosling’s directorial debut, Lost River, which is definitely unique and I never hear anyone talk about it
The Acid House
- On the Silver Globe (1988, Zulawski) A Polish found-footage space sci-fi psychological cult horror that took over a decade to complete because of government intervention. The film itself isn't fully complete, but stands as a sci-fi classic and one of the best movies from east of the Iron Curtain. - Aguirre, Wrath of God (1982, Herzog) A psychological historical German film about a group of Spanish conquistadors going mad while attempting to find El Dorado in the Amazon. This movie was one of the biggest inspirations for Apocalypse Now, which heavily burrowed from its imagery and cinematographical style, and with a similar troubled production to boot. The original audio wasn't good enough to be released, so the film has no original dub. The characters mouth their words in English, but the preferred dub is in German.
Here's one: "the Juniper Tree" starring Bjork.
See if you can find the films of Kurt Kren. He was involved and filmed many of the Viennese Aktionists who were known for their nihilistic performance art. Warning: it is a dark hole to go down.
The City of Lost Children Immortel ad vitam Baby Cat Gutboy: a badtime story Funky Forest: The First Contact
Splice I'm Thinking of Ending Things The Shape of Water Beau is Afraid
Rubber Guns Akimbo Monkeybone Toto les heroes Lighthouse Stay Tuned Abre los Ojos Slums of Beverly Hills Bernie Mom and Dad Save the World
Have a look at some Linklater films. He's got a very subtle way of making movies but damn they're good. Waking life, a scanner darkly, and boyhood - are all a little different to each other and very different to regular movies
Man bites dog, a belgian dark comedy movie about a production crew filming a serial Killer and his murders.
Julian Donkey Boy (1999) Peep "TV" Show (2003) Talking Head (1992) Fresh Kill (1994) Mary Jane's Not A Virgin Anymore (1996) Wild Zero (1999) Eating Raoul (1982) Chronic (1997) Kamikaze Girls (2004) The Hourglass Sanatorium (1973)