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Below: You'll never look at manta rays the same. Also notable for being a submarine movie that doesn't steal every plot point from Das Boot.
Uzumaki: Who woulda thought a spiral could be terrifying?
Rogue: Best humans vs. crocodile movie ever.
Black Water: Second best humans vs. crocodile movie ever.
Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe: That's really what it's about!
Where's Lake Placid? What the heck! LOL
The Mole People
Attack of the Crab Monsters
There's a third i cant remember the name of... Has to do with experimenting on some rodents(enlarging them to the size of dogs). Folks get stranded on the island during a storm, the rodents(look like big rats with a very poisenous bite) try to kill and eat them. One of two escape in the end. 1950's flick. Anyone know which film im speaking of?
The Land that Time Forgot.
The People that Time Forgot.
At the Earths Core.
Warlords of Atlantis.
Journey to the Center of the Earth.
Mysterious Island.
Dragon Slayer.
13th Warrior, or Eaters of the Dead.
I actually wrote scenarios with these flicks, and others, listed above for some advanced wfrp campaigning action, as well as some dnd scenarios. Great stuff.
My bad. I believe the original working title for 13th Warrior was Eaters of Man, not Eaters of the Dead. I like Eaters of Man better, btw.
Thoth-Amon
The original title was "Eaters of the Dead," which was the title of the book the film was based on. The novel, by Michael Crichton, is an insanely good read. I highly recommend it.
If you have seen Darren Aronofsky's Pi or Requiem, check out The Fountain
If you have seen Kurasawa's Seven Samurai or Roshamon, go seeSanjuro or Ran
If you have seen F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu, go see Faust
If you have seen Fritz Lang's Metropolis, check out M
Guilty pleasure: Casshern or The Game of Death
"The Fountain": Have yet to rent it out; loved "Requiem. . ." though
"Ran" is awesome in its tragedy, but you forgot to mention "Yojimbo"
"M" is such a cool movie, especially the quote at the end, where the mothers wail at the criminal's judgment of execution: ". . . But it will never bring our children back. . ."
You're thinking of "The Killer Shrews" which was awesomely skewered by the crew of the Satellite of Love in MST3K. FYI, the "shrews" looked exactly like what they were: dogs under a buncha mops. . .
The Mole People
Attack of the Crab Monsters
There's a third i cant remember the name of... Has to do with experimenting on some rodents(enlarging them to the size of dogs). Folks get stranded on the island during a storm, the rodents(look like big rats with a very poisenous bite) try to kill and eat them. One of two escape in the end. 1950's flick. Anyone know which film im speaking of?
The Land that Time Forgot.
The People that Time Forgot.
At the Earths Core.
Warlords of Atlantis.
Journey to the Center of the Earth.
Mysterious Island.
Dragon Slayer.
13th Warrior, or Eaters of the Dead.
I actually wrote scenarios with these flicks, and others, listed above for some advanced wfrp campaigning action, as well as some dnd scenarios. Great stuff.
Ahhh. . . "Dragon Slayer" is - IMHO - one of the underrated fantasy flicks that the mid- to late-80's Sword and Sorcery Wastelands produced. Even compared to complete CGI creations (like the dragon in "Dragonheart"), Vermithrax Pejorative reigns supreme. With the possible exception of the future Smaug in the upcoming "The Hobbit" movies, Vermithrax is the best on-screen rendition of a dragon.
Oh. And "Reign of Fire" dragons don't count, since it seems to me they cribbed their design notes from Vermithrax. . .
How 'bout some anime-love?
Anyone see "Perfect Blue"? Creepy, crazy and totally disorienting.
Uzumaki - haven't seen the movie, but the manga series is CREEPY!
Gotta warn ya, the Uzumaki movie does fall pretty short in the creep factor compared to the manga, but there are some genuinely disturbing momeOH GOD THE EYE SCENE.
My newest obsession thanks to TCM Underground: Willie Dynamite
AW HELL YEAH. Next time I roll a gnome I'm swiping his entire wardrobe.
And to break your mind further, that's Gordon from Sesame Street!
So many good ones already listed. I got a couple more I think are AWESOME!
First:
and Second:
Nice thread. Necromancy FTW!
My agreements with some of those already mentioned:
Pi, excellent flick. Even though I could barley follow a lot of it.
Dark City is awesome too, Kiefer Sutherland is definatly NOT Jack Bauer in this one.
Ichi the Killer.I'm a huge fan of Asian horror and this is a great WTF film. Love it.
There were more, but I forget... :-/
Eko Eko Azarak and it's two sequals are prett fun. Japanese horror, high school students and demonic powers. What's not to love?
Repo! The Genetic Opera is fairly new, but not widely known. As it's title sugests, it's kind of a musical, (but really most of the dialog is recited in meter rather than actually sung). Like Rocky Horror but darker, bloodier and no Tim Curry. Good fun romp.
Anime, gotta recommend Boogiepop Phantom. Awsome series dealing with is reality and perception of that reality.
Well. What the heck. I'll throw a couple out there.
El Topo: by Alejandro Jodorowsky
A Mexican film that is parts western, parts theological exploration, and very surreal through out.
Martyrs: by Pascal Laugier
This is some what along the same lines of films like Hostel or Saw, but much more disturbing in the reasoning behind it all.
A lot of awesome films have been mentioned. Most I've seen. Some I own. Others are on a list.
A buddy of mine is throwing obscure films my way. I live in a devoid wasteland where there are only three cinema screens and G.I. Joe has been on one of them since it was released.
I'm happy this thread exists, and will be adding more to it myself as time goes on.
In Memory of the Man....
Steel Dawn starring Patrick Swayze in a Mad Max world fighting with one of the coolest swords on screen. Bad acting by some of the actors but the fight scenes are amazing.
There's a third i cant remember the name of... Has to do with experimenting on some rodents(enlarging them to the size of dogs). Folks get stranded on the island during a storm, the rodents(look like big rats with a very poisenous bite) try to kill and eat them. One of two escape in the end. 1950's flick. Anyone know which film im speaking of?
Can't leave anyone hanging- The Killer shrews.
I'll second Repo, the Genetic Opera! and then add:
Southland Tales starring Dwayne (the Rock) Johnson. Its got an all-star cast and makes you scratch your head the whole time. Pimps don't commit suicide!
I also liked...
Dog Soldiers
Ravenous
Mysterious Island (Anything Ray Harryhausen is likely NOT obscure to this audience, lol.)
I'll add...
Fido
Sound of Thunder
The Man from Earth
Bubba Ho-tep
High Tension
The Quick & The Dead
Ahhh. . . "Dragon Slayer" is - IMHO - one of the underrated fantasy flicks that the mid- to late-80's Sword and Sorcery Wastelands produced. Even compared to complete CGI creations (like the dragon in "Dragonheart"), Vermithrax Pejorative reigns supreme. With the possible exception of the future Smaug in the upcoming "The Hobbit" movies, Vermithrax is the best on-screen rendition of a dragon.
Oh. And "Reign of Fire" dragons don't count, since it seems to me they cribbed their design notes from Vermithrax. . .
How 'bout some anime-love?
Anyone see "Perfect Blue"? Creepy, crazy and totally disorienting.
Uzumaki - haven't seen the movie, but the manga series is CREEPY!
In terms of anime, I love obscure stuff. My greatest loves have never been released on DVD- Dangaio, Robot Carnival, and Genesis Survivor Gairaith.
A Flight of Dragons - My childhood favorite. Complete D&D movie. Dragons. Ogres. Wizards. Knights in shining armor. Halflings. Magic items. All around awesome.
Vidoc - Awesome murder mystery that actually fooled my wife. Made by the same people that did Brotherhood of the Wolf.
Brotherhood of the Wolf - Excellent story with some action and mystery. Dubbed so well in English someone had to tell me they were French.
Equilibrium - Christian Bale uses martial arts with handguns. And so much more.
Trying to think of other obscure titles that haven't been mentioned. Mirrormask was freakin' beautiful. So glad my wife had me watch it.
Oh yeah.
CUBE - Gygaxian D&D dungeon crawl. What fiendish trap will the poor bastards run into next? How many will survive? (Hint: Not many.)
I would advocate for watching Equilibrium as well.
Other slightly obscure movies well worth watching...
The Twilight Samurai - A samurai movie about a samurai who is more concerned with raising his daughters and caring for his mother than he is about going to war. Not an action flick but it is a very good samurai movie.
The Call of Cthulhu - Just recently released. A small budget production done as a black and white silent film. It is suitable for all ages but still manages to capture the flavor of the original short story pretty well.
Kibakichi and Kibakichi 2 - A werewolf samurai! With classical Japanese Monsters mixed in!
Cigarette Burns - A film by John Carpenter in which he explores some of the same themes as he does in In The Mouth of Madness but with a different cosmology.
Red Green's Duct Tape Forever - I'm really kind of partial to Red Green
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai: Across the 8th Dimension This gem should have been a cult classic on the scale of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Seriously. It's a shoestring budget sci-fi film with a star-studded cast, and well...best you watch it yourself if you haven't already. I couldn't do it justice if I tried.
I'm still waiting for the promised sequel!
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai: Across the 8th Dimension This gem should have been a cult classic on the scale of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Seriously. It's a shoestring budget sci-fi film with a star-studded cast, and well...best you watch it yourself if you haven't already. I couldn't do it justice if I tried.I'm still waiting for the promised sequel!
Shadowborn: Actually, I thought this film was the definition of a cult classic.
Callum: I would suggest, if you have not, that you hunt down a copy of the novel "Buckaroo Banzai" by Earl Mac Rauch, the screenwriter. It's even more frustrating in that it contains references to other novels that were never actually written. :)
The Call of Cthulhu - Just recently released. A small budget production done as a black and white silent film. It is suitable for all ages but still manages to capture the flavor of the original short story pretty well.
Great film. Although it was released almost four years ago, not exactly 'recent'. Keep an eye out for The Whisperer in Darkness, The latest film being made by HPLCHS. Balck & white also, but this one will be a 'talky'.
The Call of Cthulhu - Just recently released. A small budget production done as a black and white silent film. It is suitable for all ages but still manages to capture the flavor of the original short story pretty well.Great film. Although it was released almost four years ago, not exactly 'recent'. Keep an eye out for The Whisperer in Darkness, The latest film being made by HPLCHS. Balck & white also, but this one will be a 'talky'.
My bad. I double checked and you are right. I was thinking it had been just released this year for some reason.
And thanks for the heads up on Whisperer. :)
The team from Amelie are at it again! Somehow I missed this this movie til now. I loved the quirky backstories in Amelie, and there are a lot of characters and vignettes and set pieces woven though this long mystery of a story. (and some over-the-top cuteness that almost derails it).
I would advocate for watching Equilibrium as well.
Other slightly obscure movies well worth watching...
The Twilight Samurai - A samurai movie about a samurai who is more concerned with raising his daughters and caring for his mother than he is about going to war. Not an action flick but it is a very good samurai movie.
The Call of Cthulhu - Just recently released. A small budget production done as a black and white silent film. It is suitable for all ages but still manages to capture the flavor of the original short story pretty well.
Kibakichi and Kibakichi 2 - A werewolf samurai! With classical Japanese Monsters mixed in!
Cigarette Burns - A film by John Carpenter in which he explores some of the same themes as he does in In The Mouth of Madness but with a different cosmology.
Red Green's Duct Tape Forever - I'm really kind of partial to Red Green
(lol) I think about that Twilight Samurai movie every day.
Just watched the Thai movie "Chocolate" the other night and thought I would add it to this list. (Plot summary: An autistic girl with the ability to copy the movements of others (and fantastic hearing) beats up a series of bad guys as she and her foster-brother try to get money to pay for her mother's chemotherapy.) Amazing fight scenes with a brand new starlet that is like a female Thai combination of Jet Li and Jackie Chan. The story is a bit slow and confusing for the first fifteen minutes or so but its well worth sitting through to get to the action which is just about as good as I've ever seen in a movie. If you like kung-fu movies and haven't seen this one you should do so (and yeah I know that technically the Thai use boxing, not kung-fu).
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai: Across the 8th Dimension This gem should have been a cult classic on the scale of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Seriously. It's a shoestring budget sci-fi film with a star-studded cast, and well...best you watch it yourself if you haven't already. I couldn't do it justice if I tried.I'm still waiting for the promised sequel!
Which, if they were to make one, would need to have a Hatchetman cameo somewhere.
Just watched the Thai movie "Chocolate" the other night and thought I would add it to this list. (Plot summary: An autistic girl with the ability to copy the movements of others (and fantastic hearing) beats up a series of bad guys as she and her foster-brother try to get money to pay for her mother's chemotherapy.) Amazing fight scenes with a brand new starlet that is like a female Thai combination of Jet Li and Jackie Chan. The story is a bit slow and confusing for the first fifteen minutes or so but its well worth sitting through to get to the action which is just about as good as I've ever seen in a movie. If you like kung-fu movies and haven't seen this one you should do so (and yeah I know that technically the Thai use boxing, not kung-fu).
+1 This was a great flick. The meat market fight was over the top!
In Memory of the Man....
Steel Dawn starring Patrick Swayze in a Mad Max world fighting with one of the coolest swords on screen. Bad acting by some of the actors but the fight scenes are amazing.
+1. I happen to know that this was Patrick's favorite film he made. He showed it everytime I would visit him at his ranch in Texas. I guess I should point out for those who don't know that Patrick Swazye was my mom's cousin.
Yellowbeard - A absolutely hilarious pirate comedy/farce. I dont know who's in it or directed it, but everytime I see it I hurt for days from laughing so much!Nail that man's foot to the deck!
It also has the best murder scene ever filmed.
** spoiler omitted **
Is that the movie with the Hands Off!!! Scene in it?
Is that the movie with the Hands Off!!! Scene in it?Yellowbeard - A absolutely hilarious pirate comedy/farce. I dont know who's in it or directed it, but everytime I see it I hurt for days from laughing so much!Nail that man's foot to the deck!
It also has the best murder scene ever filmed.
** spoiler omitted **
Yes that it does. It's one of my favorite movies ever. I mean come on it has a cast consisting of Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, and John Cleese of Monty Python Fame, Cheech & Chong, Madeline Kahn, Peter Boyle (The dad from Everyone loves Raymond), the guy who played Igor in Young Frankenstein, and James Mason.... I mean come on, thats a crazy good cast for a fun comedy. And for what its worth I place Yellowbeard over Jack Sparrow for coolest pirate ever anyday....
Yes that it does. It's one of my favorite movies ever. I mean come on it has a cast consisting of Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, and John Cleese of Monty Python Fame, Cheech & Chong, Madeline Kahn, Peter Boyle (The dad from Everyone loves Raymond), the guy who played Igor in Young Frankenstein, and James Mason.... I mean come on, thats a crazy good cast for a fun comedy. And for what its worth I place Yellowbeard over Jack Sparrow for coolest pirate ever anyday....Is that the movie with the Hands Off!!! Scene in it?Yellowbeard - A absolutely hilarious pirate comedy/farce. I dont know who's in it or directed it, but everytime I see it I hurt for days from laughing so much!Nail that man's foot to the deck!
It also has the best murder scene ever filmed.
** spoiler omitted **
oh man..memories.
As I child, I used to visit my extended family in Panama a lot. I didn't get good with spanish until high school and college despite my mother's firm belief that a summer spent there would have me speaking like a native. This movie and Supergirl were the only ones that were at my cousin's house in english, and hence were the only movies I could understand. I can't count how many times I watched this movie over and over again....
Also, did I mention my favorite Rutger Hauer movies, Blood of Heroes and Blind Fury, in this thread yet?
Timecrimes is a low budget Spanish film (subtitles) that you can watch instantly if you have Netflix. Its a modern day SciFi time travel story that actually holds up fairly well to plot-hole scrutiny.
I give a definite second to Rogue, splendid direction and acting in a horror film.
The Class is worth a look if you have any interest in things outside of the US. It's a docudrama written by a French school teacher based on his experiences at a very rough school in a poorer area outside of Paris. He is also the main actor and none of the students are professionals.
Ok this list of movies is not a comprehensive list of obscure movies that I like (that would be pages worth) and some of them are kind of dated and some kind of bad but bad in a good way.
Now the Otenki-oneesan in English Weather Woman is rude, nude and very funny - it is seriously wierd, got to be over 18 to watch it.
Another of favourite Japanese moves Wild Zero . Ace, a wannabe rock star, is on his way to a concert of the band Guitar Wolf when aliens invade the Earth. As a result the dead rise with an appetite for flesh. Enlisting the help of Guitar Wolf, Ace and the members of the band get entangled in many misadventures with crazy rock managers in very tight shorts, transsexuals, naked women shooting guns in the shower, and bloodthirsty zombies ready to tear them apart.
Kidô keisatsu patorebâ: in English Patlabor Is one of my favourite mecha animae.
Mr Vampire Hong Kong Martial arts Vampire movie so bad its good
House of Wax Vincent Price need I say more.
Excalibur Mostly good has a young Patrick Stuart
Carry On Dick Ok I love the Carry On Movies, they are dated, sexist, and have me laugh out loud which most comedy does not do these days. The humour is very English.
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels My favourite English gangster movie I liked better than Snatch.
The Madness of King George Brilliant acting, very good movie - Used a mad king in one of my adventures based it around this movie.
The Italian Job The original and my second favourite English gangster movie
Jabberwocky You cant go wrong with Gilliam Time Bandits
Disturbingly I found that a lot of my favourite Australian movies are (anti) war movies
The Odd Angry Shot About the Australian SAS in the Vietnam war (There are very few wars where you wont find Australian soldiers serving along side Americans, we always do our bit for the alliance). Very low budget, shot in the late 70's, good story, Its about the boredom and futility of war.
Breaker Morant If you liked a Few Good Men and enjoy court room drama you will like this. Its based on a true story and is about the blurring of lines between revenge, war-crimes and following orders. It is also the reason capital punishment was abolished in the Australian Army and one of the many reasons Australian soldiers do not salute English officers unless they earn it.
Ok Gallipoli Another very well done futility of war movie Peter Weir and Mel Gibson before he became crap.
Less futility and more heroics 40,000 Horsemen or if you prefer a more modern version The Light Horsemen has a great massed cavalry (Mounted Infantry) charge - also a true story
The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith is seriously disturbing, It is about the dispossession, alienation of native Australians. I loved the book and the movie. Jimmie is driven mad in his attempt to fit into a the white Australian society. Its another true storey and a tragedy.
Picnic at Hanging Rock Some may find this frustrating and lacking in resolution.
Storm Boy My favourite movie as a Boy.
Two Hands Heath ledger before he became famous - Aussie Lock-stock/snatch kind of movie
Chopper Real Australian criminal very black humour - Eric Bana was brilliant in this.
