If you worked at a well-stocked, nice video store and I walked in and asked you (the clerk) for a movie that would give me horrible nightmares, and perhaps even shake my faith in humankind, what film

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thanks.

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 19:55 (twenty-two years ago)

Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer

― Aaron W (Aaron W), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 20:02 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.norcalmovies.com/TheSweetestThing/sweetest-poster3.jpg

― slutsky (slutsky), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 20:02 (twenty-two years ago)

Audition?

― N. (nickdastoor), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 20:03 (twenty-two years ago)

The Exorcist, no question.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 20:03 (twenty-two years ago)

good answers... Audition fucked me up & i have never seen The Exorcist

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 20:06 (twenty-two years ago)

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/6302276349.01._PE_SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg

― amateurist (amateurist), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 20:08 (twenty-two years ago)

Hard Core Logo, its depressing.

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 20:10 (twenty-two years ago)

Shooting Fish.

― jel -- (jel), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 20:11 (twenty-two years ago)

Requiem for a Dream -- horribly fucking depressing and creepy

― Jeanne Fury (Jeanne Fury), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 20:15 (twenty-two years ago)

The fact that so many people liked that movie gives me horrible nightmares and shakes my faith in humanity.

― slutsky (slutsky), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 20:17 (twenty-two years ago)

Word to slutsky. Reqiuem for a Dream is evil in a bad way. Slutsky also OTM re: The Sweetest Thing. My roommate owns this movie and watches it often and loudly. Guh.

― adam (adam), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 20:18 (twenty-two years ago)

The worst part of The Sweetest Thing: the Right Said Fred parody about the guy's penis.

― Ally (mlescaut), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 20:21 (twenty-two years ago)

Requiem For A Dream, is perfect for this thread.
Also Meet The Feebles qualifies.

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 20:21 (twenty-two years ago)

My ex's trilogy of "movies that make me feel queasy about people" is Shallow Grave, Once Were Warriors, and Heavenly Creatures. Oh, and Rosewood isn't part of the 'trilogy,' but she saw it for a class on violence and was just plain on edge for weeks (granted, half the purpose of the class was to make people on edge).

As far as nightmares, I think Poltergeist is one of the only movies that can still scare me.

― Tep (ktepi), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 20:21 (twenty-two years ago)

American History X
Platoon
(sorry for not coming up with more obscure picks)

― Bryan (Bryan), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 20:23 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh, and on the faith-quaking bit, maybe the first two Neil Labute movies, In the Company of Men and Your Friends and Neighbors (or was it just Friends and Neighbors? whichever).

― Tep (ktepi), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 20:23 (twenty-two years ago)

That movie is scary.

ARGH X-POST AGAIN

I meant Poltergeist.

― slutsky (slutsky), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 20:23 (twenty-two years ago)

I will never forgive Neil Labute that first film, which was a piece. of shit.

― amateurist (amateurist), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 20:24 (twenty-two years ago)

It really is (cross-post; I mean Poltergeist being scary). I haven't seen The Exorcist (much to my shame), which is the only reason I can't call Poltergeist the scariest movie ever. Half the reason The Ring scared me is just because the use of a television reminded me of Poltergeist, to be honest.

― Tep (ktepi), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 20:25 (twenty-two years ago)

I saw Poltergeist when I wasn't supposed to when I was like 6. I remember being terrified of my closet and making my mother keep the doors open "so I could see my clothes". I also would start crying if my parents left me alone in the bathtub. To this day I loathe the smell of Mr. Bubbles.

― Carey (Carey), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 20:25 (twenty-two years ago)

The thing about Requiem that scared my pants off was the old lady, not Jared "Jordan Catalano" Leto. Oh, and that sadistic fuck scene with the two chicks and dudes in business garb. Some others that scared me in a similar way were "Bully" and "Gummo" and (hands down) "Boys Don't Cry." I had a fucking migrane after the latter.

― Jeanne Fury (Jeanne Fury), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 20:25 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh man, I thought Company of Men was great at the time, but I haven't seen it since it was in theaters. It reminded me of so many people I knew and hated, and was glad to see on film.

― Tep (ktepi), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 20:25 (twenty-two years ago)

Happiness (I haven't seen this, but just based on what I've heard about the plot this should fit this thread.)

― j.lu (j.lu), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 20:25 (twenty-two years ago)

I used to somehow accidentally see it all the time as a kid. I never saw the sequels but all my friends insisted on describing them in detail about 50,000 times.

(another x-post, I'm still talking about you-know-what)

― slutsky (slutsky), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 20:27 (twenty-two years ago)

The Exorcist does different things to different people, probably dependent on their early childhood brushes with religion. Catholics handle it, no sweat. "Yep. That's the Devil for ya." Southern Protestants lose their fucking shit. Either way, it's a pretty soul-scarring experience, even given the insane overacting by Ellen Burstyn.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 20:31 (twenty-two years ago)

That might be, subconsciously, why I've never seen it. I was raised ultrafundamentalist. As a young kid, I had been to exorcisms performed by charismatics. It creeps me out remembering them.

― Tep (ktepi), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 20:35 (twenty-two years ago)

Jacob's Ladder
Pollock
Requiem For A Dream
(note: I own all of these)

― Millar (Millar), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 20:41 (twenty-two years ago)

Flower of Flesh & Blood
or it least it shook Charlie Sheen's faith in humankind.

― Honda (Honda), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 20:47 (twenty-two years ago)

Apocalypse Now

― oops (Oops), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 20:56 (twenty-two years ago)

I should also recommend the Dutch original ofThe Vanishing because everyone else seemed to be freaked out by it, even though I wasn't at all. It was good though.

Poltergeist was the only film to scare the shit out of me when I was a teenager. I don't know if it still would.

― N. (nickdastoor), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 21:06 (twenty-two years ago)

Apocalypse Now

No way! The fact that he goes ahead and kills Kurtz at the end, and the fact that Kurtz even WANTS to be killed, is affirmation. Everyone involved has learned to recognize madness, and say no to it.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 21:08 (twenty-two years ago)

Kids, without a doubt. Ugly, savage, depressing, and made me wanna weep for future generations.

― Trayce (trayce), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 21:10 (twenty-two years ago)

larry clark owns this thread

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 21:15 (twenty-two years ago)

Songs from the Second Floor and Mike Leigh's Naked eat Requiem for breakfast.

― Frühlingsmute (Wintermute), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 21:18 (twenty-two years ago)

Naked = one of my favorite movies. But not on the first date.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 21:22 (twenty-two years ago)

Songs From the Second Floor is really great, though it's funny enough to blunt its nightmare-giving ability.

that was the worst sentence ever

― slutsky (slutsky), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 21:25 (twenty-two years ago)

The Untold Story.Japanese nihilism at it's darkest and ickiest. also, Parenthood, Father Of The Bride(steve martin version) and Hook!

― scott seward, Tuesday, 20 May 2003 21:26 (twenty-two years ago)

oh, and Cannibal Holocaust and The Birdcage too.

― scott seward, Tuesday, 20 May 2003 21:31 (twenty-two years ago)

Songs From the Second Floor is really great, though it's funny enough to blunt its nightmare-giving ability.

B-b-but the funny parts make it so much worse! Same thing with Naked. There's this obscure German film called Abendland, and it's like Songs with the Naked characters in it. It doesn't work because it lacks humour completely. The film gives you nothing to laugh about between the glum parts, so you start laughing at the film in defense.

― Frühlingsmute (Wintermute), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 21:58 (twenty-two years ago)

Yes, Bully. It's hard for me to talk about that movie objectively since it fucked me up too much.

― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 21:59 (twenty-two years ago)

tetsuo the iron man

― jess (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 22:01 (twenty-two years ago)

(heh jess wrong thread!)

― Honda (Honda), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 00:52 (twenty-two years ago)

(honda exactly)

― Millar (Millar), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 00:57 (twenty-two years ago)

i think bully and kids are on the wrong thread,too. They are my idea of feel-good movies. sexy kids getting high, fucking and causing trouble? where's the downside? love teenage caveman too, and i can't wait to see ken park. then again, my all-time favorite movie is over the edge, so there ya go.

― scott seward, Wednesday, 21 May 2003 00:57 (twenty-two years ago)

Eraserhead.

― Wired Flounder (Wired Flounder), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 01:37 (twenty-two years ago)

River's Edge

― oops (Oops), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 02:49 (twenty-two years ago)

Man Bites Dog

― Chris Barrus (Chris Barrus), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 02:52 (twenty-two years ago)

Seul contre tous [I Stand Alone] - Gaspar Noe.
Buffalo 66.
Naked - Mike Leigh. As far as just plain nihilism goes, that's it for me. Can't stand any of those.

For nightmares, Audition could do it, or probably a number of other Takashi Miike films, of which I haven't seen many. Or Trouble Every Day, which is great but.. I think it's the screaming that gets you, I really do. I'm sure some older Italian horror could do the trick, some Dario Argento or.. who are those guys? Mario Bava? Fulci? Still, those are more set pieces than actually horrifying, I think.

― daria g, Wednesday, 21 May 2003 03:27 (twenty-two years ago)

i think bully and kids are on the wrong thread,too. They are my idea of feel-good movies. sexy kids getting high, fucking and causing trouble? where's the downside?

Yeah the get the girl drunk rape scene at the end was soooo sexy and fun. Not.

― Trayce (trayce), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 03:29 (twenty-two years ago)

if they all got hit by cars at the end or something that would be an upside

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 03:33 (twenty-two years ago)

The setpieces in Deep Red totally freaked me out. That image of the diamond necklace hanging off the elevator, the shimmering and translucent blood dripping from its centerpiece, is forever burned into a very deep and traumatized part of my brain. I liked it when someone on ILF said (paraphrasing) "Really, DR isn't that bad in this age of Faces of Death..." Kinda sums it up for me.

― chester (synkro), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 03:40 (twenty-two years ago)

Bully didn't even have "sexy kids."

But yeah, Bully was one of the most traumatizing films I've ever seen. It just made me want to go stand in the shower for a few hours.

I do get bothered when I read a review of Kids or Bully (and I think Ebert is most guilty of this), where they act like these things are semi-normal behavior, the seedy underside of adolescent behavior that parents are unaware of. That's such bullshit. These things happen, but it's just the antithesis of the all-teens-are-innocent-angels fantasy.

― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 04:59 (twenty-two years ago)

What makes makes Kids terrifying is all the AIDS THE AIDS THE AIDS THE AIDS THE AIDS THE AIDS THE AIDS THE AIDS THE AIDS THE AIDS!!!

― Dan I. (Dan I.), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 05:04 (twenty-two years ago)

Um, I didn't see anything in Kids that I didn't see happen or hear about happening in my suburban Midwestern town. It IS semi-normal.

― oops (Oops), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 05:05 (twenty-two years ago)

i love kids and bully. i guess they are a little depressing tho

for me, buffalo 66 is a very sweet movie! it's snuggly soft, albeit in a dysfunctional way

― ron (ron), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 05:18 (twenty-two years ago)

um, i was being more than a little glib when i called bully and kids "feel good" movies, but at the same time, father of the bride and hook ARE more offensive to me. i'm not a rape-fan or anything (in fact, i forget most of kids anyway cuz i haven't seen it since it came out), and i recognize that unpleasant stuff happens in both movies, but nothing about them shocked me or depressed me anymore than a Lifetime made for t.v. movie would. Having said that, i am most definitely a vicarious fan of elemental, visceral, punk rock energy and ennui and bad adolescent behaviour whether it's the children's crusade, lord of the flies, or the river's edge. i will always reserve a little place in my heart for fiction about/and for kids who fuck shit up. I also think that gummo is a beautiful dream of an exploitation movie. Having said THAT, i'm not heartless or something, and The Untold Story freaked me the fuck out and did, in fact, make me want to take a shower for days. ( greg araki's nowhere is another good example of a great stonerdeathkid spectacle that i love-plus,it's got space aliens )

― scott seward, Wednesday, 21 May 2003 06:15 (twenty-two years ago)

i get the impression that lilya 4-ever would meet your criteria but i'm never going to see if for that very reason.

― angela (angela), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 08:21 (twenty-two years ago)

I get asked this alot and generaly recommend Life Is Beautiful.

― Nick Southall (Nick Southall), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 08:27 (twenty-two years ago)

The David Cronenberg one in the apartment block. Shivers?

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 08:30 (twenty-two years ago)

I have become a cruel misanthrope since seeing Lilja 4-Ever.

Also, I have been trying to work out how I can set up my own highly profitable sex slavery operation.

(If I am prepared to make jokes about the subject matter of this film, it's terrible hold over me must be wearing off. Oh joy!)

― DV (dirtyvicar), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 09:01 (twenty-two years ago)

what do you mean "have become" DV?

― angela (angela), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 09:06 (twenty-two years ago)

For different reasons...

Naked
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Pretty Woman

― James Ball (James Ball), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 09:55 (twenty-two years ago)

what do you mean "have become" DV?

blimey, I didn't see that coming! my sides!

― DV (dirtyvicar), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 10:51 (twenty-two years ago)

sexy kids getting high, fucking and causing trouble? where's the downside?

That's exactly why I put City of God on the other thread.

The David Cronenberg one in the apartment block. Shivers?

The only thing I remember from that movie is Lynn Lowry peeling out of her nurse costume, and that scene is the very definition of, er, uplifting.

― Frühlingsmute (Wintermute), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 10:56 (twenty-two years ago)

J. Lu's recommendation of Happiness above is a good one. That movie freaked me out. It's seriously creepy.

― NA. (Nick A.), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 11:13 (twenty-two years ago)

I don't think it will change your view of humanity, but I was suprised how much the movie "Candyman" creeped me out, it is a pretty good traditional horror movie.

8MM is a very depressing movie and suprising that it was made by a big studio. The soundtrack is quite haunting.

Neil Labute's movies are about people that are just pure normalized evil. I think people come away hating them because in some fashion they hit closer to bone than some might want to admit. I don't quite know what to make of movies such as these, which would also include Happiness, Naked, Spanking the Monkey, and others. I wonder, is this entertainment? If it is really more or less just art, what kind of bleak reality does this reflect? Unlike Lynch or Cronenberg's movies they don't rely on nearly upon visual style to get their point across.

― earlnash, Wednesday, 21 May 2003 12:14 (twenty-two years ago)

lynch and cronenberg are some kind of genius and this helps a lot if you are gonna tackle morality, good, evil, etc, in your films. plus, their ideas about good and evil and their depictions of it are often mythical and grander in scope than the miserablism of Labute and Solondz who attempt to stylize a more mundane depiction of the banality of evil and, in effect, give great lines to assholes and creeps who in real life are never so eloquent or self-aware. their morality plays (and Labute's and Solondz's stuff reminds me more of theatre than good cinema) seem to be based on contempt and they go too far in stacking the decks in favor of ickiness and a general feeling that original sin is the bulding block of character, whereas Lynch and Cronenberg for all their fear of the body are also fascinated by them (bodies-sometimes in the clinical sense, but also in their inherent beauty) which in turn fascinates ME when i watch their movies. but movies like happiness and in the company of men don't make me think about much at all. they are more like car crashes that you pass on the road. they make me wince and give me a desire to keep moving. they are like comic book versions of reality/realism with all the good stuff that a comic book fabulism can engender taken out. their creators seem to want to elevate pettiness to the level of grand opera, but they(the creators) usually just end up looking nearly as petty and mean for being so myopic and rigid. then again, maybe i just don't think they are talented enough to make me care about their visions.i never feel like their shock tactics have anything behind them. they feel empty. ugly for ugly's sake. that's not enough for me. all those movies you mentioned make for good discussion though, so maybe i'm wrong and they are towering film giants. i'll let history decide.given the choice, though, i'll take Candyman every time.

― scott seward, Wednesday, 21 May 2003 14:42 (twenty-two years ago)

horrible nightmares? shake your faith in humankind?

Dancer in the Dark.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 15:01 (twenty-two years ago)

>>sexy kids getting high, fucking and causing trouble? where's the downside?<<

The "causing trouble" part is the downside. There's a big difference between stealing from the 7-11, fucking with lame-ass cops, vandalism, etc. and um, murdering your peers and/or knowingly spreading a lethal disease.

― Jeanne Fury (Jeanne Fury), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 15:17 (twenty-two years ago)

You'd think, if they're gonna go to the trouble of positioning the names directly over the heads in that Sweetest Thing poster, that they'd at least be bothered to put the correct names over each girl's head!

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 15:20 (twenty-two years ago)

>>sexy kids getting high, fucking and causing trouble? where's the downside?<<

um, i was talking about art/movies/fiction not life/reality/the real world (not the Real World real world, the untelevised real world. but. of course, i love The Real World too) although, i do find true tales of kids gone bad fascinating reading/watching as well.especially those great rolling stone stories-which really should be compiled into a book-and all those great HBO docs. and i realize that bully is based on a true story, but it's not a doc and is much to anarchic and free-form feeling to be called a bio-pic by anyone.

― scott seward, Wednesday, 21 May 2003 15:55 (twenty-two years ago)

not that fictional events and scenes portrayed in movies can't be disturbing. of course they can. they're just not real. they are fictional. i'm sorry, i'm not spelling this out to be a jerk, i just wanna be clear.

― scott seward, Wednesday, 21 May 2003 15:58 (twenty-two years ago)

>>i do find true tales of kids gone bad fascinating reading/watching as well.especially those great rolling stone stories-which really should be compiled into a book-and all those great HBO docs.<<

Agreed 100%. Spin runs some pretty twisted real-life tales of young people, too, and crams it in the back of the magazine. Better reporting and writing than most of the music features, methinks.

― Jeanne Fury (Jeanne Fury), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 15:59 (twenty-two years ago)

Forget movies. If you want to lose faith in humanity google search, like "planet x" or "nibiru" and read the thoughts of the most insane people you'll ever read about in your life.

― Mandee, Wednesday, 21 May 2003 16:01 (twenty-two years ago)

Being John Malkovic

― toraneko (toraneko), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 16:06 (twenty-two years ago)

Don't Look Now really upset me.

― Daniel (dancity), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 16:14 (twenty-two years ago)

You'd think, if they're gonna go to the trouble of positioning the names directly over the heads in that Sweetest Thing poster, that they'd at least be bothered to put the correct names over each girl's head!

They always do this in movie posters and it drives me completely crazy. It's a case of contractually-mandated star billing vs. design I guess.

― slutsky (slutsky), Thursday, 22 May 2003 00:22 (twenty-two years ago)

Funny Games

― David S, Thursday, 22 May 2003 14:51 (twenty-two years ago)

one year passes...

AUGUST UNDERGROUND

most disturbing film EVAH.

― Ian c=====8 (orion), Saturday, 12 June 2004 21:01 (twenty-one years ago)

The Rapture.

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Saturday, 12 June 2004 22:05 (twenty-one years ago)

Testament (1983)
A suburnban family's ordeal after a Nuclear attack on the united states cities. Slowely, more and more members of the community succumb to invisible radiation. It's despairing, apocalyptic in an ungraphic way but it's psychologically difficult to shake.

― theodore fogelsanger, Saturday, 12 June 2004 22:13 (twenty-one years ago)

Still Bully.

Everyone involved is so fucking stupid. Period. The parents, the kids, everyone involved is just mind-numbingly stupid. And yet, it rings true to life. That's the faith-shaking part.

― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Saturday, 12 June 2004 23:18 (twenty-one years ago)

Is Testament the one where the mom and the son dance to a Beatles song on the radio? If so, I still shudder to that one.

― Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Saturday, 12 June 2004 23:28 (twenty-one years ago)

Henry: Potrait of a Serial Killer echoed from over here...

Man Bites Dog (if you don't mind subtitles).

Last House on the Left.

Salo

I've not seen it but I hear In a Glass Cage is especially punishing and you should approach with caution.

If you just want nightmares I'd say turn the lights out, put the speakers on full and watch Suspiria. That should do it.

― C-Man (C-Man), Saturday, 12 June 2004 23:40 (twenty-one years ago)

Holy shit, Testament. I remember the scene where Jane Alexander is washing her son and it's obvious she's getting him ready to bury, and the water starts to turn red and it's clear that he's bleeding out through his ass, and then I realize that I can't tell if he's dead yet or not. Jesus. (It's been many years, am I remembering any of that right?)

― Rock Hardy (Rock Hardy), Saturday, 12 June 2004 23:42 (twenty-one years ago)

Naked Blood: Warning, this movie contains graphic and detailed images of a women eating their own eyeballs with forks, sticking their hands in hot chip fat, mutilating themselves with knives and staring at cactuses through weird 3d glasses. My friend nearly threw up watching this.

― dog latin (dog latin), Saturday, 12 June 2004 23:42 (twenty-one years ago)

AUGUST UNDERGROUND!!

i mean, the movie opens with a girl being tied to a chair and raped/tortured. and such murder/torture/sodomy is continued for another hour or so. I AM SERIOUS, DUDES. THIS IS BY FAR THE CREEPIEST MOVIE I HAVE EVER SEEN.

― Ian c=====8 (orion), Saturday, 12 June 2004 23:47 (twenty-one years ago)

'Blow Out.'

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Sunday, 13 June 2004 00:53 (twenty-one years ago)

I just want to second 'Funny Games' by Michael Haneke

― Kevin Gilchrist (Mr Fusion), Sunday, 13 June 2004 01:14 (twenty-one years ago)

Another Stakeout

― Beat That, Sunday, 13 June 2004 01:17 (twenty-one years ago)

Recently the horror underground (i.e. a very small amount of fans who consider "Cannibal Ferox" to be better than "Citizen Kane") have been ranting about "Scrapbook". Shot on digital, no budget, rape flick. I know enough about it to avoid it but... well, I hear it's pretty evil stuff.

― C-Man (C-Man), Sunday, 13 June 2004 01:22 (twenty-one years ago)

I'll third Funny Games. Complete nihilistic crap, and your opinion of John Zorn will go down a few notches for allowing himself to be on the soundtrack. After the "meta" scene, you will most likely be filled with a desire to book a flight to Austria just to punch the director in the face. But that would be a bad thing, since he just about redeemed himself with the great Code Inconnu. Went back to misanthropy with The Piano Teacher, though.

I wouldn't put Bava or Argento on the list. They're just too classy. With Fulci, on the other hand, a good argument could be made; he has none of the former directors' artistry and his films just come off bleak. However, his unintended camp moments (like the dialogue from The Beyond, e.g., "I'll give you carte blanche, but not a blank check") make me lean against it.

My pick: Khroustaliov, My Car!, a jumble of nonsensical Stalinist-era twaddle capped off with a quite disturbing scene involving the protagonist and a large greased pole. I don't exaggerate when I say that this film is probably why I don't attend the Seattle International Film Festival much anymore.

― Joshua Houk (chascarrillo), Sunday, 13 June 2004 02:30 (twenty-one years ago)

http://ia.imdb.com/media/imdb/01/I/27/14/91m.jpg http://ia.imdb.com/media/imdb/01/I/54/79/31m.jpg

I suspect that Mariah Carey's nervous breakdown was really an attempt to not have to do promotion for her film.

― j.lu (j.lu), Sunday, 13 June 2004 02:42 (twenty-one years ago)

Years and years ago in high school some friends of mine asked me to pick up some videos to watch later that night. I rented Cruising and The Devils. I bummed them all out really bad.

― scott seward (scott seward), Sunday, 13 June 2004 02:44 (twenty-one years ago)

'Henry: Potrait of a Serial Killer echoed from over here...'

it eventually transpired that the guy who the movie's based on, henry lee lucas, made up all those confessions about his murders. he most likely actually killed only one or two people. lucas made up all the stories to please his captors, the texas rangers, who thought they could use him to find the bodies of several missing women.

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Sunday, 13 June 2004 04:20 (twenty-one years ago)

In what seemed an ironical move on my part at first, Wag The Dog. Within the first month I guarantee you'd be all: riiiiiight.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Sunday, 13 June 2004 07:28 (twenty-one years ago)

OMG I've become everything that I hate.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Sunday, 13 June 2004 07:28 (twenty-one years ago)

fat girl

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Sunday, 13 June 2004 07:47 (twenty-one years ago)

also, Billy Wilder's Ace in the Hole, aka The Big Carnival, is the bleakest most depressing movie I've ever seen.

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Sunday, 13 June 2004 07:47 (twenty-one years ago)

Visitor Q! Man, that's the sickest film I've ever seen, I turned it off half way through.

― jel -- (jel), Sunday, 13 June 2004 07:54 (twenty-one years ago)

Testament: and the water starts to turn red and it's clear that he's bleeding out through his ass,

Actually, that kinda takes a load off of my mind. I always thought that the water had turned brown.

― Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Sunday, 13 June 2004 07:59 (twenty-one years ago)

psychomania.

― cozen (Cozen), Sunday, 13 June 2004 10:22 (twenty-one years ago)

'he has none of the former directors' artistry'

Whilst not in the same league as Argento or Bava this statement is just not true. Working with his crew that included cinematographer Sergio Salvati, Fulci's best films have some highly stylised sequences all documented in widescreen photography - whilst his early giallo ("Lizard in a Woman's Skin"/ "Don't Torture a Duckling") whilst not great, or even good, films - are not without cinematic skill.

― C-Man (C-Man), Sunday, 13 June 2004 10:40 (twenty-one years ago)

two months pass...

I'm amazed by how many of these films are among my favourites. I would 'Suburbia' to the list.

― Star Cauliflower (Star Cauliflower), Saturday, 28 August 2004 23:10 (twenty-one years ago)

Threads is a good one too - I watched it again recently, and I was still shaken by it.

― Kevin Gilchrist (Mr Fusion), Sunday, 29 August 2004 01:46 (twenty-one years ago)

Amelie

― Leon Czolgosz (Nicole), Sunday, 29 August 2004 02:27 (twenty-one years ago)

"Freaks."

A real oldie, but a real goodie. Hard to get out of your mind. "One of us.... one of us..."

― Hey Jude, Sunday, 29 August 2004 02:36 (twenty-one years ago)

Shaking one's faith in humankind:

"Quatermass and the Pit's" thesis is that "humankind" is the product of the prehistoric splicing of insectile Martian DNA with that of the local apes.

Modern-day humans possessing a purer strain of the Martian DNA engage in telekinetic ethnic cleansing of those sensed to be insufficiently Martian.

― Neil Willett (Neil Willett), Sunday, 29 August 2004 08:36 (twenty-one years ago)

"Come and See" - Dir, Elem Klimov

― rainy (rainy), Sunday, 29 August 2004 08:42 (twenty-one years ago)

Coup de torchon is my answer.

― Girolamo Savonarola, Sunday, 29 August 2004 09:37 (twenty-one years ago)

I should also recommend the Dutch original ofThe Vanishing because everyone else seemed to be freaked out by it, even though I wasn't at all. It was good though.

Why not? Maybe it freaked me out because I too desperately want to *know*.

I would 'Suburbia' to the list.

The 80s one?

― jesus nathalie (nathalie), Sunday, 29 August 2004 10:25 (twenty-one years ago)

Also: The Thing and I'll second Fat Girl.

― Girolamo Savonarola, Sunday, 29 August 2004 16:46 (twenty-one years ago)

I can't be bothered to read the whole thread, so it may have been mentioned already, but Funny Games is far and away the most evil film I've ever seen.

― Wooden (Wooden), Sunday, 29 August 2004 16:50 (twenty-one years ago)

My long-ass post on Labute & Solondz on this thread is brilliant and deserves an award. I wish I could write like that in real life. I wonder what I was drinking that night? Okay, it's not brilliant, but i manage to express a thought almost coherently and this becomes a rarer and rarer occurence with each passing day.

― scott seward (scott seward), Sunday, 29 August 2004 16:53 (twenty-one years ago)

I haven't seen either, but surely The Sorrow and the Pity and Night and Fog belong here somewhere.

― nickn (nickn), Monday, 30 August 2004 05:08 (twenty-one years ago)

Alan Clarke's Scum totally shook my faith in humanity.

i just bawled after watching this film and can't watch it again. :/

― may, Monday, 30 August 2004 05:27 (twenty-one years ago)

Schlesinger's 'A Kind Of Loving'

saw this when i was 18 - was in a state of numb misery for days afterwards
it made me feel all was pointless

― Snowy Mann (rdmanston), Monday, 30 August 2004 11:48 (twenty-one years ago)

If you're gonna go the whole Holocaust route, I recommend the sweet slow evisceration through nine hours of Shoah.

― Girolamo Savonarola, Monday, 30 August 2004 12:10 (twenty-one years ago)

"sweet"

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 30 August 2004 14:59 (twenty-one years ago)

"dude"

― Girolamo Savonarola, Monday, 30 August 2004 23:51 (twenty-one years ago)

...And there's a film to restore your faith in humanity.

― Kevin Gilchrist (Mr Fusion), Tuesday, 31 August 2004 00:15 (twenty-one years ago)

i liked fat girl, but the end was totally random. it's a french thing right

what about irreversible

― ron (ron), Tuesday, 31 August 2004 00:16 (twenty-one years ago)

I work at a nice, well-stocked video store right now and spend my time alphabetizing titles like MY GRANNY IS A TRANNY. My favorite from this week was DRESSED TO DRILL.

― Vic (Vic), Tuesday, 31 August 2004 03:40 (twenty-one years ago)

What store?

― x j e r e m y (x Jeremy), Tuesday, 31 August 2004 03:43 (twenty-one years ago)

The 400 Blows.

― David Beckhouse (David Beckhouse), Tuesday, 31 August 2004 04:47 (twenty-one years ago)

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/miscgfx/covers/mysticpizzadvd.jpg

― derrick (derrick), Tuesday, 31 August 2004 05:12 (twenty-one years ago)

but seriously,

OTM on THREADS.

Also, for me, 'Rosemary's Baby'.

― derrick (derrick), Tuesday, 31 August 2004 05:13 (twenty-one years ago)

two years pass...

8080

― Tracer Hand, Sunday, 24 June 2007 14:39 (eighteen years ago)

Vincent PHILIP D'Onofrio!

― David R., Sunday, 24 June 2007 17:10 (eighteen years ago)

Moulin Rouge

― latebloomer, Sunday, 24 June 2007 17:14 (eighteen years ago)

Little Man

― latebloomer, Sunday, 24 June 2007 17:16 (eighteen years ago)

Baby Geniuses

― latebloomer, Sunday, 24 June 2007 17:16 (eighteen years ago)

Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo

― latebloomer, Sunday, 24 June 2007 17:16 (eighteen years ago)

three years pass...

and there is ANOTHER thread like this one too.

― scott seward, Thursday, 9 June 2011 18:42 (fourteen years ago)

A Serbian Film lock thread, video store, and humanity

― the fey bloggers are onto the zagat tweets (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, 9 June 2011 18:49 (fourteen years ago)

"well-stocked, nice video store" -wow, that was a nostalgia trip.

― o. nate, Thursday, 9 June 2011 21:35 (fourteen years ago)

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