Strange films made before 1970 you recommend

[Pen Dragon]

if only for their curiosity value

The Balcony (1963) Shelly Winters in a whorehouse, Peter Falk and Leonard Nimoy as rival fascists. What more do you need

Our Man in Havana (1959) Made in Cuba just after Castro replaced Batista. Alec Guiness sells vacuum cleaners, Maureen O'Hara stands around with her arms folded looking gorgeous, Burl Ives wears a funny helmet, and Ernie Kovaks turns in a stunningly good performance as the police captain.

Castle Keep (1969) WW2 through the filter of Vietnam and Hippy culture. A bizarre acid trip.

Beat the Devil (1953) Has to be seen to be believed. If it makes any sense let me know. I've seen it twice. What a mess.

Suddenly, Last Summer (1959) Tennessee Williams' most self-indulgent play adapted by Gore Vidal. Homophobic gay bashing leading to murder as seen through the eyes of an insane Elizabeth Taylor who witnessed the atrocity. Katherine Hepburn plays a total bitch. And Montgomery Clift looks ready for the morgue.

[OkeyDokey]

The Magic Christian (1969)

Peter Sellars and Ringo Starr in one of the weirdest movies ever.

[dclary]

There really weren't very many movies made before 1970. And those that were, for the most part, both weren't any good, and weren't in color.

[le kilt]

Johnny Guitar (1953)
Morgan - A Suitable Case for Treatment (1966)
Bedazzled (1967)
Little Shop of Horrors (1960)

and a few from the early 70's:
The Ruling Class (1972)
Psychomania (1972)
O Lucky Man! (1973)

[Deus Ex Machine]

Carnival of Souls

Freaks

Plan 9 from Outer Space

The Seventh Seal

8 1/2

Lady in the Lake


The Thief

[Insanity In A Jar]

The Devils (Okay, it's from 1971)

Persona

La Strada

[roscoegino]

Head (1968)

Reefer Madness (1936)

[billythrilly7]

Okay, Pen. For you...

Let me grab my movie history book and really make a few intelligent, non-sarcastic recommendations with no "callback" to my movie timeline preferences. Be back soon.

(Four Hours Later)

None.

[Insanity In A Jar]

The Dclary-BillyThrilly comedy team, ladies and gentlemen.

[iembalm]

Fearless Frank

http://imdb.com/title/tt0061654/

[TDWoj]

Seconds (1966, Rock Hudson). Man, that was one strange movie.
The Swimmer
The Rose Tattoo

[Droz]

The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T (1953!)

A doctor Seuss extravaganza about a boy who hates his piano teacher and envisions a wild Seussy world where the piano teacher is the evil overlord and only the plumber (A plumber both in his real life and in the fantasy world) can save the boy and his mom from Dr. T.



Awesome wierd fun times...



-Droz

[TDWoj]

Green Mansions
---------------
Hey, I remember the 5000 Fingers of Dr. T! For some reason, it gave me nightmares....

[Fortean]

UN CHIEN ANDALOU (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020530/combined)

L'avez-vous vu? (http://www.ntvmsnbc.com/news/106570.jpg)

[Pen Dragon]

Ah...the 5000 Fingers of Dr. T. That was weird. Good one. Makes me remember the 7 Faces of Dr. Lao. That gave me the creeps when I was a kid.

[le kilt]

wish I hadn't seen this thread just before hitting the sack; so much for a good night's sleep, lol:

Privilege (1967)
The Loved One (1965)

[randesq]

Not sure of dates... at least early 70's and older

The Naked Kiss (Classic)
Zardoz (Good god is that sean connery?)
A boy and his dog (Don Johnson in post apocalyptic times)
Smile (off center)
The Gay deceivers (Hilarious - if you can find it)
bedazzled
what ever happened to baby jane (Two hollywood powerhouses knock down)
Bob & Ted & Carol & Alice (Pre swinging )
Carnal Knowledge (Jack Nickelson and garfunkel as college roomates)
Irma La Douche

[TDWoj]

Um... that would be "Irma La Douce".

Talk about yer freudian slip....

[Architeuthis Dux]

Strange films made before l970 I recommend?

Jeeze, don't get me started! Okay, how about Fiend Without A Face?


http://imdb.com/title/tt0050393/

[dodo1]

The movie I'd like to recommend has 'almost' been made before 1970.

It's What? (1972) by Roman Polanski.

Here's the plot summary: A young American woman (Sydne Rome) traveling through Italy finds herself in a strange Mediterranean villa where nothing seems right. Her visit becomes an absurd, decadent, oversexed version of "Alice in Wonderland", with Marcello Mastroianni as the maddest of mad hatters and Roman Polanski a kinky March hare.

This is a really strange, but recommendable movie.

[captain bligh]

carnival of souls (1962)
night tide (1961)
werewolf in a girls' dormatory (1961)

[refriedwhiskey]

I second Carnival of Souls (the 1962 Herk Harvey one; not the 1998 "Wes Craven Presents" thing) -- and I think I'll add Bligh's other two to my Netflix queue if they're available.

Has anyone mentioned Tod Browning's 1932 Freaks? You want weird; you got it.

[billythrilly7]

That one where the painting of the cemetery changes as the guy is getting out of the grave and heading for the door. And in the painting you can see the guy heading towards the door.

Great movie.

[dgrunert]

Billy, that was a story in the original Night Gallery TV movie, hosted by Rod Serling and starring Roddy McDowell

[Totiwos]

I'm not sure how you're defining "strange." Would "Dr. Strangelove" be included? "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari?" "Metropolis?" Or are those too mainstream? There are some great old creature features such as "Creature from the Black Lagoon" and "The Thing From Another World," if you like that type of film.

[billythrilly7]

Billy, that was a story in the original Night Gallery TV movie, hosted by Rod Serling and starring Roddy McDowell

I know. It was awesome. I always try and squeeze it in somewhere.

[Evil Elf]

Anything with "Dr. Phibes" in the title. And wasn't it "Carnival of Lost Souls?" Nosferatu, the original one, just because of the way the horses moved. Freaky, subtle and deliberate.

In the Valley of Gwanjii, of course. I quite enjoy Santa Claus Versus the Martians, but Pia Zadora pre-silicone isn't everyone's cup of tea.

[captain bligh]

no, it was just carnival of souls, or corridors of evil.

[refriedwhiskey]

Yep. Just Carnival of Souls.

[Pen Dragon]

Anyone ever seen Orson Welles' The Trial with Anthony Perkins? Just discovered I had it in my DVD collection. It looks weird

[le kilt]

I've been meaning to watch The Trial for around a dozen years. I taped it off the TV, then discovered the tape was faulty. Taped it again next time it was shown, and since I have no system at all for organizing the hundreds of tapes I have, scattered all over my apartment, I have no idea where the f**ker is now. It has a reputation for being *an interesting failure*. Let us know what you think of it, and maybe I'll hire some sniffer dogs, or something, to track down that tape for me.

[Pen Dragon]

I've got it cued up in my machine. I'll probably watch it after Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars, 300 Spartans, Roman Holiday, and Cat Ballou. I barely watch one dvd a week these days lol

[R.D. Wright]

I've been flashing back on a 1962 Japanese film called ATTACK OF THE MUSHROOM PEOPLE, and I was delighted to find it on Netflix under the title MATANGO. Don't be fooled by the stupid title, or its director, Ishiro Honda. This is no rubber monster movie, but more a study in psychological horror, loaded with atmosphere and some really good acting. In it the cast of "Gilligan's Island" is stranded on an island where they are tempted by these magic mushrooms to devour them and, well, they sort of become tranformed.

Trippy flick. I think the DVD is the restored widescreen version, not the butchered TV print released by AIP (which wasn't bad). I look forward to seeing if it's as good as I remember it.

--rd

[Signal30]

Damn, RD... trying to be the Indiana Jones of threads?

Fair enough... How about a William Shatner double feature of INCUBUS (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059311/) and THE INTRUDER (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055019/), both done before he got his "technique" down?

INCUBUS is an odd little art house horror film, with the dialogue completely in Esperanto (I suppose they set the project in motion as the faux-language started to gain steam as being The Next Big Thing, and only got it into theaters after the fad quit getting press).

THE INTRUDER is a take on the state of racism in 1962. It's pretty ugly, and the filmmakers almost got lynched themselves on the last day of shooting when the local townsfolk (in Texas, IIRC) found out what side of the divide they were on.

I think both films were a crossover effort between the folks who were involved in THE TWILIGHT ZONE and THE OUTER LIMITS.

[j over]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned one of the high grandaddies of all things weird and creepin': "Nosferatu".

[Pencey]

Seconds (1966, Rock Hudson). Man, that was one strange movie.
The Swimmer
The Rose Tattoo

I second, "The Swimmer."

[TDWoj]

I second, "The Swimmer."

I heard an ugly rumour it was supposed to be remade, with Alec Baldwin. If so, he's going to have to stop chowing down on the cream cakes between bitchin' at his daughter and his ex-wife.

[Adam Isaac]

The Immoral Mr. Teas
Metropolis
Faster P*ssycat! Kill! Kill!
The Black Cat
Doctor X
Mad Love
Mark of the Devil

[Signal30]

The Immoral Mr. Teas
Metropolis
Faster P*ssycat! Kill! Kill!
The Black Cat
Doctor X
Mad Love
Mark of the DevilOr even stranger, The Return of Doctor X, featuring Humphrey Bogart as a zombie. The stuff nightmares are made of.

The Black Cat (I assume you mean the Karloff/Lugosi version) is also one definite trip... it was released a couple of months before the infamous Hays Code began to be enforced, and contains some pretty extreme stuff. It's also a visual pleasure to watch.

[stvnlra]

Damn, RD... trying to be the Indiana Jones of threads?

Fair enough... How about a William Shatner double feature of INCUBUS (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059311/) and THE INTRUDER (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055019/), both done before he got his "technique" down?

INCUBUS is an odd little art house horror film, with the dialogue completely in Esperanto (I suppose they set the project in motion as the faux-language started to gain steam as being The Next Big Thing, and only got it into theaters after the fad quit getting press).

THE INTRUDER is a take on the state of racism in 1962. It's pretty ugly, and the filmmakers almost got lynched themselves on the last day of shooting when the local townsfolk (in Texas, IIRC) found out what side of the divide they were on.

I think both films were a crossover effort between the folks who were involved in THE TWILIGHT ZONE and THE OUTER LIMITS.

As i was reading this thread i was thinking of INCUBUS. I have it on DVD.

Bought it at a thrift store b/c it looked trippy ...Esperanto...:rolling: Haven't watched it yet.

Might actually have to take look now.

[Adam Isaac]

Or even stranger, The Return of Doctor X, featuring Humphrey Bogart as a zombie. The stuff nightmares are made of.

The Black Cat (I assume you mean the Karloff/Lugosi version) is also one definite trip... it was released a couple of months before the infamous Hays Code began to be enforced, and contains some pretty extreme stuff. It's also a visual pleasure to watch.


Yep, that's the one.

Return of Doctor X is good, but Doctor X with Lionel Atwill trumps it, in my opinion. The color on the film is freaky.