Dark Dramas/Surreal Horror

[Lacan]

I've recently broken into the world of trying to be a movie nerd, and as a result, I've found some pretty good movies that I feel are worth mentioning. Since I tend to favor movies that kinda make your jaw go slack and ask "What the hell did I just watch?" a lot of those movies tend to be bizarre gloomy movies that use estranged mysticism, and metaphysical themes to explore the instability of the human mind.

So, I'll be posting about some movies that I think are definitely worth checking out, especially if you like that sort of movie. Feel free to comment, or add any movies you think fit in this category.

[Lacan]

Antichrist-




This is probably the newest movie I've seen in this category. Made by Danish director Lars von Trier and starring Willem Dafoe.

Dafoe plays a psychologist who tries to console his grieving wife who, after their child dies in an accident, is thrown into a fit of severe depression. The couple retreat to a cabin in the woods where his wife spent part of her childhood, in order to explore the nature of her anxiety. After finding that there might be more to his wife's depression than the death of their son, Dafoe's character begins dreaming and seeing strange things that pertain to his wife's disposition.



What I liked about this movie was the stark atmosphere, that uses themes you might expect to find in horror stories from the 1700's. During the production of this movie, the director had gone into a fit of depression, due to his overwhelming number of phobias he suffers from. As a result, the movie does a great job of capturing the subtle and surreal feelings of dread that we all experience when faced with our own fears and anxiety. Even the grass seems to take a hostile vibe, illustrating what it's like for a person who is very uncomfortable with the natural order of things.

I should also note that this movie gets pretty gritty at times. Although it isn't quite as twisted as some horror movies like Hostel or Human Centipede, you should be prepared to see Willem Dafoe get hit in the nuts with a cinder-block, and cum blood. If stuff like that doesn't bother you, watch this movie.

[Lacan]

Eraserhead-



This one is actually considered a classic. Probably the first movie I've seen that breaks free from standard story telling techniques in order to express more raw emotions.

The plot is kind of thin, and like a lot of other David Lynch films, doesn't make a whole lot of sense at first glance (if at all). The plot essentially follows a man in a strange post-apocalyptic world, who's girlfriend birth a mutant baby who he is left to take care of. He is then forced to deal with a series of unstable situations in a world he is already uncomfortable with. However, the plot isn't quite as important as the raw emotion and imagery in the film. I don't think I'm spoiling anything when I say that by the end of the movie, his brain is used to create the eraser at the end of a pencil (Hence the tittle "Eraserhead").



What I liked about this movie is that amongst all the grotesque madness, you can continuously find meaning between the lines. Lynch tends to put a lot of hidden themes in his movie. Instead of handing you the answers, he hides them in a brilliantly scrambled mess of emotion and wildly grotesque scenes. In short, even in the most vile disease ridden places, you can find meaning and purpose.


Again, this movie is for people with moderately strong stomachs.

[J.]

Oy, Lynch & Von Trier! You came out swinging for the fences, eh?

I'm not particularly fond of either director, but I will say at their best they have some interesting visuals and ideas. I've seen bits of Dune & Mullholland Drive from Lynch's catalogue, and Dancer In The Dark from Von Trier.

(It's funny that the musical involving Björk is probably the most 'sane' of the three I just mentioned).

Though if you're into these sort of less grounded, more open-ended directors I would probably push you up on Jim Jarmusch. He, too, has a very sedate sense of pacing and love of the odd. Dig up Dead Man with Johnny Depp for a taste.

Personally, the farthest I could ever delve into the world of dark drama was Oldboy (yes, I know about the remake, and no, I have nothing to say beyond that). Although Hard Candy might be up your alley: Patrick "Nite Owl from Watchmen" Wilson and Ellen "Ariadne from Inception" Page star in a frantically tight character study reminiscent of a two-person Hitchcock film.

[Lacan]

Oh yes, given enough time, Old Boy would have ended up on this list. I was pretty impressed with the whole Vengeance Trilogy. I've barely heard of them making a re-make, but it sounds a bit unnecessary. I can't think of anything that could make it any better, unless they get Michael Bay to direct it[/sarcasm]

I kinda agree with you regarding Von Trier and Lynch though. My plan is to post a bunch of movies like this, so I didn't necessarily start with my favorites.

I have yet to watch anything else by Von Trier that has caught my attention like Antichrist, and although I'm a pretty big Lynch fan, I would definitely say that most his stuff is pretty boring and needlessly confusing. Dune kind of seems to miss the point of the book, and Mullholland Drive pretty much made a big pointless circle of nothing by the end of the movie. I've also only really watched Easerhead once, at least a year ago, but for some reason it seemed noteworthy.

I guess you could say that I'm more of a fan of Lynch's style, than his actual movies.


I have seen Dead Man, though I wasn't really paying attention, it definitely seemed good enough for me to go back and watch it again.

[J.]

Talking about stuff like this makes me sad that Paradise Lost Specialty DVD Rental doesn't exist any more. Technically, that store was the first friend I made when I moved to Chico.

It's where I got Oldboy from, in fact. I remember liking Lady Vengeance more than Mr. Vengeance, though I need to rewatch them at some point and see. I know that director made a vampire movie called Thirst that was very sedately paced. I didn't make it through.

However, all this talk has reminded me of a friend's recommendation for an allegedly gruesome Korean revenge thriller with the main guy from Oldboy called I Saw The Devil. Haven't had a chance to watch it yet, though.

And thank goodness we seem to be on the same page about Lynch & Von Trier! I was choosing my words very, very carefully with my previous post... ^_^;;

[Lacan]

I definitely regret not really getting a chance to ransack Paradise Lost's selection. I always wanted to check out their stuff but I never really got the chance past browsing tittles, since I didn't live in Chico.

I'm kind of familiar with Thirst and I Saw the Devil, but I know neither sparked my interest enough to watch them. It's probably because they didn't get as much praise as Old Boy, and the other Vengeance movies.

[Lacan]

Pi-



This was a pretty interesting movie. It didn't really blow open any doors, or teach me anything new, but I still enjoyed the aesthetic of it.

In this movie is about a guy who is evidently obsessed with numbers to the point of neurosis. The plot of the movie follows him into paranoia and various dilemmas as he tries to piece together the various aspect of some ultimate number or pattern to unlock the secrets of life.

What I like about this movie, is that it did a rather good job of how a simple idea can get really complicated really fast. The whole movie the protagonist is desperately trying to figure out all these numbers dancing in front of his face as people come to him offering him their own view of how and why he should use his knowledge. It has a very good portrayal of the modern world, with several characters and plot points that demonstrate religious fanatics, power hungry politicians, people who share dreams and have given up, and people who care, but just don't understand. Like I said, maybe it isn't the best movie for demonstrating these points, but there is something about it that just feels honest that kind of reverberated with me. Also, I found this movie to be a lot more interesting than the directors other movies, which is kind of disappointing, since it's his first.

Christopher Nolan fans would probably like this one.

[Lacan]

Eventually, I might get around to posting all the movies I had originally intended...

[J.]

Man, it's been ages since I saw Pi! I'm a fan of Darren Aronofsky's work -- whatever other criticism you can level at his movies, they're great character studies. Plus Clint Mansell's music never fails to give me chills, no matter how many times pre-Inception-era trailers abused the Requiem for A Dream theme. Loved the main tune for this [ youtu.be/9Cq_QO_4Cx4 ].