BW's top ten weird horrors

The cover of the DVD I have of this one says it would give Dali nightmares and thats probobly fair. Art, blindness, sexual obsession, masochism, even Oedipal vibes, all played out in or around one of the greatest Surrealist sets of all time. Profoundly disturbing erotic nightmare masterpiece.

Mickey Rooney cuts loose with a freakishly convincing turn as a demented film-maker taunting an actress with his shattered personality. Also contains stunning set and sound design, one of those films that leaves you questioning your own sanity and insightful in its portrait of the artistic temperament at its nightmarish logical extreme.

Perhaps the most conventional film on this list, this black comedy sci fi horror/thriller hybrid is a remarkably ballsy genre bending piece of work wit moving undercurrents to the insanity and terrific performances to give weight to the typically Korean melodrama

Alain Robbe Grillet with his usual concerns of S&M, paint or blood on beautiful unclothed women and fractured narrative holding skillfully shaded theme. Though a bit tricksy, this account of bourgeouis students coming to the dark roots of their sex and violence fantasies via fear powder is a delightful mind bender that for all its oddities is actually an interesting critique of pretension.

I could easily populate this list entirely with Japanese films as they seem to hold a world monopoly on weirdness, but of the many candidates Uzumaki is one of my worthiest faves. A heartily nutsoid piece of what might be termed "spiralsploitation", this one takes the slow burning intrigue vibe that tends to characterise Asian horror but cuts it loose from psychological foundations or contrived trickery and simply has weird stuff going on that gets weirder and weirder as the film progresses. Great fun weirdness in short.

Australia is no stranger to unusual genre films and this is probobly my favorite of the weirder ones, a tale of innocent caught in rural weirdness that does a very fine job of actually developing its weird community. A town as parasite with John Meillon excellent as its charismatic Mayor, this is a fine example of genuinely unsettling black comedy.

There's a murderous retard in army garb, a horse that may be the Devil, a spooky old castle and more, with little to no logical connection between any of it. Moves like a breeze though and the camera lingers in nicely Fulci-esque fashion on some gnarly inept gore. Something weird is always happening here, and the outcome is pretty fudging awesome.

This slice of Bible thumping Floridian insanity is justifiably one of the most notorious unhinged schlockers of all time. But something about its combination of ineptitude in every frame with genuinely unsettling scare tactics gives it a comforting approximation of reality to me, or if not reality than a standard vibe of weird 70's schlock that it chiefly surpasses on account of having the scariest monster effect ever. Which is why I rate it lower on the weirdness scale than others, to whom it may well be the nuttiest thing ever.

An ambient tale of bikers seeking refuge with two sisters of Native American descent, with contrasts of modernity and tradition, baseless fantasy and genuine mysticism skillfully evoked. Far from traditional horror, but charming and weird with a great cast (Scott Glenn, Keith Carradine, Gary Busey and stunning Cristine Raines) and offbeat uplifting finale. A real leftfield charmer.

Hal Warren's rampantly amateur direction can be offputting, but this is a great little journey into America's weirdest backwaters, with the tragic John Reynolds superbly twitchy and off key as servant Torgo, Tom Neyman an imposing villain and some interesting shots and designs building to an ending that remains one of the more twisted of its era. A fine work, unjustly derided.