Things are getting weirder of late--and it seems that horror cinema has once again delivered
the goods when it comes to blurring the lines between sense and nonsensical madness.
The thing is--the term “weird” is a fine line when it comes to horror cinema.
Sometimes, you may watch a movie that doesn’t quite fit within any given convention and
think--well, I’m not entirely sure what I should think.
And other times, you’ll watch a weird movie that lingers so far outside of the conventional
box of horrors and think--hey, this is a flavour that I could get used to.
In Part One of this list, we covered a few tongue in cheek classics--but this time, we’re
gonna get even weirder.
So hold on--to… something.
Hello horror fans, what’s going on and once again welcome back to the scariest channel
on YouTube--Top 5 Scary Videos.
As per usual, I’ll be your horror host Jack Finch--as today, we curiously take a look
at the Top 5 Weirdest Horror Movies Of All Time -- Part 2.
Roll the clip.
Wow.
Okay.
For the curious amongst you--that clip was from 1978’s Attack of the Killer Tomatoes--which
certainly hits all the boxes when it comes to weird horror movies of all time, given
the fact that it’s a--horror movie, an absolutely batshit insane psychological thriller, a comedy
that could give Airplane a run for it’s money in places--and… well, it’s a musical
too.
Erm.
Yeah.
You want weird--watch that movie, but like I said in the intro, we’re going to take
weird to a whole new place in this Part 2--and murderous ambiguous fruit vegetables are off
the table from now on.
Honorable Mention.
Done.
Kicking off at Number 5 -- Neon Maniacs, 1986
Alright--before we get *too* serious, we’ll kick things off with an old dose of pure oddness,
that doesn’t make any sense because it doesn’t have to--because it was acceptable in the
80s.
The thing is, this film could not have been made today.
Or in any other era for that matter.
In fact, it had to be a product of the 80s--because this film is the bizarre, unverified residue
that would leak out of the debris if you put the entire decade of the 80s in one of those
Car Crushing Compactor things and left it to rot for a few weeks.
Neon Maniacs.
A film that doesn’t make any sense, but bizarrely enough--despite trying not be in
places, is also thoroughly entertaining--whilst having a few moments of genuinely creative
moments in horror.
For those that haven’t yet seen Neon Maniacs, you’re going to need a little bit of context
to understand the extent of its appeal, if that’s the word--but as far as weirdness
goes, it kind of speaks for itself.
Imagine if the Power Rangers travelled back in time half a decade and made a string of
terrible life choices--met up with the Cenobites--and then somehow accidentally stumbled onto the
set of Nightbreed after having a brief stint on Nightmare on Elm Street.
That’s the Neon Maniacs--the horde of horror monstrosities that never were.
Directed by Joseph Mangine and written by Mark Patrick Carducci--Neon Maniacs, which
was also released briefly under the title Evil Dead Warriors, tells the tale of a legion
of strange, demonic entities that live beneath the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, who
every night emerge from the depths to slay teenagers with various means of weaponry.
The only way to kill them is with water--so… the whole bridge thing is a little bit of
a questionable real estate choice, but whatever.
I told you it doesn’t make sense.
There’s a Samurai Neon Maniac, who’s pretty damn cool actually--and maybe like, a surgeon
doctor scientist maniac, I think?
Then there’s what appears to be a cop?
One of them is covered in pure blonde body hair and looks like he could be a distant
relative of the mutants from The Hills Have Eyes but never looks like he’s in the right
frame.
There’s a lizard thing.
Yeah.
I don’t really know.
Neon Maniacs is weird--that’s all there is to it.
Swinging in at Number 4 -- Cemetary Man, 1994
Okay, now we can get into the meat of things--where weird horror cinema is actually worth your
precious time and investment.
Now, I don’t say this lightly--but this movie is a hot mess.
However, that is exactly what makes it fantastic.
Also, as a little side note--I was put onto watching this film last year by some of you
Top 5 Scary fans, so much appreciated for that--and yet still, I’m not entirely sure
what to think of it.
What I do know is that 1994’s Cemetery Man is thoroughly entertaining--it’s macabre,
it’s full of dry humour--it’s charming--it’s surreal and weird, and it’s littered with
fragments of a dark philosophy that is alluring throughout.
But.
Also.
This film makes no sense whatsoever.
SO--some people may struggle to get through it, which is a fair enough critique.
However, if you do--there’s a lot to be enjoyed.
For those of you that have already seen the remarkably charming Phantasm series by Don
Coscarelli--you will love this film, I’m pretty certain of it.
But for those that haven’t, let me explain.
Written and directed by Michele Soavi, an Italian screenwriter and director who had
a direct involvement with the masters of giallo Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci, Cemetery Man
tells the tale of a cemetery caretaker named Francesco Dellamorte, played by the strangely
brilliant Rupert Everett, who lives in a rundown, ramshackle house in the middle of a cemetery
in a small Italian town.
Every now and then, the dead rise up--and it’s Francesco’s job to sort them out.
However, although that may sound like a pretty intriguing plot--and it is--if you’re looking
for a narrative that is coherent and makes any sense in the classic Act One, Act Two,
Act Three manner--then you’re in for a strangely delightful disappointment.
This film is perhaps the definition of the term off-beat.
It digs it’s many strange burial plots to the beat of its own shovel.
And despite all of its flaws--it’s oddly beautiful--and it’s deserving of your attention.
Picture the legendary British film, 1987’s Withnail and I--and then collide it with Tim
Burton’s most absurd and terrifying fever dreams.
Cemetery Man
Next up at Number 3--Rubber, 2010
And I’m glad that
this film can make it to this list--because whilst it’s the literal definition of weird
horror cinema--it’s also an awesome horror movie.
It really is--and if you’ve ever heard about it, but have been put off by the sound of
a psychic, killer tire mowing people down as a bleak and pitiful attempt at B-Movie
horror--forget that noise.
Rubber is fantastic.
And whilst this may appear to be the most obvious choice for this list--surprisingly
enough, it’s actually one of the most highbrow horror films ever made.
And it’s also one of the most trashy, silly and low-brow horror movies ever made.
It’s like this---Maybe.
I dunno.
It’s kind of confusing.
But the premise, well--that’s the simple part.
A tire--yes, as in a rubber tire from a car--whose name is Robert--one day wakes up and gains
sapience, to realise that he is in fact a psychokinetic tire, and has a pretty efficient
habit of blowing people's heads up.
And thus ensues his tire-rolling rampage across the Californian desert to release his chaotic
reign on the poor, unassuming victims.
Yeah.
It’s a psychic slasher movie and the killer is a rubber tire.
A to B horror--right guys?
But actually, wrong.
Because although it was met by some harsh criticism--it was in the framing of this film
where the true intrigue to it lay.
In many ways, Rubber is a horror movie about how dumb horror movies can be--but it never
oversteps the mark in that sense--which I think is the main reason why this film is
defensible.
One of the main criticisms to this films attempted intellect, is that it pokes too much fun out
of the subject matter that it uses to make its point--which, for many cases, I guess
is a fair argument.
But the *reason* behind that--although the film explicitly states that it has *no reason*--is
that this film wouldn’t have been made if it’s creators didn’t already *love* those
kind of movies.
Does that make sense?
It’s self deprecating.
Yes.
It mocks a lot of trashy, weird horror cinema.
But it mocks them out of love.
It’s like, if you’re from a small town--it’s okay for you and your friends to call it names
and complain about how crap it is.
But if someone outside of town does that?
Oh boy.
They better watch their mouth.
Yeah, that’s Rubber.
Coming in at Number 2 -- Dead And Buried, 1981
I ummed and ahh’d about placing this film on our list--but in the end I think it’s
the right move for this horror movie.
See what I did there?
Now--1981’s Dead And Buried is a different kind of weird, because on it’s initial release,
this film was so controversial for it’s gruesome depictions, that it was outright
banned as a video nasty in the UK--but by today’s standards?
This film is pretty damn tame.
Particularly in some of the films more explicit moments of gore.
But that’s doesn’t exactly matter--because no, it’s not in the outdated physical effects
where Dead And Buried became a staple of weird horror cinema, but in its narrative--and for
a time where horror cinema was still trying to find its footing and figure out just exactly
what it wanted to be--Dead And Buried stood out like the sore thumb of a black sheep.
And if you delve into the bones of this movie, and rummage around in it’s chest cavity--there
are some really strange and disturbing horror motifs.
Directed by Gary Sherman, the man responsible for The Fox and The Hound where I cry everytime,
Dead and Buried tells the tale of a man named Dan Gillis, played by James Farentino--who
returns to his roots as the new sheriff of a small New England town named Potter’s
Bluff, where he meets back up with some of his old, familiar faces.
Quickly though--some weird stuff starts to turn toward Dan’s attention, and in a typical
Stephen King-esque manner, a small-town New England Mystery begins to unfold before our
very eyes.
In that same line, there are some truly bizarre characters in this film--who really steal
the show with their nuanced moments of horror.
I’ll try and not spoil anything--but there is a certain mortician in this film that does
some really weird stuff, to the point where the typical 80’s horror sheen wears off
a little, and you’re not sure whether you should actually be watching a film more contemporary
in tone.
In many ways, Dead And Buried plays out like a feature-length episode of The Twilight Zone.
In fact, it’s very similar in tone to it--ahead of its time, and very, very weird.
And finally, coming in at our Number 1 spot--Lost Highway, 1997
Because the truth of the matter is--we cannot talk about the very, very weird--without addressing
the weirdest of the weird--the master of weird horror himself, Mr. David Lynch.
To quote a certain teenage paranormal investigator--this film gives me the willies, and some of you
may already consider 1997’s Lost Highway as Lynch’s weirdest film ever made--and
really, that’s saying something--because we could cover his entire catalogue and already
give them the highest honor as the weirdest of horror cinema.
This one though?
I don’t know.
I can’t quite put my finger on as to just exactly why Lost Highway stands out amongst
Lynch’s work, but I guess I’ll give it a go.
David Lynch has cultivated a very specific genre in his creation--some would not ever
call it horror, although the likes of Eraserhead and Twin Peaks blur the lines between them--but
in Lost Highway I think he managed to sum up just exactly how and why weird fiction
can be horrifying.
This film is so cold--and I’m not sure if you could ever attribute that adjective to
another director.
Lost Highway is emotionally empty--but not in the same sense that a film like Hostel
or A Serbian Film is emotionally empty--there’s just nothing there.
And I think that’s why this film can only ever really be analyzed through a feeling
of something--or in this case, a lack of that feeling.
In some cases, yeah--this film is difficult to access--you’ll probably be frustrated
if you aren’t in the mood for watching something unlike the rest of horror--but if you really
let it sink it’s teeth in, there are few other films that can carve out the same, hollow
shape as this one.
Written and directed by David Lynch, Lost Highway tells the tale of a jazz musician
named Fred Madison, played by Bill Pullman--and his wife Renee, played by Patricia Arquette--who
one day find a strange VHS tape left on their porch of an unnerving recording of their own
home.
As the days pass, more and tapes show up--and that’s all I’ll say, because you don’t
need me spoiling one of the weirdest and most bizarre movies ever made.
Yeah.
You’ll get the willies.
Well there we have it horror fans, our list for the Top 5 Weirdest Horror Movies Of All
Time - Part 2.
What did you guys think?
Do you agree?
Disagree?
Have any more to add to this list?
Then let us know your thoughts down in the comment section below, as well as any choice
picks of your own.
Before we depart from today’s video though--if you’d like to continue on with your horror
movie recommendation binge--then please, make sure to check out our neatly compiled playlists--expertly
arranged for your viewing enjoyment.
Well on that note, unfortunately that’s all we’ve got time for in today’s video--cheers
for sticking around all the way until the end.
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