10 Insanely Surreal Movies That Will Leave You Questioning Everything

Have you ever watched a movie that crosses the borders of fantasy and jumps straight into the realm of ‘WTF am I actually watching right now?’

While I love mainstream fantasy films, I LIVE for surreal, mind-bending flicks that make you question the sanity of the directors and wonder what kind of drugs they were on at the time. Weird movies are my jam, so this is the first part of a series where I’ll take you on a whimsical and often terrifying adventure down the rabbit hole of wacky visual delights, as we explore the most bizarre films you’ve probably never seen.

It’s a wild ride that will leave you creeped out, confused, and craving more; so buckle up buttercup, because it’s about to get WEIRD. This list contains spoilers, so be warned.

IMAGINAERUM (2012)

I thought we’d start this 'tour de strange' off with something nice and easy! Imaginaerum is a feature-length musical from the Finnish symphonic metal band, Nightwish. Though it’s by no means the weirdest movie on this list, it has a dark fantasy storyline with stunning visuals and an epic soundtrack.

The amazing soundtrack is to be expected of course, as it’s something Nightwish has been excelling at for years. But Imaginaerum shows that the band also has a hidden proficiency for storytelling, working with director Stobe Harju to bring you a bizarre tale that you’ll need to watch right to the end to understand.

Imaginaerum follows aged rockstar, Thomas Whitman who has fallen into a dementia-induced coma. He drifts between two worlds: the outer reality where he is dying in a hospital bed with his family bickering and his inner reality, where memories and dreams mix together and unravel to tell his life story.

He is guided on his journey by a creepy snowman called Mr. White, who takes him through bizarre landscapes and bitter memories that weave the story of Thomas’s traumatic childhood, heady stardom, and subsequently his poor relationship with his own children. This evocative musical might even make you shed a little tear!

SKINS (AKA: PIELES) (2017)

I stumbled across this gem on Netflix quite recently and I almost died laughing! I’m not even exaggerating, I snort-laughed so hard that I choked on my own laughter because I’m clumsy like that. It’s a Spanish-speaking movie with English subtitles from director Eduardo Casanova.

Skins takes place in a world where many people are disfigured or deformed and it follows several characters as they try to live in a world that harshly judges their external differences. Sounds pretty straightforward, right? If you think that sounds tame, allow me to give you a deeper explanation of the synopsis:

The film starts with a paedophile hiring an eyeless child prostitute from an old, naked brothel madame after being told his wife has just given birth. The girl sings for him and he buys her some stick-on diamonds for eyes, as payment for molesting her. We then skip forward in time to the life of a young woman who has a butt for a face, complete with hair and a hole for a mouth. We later find out that she has a normal mouth where her butt should be and she has to insert a tube there to feed herself through a funnel. That’s not even the weirdest part!

The film follows several odd characters whose stories all intertwine as they search for their personal happiness. It’s a lewd, surreal comedy film that has a happy ending and a colourful aesthetic. But it’s definitely something you need to see because it’s not something I can easily explain in a few paragraphs. Lady Buttface blowing out her birthday cake candles nearly sent me to the grave!

ALICE (1988)

Although Jan Svankmajer’s 1988 adaptation of the Lewis Carrol classic is rated PG, you’d have to really hate your kids to show them this! Alice is a disturbing yet fascinating version of Alice in Wonderland that combines taxidermy and stop-frame animation to create an eerie world with grotesque characters. Kiss Disney goodbye and prepare for nightmares, because Alice is going to make you feel curiouser and curiouser!

Instead of the brightly coloured whimsical landscapes we’ve come to expect from Wonderland, Svankmajer’s world is desolate and sinister like an abandoned building. All of the characters are taxidermised, skeletal creatures with bulging eyes and twisted features and each one seems vaguely threatening. The unnatural critters are accentuated by the mechanical movements of the stop-frame animation and animatronics.

Alice herself isn’t any less creepy, as she calmly narrates her journey and the voices of the other characters as they interact with her. Nothing particularly bad happens, but the whole film just has really disturbing undertones from beginning to end - especially when the White Rabbit starts cutting off heads with a giant pair of scissors!

PINK FLAMINGOS (1972)

Pink Flamingos is an absolute cult classic, particularly in the LGBTQA+ scene. Directed by John Waters and starring Drag legend, Divine, Pink Flamingos is as bizarre, extreme, and morally offensive as it gets. So much so that it's been banned in many countries! Why? Because Babs Johnson is the filthiest, nastiest person alive!

No really, that's the plot of the film and not just me being a hater! Divine plays depraved criminal, Babs Johnson, who is in competition with the equally insane married couple, the Marbles. The criminals then begin engaging in ever-increasing taboo acts in an attempt to be crowned 'the filthiest person alive'.

So what makes this movie so outrageous? Well it's much too dark to explain on such a wholesome website, but it involves voyeurism, exhibitionism, rape, incest, masturbation, vomiting, gluttony, sodomy, animal abuse, murder, corprophagia, castration, podophilia, cannibalism...just read the Wikipedia page if you're brave enough.

TUSK (2014)

Ok so, I have this theory about how Kevin Smith writes his movie plots, and you betcha sweet ass I'm about to tell you about it. Picture this: A padded room lined with paper, Kevin smith walks in covered in pens and drops a heroic dose of acid. His family lock him in the room overnight and just let him go hog wild in there. In the morning, he wakes up and deciphers the drug-induced scribbles, and makes them into a plot.

That's not an insult to Kevin Smith, whom I adore, but more of a rational explanation for the mind-bending ridiculousness that is Tusk. I'm a bit of a fan, so I do know how the inspiration for this flick came about, but honestly, I like my explanation better so that's what you're getting.

Tusk is a film about a journalist who travels deep into the Canadian Wilderness to interview an old man after seeing a note on an advertisement board offering a free room and some good stories. It turns out the guy has a dark obsession with a walrus which leads to him to kidnap the journalist and surgically transform him into his beloved Mister Tusk.

TAXIDERMIA (2006)

Taxidermia is a weird blend of horror, comedy and drama and is a collaboration between several countries. It follows three generations of Hungrarian men, each of whom has their own dark quirks and plays out similar to an anthology.

It starts with a soldier with dark sexual fantasies, who sleeps with his lieutenant's wife, impregnates her, and gets executed as punishment. The married couple raises the child, who grows up to become a champion competitive eater and when he eventually grows up, he gets married and has a son who becomes a master taxidermist.

When his father and his prized cats meet an unfortunate end, the now-adult son taxidermises them and sets about planning and performing his most complicated project yet: taxidermising himself!

TOKYO GORE POLICE (2008)

Tokyo Gore Police is a Japanese splatter and body horror that has some truly original artistic concepts and a dark dystopian aesthetic. Though it's quite ridiculous in some parts, the absurdity only adds to its charm. The film is also segmented with fake adverts for suicides, murders, and stuff, which is a weird and kinda cool addition.

The plot is set in the near future, where a mad scientist turned bio

terrorist creates a virus that mutates humans into deadly monsters known as Engineers. When an infected human sustains an injury, their body mutates, and the wound forms into a crazy weapon. Some of the weapons include chainsaw arms, a bone-firing cock cannon, a prostitute whose lower body is an alligator's head, and a quadriplegic gimp dog lady with katana limbs.

A special police force is created to deal with the new threat and the film follows one of the 'Engineer Hunters' as she uncovers some dark truths about her past, her colleagues, and herself all whilst trying to maintain law and order, and catch a serial killer. If you like weird horror and striking, artistic visuals then you will love this movie as much as I d0.

FUNKY FOREST (2005)

If you went to Youtube and searched for any scene in this movie, I guarantee that it will be the weirdest shit you've ever seen in your life! Funky Forest is a Japanese comedy anthology that is known by a few different names: Naisu no Mori, Funky Forest, First Contact, First Encounter, or Nice Forest.

This film is just indescribable, there are several storylines that often cross over, weird creatures and body horror, hilarious scenarios, and more 'WTF' moments than I can even write. It's a series of silly sketches and weird stories that are focused around three main character siblings. Its utter strangeness is sometimes uncomfortable to watch and it's probably the weirdest film on this list.

ERASERHEAD (1977)

This is the first feature-length film from the undisputed master, David Lynch. This monochromatic tale is set in a dystopian future and contains nightmarish scenes that make Eraserhead haunting, unforgettable, and deeply disturbing. This grisly body horror explores dark themes around parenthood, anxiety, and birth defects and will definitely leave a lasting impression on you.

Eraserhead follows the struggles of Henry Spencer as he suddenly becomes a parent to a strange, deformed child that doesn't bear any resemblance to a human. When his girlfriend leaves him alone to care for the child, the world begins to close in on Henry and he begins to crumble under the pressure of parental responsibilities until the chilling finale.

THE HOLY MOUNTAIN (1973)

Alejandro Jodorowsky is best known for his sci-fi epic, Dune. But he also has a couple of surrealist films under his belt too, with The Holy Mountain being my absolute favourite. A curious and unusual piece of art that has a sensational soundtrack and vivid colour, The Holy Mountain is rich in symbolism and ambiguity to the point where you'd probably have to read a synopsis of it after viewing just to understand it.

The bright surrealist fantasy doesn't have much speaking throughout, but instead, it relies on heavy symbolism that fuses religions and mysticism with psychedelic art. In doing so, it leaves every single aspect of the plot and design open to a deeper interpretation whilst still having a cohesive story.

The Holy Mountain is a film I adore sharing with like-minded individuals because I adore pausing the film at regular intervals to allow discussion about each individual's interpretation of the symbolism. That and it's just a visually striking, weird film and I love watching people's reactions to it.

How many of these weird movies have you watched and which ones are your favourites? If you enjoyed this list then check out my other great movie lists: 9 Netflix Horror Movies to Watch Now and 12 Almost Forgotten Animated Films.