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Mindfuck Films

Ben Simingt​on

over 3 years ago

God, I really need to see FUNKY FOREST. And QUIET EARTH which I have the great soundtrack for but have still never seen…

César

over 3 years ago

Probably David Lynch’s Inland Empire, which i find irresistibly beautiful as well…

David Heslin

over 3 years ago

Interesting list. One that grabbed my interest was The Quiet Earth… and a NZ film of all things? I’m off to the video store tonight to see if I can get my hands on it.

gabriel montagn​é

over 3 years ago

Definitely Mamuro Oshii’s Innocence and maybe Primer as well.

gabriel montagn​é

over 3 years ago

Definitely Mamuro Oshii’s Innocence and maybe Primer as well.

David Ehrenst​ein

over 3 years ago

Performance
Scream and Scream Again
The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse
Lisztomania
Crash (the good one, not the piece of crap that won the Oscar)
Duelle

Neil Murphy

over 3 years ago

I was just going to say Performance too!

Did no one mention Even Dwarves Started Small?

Arturo López

over 3 years ago

That anime movie Perfect Blue. And Carnival of Souls, too. Inland Empire is as minfuck as resolving a rubik cube hangin on a tree.

Justin Biberkopf

over 3 years ago

Altman’s 3 WOMEN… you gotta do it

Filmy

over 3 years ago

pls don’t forget Inland Empire, when i say “mindfuck”, I am thinking mind bending and thereby fucking with our senses and not in anyway bad/boring movie. Inland Empire or for that matter any Lynch movie is great except they do qualify as mindfucks

ArmandS

over 3 years ago

Calvaire (2004), by Fabrice de Welz

Jake Howell

over 3 years ago

Never seen any Cremaster films, but from what I hear they would work pretty well on the list.

Jake Howell

over 3 years ago

Oh, and then probably The Ruling Class. That movie fucked my mind and didn’t even buy me a drink first.

SubSick​Alien

over 3 years ago

I agree with David Lynch’s Inland Empire, I had to watch that film in segments…

…would Gilliam’s ‘Brazil’ falls under this category? ?

witkacy

over 3 years ago

Fight Club – reveals a schizoid split in the hero’s character, he survives an onscreen suicide attempt with a pistol (thanks, BUF Compagnie!)—then the city blows the fuck up.

Arturo

over 3 years ago

Arrabal’s Viva La Muerte and I Will Walk Like A Crazy Horse
Miike’s Gozu
Malle’s Black Moon
Ruiz’s On Top Of A Whale
Izumiya’s Death Powder
Suzuki’s Ziegunerweisen
Oshima’s Death By Hanging

NIGHTSH​IFT

over 3 years ago

@DAVID E. – “The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse” – I second! I remembered feeling really strange coming out of the theatre after seeing it.

Rodney Welch

over 3 years ago

I’m surprised no one has mentioned “Body Double” — the first movie I know of to actually use the phrase “mind fuck.” I went around for weeks afterward looking for a reason to use it.

Shannan

about 3 years ago

august underground
funny games
aftermath
trouble every day
salo
august underground’s penance
there are images from these films that i will see when i shut my eyes for the rest of my life.
On a lighter note, Blue Velvet.

Allen Grey

about 3 years ago

Valerie’s Week of Wonders

Samanth​a

-moderator-
about 3 years ago

The Machinist?

I see ‘Cube’ on that list. How about Vincenzo Natali’s ‘Nothing’? It’s mindfuckery of the comedic sort.

Roscoe

about 3 years ago

So I’m seeing a lot of assorted movies here, but I’m not sure I understand what is meant by the term “mindfuck.” Is there a specific scene in a specific movie that can illustrate the term?

I can only really speak for myself, so here goes. The scene that I would describe as being truly “mindfuck” is in ERASERHEAD, during one of the Henry’s dreams, when he steps onto the stage with the Lady In The Radiator. The scene continues into the sequence in the pencil factory, but the main moments I have in mind are the sequence on the stage itself, with the tree and the crying baby. I don’t want to give too many details, because I don’t want to spoil it for those who don’t know it, but there’s something about that scene that just hits me at some deep place where all my words cease to function, it inspires a sense of dread and a sort of confusion that isn’t confusion, if you know what I mean. Something, some feeling or idea, is being communicated in a completely unconventional and disturbing way.

Drew Gregory

about 3 years ago

I’m not sure what it means either. I have always used it for when a film blows me away and is different or a bizarre. Seeing 2001: A Space Odyssey in theatres was a definite mind fuck.

Harry Long

about 3 years ago

It appears some minds are more easily fucked than others.

Girl bites pen

about 3 years ago

‘Hidden’ for sure. About the only time I’ve seen a whole theatre sit until the end of the credits.

Christopher Langford

about 3 years ago

Hands down the greatest mind—— film of all time is the original Parent Trap with Haley Mills. End of discussion.

David

about 3 years ago

I really don’t think Solaris is really a mindfuck film. If that is what they see in the movie then they really missed the whole point. Solaris is meant to widen your perception of the world around us, not fuck it up.

Justin Biberkopf

about 3 years ago

David, I agree. I think some of these films are just strange or slightly transgressive rather than being true mindfucks. You can ultimately figure out what they’re up to.

Andy

about 3 years ago

Definitely Persona needs to be on that list. I watched it again recently and am still clueless on the meaning behind it all

Jason Callen

about 3 years ago

Justin mentioned Altman’s 3 Women, I think you can throw his Images on there as well.