Early on in this thread Valleam said that everything by David Lynch except “The Elephant Man” should be included in a list of mindfuck movies. Really? “The Straight Story”?
Persona
Eraserhead
if…
Vertigo
Pierrot le Fou
Poison (Todd Haynes)
Songs from the Second Floor
The Perfumed Nightmare (Kidlat Tahimik)
On Top of the Whale (Raúl Ruiz)
Donnie Darko’s up on that list, but Southland Tales is way more of a mindfuck. I know a lot of people hate it. It has some awful dialogue, acting and generally doesn’t make any sense. But I enjoyed it, even though it left me completely confused.
Abre los onjos I haven’t seen but it’s remake Vanilla Sky is also a bit of a mindfuck but also in a good way.
I’m aware some of these have been mentioned:
2001
The End of Evangelion (and the whole series for that matter…)
The Seventh Seal
FLCL
Oldboy
Monty Python’s ________ (fill in the blank)
Ghost in the Shell
The Fountain
Memento
I’m Not There.
American Psycho
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
A Clockwork Orange
Synecdoche, New Work
Un Chien Andalou
Le Proces (The Trial)
Le Charme discret de la bourgeoisie (The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie)
Brazil
In no particular order and excluding surrealists/“avant garde” directors…I came up with this lot
1. Tiptoes
2. The Yin & Yang of Mr. Go
3. Even Dwarfs Started Small
4. Seven Beauties
5. Mickey One
6. The Bedsitting Room
7. Winter Kills
8. The Damned (Visconti)
9. Secret Ceremony
10. Lovers of the Arctic Circle
Ken Russell’s “The Music Lovers” comes to mind…
I agree with Roscoe. How is Dark City a mind fuck movie?
It seems that their list is missing several movies with a true surreal touch such as Un Chien Andalou (An Andalusian Dog) or Spiklenci slasti (Conspirators of Pleasure). However, none of the movies in the list or the ones I have mentioned fit the “mind fucking” description for me. I like movies that make me think or movies that are left to the audience’s interpretation. In fact, these type of movies are the ones that make the most sense to me.
Miike’s Visitor Q should fit into this category. I haven’t seen his film Gozu so I’m not sure which one is more mind fuckable. Has anyone seen both?
el topo.
memento.
eraserhead.
le moustache.
brown bunny.
Eraserhead
Swimming Pool
Videodrome
Secret Window
Mr. Brooks
(the final scene of) Fat Girl
I’d put The Piano Teacher up there. bitch was crazy!
anyone ever see Tetsuo: The Iron Man? wait, look who i’m asking…of COURSE you have! fucked my mind right up
Soybean, I’ve seen both. I wouldn’t consider either to be mind fuckable, but in order to be helpful: Gozu would probably be considered more mind fuckable. Visitor Q’s impact depends mostly on violence and incest, but Gozu has a “birth” scene that’s a bit shocking for some people and the narrative might be more difficult to follow when compared to Visitor Q. Overall, there’s more “weirdness” in Gozu. However, for someone who has a strict “moral” code, Visitor Q might still be more shocking.
Primer
twin peaks definitely. mindfucked the hell out of me.
yes.. Piano Teacher was a mindfuck film and so was Cache. Also anything by Charlie Kaufman. Synchedoche New York was a total mindfuck.
Martyrs directed by Pascal Laugier.
It seems to be nothing else but one abysmal mindfuck.
THE HOLY MOUNTAIN, MOJU THE BLIND BEAST, TETSUO THE IRON MAN, SANTA SANGRE, FEED, MEET THE FEEBLES, VIOLENCE JACK, NIGHTMARE (1980), EVILDEAD, LITSZOMANIA,
- Persona
-Any of those Philippine exploitation zombie nurse things that Something Weird Video keeps digging up. Actually, pretty much anything Something Weird releases – they are certainly the Criterion of crap. Blood Freak – a Christian nudist antidrug turkey monster flick that they released a few years back: I rest my case.
-The couple of Koji Wakamatsu things that I’ve seen have been very, very, very massively extremely unpleasant.
Requiem For a Dream. Don’t see this movie twice.
I’ve already seen it 4 times.
Am I the only one who immediately thinks of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas?
Or any of the Linklater films? (Waking Life, A Scanner Darkly)
I was okay with Eraserhead and Inland Empire.
Think me and Lynch are on the same wavelength.
…He makes love to my mind.
Synechdoche, New York
Although I offered 7+ hr Ludwig by Visconti, Synecdoche New York by Kaufman certainly would make the grade as well.
Although I offered 7+ hr Ludwig by Visconti, Synecdoche New York by Kaufman certainly would make the grade as well.
Alright, I know that we’ve already tried to define a mindfuck earlier, but I still don’t think a lot of these movies are even close to mindfucks. I’ve recently been very interested in this kind of movie, so I was looking here to find some new ones to see.
When I think of mindfuck I think of something like Inland Empire (which I know has already been mentioned). After watching that movie I had a hard time reconnecting with reality. In it’s essence I think that’s what a mindfuck is. The other “version” of a mindfuck that I can think may be mentioned is a movie like Momento. There isn’t really a disconnect with reality after watching it, but the movie does an excellent job of involving the viewer and twisting their mind around a confusing, but carefully constructed, plot.
Personally, I’ve been looking for more movies like Inland Empire and I was wondering if anyone would be kind enough to help me find some.
i might catch some flak for this one but i’m gonna have to go with “the wall”
I’ll agree with Neon Genesis, and I will add The Prisoner as a TV mindfuck.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless MInd – just watched it for the fourth time and finally ‘got’ it. My partner (who’s fave movies include Legally Blonde and Scary Movie) got it first time round. Go figure.
Naked Lunch, the film was possibly the weirdest thing I have ever witnessed in my life.
The Man Who Fell To Earth, David Bowie being the lead almost qualifies it alone.
Ignatz
Strange Hostel of Naked Pleasures. The best place to find that one is Youtube. Meet the Feebles too.