SF, Fantasy, Obscure & Surreal
Films (& a few TV shows) that could be best described as Fantastika (http://www.johnclute.co.uk/word/?p=15).
Free from any linguistic, budgetary and/or other restrictions, in no particular order...
Free from any linguistic, budgetary and/or other restrictions, in no particular order...
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152 titles
- DirectorGeorge MillerStarsMel GibsonBruce SpenceMichael PrestonIn the post-apocalyptic Australian wasteland, a cynical drifter agrees to help a small, gasoline-rich community get rid of a horde of bandits.
- DirectorNikos NikolaidisStarsMeredyth HeroldPanos ThanassoulisMichele ValleyA man searching for his long-lost lover is kidnapped by her killers, an insane, mother-daughter duo, and they force him to commit various sexual atrocities with them.
- DirectorMamoru OshiiStarsMalgorzata ForemniakWladyslaw KowalskiJerzy GudejkoIn a dystopian world, a woman spends her time playing an illegal and dangerous game, hoping to find meaning in her world.
- DirectorAlbert PyunStarsLee HorsleyKathleen BellerSimon MacCorkindaleA mercenary with a three-bladed sword rediscovers his royal heritage's dangerous future when he is recruited to help a princess foil the designs of a brutal tyrant and a powerful sorcerer in conquering a land.
- DirectorRobin HardyStarsEdward WoodwardChristopher LeeDiane CilentoA puritan police sergeant arrives in a Scottish island village in search of a missing girl, who the pagan locals claim never existed.
- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsPierre BatcheffSimone MareuilLuis BuñuelLuis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí present 16 minutes of bizarre, surreal imagery.
- DirectorAlexis AlexiouStarsYorgos KakanakisSerafita GrigoriadouDafni LambrogianniLove leads to madness when an unstable man falls for an unsuspecting woman in this thriller from Greece.
- DirectorPiotr SzulkinStarsMarek WalczewskiKrystyna JandaJoanna ZólkowskaThe film is set in a terrorizing world of the future, where technology commands the movements of individuals, supervised by the doctors, carrying out a program to improve the human race. Thus, instead of doctors creating a monster, the monsters are already there as the species of the future - but one of them is suspected by the doctors of being a human being. That is Golem in reverse.
- DirectorMarc CaroJean-Pierre JeunetStarsRon PerlmanDaniel EmilforkJudith VittetA scientist in a surrealist society kidnaps children to steal their dreams, hoping that they slow his aging process.
- DirectorIvan EnglerRalph EtterStarsAnna Katharina SchwabrohMartin RapoldRegula GrauwillerDr. Laura P. takes a job on a cargo spaceship for 4 years plus 4 years back. She'll join her sister on Rhea. 44 months later, in Laura's shift, strange things happen in cargo. The crew is reanimated and the captain dies mysteriously.
- DirectorAlejandro JodorowskyStarsAxel JodorowskyBlanca GuerraGuy StockwellA former circus artist escapes from a mental hospital to rejoin his armless mother - the leader of a strange religious cult - and is forced to enact brutal murders in her name as he becomes "her arms".
- DirectorAlexandre FranchiStarsKaniehtiio HornKent McQuaidTrevor HayesA medieval reenactment game turns into a Shakespearean tragedy when a non-player crashes the event to win back his girlfriend.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsKurt RussellWilford BrimleyKeith DavidA research team in Antarctica is hunted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of its victims.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsMalcolm McDowellPatrick MageeMichael BatesIn the future, a sadistic gang leader is imprisoned and volunteers for a conduct-aversion experiment, but it doesn't go as planned.
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsBill PullmanPatricia ArquetteJohn RoseliusAnonymous videotapes presage a musician's murder conviction, and a gangster's girlfriend leads a mechanic astray.
- CreatorPatrick McGoohanStarsPatrick McGoohanAngelo MuscatPeter SwanwickAfter he resigns, a secret agent is abducted and taken to what looks like an idyllic village, but is actually a bizarre prison. He refuses to give his warders information while attempting to escape.
- DirectorHélène CattetBruno ForzaniStarsCassandra ForêtCharlotte Eugène GuibeaudMarie BosAs a young girl Ana was a rebellious child. She was also tormented by images of death and a shadowy, ominous figure in black. Now an adult, she is once again tormented by shadowy, other-worldly forms.
- DirectorAlfredo B. CrevennaStarsSantoWolf RuvinskisIgnacio GómezThe masked wrestler battles Martians intent on taking over Earth.
- DirectorRichard SchenkmanStarsDavid Lee SmithTony ToddJohn BillingsleyAn impromptu goodbye party for Professor John Oldman becomes a mysterious interrogation after the retiring scholar reveals to his colleagues he has a longer and stranger past than they can imagine.
- DirectorJames CameronStarsArnold SchwarzeneggerLinda HamiltonMichael BiehnA human soldier is sent from 2029 to 1984 to stop an almost indestructible cyborg killing machine, sent from the same year, which has been programmed to execute a young woman whose unborn son is the key to humanity's future salvation.
- DirectorEnki BilalStarsJean-Louis TrintignantCarole BouquetMaria SchneiderIn an imaginary dictature of a futuristic world, rebellion has broken out. The men in power scramble to the Bunker Palace Hotel, a bunker built long ago for just this kind of contingency. But a rebel spy sneaks in, and although her nature is very quickly suspected, she is left to observe the raving of the decadent power class, who keeps wondering what happened to their leader, who has failed to show up.
- DirectorGakuryû IshiiStarsYoshiki ArizonoTadanobu AsanoMasakatsu FunakiA violent, guitar-playing, electrically charged boxer faces off against an electronic wizard half-merged with a metallic Buddha.
- DirectorM.J. BassettStarsJames PurefoyMax von SydowRachel Hurd-WoodA ruthless mercenary renounces violence after learning his soul is bound for hell. When a young girl is kidnapped and her family slain by a sorcerer's murderous cult, he is forced to fight and seek his redemption slaying evil.
- DirectorChris MarkerStarsÉtienne BeckerJean NégroniHélène ChatelainThe story of a man forced to explore his memories in the wake of World War III's devastation, told through still images.
- DirectorShane CarruthStarsShane CarruthDavid SullivanCasey GoodenFour friends/fledgling entrepreneurs, knowing that there's something bigger and more innovative than the different error-checking devices they've built, wrestle over their new invention.
- DirectorDarren AronofskyStarsHugh JackmanRachel WeiszSean Patrick ThomasAs a modern-day scientist, Tommy is struggling with mortality, desperately searching for the medical breakthrough that will save the life of his cancer-stricken wife, Izzi.
- DirectorPeter WatkinsStarsPatrick BolandKent ForemanCarmen Argenziano"Punishment Park" is a pseudo-documentary purporting to be a film crews's news coverage of the team of soldiers escorting a group of hippies, draft dodgers, and anti-establishment types across the desert in a type of capture the flag game. The soldiers vow not to interfere with the rebels' progress and merely shepherd them along to their destination. At that point, having obtained their goal, they will be released. The film crew's coverage is meant to insure that the military's intentions are honorable. As the representatives of the 60's counter-culture get nearer to passing this arbitrary test, the soldiers become increasingly hostile, attempting to force the hippies out of their pacifist behavior. A lot of this film appears improvised and in several scenes real tempers seem to flare as some of the "acting" got overaggressive. This is a interesting exercise in situational ethics. The cinéma vérité style, hand-held camera, and ambiguous demands of the director - would the actors be able to maintain their roles given the hazing they were taking - pushed some to the brink. The cast's emotions are clearly on the surface. Unfortunately this film has gone completely underground and is next to impossible to find. It would offer a captivating document of the distrust that existed between soldiers willfully serving in the military and those persons who opposed the war peacefully.
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsMax von SydowLiv UllmannGertrud FridhWhile vacationing on a remote German island with his younger pregnant wife, an artist has an emotional breakdown while confronting his repressed desires.
- DirectorHarmony KorineStarsNick SuttonJacob SewellLara ToshLonely residents of a tornado-stricken Ohio town wander the deserted landscape trying to fulfill their boring, nihilistic lives.
- DirectorNimród AntalStarsSándor CsányiEszter BallaZoltán MucsiA tale about a strange young man, Bulcsú, the fellow inspectors on his team, all without exception likable characters, a rival ticket inspection team and racing along the tracks - and a tale about love.
- DirectorLuc BessonStarsPierre JolivetJean BouiseJean RenoIn a post-apocalyptic future where no one is able to speak, the few remaining humans fight over resources in order to survive.
- DirectorGuillermo del ToroStarsFederico LuppiRon PerlmanClaudio BrookA mysterious device designed to provide its owner with eternal life resurfaces after four hundred years, leaving a trail of destruction in its path.
- DirectorAlex ProyasStarsRufus SewellKiefer SutherlandJennifer ConnellyA man struggles with memories of his past, which include a wife he cannot remember and a nightmarish world no one else ever seems to wake up from.
- DirectorJan SvankmajerStarsVeronika ZilkováJan HartlJaroslava KretschmerováA childless couple passes off an anthropomorphous tree stump as their baby, but things get out of hand when the monstrosity comes to life and demands to be fed.
- DirectorAlex CoxStarsPeter BoyleMiguel SandovalChristopher EcclestonDetective Lonnrot declares war on the notorious outlaw Red Scharlach, after the outlaw has pulled of daring robbery. The mysterious murder of a Talmudic priest provides Lonnrot with a clue.
- DirectorGerald PottertonJohn BrunoJohn HalasStarsRichard RomanusJohn CandyJoe FlahertyA glowing green orb that embodies ultimate evil terrorizes a young girl with an anthology of bizarre and fantastic stories.
- DirectorGraham BakerStarsChristopher LambertRhona MitraOliver CottonIn a besieged land, Beowulf must battle against the hideous creature Grendel and his vengeance seeking mother.
- DirectorChris CunninghamStarsShelly WeissElvis FeticPercy RutterfordAn experimental music video about a wheelchair-bound boy who morphs and moves to an Aphex Twin song. The experience gets weirder when he takes cocaine and everything gets out of control.
- DirectorSatoshi KonStarsJunko IwaoRica MatsumotoShinpachi TsujiA pop singer gives up her career to become an actress, but she slowly goes insane when she starts being stalked by an obsessed fan and what seems to be a ghost of her past.
- DirectorSpike JonzeStarsNicolas CageMeryl StreepChris CooperA lovelorn screenwriter becomes desperate as he tries and fails to adapt 'The Orchid Thief' by Susan Orlean for the screen.
- DirectorDaniel MonzónStarsFernando RamalloNeus AsensiJoel JoanBeldar and Sonja, a couple of thieves belonging to the legendary world of sword and sorcery, steal a precious stone shaped like a human heart in the gloomy crypt of the Order of the Thousand Eyes, an evil sect of powerful wizards. When fleeing the scene they realize the gem is cursed. After losing consciousness, Beldar awakens in another world, into the body of a sixteen year old teenager in Madrid eaten by acne.
- DirectorFranck VestielStarsClovis CornillacVimala PonsZohar WexlerA man wakes up in an underground cave, next to a dead body. He has no memory of how he got there and starts to try and work his way to the surface and escape from the network of tunnels, which seem to be some kind of ancient civilisation.
- DirectorJan KounenStarsVincent CasselMichael MadsenJuliette LewisIn 1870, after a brutal run-in with an outlaw in a brothel, Mike Blueberry becomes marshal in Arizona where he keeps the peace between whites and Apaches, but an influx of gold-hunters threatens to lead to violence.
- DirectorJindrich PolákStarsZdenek StepánekFrantisek SmolíkDana MedrickáThe year is 2163. Starship Ikarie XB 1 embarks on a long journey across the universe to search for life on the planets of Alpha Centauri.
- DirectorJohn MiliusStarsArnold SchwarzeneggerJames Earl JonesMax von SydowA powerful warrior seeks to avenge the genocide of his people and the murder of his parents at the hands of a snake cult.
- DirectorL.Q. JonesStarsDon JohnsonJason RobardsSusanne BentonA young man and his telepathic dog wander a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
- DirectorShozin FukuiStarsHaji SuzukiOnn-chanKôji ÔtsuboPinocchio 964, lobotomised cyborg sex slave, is thrown out onto the street by his owners because of his inability to maintain an erection. He is befriended by a criminally insane, memory-wiped, homeless girl. Meanwhile, the corporate entity who manufactured and sold him plots to kill him because of his malfunction.
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsJack NanceCharlotte StewartAllen JosephHenry Spencer tries to survive his industrial environment, his angry girlfriend, and the unbearable screams of his newly born mutant child.
- DirectorDarren AronofskyStarsSean GulletteMark MargolisBen ShenkmanA paranoid mathematician searches for a key number that will unlock the universal patterns found in nature.
- DirectorJames BaiStarsStephen GalaidaRobbie ShapiroMark JanisPost apocalyptic Frankenstein-ish fantasy
- DirectorKevin WillmottStarsGreg KirschRenee PatrickMolly GrahamThrough the eyes of a British "documentary", this film takes a satirically humorous, and sometimes frightening, look at the history of an America where the South won the Civil War.
- DirectorKevin BrownlowAndrew MolloStarsPauline MurraySebastian ShawBart AllisonIn 1940, Germany invades Britain and transforms it into a Fascist state where some Britons collaborate and others resist. In 1944, Pauline, an apolitical Irish nurse becomes a reluctant player in the fight between the two sides.
- DirectorWerner HerzogStarsBrad DourifDonald WilliamsEllen BakerAn alien narrates the story of his dying planet, his and his people's visits to Earth and Earth's man-made demise, while human astronauts attempt to find an alternate planet for surviving humans to live on.
- DirectorPeter BergStarsNikolaj Coster-WaldauKerry BishéJoy BryantSpaceship crew members start dying because of an unknown defect in a virtual-reality device.
- DirectorChristopher NolanStarsGuy PearceCarrie-Anne MossJoe PantolianoA man with short-term memory loss attempts to track down his wife's murderer.
- DirectorJohn Alan SimonStarsShea WhighamJonathan ScarfeMichael RothhaarSci-fi thriller from Philip K. Dick (Blade Runner, Minority Report, A Scanner Darkly); Nick Brady receives messages from space and joins conspiracy to overthrow authoritarian U. S. regime.
- DirectorErik NelsonStarsHarlan EllisonRobin WilliamsNeil GaimanA documentary on speculative fiction writer and essayist Harlan Ellison.
- DirectorKen RussellStarsGabriel ByrneJulian SandsNatasha RichardsonThe Shelleys visit Lord Byron and compete to write a horror story.
- DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsJames WoodsDebbie HarrySonja SmitsA programmer at a Toronto TV station that specializes in adult entertainment searches for the producers of a dangerous and bizarre broadcast.
- DirectorPater SparrowStarsZoltán MucsiLászló SinkóPál MácsaiA bookshop renowned for its rare works is mysteriously and completely filled with copies of a book entitled 1, which doesn't appear to have a publisher or author.
- DirectorDavid Webb PeoplesStarsRutger HauerJoan ChenDelroy LindoIn a future where most of mankind and technology is wiped out, six people travel from place to place playing a brutal form of football with a dog skull. They hope one day to play in the league in a city.
- DirectorAlbert PyunStarsOlivier GrunerTim ThomersonCary-Hiroyuki TagawaAlex, a burned out LA cyborg cop, is forced by commissioner Farnsworth to find his former cyborg partner and lover Jared who's about to deliver sensitive data to cyborg terrorists who wish to wage war against humans. Is he being played?
- DirectorAaron LipstadtStarsKlaus KinskiDon Keith OpperBrie HowardA strange doctor secretly experiments with androids on his space station. His assistant is Max, a curious android who wants to see the world and meet a girl. Criminals hide on their station and soon violence erupts.
- DirectorLana WachowskiLilly WachowskiStarsKeanu ReevesLaurence FishburneCarrie-Anne MossWhen a beautiful stranger leads computer hacker Neo to a forbidding underworld, he discovers the shocking truth--the life he knows is the elaborate deception of an evil cyber-intelligence.
- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsFernando ReyCarole BouquetÁngela MolinaRecounted in flashback are the romantic perils of Mathieu, a middle-aged French sophisticate as he falls for his nineteen-year-old former chambermaid Conchita.
- DirectorMichael HanekeStarsJuliette BinocheThierry NeuvicJosef BierbichlerA young man harasses a homeless woman, another man protests, the police arrest both and the woman has to leave the country. What were their various story-lines leading up to this event?
- DirectorOmar NaimStarsRobin WilliamsJim CaviezelMira SorvinoSet in a world with memory recording implants, Alan Hakman is a cutter, someone with the power of final edit over people's recorded histories. His latest assignment is one that puts him in danger.
- DirectorTerry GilliamStarsJonathan PryceKim GreistRobert De NiroA bureaucrat in a dystopic society becomes an enemy of the state as he pursues the woman of his dreams.
- DirectorGabriele SalvatoresStarsChristopher LambertDiego AbatantuonoSergio RubiniThe main character Solo in Nirvana, a computer game developed by Jimi for release in 3 days, has gained self-awareness after a virus attack. Solo wants to be deleted. Jimi wants to find his ex.
- DirectorAbel FerraraStarsChristopher WalkenWillem DafoeAsia ArgentoTwo businessmen are hired to steal secrets from a rival, and decide to use a beautiful call girl to do so.
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsHarrison FordRutger HauerSean YoungA blade runner must pursue and terminate four replicants who stole a ship in space and have returned to Earth to find their creator.
- DirectorAnders Rønnow KlarlundStarsJames McAvoyCatherine McCormackJulian GloverA Prince leaves his city and sets off to avenge his father, not aware his father wasn't murdered, and in reality, committed suicide, and soon learns the truth about his people from a warrior woman.
- DirectorBruce PittmanStarsSean AstinMiranda de PencierEugene LevyIn a distant future, egalitarianism has created a truly equal state. The cost? The sacrifice of everything great about humankind. The question: is peace worth the price?
- DirectorRobert AltmanStarsPaul NewmanVittorio GassmanFernando ReyDuring a future ice age, dying humanity occupies its remaining time by playing a board game called "Quintet." For one small group, this obsession is not enough; they play the game with living pieces ... and only the winner survives.
- DirectorVincenzo NataliStarsNicole de BoerMaurice Dean WintDavid HewlettA group of strangers awaken to find themselves placed in a giant cube. Each one of them is gifted with a special skill and they must work together to escape an endless maze of deadly traps.
- DirectorJulian DoyleStarsSimon CallowKal WeberLucy CuddenA shy, stuttering professor brings Aleister Crowley back to life.
- DirectorDavid TwohyStarsBruce GreenwoodDavid CrowMatthew DavisStrange happenings occur on a WW II submarine.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsRoddy PiperKeith DavidMeg FosterThey influence our decisions without us knowing it. They numb our senses without us feeling it. They control our lives without us realizing it. They live.
- DirectorPaul VerhoevenStarsPeter WellerNancy AllenDan O'HerlihyIn a dystopic and crime-ridden Detroit, a terminally wounded cop returns to the force as a powerful cyborg haunted by submerged memories.
- DirectorRichard StanleyStarsDylan McDermottStacey TravisJohn LynchThe head of a cyborg reactivates, rebuilds itself, and goes on a violent rampage in a space marine's girlfriend's apartment.
- DirectorRichard MooreStarsDavid CarradineJeff CooperChristopher LeeA young martial artist embarks on an adventure, encountering other martial artists in battle until one day he meets an aging blind man who will show him the true meaning of martial arts and life.
- DirectorJohn BoormanStarsNigel TerryHelen MirrenNicholas ClayMerlin the magician helps Arthur Pendragon unite the Britons around the Round Table of Camelot, even as dark forces conspire to tear it apart.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsSam NeillJürgen ProchnowJulie CarmenAn insurance investigator begins discovering that the impact a horror writer's books have on his fans is more than inspirational.
- DirectorJaromil JiresStarsJaroslava SchallerováHelena AnýzováPetr KoprivaSurreal tale in which love, fear, sex, and religion merge into one fantastic world. Based on a classical Czech novel of the same title.
- DirectorBéla TarrÁgnes HranitzkyStarsLars RudolphPeter FitzHanna SchygullaA naive young man witnesses an escalation of violence in his small hometown following the arrival of a mysterious circus attraction.
- DirectorWojciech HasStarsZbigniew CybulskiIga CembrzynskaElzbieta CzyzewskaUpon finding a book that relates his grandfather's story, an officer ventures through Spain meeting a wide array of characters, most of whom have a story of their own to tell.
- DirectorDuncan JonesStarsSam RockwellKevin SpaceyDominique McElligottAstronaut Sam Bell has a quintessentially personal encounter toward the end of his three-year stint on the Moon, where he, working alongside his computer, GERTY, sends back to Earth parcels of a resource that has helped diminish our planet's power problems.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsDan O'BannonDre PahichBrian NarelleIn the far reaches of space, a small crew, 20 years into their solitary mission, find things beginning to go hilariously wrong.
- DirectorJohn FrankenheimerStarsRock HudsonFrank CampanellaJohn RandolphAn unhappy middle-aged banker agrees to a procedure that will fake his death and give him a completely new look and identity - one that comes with its own price.
- DirectorNaoko KusumiMizuho NishikuboMamoru OshiiStarsAkio ÔtsukaAtsuko TanakaTamio ÔkiIn the year 2032, Batô, a cyborg detective for the anti-terrorist unit Public Security Section 9, investigates the case of a female robot--one created solely for sexual pleasure--who slaughtered her owner.
- DirectorKen RussellStarsWilliam HurtBlair BrownBob BalabanA psycho-physiologist experiments with drugs and a sensory-deprivation tank and has visions he believes are genetic memories.
- DirectorAndrzej ZulawskiStarsAndrzej SewerynJerzy TrelaGrazyna DylagA team of astronauts land on an inhabitable planet and form a society. Many years later, a single astronaut is sent to the planet and becomes a messiah.
- DirectorAndrei TarkovskyStarsAlisa FreyndlikhAleksandr KaydanovskiyAnatoliy SolonitsynA guide leads two men through an area known as the Zone to find a room that grants wishes.
- DirectorPavel KlushantsevStarsVladimir EmelyanovGeorgi ZhzhyonovGennadi VernovCosmonauts land on the planet Venus. However, they find themselves in danger from the voracious monsters they find on it.
- DirectorJean-Jacques AnnaudStarsEverett McGillRon PerlmanNicholas KadiThis story takes place in prehistoric time when three tribesmen search for a new fire source.
- DirectorMel GibsonStarsGerardo TaracenaRaoul Max TrujilloDalia HernándezAs the Mayan kingdom faces its decline, a young man is taken on a perilous journey to a world ruled by fear and oppression.
- DirectorNicolas Winding RefnStarsMads MikkelsenMaarten StevensonAlexander MortonForced for some time to be a fighting slave, a pagan warrior escapes his captors with a boy and joins a group of Crusaders on their quest to the Holy Land.
- DirectorChristopher SmithStarsEddie RedmayneSean BeanCarice van HoutenSet during the time of the first outbreak of bubonic plague in England, a young monk is given the task of learning the truth about reports of people being brought back to life in a small village.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsTom CruiseColin FarrellSamantha MortonJohn works with the PreCrime police which stop crimes before they take place, with the help of three 'PreCogs' who can foresee crimes. Events ensue when John finds himself framed for a future murder.