Underrated or unknown gems
by DaveSancho | created - 16 May 2018 | updated - 30 Sep 2019 | PublicMovies not very known that I liked for different reasons, movies that deserve a viewing or movies that I really believe are underrated masterpieces.
- Instant Watch Options
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. Take Shelter (2011)
R | 120 min | Drama, Thriller
Plagued by a series of apocalyptic visions, a young husband and father questions whether to shelter his family from a coming storm, or from himself.
Director: Jeff Nichols | Stars: Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain, Shea Whigham, Tova Stewart
Votes: 108,169 | Gross: $1.73M
A movie made to last in time. A truly enthralling piece of cinema. Michael Shannon achieves one of the greatest actings of the decade.
2. The Wailing (2016)
TV-MA | 156 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
Soon after a stranger arrives in a little village, a mysterious sickness starts spreading. A policeman, drawn into the incident, is forced to solve the mystery in order to save his daughter.
Director: Na Hong-jin | Stars: Jun Kunimura, Hwang Jung-min, Kwak Do-won, Chun Woo-hee
Votes: 82,044
Very surprising. It has so many layers of narrative that it could be an onion instead of a film. A future cult classic.
3. Hard Eight (1996)
R | 101 min | Crime, Drama
Professional gambler Sydney teaches John the tricks of the trade. John does well until he falls for cocktail waitress Clementine.
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson | Stars: Philip Baker Hall, John C. Reilly, Gwyneth Paltrow, Samuel L. Jackson
Votes: 54,901 | Gross: $0.22M
Along with L.A. Confidential (1997), one of the finest examples of the 90s neo noir.
4. The Shepherd of the Hills (1941)
Approved | 98 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
A mysterious but pleasant stranger arrives in the Missouri hills and befriends a young backwoods girl, which doesn't sit well with her moonshiner fiancé who has vowed to find and kill his own father.
Director: Henry Hathaway | Stars: John Wayne, Betty Field, Harry Carey, Beulah Bondi
Votes: 2,589
An enormously charming fairytale. With a fantastic Harry Carey.
5. The Sundowners (1960)
Passed | 133 min | Drama, Western
In Australia's Outback during the early twentieth century, the impoverished Carmody family lives a nomadic life out of their wagon, but the mom and son want to settle, while the dad is against it.
Director: Fred Zinnemann | Stars: Deborah Kerr, Robert Mitchum, Peter Ustinov, Glynis Johns
Votes: 4,837
A story for all audiences with really moving and beautiful scenes.
6. The Damned (1969)
R | 157 min | Drama, War
The dramatic collapse of a wealthy, industrialist/Junker family during the reign of the Third Reich.
Director: Luchino Visconti | Stars: Dirk Bogarde, Ingrid Thulin, Helmut Griem, Helmut Berger
Votes: 9,927 | Gross: $0.63M
A really unknown piece of european cinema. Narrates a fundamental moment in history, the advent of Nazism, with terrific characters. A must see gem.
7. Heaven's Gate (1980)
R | 219 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
During the Johnson County War in 1890 Wyoming, a sheriff born into wealth does his best to protect immigrant farmers from rich cattle interests.
Director: Michael Cimino | Stars: Kris Kristofferson, Christopher Walken, John Hurt, Sam Waterston
Votes: 17,155 | Gross: $3.48M
A misunderstood masterpiece. Poetic, violent, pathetic and immensely beautiful. An epic film with larger than life scenes. And one of the finest soundtracks of all time.
8. The Sand Pebbles (1966)
PG-13 | 182 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
In 1926, a U.S. Naval engineer gets assigned to a gunboat on a rescue mission in war-torn China.
Director: Robert Wise | Stars: Steve McQueen, Richard Attenborough, Richard Crenna, Candice Bergen
Votes: 16,434
9. Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)
Not Rated | 178 min | Adventure, Drama, History
In 1787, British ship Bounty leaves Portsmouth to bring a cargo of bread-fruit from Tahiti but the savage on-board conditions imposed by Captain Bligh trigger a mutiny led by officer Fletcher Christian.
Directors: Lewis Milestone, Carol Reed, George Seaton | Stars: Marlon Brando, Trevor Howard, Richard Harris, Hugh Griffith
Votes: 17,889 | Gross: $13.68M
10. Sorcerer (1977)
PG | 121 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Four unfortunate men from different parts of the globe agree to risk their lives transporting gallons of nitroglycerin across dangerous Latin American jungle.
Director: William Friedkin | Stars: Roy Scheider, Bruno Cremer, Francisco Rabal, Amidou
Votes: 27,682 | Gross: $12.00M
11. Johnny Got His Gun (1971)
R | 111 min | Drama, War
During World War I, a patriotic young American is rendered blind, deaf, limbless, and mute by a horrific artillery shell attack. Trapped in what's left of his body, he desperately looks for a way to end his life.
Director: Dalton Trumbo | Stars: Timothy Bottoms, Kathy Fields, Marsha Hunt, Jason Robards
Votes: 18,357 | Gross: $0.55M
12. The Cincinnati Kid (1965)
TV-14 | 102 min | Drama
An up-and-coming poker player tries to prove himself in a high-stakes match against a long-time master of the game.
Directors: Norman Jewison, Sam Peckinpah | Stars: Steve McQueen, Ann-Margret, Edward G. Robinson, Karl Malden
Votes: 18,248 | Gross: $15.26M
13. Duck, You Sucker! (1971)
PG | 138 min | Drama, War, Western
A low-life bandit and an I.R.A. explosives expert rebel against the government and become heroes of the Mexican Revolution.
Director: Sergio Leone | Stars: Rod Steiger, James Coburn, Romolo Valli, Maria Monti
Votes: 37,513 | Gross: $0.70M
14. The Last Detail (1973)
R | 104 min | Comedy, Drama
Two Navy men are ordered to bring a young offender to prison, but decide to show him one last good time along the way.
Director: Hal Ashby | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Randy Quaid, Otis Young, Clifton James
Votes: 27,966 | Gross: $3.19M
One the forgotten gems of the decade. Full of truth and the powerful performance of Jack Nicholson
15. Thief (1981)
R | 123 min | Action, Crime, Drama
An ace safe cracker wants to do one last big heist for the mob before going straight.
Director: Michael Mann | Stars: James Caan, Tuesday Weld, Willie Nelson, Jim Belushi
Votes: 39,038 | Gross: $11.49M
16. The Iceman Cometh (1973)
PG | 239 min | Drama
A salesman with a sudden passion for reform has an idea to sell to his barfly buddies: throw away your pipe dreams. The drunkards, living in a flophouse above a saloon, resent the idea.
Director: John Frankenheimer | Stars: Lee Marvin, Fredric March, Robert Ryan, Jeff Bridges
Votes: 1,878
A totem. The immortal play of Eugene O'Neill performed by some of the most vigorous and authentic actors of all time.
17. Affliction (1997)
R | 114 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A deeply troubled small-town cop investigates a suspicious hunting death while other events jeopardize his sanity.
Director: Paul Schrader | Stars: Nick Nolte, Sissy Spacek, James Coburn, Brigid Tierney
Votes: 19,100 | Gross: $6.30M
One of the most bitter movies of the decade. Watching it results in a painful and overwhelming experience.
18. Blow Out (1981)
R | 108 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A movie sound recordist accidentally records the evidence that proves that a car accident was actually murder and consequently finds himself in danger.
Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: John Travolta, Nancy Allen, John Lithgow, Dennis Franz
Votes: 63,321 | Gross: $13.75M
19. All That Jazz (1979)
R | 123 min | Drama, Music, Musical
Director/choreographer Bob Fosse tells his own life story as he details the sordid career of Joe Gideon, a womanizing, drug-using dancer.
Director: Bob Fosse | Stars: Roy Scheider, Jessica Lange, Ann Reinking, Leland Palmer
Votes: 35,411 | Gross: $37.82M
20. The Captain (2017)
118 min | Drama, History, Thriller
In the last moments of World War II, a young German soldier fighting for survival finds a Nazi captain's uniform. Impersonating an officer, the man quickly takes on the monstrous identity of the perpetrators he's escaping from.
Director: Robert Schwentke | Stars: Max Hubacher, Alexander Fehling, Sebastian Rudolph, Max Thommes
Votes: 21,598 | Gross: $0.11M
21. Paint Your Wagon (1969)
PG-13 | 164 min | Comedy, Drama, Musical
Two unlikely prospector partners share the same wife in a California gold rush mining town.
Director: Joshua Logan | Stars: Lee Marvin, Clint Eastwood, Jean Seberg, Harve Presnell
Votes: 14,879 | Gross: $31.68M
22. The Boys in the Band (1970)
R | 118 min | Drama
Tempers fray and true selves are revealed when a heterosexual accidentally intrudes on a homosexual party.
Director: William Friedkin | Stars: Kenneth Nelson, Peter White, Leonard Frey, Frederick Combs
Votes: 5,894 | Gross: $7.63M
23. Night Falls on Manhattan (1996)
R | 113 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A newly elected District Attorney finds himself in the middle of a police corruption investigation that may involve his father and his partner.
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Andy Garcia, Richard Dreyfuss, Lena Olin, Ian Holm
Votes: 8,813 | Gross: $9.88M
24. The Night of the Iguana (1964)
Approved | 125 min | Drama
An ostracized Episcopal clergyman leads a busload of middle-aged Baptist women on a tour of the Mexican coast and comes to terms with the failure haunting his life.
Director: John Huston | Stars: Richard Burton, Ava Gardner, Deborah Kerr, Sue Lyon
Votes: 13,120 | Gross: $9.43M
25. Too Late (I) (2015)
Not Rated | 107 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Explores the tangled relationship between a troubled private investigator and the missing woman he's hired to help find.
Director: Dennis Hauck | Stars: Dichen Lachman, Natalie Zea, Jeff Fahey, John Hawkes
Votes: 3,910 | Gross: $0.06M
26. A Cure for Wellness (2016)
R | 146 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
An ambitious young executive is sent to retrieve his company's CEO from an idyllic but mysterious "wellness center" at a remote location in the Swiss Alps, but soon suspects that the spa's treatments are not what they seem.
Director: Gore Verbinski | Stars: Dane DeHaan, Jason Isaacs, Mia Goth, Ivo Nandi
Votes: 109,663 | Gross: $8.11M
Tell Your Friends