Surreal Reels

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Top 5 Surreal Films

Night of the Hunter
One of my all-time favorites. About 45 minutes into the flick, as the boy and the girl flee from a psychopathic Robert Mitchum, the movie crosses over into something like 1920s German impressionism. Nightmarish and haunting and well worth a watch.

The Angry Red Planet
This movie scared the heck outta me as a kid. Blobs, again. But what a trippy movie! All the Martian scenes are filmed like a negative dyed with bright carnival crimson. A flick for acid-tripping hippies made before there were hippies and acid trips. Weird.

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
Saw this in the late 80s and I think I was the only one who liked it. Yeah, it’s a little pretentious and a little too long, but like a lot of Terry Gilliam flicks (Time Bandits, etc), you really get the feeling you’ve entered a parallel universe where reality is just a little bit outta kilter.

Fantastic Planet
Weirdest cartoon movie ever. I vividly remember this from my childhood; you might, too: The hundred-foot-tall blue giants, the humans forced to fight with scorpion-thingies strapped to their chests, the otherworldly audio effects, an ending reminiscent of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Watched it again about a decade ago and just shook my head. I’d like to see it once more.

Evil Dead
See my review here.