Obscure and rare films
So which films have you seen that not only have your mates not seen but they've never even heard of?
Three films I nominate are:
Don't Deliver Us From Evil - Which is a bit of a cheat as it's French. Made in 1971 it's a weird little tale of two teenage girls slowly going over to the darkside. Banned in France for blasphemy. More likely to send you to sleep than anything else, but with a barking mad jolly finale.
Exposé - a 1976 blast of Brit soft porn/splatter tat starring Udo Kier and Fiona Richmond, with Linda Hayden going slowly bonkers, but enjoying herself in the cornfields.
The Sailor Who Fell from Grace With the Sea - 1976 art house nonsense with Sarah Miles and Kris Kristofferson. Infamous for a chopped up cat and a young boy spying on his mum while she masturbates.
Regards
Mark
Three films I nominate are:
Don't Deliver Us From Evil - Which is a bit of a cheat as it's French. Made in 1971 it's a weird little tale of two teenage girls slowly going over to the darkside. Banned in France for blasphemy. More likely to send you to sleep than anything else, but with a barking mad jolly finale.
Exposé - a 1976 blast of Brit soft porn/splatter tat starring Udo Kier and Fiona Richmond, with Linda Hayden going slowly bonkers, but enjoying herself in the cornfields.
The Sailor Who Fell from Grace With the Sea - 1976 art house nonsense with Sarah Miles and Kris Kristofferson. Infamous for a chopped up cat and a young boy spying on his mum while she masturbates.
Regards
Mark
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Comments
You reminded me of Flesh for Frankenstein and Blood for Dracula. Campy, hilarious fun. Both made by Andy Warhol.
In Blood for Dracula, Udo Kier plays Dracula, who is rather upset because it's getting harder and harder to find virgins.
Sorry, they weren't made by Andy Warhol. They were written and directed by Paul Morrisey, with encouragement from Roman Polanski. Morrisey worked on and off at Warhol's film factory, and Warhol's name was added to sell the films. They're both wonderul - very funny and beautifully photographed, with outrageous comedy blood & gore. Banned by most local authorities in the 70s and 80s.
PS I've heard of The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea. I think I've seen it, but I can't remember much about it.
Regards
Mark
Desert Hearts, an 80s lesbian flick set on a 1950s Nevada Ranch, with a prissy university lecturer and a cowgirl as the star crossed lovers. The cowgirl, Patricia Charbonneau, I remember as being really beautiful. I'm a sucker for gingham and denim.
I have heard of and seen Desert Hearts and heard of the Sailor Who Fell from Grace etc. Was the book by a Japanese author? I think I have a copy of it somewhere but have never read it.
Regards
Mark
Not seen Violette Noziere, and looks like I probably never will, if it's impossible to obtain. I'm still trying forget Isabelle Huppert from I [heart] huckabees.
Yes, Karen Black was amazing and Cher was good too. The whole cast was great!
I can't understand why Violette isn't available here, it being a film by one of the greatest directors ever, starring an early film of one of the greatest actresses ever. It's available in the US. It was given away free in newspapers there a while ago, I found out, when I was having another check for it.
A vol 2 of Chabrol's films has just been released. Perhaps it will be in vol 3.
Regards
Mark
Here you go http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078259/ I'd forgotten it was a Robert Graves story.
I'm still waiting for Freebie and the Bean to get a DVD release! And Trouble In Mind - another one with Kris Kristofferson, and also featuring Divine in one of his few serious non-drag roles as a gangland boss.
Was a B&W silent film, set in a prison, showing a jailer spying on the inmates pleasuring myself.
Even though it was so old, it was quite graphic in the way that it showed an erect penis, which even today they arent really allowed to show.
The film only lasts about 20 minutes, but I would definatly say its both obscure and rare
Edit: Just been on IMDB and the film is called Un chant d'amour. It was made in 1950
http://imdb.com/title/tt0043084/
Only shown briefly in cinemas and on tv once. Even has a slender Robbie Coltrane in a bit part: definitely science fiction.:)
Not sure if it's terribly obscure, maybe notorious - just unavailable in the UK until 1992 and banned almost everywhere else before that.
Pretty amazing that something so explicit was made in 1950 with a mixture of Genet's boyfriends and prostitutes. In England they would have all been thrown in prison - in Paris, no one really cared.
Oh that reminds me of a really weird film (I thought) I saw ages ago called Querelle or something.
Querelle de Brest was a novel written by Genet, but directed by Fassbinder (who also directed the astonishing Effi Briest).
The strange thing about Querelle, apart from the stylised sailor costumes, sweaty men, and the painted sets, is the american narration, which makes it sound like a 70s porn movie, which i suppose it is!
Thanks! I don't remember much about it now, apart from the aforementioned gay matelots and an air of general dissipated weirdness! Talk about dancing the hornpipe!
Another one is Chungking Express but I don't think that's obscure, really.
It's much harder trying to think of obscure English medium films, particularly British ones. I remember seeing and enjoying "Lady Jane" with Helena Bonham Carter which had a made for schools kind of feel.
Toto the Hero - I just got this one on DVD.
I've seen that one. Excellent choice.
Another little known B&W British film is Woman in a Dressing Gown which nearly made me cry when I saw it on TV one afternoon. Completely unexpected.