Best mind-frack movies?

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MongGrel

Lifer
Dec 3, 2013
38,751
3,068
121
None of these films f*ck with your mind. They are thrillers. Or horror, or sci-fi, or whatever. With an unusual plot. Or a plot you didn't suspect. Nothing special.

Ns1 mentioned "requiem for a dream". Now that might actually be the only film mentioned in this thread that f*cks with your mind. Although, tbh, I still haven't watched it myself. I have the DVD ready here, next to my TV. I bought it when DVDs were relevant (a decade ago ?). Still haven't been in the mood where I thought: "yeah, tonight I'm gonna let my mind be f*cked".

And Mongrel posts this picture:

And then doesn't mention A Clockwork Orange ?
Now that's a movie where you will think "WTF!!" after you watched it.

almost anything by Kubrick was on the list I quoted
 
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destrekor

Lifer
Nov 18, 2005
28,799
359
126
None of these films f*ck with your mind. They are thrillers. Or horror, or sci-fi, or whatever. With an unusual plot. Or a plot you didn't suspect. Nothing special.

Ns1 mentioned "requiem for a dream". Now that might actually be the only film mentioned in this thread that f*cks with your mind. Although, tbh, I still haven't watched it myself. I have the DVD ready here, next to my TV. I bought it when DVDs were relevant (a decade ago ?). Still haven't been in the mood where I thought: "yeah, tonight I'm gonna let my mind be f*cked".

And Mongrel posts this picture:

And then doesn't mention A Clockwork Orange ?
Now that's a movie where you will think "WTF!!" after you watched it.


My suggestion is Werner Herzog's classic from the 70s "Auch Zwergen haben klein angefangen". In English: "Even dwarves started small". It will probably be hard to find, but it is out there, on DVD and online. Go get it. Don't read anything about it. Nothing. Not IMDB, not the wiki page, not the DVD-cover. Just watch it. It's 96 minutes, that's all you need to know, if you need to plan a timeslot when to watch. Enjoy. I'll give you your money back if your first thought after watching this move is not "WTF?".


Movies by Peter Greenaway are good too (regarding WTF factor). Try to find "ZOO: A Zed with Two Naughts". Drawning by Numbers, The Draughtsman Contract, maybe The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and her Lover too. Don't watch the later stuff, that becomes too over the top, too opera-like.

I'm surprised nobody mentioned David Lynch. Go watch Eraserhead. When you're done, come tell us here what you think the movie is about.

Note, I mention these movies not only because they are WTF-movies. Clockwork Orange, Dwarfs and Eraserhead are all in my personal favorite top-10 list. (Together with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Taxi Driver, Blade Runner, Rumble Fish, Stalker, Gilda, The Hustler, Memento, oops, that's 11 already).

Enjoy.


Yeah, most of the posts here have been focusing on "WTF" twists. Which I don't get, because that isn't at all in my personal understanding of the "mind-fuck" category.

I definitely haven't heard of half the movies you listed, but the ones of which I'm aware and/or watched, I definitely agree. I haven't watched Eraserhead but have heard similar opinions, and certainly A Clockwork Orange is 100% definitively a stellar example of the mind-fuck category. Absolutely love the movie!

And yes, you must immediately watch Requiem for a Dream. And while of an entirely different theme and style, I thoroughly enjoyed The Fountain as well. I've watched that one numerous times, more than Requiem for a Dream, if only because The Fountain leaves you feeling more whole, whereas Requiem for a Dream leaves you feeling a little hollow, and emotionally exhausted. But if you have never watched it, it is a must!

"Ass to ass!"
 

Ns1

No Lifer
Jun 17, 2001
55,414
1,574
126
And then doesn't mention A Clockwork Orange ?
Now that's a movie where you will think "WTF!!" after you watched it.

oh totally, Kubrick's movies are basically the definition of WTF


"Ass to ass!"

Man I need to watch this again. But I've never watched it with my wife, so I'm not sure how she'll respond. LOL
 

Carson Dyle

Diamond Member
Jul 2, 2012
8,174
524
126
oh totally, Kubrick's movies are basically the definition of WTF

A Clockwork Orange? Bizarre movie, for sure, set in a future distopia, but I thought the message delivered by the film was pretty clear. I'd include only one or two of Kubrick's many movies on this list - Space Odyssey and maybe Eyes.
 
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rumpleforeskin

Senior member
Nov 3, 2008
380
13
81
Predestination
Dead Mans Shoes
Memento
Matrix (maybe not now but when I walked out the cinema in 1999... Mind Blown)
The Game
Fight Club (same as the matrix, sadly the premise of the movie is so well known it would be hard for anyone to see it without knowing whats coming)
Moon
Pi (the 1998 movie)
Primer (if you liked predestination)
The machinist
Old Boy (Original)
Enemy
 

Chapbass

Diamond Member
May 31, 2004
3,148
89
91
Predestination
Dead Mans Shoes
Memento
Matrix (maybe not now but when I walked out the cinema in 1999... Mind Blown)
The Game
Fight Club (same as the matrix, sadly the premise of the movie is so well known it would be hard for anyone to see it without knowing whats coming)
Moon
Pi (the 1998 movie)
Primer (if you liked predestination)
The machinist
Old Boy (Original)
Enemy

Good call on the Matrix. You're right, its mainstream now, but the movie absolutely will mess your mind up if you have no idea what you're sitting down to watch (which is what made it so good to begin with).
 

ImpulsE69

Lifer
Jan 8, 2010
14,946
1,077
126
There's a fine line between wtf and incoherent. He didn't mention clockwork orange because it was already inferred with the 'almost anything by kubrick'. Just because something is artsy and doesn't make sense doesn't mean it is anything special, and the genre really has no bearing on it.

I almost mentioned Eraserhead but I've never actually watched it.
 

MongGrel

Lifer
Dec 3, 2013
38,751
3,068
121
I'll throw out one that I recently rewatched: Mulholland Drive.

Muhholland Drive is a lot like Twin Peaks.

I liked it.

Moon and The Machinist I like also, but have been thinking of things off the top of my head and try not to repeat things all ready posted most of the time.
 
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Ichinisan

Lifer
Oct 9, 2002
28,298
1,234
136
I'm not necessarily looking for mind-bending twists, I'm talking about movies that are incredibly cerebral. Thus Inception would fit IMHO.
I was really hyped for Inception. At release, I heard comments like "James Bond for the thinking man."

Nope. Just James Bond. Pew pew. Snowmobiles. Shooting. Slow motion. More shooting.

The last 40 minutes of that movie were excruciatingly boring. Not my idea of "cerebral" at all.
 

ImpulsE69

Lifer
Jan 8, 2010
14,946
1,077
126
How could I forget, Antichrist.

Was going to mention Videodrome, but I see someone covered it.
 

Spacehead

Lifer
Jun 2, 2002
13,201
10,063
136
After watching that is was really confused. MY initial impression was i didn't like it but maybe i should give it another try.

Jacobs Ladder
Loved that movie.

Lots of good movies already mentioned but i'll through in Exotica. It's not really a twist ending but one where all the pieces come together at the end to explain the characters actions.

Dark City might be another to fit the OP's catagory.
 

JEDI

Lifer
Sep 25, 2001
30,160
3,302
126
ok, I haven't seen:

fraility
shutter island
Predestination
Jacobs Ladder
Exotica

thx
 
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