What are some good mindfuck movies?

[Stanley Burrell]

Preferably horror, but not; like, suddenly decapitating a million zombies and a ridiculous amount of blood per body and then someone has to earn their red wings. And it's all like, "From Dusk 'Til Dawn" when the vampires appear and you go wtf.

I just finished Mindfuck Labor Day and watched Signal (again), Dark City, The Machinist, The Fountain and Pi.

All the good Mindfuck movies like Requiem for a Dream, ESoaSM, etc., I've already watched, so I'm wondering about some possible sleepers. From a scale of 1-10, they have to be an awesome.

[Fallen]

Jacob's Ladder.

[AnticorRifling]

Bambi.

Cute family movie or mind fuck?! Wait here. BLAMMMMMO. Mom? Oh well let's go play with forest critters.

[Stanley Burrell]

Jacob's Ladder.

Was thinking about picking this up next.

And of course, Bambi.

[Fallen]

Oh, if you can find it, the FULL uncut version of Dune. It is a like 3+ hours, but totally worth it. The Bladerunner with IC narration is another good one. That movie is hard as fuck to find in that form.

[Mogonis]

How much Japanese horror have you watched? The Japanese know that gore isn't scary, so they focus on the psychological.

The Eye
Ringu
Audition (lots of gore though)

And others.

[Cephalopod]

Lesbian Vampire Killers

At first you think it's about killers that are Lesbian Vampires. Then you think it's about Killer Vampires that only eat Lesbians. Then you realize it's about Lesbian Vampires, and the people trying to kill them.

[Tolwynn]

Funny Games might be worth a try.

[Celephais]

Oh, if you can find it, the FULL uncut version of Dune. It is a like 3+ hours, but totally worth it. The Bladerunner with IC narration is another good one. That movie is hard as fuck to find in that form.

New Dune or old Dune? Both are great in their own way.

[Mighty Nikkisaurus]

Dune is awesome but isn't particularly mindfucky.

[Ceyrin]

Donnie Darko.

Somewhat less so, Stranger than Fiction (this was more of a comedic mind fuck - if that's possible)

Also, anything with Sylvester Stalone... because it's always a mindjob trying to figure out how he keeps getting work.

[Mighty Nikkisaurus]

Mulholland Drive and Jacob's Ladder are my recommendations, and if you haven't seen it before, Memento.

[AnticorRifling]

Moth Man Prophecies?

[Stanley Burrell]

The Japanese know that gore isn't scary, so they focus on the psychological.

I haven't seen too many Asian mindfuck films. I saw Cyclo, but I'm looking for something that's a bit less assigned-for-a-film class.


Donnie Darko.

This was a good movie. As was Memento and Stay and Identity ... and anything where it turns out that the protagonist(s) is/are living vicariously through some hideous psychological medium (Sci-fi as a "why" is fine, if it's done really well.)

How does "The Descent" hold up or is it just an updated suspense C.H.U.D.? I'm not bashing C.H.U.D. or Lesbian Vampire Killers, btw.

[Cephalopod]

The Descent was good and creepy. Not really mind-fuckish, though. The sequel wasn't bad either.

[Cephalopod]

Somewhat less so, Stranger than Fiction (this was more of a comedic mind fuck - if that's possible)


It's nice to know I'm not the only person on the planet who thought this wasn't a bad movie.

[BriarFox]

It's nice to know I'm not the only person on the planet who thought this wasn't a bad movie.

He should have died in the end. Selfish bastard.

[peam]

Eraserhead

[BriarFox]

Identity.

[RichardCranium]

Pee-Wee's Big Adventure

[Stanley Burrell]

Identity.

John Cusack "is" a limo driver in this ... and 2012. Coincidence?

Yes.

[peam]

Also "The Holy Mountain" directed by Jodorowsky and "Begotten" directed by Merhige

The latter is available fully online.

[Ryvicke]

How does "The Descent" hold up or is it just an updated suspense C.H.U.D.? I'm not bashing C.H.U.D. or Lesbian Vampire Killers, btw.

The Descent is one of my favorite horror movies of the last 5 years, but I did see it in a packed theatre and not since--not sure how it holds up on a laptop screen. It's not mindfucky at all really.

My favorite movie-going experience of the past 10 years is definitely Mulholland Drive, but I think it really depends on if your mind clicks over to unfucked by the end. I'm guessing you've seen it and have your own opinion by now, but if it not I'd highly recommend.

Horror-wise mindfuckery of the last few years... HRM.

Antichrist has an odd little completely glossed-over bit of mindfucker, although it takes a definite backseat to the visuals. I'd recommend it though.

The Orphanage is probably my favorite "horror" movie I watched in the last year. A good bit of mindfuckery is involved.

House of the Devil is not mindfucky at all, but also one I really liked.

(both Orphanage and House of the Devil are available on Netflix Watch Instantly right now I see).

Recent Sci-Fi mindfucks... (you may have seen these?)

Primer (not recent I guess)
A Scanner Darkly (totally worth if IMO if you missed it)
Christopher Nolan films you may have missed but are excellent: The Prestige, Insomnia

Spike Jonze/Charlie Kaufmann movies always deliver a good fuck to your mindhole, a few you may have missed:
Adaptation
Synecdoche, NY (BIG RECOMMENDATION HERE ~~!!!@)

Richard Kelly (Donnie Darko) made two more semi-mindfucks, one of which I think is amazing and must-see just cause it's such an ungodly fucking awesome trainwreck of a fuckmind (Southland Tales) and one that's kind of plodding towards fucking your mind, but features way too much Cameron Diaz (The Box).

If you're in purely for the confusion aspect you can't go wrong with Inland Empire, 3 hours you'll never get back but you might enjoy as a totally weird companion piece to Mulholland Drive.

Fun semi-MF by Oliver Stone: U-Turn

Classic: Brazil

Oft-overlooked: Cronenberg's ExiStenZ (not guaranteed to be proper capitalization)

I hate myself for recommending this mind-fuck: Funny Games (original or USA, depending on if you want to watch Naomi Watts cry a lot or a nice foreign lady cry a lot)

Maybe shitty mindfuck I can't quite remember but it had John Cusack in it and I think I remember it being better than I thought it would be: Identity

K I should probably start working now.

EDIT: I was apparently writing this for awhile and also eating and talking to my co-worker about 9/11 and acting serious so it looks like some people jumped in with some of these movies already. The terrorists won in this case. SORRY.

[Cephalopod]

Primer is the biggest mindfuck movie ever. It is incredible, but not horror at all.

XKCD has a 'movie narrative chart (http://xkcd.com/657/)' that basically shows just how mindfucky Primer is.

[Stanley Burrell]

O.K. Time to Cube this bitch up. I'm eating these flicks up like Ativans so keep the suggestions rollings.

[Abilene]

Primer is pretty mind-fucky. I had to look up a chart I had seen referenced online that helps 'explain' the movie. Without that, I would have been lost..

[Abilene]

Shutter Island, and I don't care what anyone else says. I thought the beginning was predictable to the rest of the movie, but not in the depth that you would have thought, so STFU.

The Saw movies.

Hide & Seek (with Robert De Niro)

[Ryvicke]

Hide & Seek (with Robert De Niro)

Is this the one where some small child just yells 'CHAHLIIIIIIIIE' like seventy times throughout the whole movie?

[Abilene]

Is this the one where some small child just yells 'CHAHLIIIIIIIIE' like seventy times throughout the whole movie?

It's possible? I haven't seen it since it came out in 2005, but when I think of Mind Fuck, I think of the ending of that movie.

[Stanley Burrell]

The most emo guy ever told me I picked some awesome movies and then asked, astonished, why I didn't get the non-Naomi Watts version of "Funny Games."

And I just wanted to say ... I have no idea what's going on, which I'm fairly certain is a decent start.

[pabstblueribbon]

In the mouth of madness.

A scanner darkly.

The lost highway.

The Tripper

Blue velvet.

[Cephalopod]

+1 to Lost Highway: good and freaky, yeah.

I still own the soundtrack.

[Suppa Hobbit Mage]

Lucky Number Sleven

[CrystalTears]

Three Extremes. It's a Hong Kong horror but not much gore. Three stories, and they're all fucking bizarro.

I saw recently The Orphanage and Session 9. They were kinda creepy.

[Suppa Hobbit Mage]

The Usual Suspects was also good.

[Suppa Hobbit Mage]

Oh, Frailty is fucking awesome.

[Fallen]

The Cell, though you've probably already have seen it. Lawnmower Man was odd in it's way. Finally, Bill and Teds Bogus Journey when you're good and sleep deprived.

[DCSL]

Cube, definitely. It has some gory deaths but it's mostly about mindfucking the prisoner-types. Loved it. And it's Canadian!

[ElvenFury]

Super Troopers.

[RichardCranium]

Super Troopers.

I was gonna suggest this too. It mind fucked me when I was stoned one morning and had never heard of it before.

[Abilene]

Depends on what you're on, but Grey Gardens (not the true documentary, but the one with Drew Barrymore) is pretty trippy.

[Stanley Burrell]

For some reason they've been playing Pandorum since the beginning of this year non-stop on the Movie Channels.

I watched it two times before I had a job.

Now I have a job.

And I am sadly only allowed to drink alcohol, even though I'm pretty certain about how to entirely circumvent workplace urinalyses.

So then, I watched it again; except without the ganj', still on the Movie Channels, cue Tourette's Guy, and-I-was-like-"SHIT?!"

?

[pabstblueribbon]

Don't forget The never-ending story. It's a real mind bender.

[Sylvan Dreams]

Fight Club

Silent Hill

[pabstblueribbon]

It's funny how the majority of movie suggestions that were really relevant were mostly directed by David Lynch.

Frickin' weirdo.

[4a6c1]

Pee-Wee's Big Adventure

ily. just sayin.


OP:

2001 Space Odyssey

[4a6c1]

Also Breakfast at Tiffany's.

WHY CANT I HAVE THAT WHY. Mindfuck city.

[Fallen]

What was that movie with Clooney in space? That was one fucked up film.

[Ryvicke]

What was that movie with Clooney in space? That was one fucked up film.

Solaris (2002) which was a remake of Solyaris (1972, Soviet Union) that people always say is better, but I've only seen the Clooney one. I can't remember much about it but I did like it and think it was mind-fucky.

[Fallen]

Solaris (2002) which was a remake of Solyaris (1972, Soviet Union) that people always say is better, but I've only seen the Clooney one. I can't remember much about it but I did like it and think it was mind-fucky.

You = +1 Awesomes.

[Jayvn]

Cube, definitely. It has some gory deaths but it's mostly about mindfucking the prisoner-types. Loved it. And it's Canadian!

the first Cube was definitely awesome... stay away from the others :(

[Kuyuk]

Strange Circus and Hard Candy.

Strange Circus is fucking whacked.

Hard Candy is very uncomfortable to watch.

[iJin]

Hard Candy is a very excellent movie. When I first watched it, I completely didn't think it was going to turn out the way it did. I thought it was going to be a typical, "Guy meets girl online, then rapes her, enter struggle somewhere around the raping, the end," sort of story.

But it was not. Awesome.

[CrystalTears]

Freaks. 1932 horror movie.