Cannibals, Car Children & Creepy Cats: The Most WTF Movies
I saw "Men" over the weekend. It was terrifying. There has never been a better movie title.
Nothing is as fun as seeing a fucked-up movie, but giving a plot synopsis to a fucked-up movie is pretty damn close.
Over the weekend, my sister and I saw Alex Garland’s new movie Men in theaters, and although it’s my third favorite of his three movies, it’s still a visceral experience, a wild ride and a pretty great way to spend 100 minutes. More than 24 hours later, as the plot mechanics and nasty images stayed lodged in my brain, I found myself trying my best to describe what I had just seen to two friends (they know who they are).
This summary featured plenty of backtracking, shocked responses and Wikipediaing to try to make it all make sense. Although horrific and thrilling, I wouldn’t classify “Men” as a horror and/or thriller movie.
Maybe this is too tidy, but when I think horror, I think pure scary whether it be slasher/gore like a Texas Chain Saw Massacre or “elevated” emotional horror like Get Out or Rosemary’s Baby. The movie I’m trying to describe doesn’t fit (for me) in this little box. It’s in its own little genre, which I’ve simply called WTF Movies.
Yes, it picks and chooses from various genres, but it’s the image-making and insane go-for-it-ness that truly stand out.
Although I surely haven’t seen even an iota of films that could reasonably be added to this list, I decided to put together a small helping—an amuse-bouche if you will—of ones that have stuck with me. They vary in madness, as well as overall quality, but you certainly can’t say that these aren’t bonkers movies. It’s going to lean 21st century too. It is what it is. I’m trying my best.
Also, I tried to stay away from some of my favorites that I’ve written about before like Midsommar, The Lobster, I’m Thinking of Ending Things, etc. These should all be new(ish) movies to Aerial Shot.
Please watch, and then yell at me afterward for ruining your sleep.
Suspiria (2018) directed by Luca Guadagnino
I haven’t seen the original (yet), but the 21st-century remake—somehow from the Call Me By Your Name director—is one of the more draining yet exhilarating movies of the last 10 years. I don’t think it got its due, and I hope this is the push it needs for more of you to check it out. It centers on a Russian dance troupe in the 1970s run by witches, because of course. Dakota Johnson leads the kind-of-horror film. It also features a trippy as hell ending, if that’s something you’re looking for.
Possession (1981) directed by Andrzej Żuławski
I went to see this movie in theaters because I saw someone give it a good review on Letterboxd a day before it happened to be playing at the Metrograph. It’s that easy sometimes. The basic plot revolves around a horrific couple trying to make things work. They do not, as a tentacled monster gets in the way. This is a real how is this real movie, and it features two unbelievable performances from Isabelle Adjani and Sam Neill.
Dogtooth (2009) directed by Yorgos Lanthimos
This isn’t my favorite Yorgos Lanthimos film, but it’s the one that brought him into the popular consciousness and it’s definitely the most unidentifiable. I guess it’s partially a thriller, but it’s a real wild ride at its core. This one centers on a manipulative father who traps his adult children in a family compound and gaslights them into thinking that they can’t survive away from home. It’s the darkest of comedies and worth checking out if you have the stomach for it.
Titane (2021) & Raw (2016) directed by Julia Ducournau
Titane might be the movie that best exemplies this subgenre. It features some of the most gruesome scenes I’ve ever witnessed and is also a family dramedy. It’s a serial killer seeking connection. It’s all juxtapositions and worth seeing on as big a screen as possible. With all that said, I prefer Raw a bit more, which is a coming-of-age college terror revolving around cannibalism, carnality and the connection between the two. It also includes one of my favorite lead performances from Garance Marillier as the confused protagonist. This is one that sticks with you.
Holy Motors (2012) directed by Leos Carax
Although it has a thread connecting everything together, this movie is essentially composed of a series of vignettes with Denis Lavant’s Mr. Oscar as the one thing connecting each sequence. I guess the best way to describe the plot is that a man in a limousine takes nine mysterious appointments throughout the day, but they really vary and I’m not even sure how best to describe them. Good luck with this one.
House (1977) directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi
Although this has the most generic “horror” plot, House is far from ordinary. The experimental Japanese terrifying camp comedy consists of a group of friends staying at a remote mansion, but it only gets more and more bizarre from there. It’s shot in such a way that deeply unsettles, and that’s saying something for the movies on this list.
Melancholia (2011) directed by Lars von Trier
This is my favorite of this list and on a shortlist for the movies that have stuck with me the most. The Kirsten Dunst-led apocalyptic two-parter starts with a wedding right before a rogue planet collides with the earth. It is split into two sections, one on depression and one on anxiety, and it uses Dunst better than any other movie. The characters are flawed but real and although the story is (hopefully) outlandish, the ideas are as authentic as anything I’ve seen. I semi-recently watched this one (again) in theaters and it really is a modern masterpiece.
Eyes Without a Face (1960) directed by Georges Franju
I made sure to check this one out after Edgar Wright referenced it in the lead-up to Last Night in Soho. I sometimes have trouble locking into older films, but I found myself on Eyes Without a Face’s wavelength right away. The story here is that a father tries to fix his daughter’s face after an accident damages it. He may or may not use some pretty messed-up tactics to right his wrongs.
Cats (2019) directed by Tom Hooper
IMDb has labeled Cats a “comedy,” “drama” and “family” movie, but I’ve seen this in theaters, and it’s as fucked up and unnerving as anything else on this list. It’s in an uncanny valley all its own and is written by what must have been a bunch of eight-year-olds on acid. I hated it so much that I loved it. It’s worth seeing only if you’re a masochist. What other movie is purely a bunch of anthropomorphized cats introducing themselves through song and then trying to die so they can be reborn? None … the correct answer is none. What a travesty. Try to see it immediately.