35 Really Obscure Films
by tony_le_stephanois | created - 02 Feb 2018 | updated - 02 Feb 2018 | PublicI really love obscure films for all kinds of reasons. One of them is a sense of justice: they deserve praise too! Another one is the feeling of being a film archeologist. The third reason is the excitement of discovering films from all kinds of countries. It's a real passion. For this list I choose films with less than 1500 ratings. This will probably not be my most popular list... but perhaps I can help someone with the same taste in obscure films. As this list is an ongoing process, I will probably edit it again in the future.
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1. Dead Mountaineer's Hotel (1979)
84 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
Police gets a call-out to a lonely hotel in the Alps. When an officer gets to the hotel everything seems to be all right. Suddenly, an avalanche cuts them out from the rest of the world, and strange things are going to happen.
Director: Grigori Kromanov | Stars: Uldis Pucitis, Jüri Järvet, Lembit Peterson, Mikk Mikiver
Votes: 1,646
2. Tomorrow I'll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea (1977)
93 min | Comedy, Romance, Sci-Fi
Jan is a decent, boring man, living a decent, boring life as a rocket designer. When his adventurous twin brother dies in a breakfast accident, Jan decides to impersonate him, unwittingly becoming a part of a Nazi time travel conspiracy.
Director: Jindrich Polák | Stars: Petr Kostka, Jirí Sovák, Vladimír Mensík, Vlastimil Brodský
Votes: 1,463
3. I'll Never Forget What's'isname (1967)
97 min | Comedy, Drama
The professional and romantic misadventures of an advertising executive in 1960s swinging London.
Director: Michael Winner | Stars: Oliver Reed, Orson Welles, Carol White, Harry Andrews
Votes: 1,076
4. The Legend of Doom House (1971)
125 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
A young sailor finds himself trapped in the labyrinthine mansion of his occultist uncle, along with a number of eccentric and mysterious relatives who all seem to be harboring a dark secret.
Director: Harry Kümel | Stars: Orson Welles, Susan Hampshire, Michel Bouquet, Mathieu Carrière
Votes: 1,594
5. The Mattei Affair (1972)
R | 116 min | Biography, Drama, Mystery
An Italian industrialist died in a plane crash. An accident or an assassination?
Director: Francesco Rosi | Stars: Gian Maria Volontè, Luigi Squarzina, Peter Baldwin, Renato Romano
Votes: 2,438
6. The Apple War (1971)
103 min | Comedy, Fantasy
A German business man, Volkswagner, comes to Österlen in the south of Sweden to build Deutschneyland, a gigantic amusement park for German tourists. The local councilors and the member of ... See full summary »
Director: Tage Danielsson | Stars: Per Grundén, Gösta Ekman, Sture Ericson, Ingvar Ottoson
Votes: 2,186
7. Don't Touch the White Woman! (1974)
108 min | Comedy, Western
A highly stylized surreal farce about the events leading up to Custer's Last Stand anachronistically reenacted in an urban renewal area in modern Paris.
Director: Marco Ferreri | Stars: Marcello Mastroianni, Catherine Deneuve, Michel Piccoli, Philippe Noiret
Votes: 951
8. The End of Agent W4C (1967)
87 min | Comedy, Crime, Sci-Fi
The invincible agent Cyril Juan Borguette alias W4C (Jan Kacer) has been assigned a mission to go to a hotel in Prague, get hold of a saltcellar with a plan for the military exploitation of... See full summary »
Director: Václav Vorlícek | Stars: Jan Kacer, Kveta Fialová, Jirí Sovák, Jan Libícek
Votes: 363
9. Abschied von gestern - (Anita G.) (1966)
88 min | Drama
The film tells the story of Anita G., a young East German migrant to West Germany and her struggle to adjust to her new life.
Director: Alexander Kluge | Stars: Alexandra Kluge, Günter Mack, Eva Maria Meineke, Hans Korte
Votes: 1,055
10. Who Killed Teddy Bear (1965)
Not Rated | 94 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
In New York, a disco hostess is stalked by a sexual predator and she requests help from a vice squad detective who takes a personal interest in the case.
Director: Joseph Cates | Stars: Sal Mineo, Juliet Prowse, Jan Murray, Elaine Stritch
Votes: 1,022
11. Girl with Green Eyes (1964)
Not Rated | 91 min | Drama, Romance
In 1960s Dublin a young girl becomes involved with an older man, a much-travelled and still married land-owner.
Director: Desmond Davis | Stars: Peter Finch, Rita Tushingham, Lynn Redgrave, Marie Kean
Votes: 1,478
12. The Ape Woman (1964)
92 min | Comedy, Drama
A modest Neapolitan man meets a young woman with excessive hairiness. He exhibits her at fairs and marries her. It is after marriage that he receives a tempting offer from a French manager.
Director: Marco Ferreri | Stars: Ugo Tognazzi, Annie Girardot, Achille Majeroni, Elvira Paolini
Votes: 966
13. Themroc (1973)
100 min | Comedy
Made without proper language, just gibberish and grunts, this is an absurdist comedy about a man who rejects every facet of normal bourgeois life and turns his apartment into a virtual cave.
Director: Claude Faraldo | Stars: Michel Piccoli, Béatrice Romand, Marilù Tolo, Francesca Romana Coluzzi
Votes: 1,642
14. Le couple témoin (1977)
Not Rated | 101 min | Comedy, Sci-Fi
A perfectly average young couple volunteers to live in a modern household for a long televised experiment undertaken by the Ministry of Future.
Director: William Klein | Stars: André Dussollier, Anémone, Zouc, Jacques Boudet
Votes: 465
15. Okraina (1933)
98 min | Drama, War
Outskirts is an internationally renowned masterpiece of early sound cinema. In a remote Russian village during World War I, colorful and nuanced characters experience divided loyalties: ... See full summary »
Director: Boris Barnet | Stars: Yelena Kuzmina, Mikhail Zharov, Nikolay Bogolyubov, Nikolay Kryuchkov
Votes: 1,121
16. Many Wars Ago (1970)
Not Rated | 100 min | Drama, War
On the Italian/Austrian front during World War I, a disastrous Italian attack upon the Austrian positions leads to a mutiny among the Italian troops.
Director: Francesco Rosi | Stars: Mark Frechette, Alain Cuny, Gian Maria Volontè, Giampiero Albertini
Votes: 1,911
17. Deadlock (1970)
93 min | Thriller, Western
In a deserted mining town at the end of nowhere three desperate men fight over a suitcase full of cash.
Director: Roland Klick | Stars: Mario Adorf, Marquard Bohm, Anthony Dawson, Mascha Rabben
Votes: 1,432
18. L'Argent (1928)
195 min | Drama, Romance
The business tycoon Nicolas Saccard is nearly ruined by his rival Gunderman, when he tries to raise capital for his company. To push up the price of his stock, Saccard plans a publicity ... See full summary »
Director: Marcel L'Herbier | Stars: Brigitte Helm, Marie Glory, Pierre Alcover, Yvette Guilbert
Votes: 1,148
19. Le paltoquet (1986)
92 min | Crime, Drama
Miss Lotte has her residence in a big hangar near a port. She seems to be having nice time with five clients but the arrival of a policeman disturbs their lives.
Director: Michel Deville | Stars: Fanny Ardant, Daniel Auteuil, Richard Bohringer, Philippe Léotard
Votes: 426
20. Symptoms (1974)
R | 92 min | Horror
A young woman is invited by her girlfriend, who lives in an English country mansion, to stay there with her. The estate, however, isn't quite what it seems--and neither is the friend who issued the invitation.
Director: José Ramón Larraz | Stars: Angela Pleasence, Peter Vaughan, Lorna Heilbron, Nancy Nevinson
Votes: 1,730
21. Man on a Swing (1974)
PG | 110 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
A small-town police chief investigating a murder is offered help by a self-described psychic. However, when the chief discovers that the "psychic" is in possession of information known only... See full summary »
Director: Frank Perry | Stars: Cliff Robertson, Joel Grey, Dorothy Tristan, Elizabeth Wilson
Votes: 761
22. De inbreker (1972)
PG | 105 min | Crime, Thriller
Burglar and master safe-cracker Glimmie is asked to find a young woman called Fanny by her rich stepfather Van Borsen. However, Glimmie remains suspicious of the man and decides that Fanny ... See full summary »
Director: Frans Weisz | Stars: Rijk de Gooyer, Jon Bluming, Anny de Lange, Frits Lambrechts
Votes: 200
23. Mickey One (1965)
Not Rated | 93 min | Crime, Drama
After the mob tries to kill him for an unknown reason, a comedian steals the identity of a homeless man and goes on the run.
Director: Arthur Penn | Stars: Warren Beatty, Alexandra Stewart, Hurd Hatfield, Franchot Tone
Votes: 1,871
24. David Holzman's Diary (1967)
Not Rated | 74 min | Comedy, Drama
A young filmmaker decides to make a movie of his life.
Director: Jim McBride | Stars: L.M. Kit Carson, Eileen Dietz, Louise Levine, Lorenzo Mans
Votes: 1,834
25. White Madness (1984)
96 min | Drama
The psychological drama between a drug addict and his mother. His strange compatriots in a life built to escape, her delusional world of obsession, and disturbing paintings of taxidermied ... See full summary »
Director: Adriaan Ditvoorst | Stars: Thom Hoffman, Pim Lambeau, Louise Ruys, Guusje van Tilborgh
Votes: 100
26. All the Right Noises (1970)
PG | 92 min | Comedy, Drama
A married theatre lighting technician with two small children has an affair with a teenage actress.
Director: Gerry O'Hara | Stars: Tom Bell, Judy Carne, Edward Higgins, Rudolph Walker
Votes: 422
27. Violette & François (1977)
98 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Violette and François are a couple with a child.As they cannot lead a good life with odd jobs,François starts to steal.
Director: Jacques Rouffio | Stars: Isabelle Adjani, Jacques Dutronc, Serge Reggiani, Françoise Arnoul
Votes: 343
28. Born in '45 (1990)
100 min | Drama, Romance
DDR film from the mid-60s: Li and Al, not long married, want to divorce. They feel trapped in their marriage and in their one-room apartment. They long for an unconventional, meaningful life, but the search for meaning confounds them.
Director: Jürgen Böttcher | Stars: Monika Hildebrand, Rolf Römer, Paul Eichbaum, Holger Mahlich
Votes: 265
29. Bloody Friday (1972)
R | 97 min | Action, Crime, Drama
When terrorists rob a bank all hell is let loose.
Directors: Rolf Olsen, Lee Payant | Stars: Raimund Harmstorf, Amadeus August, Gianni Macchia, Christine Böhm
Votes: 676
30. Bye Bye Monkey (1978)
113 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
A man walking on the beach near New York City finds the corpse of King Kong. He also finds Kong's orphaned son, and takes it to a friend who lives in the city, and they decide to raise it.
Director: Marco Ferreri | Stars: Gérard Depardieu, Marcello Mastroianni, James Coco, Geraldine Fitzgerald
Votes: 1,371
31. The Dogs (1979)
100 min | Drama, Thriller
After several inhabitants of a new city were bitten by dogs, a young doctor tries to stop to the climb of violence.
Director: Alain Jessua | Stars: Gérard Depardieu, Victor Lanoux, Nicole Calfan, Pierre Vernier
Votes: 647
32. Baxter! (1973)
PG | 100 min | Drama
A young American boy unable to overcome a speech defect is disturbed by the constant bickering of his parents, and when they get divorced, he slides into an emotional breakdown.
Director: Lionel Jeffries | Stars: Patricia Neal, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Britt Ekland, Lynn Carlin
Votes: 360
33. The White Reindeer (1952)
Not Rated | 74 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
A newlywed woman goes to the local shaman to get some help with her love life, but instead she gets turned into a white reindeer vampire.
Director: Erik Blomberg | Stars: Mirjami Kuosmanen, Kalervo Nissilä, Åke Lindman, Jouni Tapiola
Votes: 2,480
34. Cat and Mouse (1975)
PG | 107 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A very unorthodox police inspector is assigned to investigate a millionaire's mysterious death.
Director: Claude Lelouch | Stars: Michèle Morgan, Serge Reggiani, Philippe Léotard, Jean-Pierre Aumont
Votes: 454
35. Shock Treatment (1973)
91 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
A French businesswoman goes to a remote and popular rejuvenation clinic after a breakup, and begins to suspect the treatment methods used by the head doctor, and slowly uncovers the horrible secret behind the clinic's success.
Director: Alain Jessua | Stars: Alain Delon, Annie Girardot, Robert Hirsch, Michel Duchaussoy
Votes: 1,765
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