Subversive, Strange, or Campy Movies
by Rebecca1024 | created - 12 Jul 2016 | updated - 23 Feb 2020 | PublicYou know who you are . . .
This is a diverse list (roughly sorted by decade), but all the movies below have that indefinable something that makes them stick with you. I can watch most of them over and over again. Many are controversial, and I suspect misunderstood.
I've tried to focus on the more obscure, lesser-known movies, because I'm sure the well-known ones show up on many lists. That said, some of the movies below, although well-known, are just too good to leave off.
My favorite movie genre is satire or black comedy, but there's no denying I'm a sucker for campy movies with good music and cool houses. That's not to say I don't like thrillers, drama, documentaries, or movies based on true stories, but that's another list.
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1. Mini's First Time (2006)
R | 91 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A rebellious girl hooks up with an escort agency, where her stepfather is a client.
Director: Nick Guthe | Stars: Alec Baldwin, Nikki Reed, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jeff Goldblum
Votes: 8,622 | Gross: $0.05M
2. American Psycho (2000)
R | 102 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
A wealthy New York City investment banking executive, Patrick Bateman, hides his alternate psychopathic ego from his co-workers and friends as he delves deeper into his violent, hedonistic fantasies.
Director: Mary Harron | Stars: Christian Bale, Justin Theroux, Josh Lucas, Bill Sage
Votes: 716,489 | Gross: $15.07M
3. Project X (2012)
R | 88 min | Comedy
Three high-school seniors throw a birthday party to make a name for themselves. As the night progresses, things spiral out of control as word of the party spreads.
Director: Nima Nourizadeh | Stars: Thomas Mann, Oliver Cooper, Jonathan Daniel Brown, Dax Flame
Votes: 233,612 | Gross: $54.73M
4. The Girl Next Door (2004)
R | 109 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A teenager's dreams come true when a former porn star moves in next door and they fall in love.
Director: Luke Greenfield | Stars: Emile Hirsch, Nicholas Downs, Elisha Cuthbert, Timothy Olyphant
Votes: 240,002 | Gross: $14.59M
5. Religulous (2008)
R | 101 min | Documentary, Comedy, War
Bill Maher's take on the current state of world religion.
Director: Larry Charles | Stars: Bill Maher, Tal Bachman, Jonathan Boulden, Steven Burg
Votes: 60,252 | Gross: $13.00M
6. Thank You for Smoking (2005)
R | 92 min | Comedy, Drama
Satirical comedy follows the machinations of Big Tobacco's chief spokesman, Nick Naylor, who spins on behalf of cigarettes while trying to remain a role model for his 12-year old son.
Director: Jason Reitman | Stars: Aaron Eckhart, Cameron Bright, Maria Bello, Joan Lunden
Votes: 229,015 | Gross: $24.79M
7. Sex Magic: Manifesting Maya (2010)
Not Rated | 77 min | Documentary
Heartbroken after his beloved leaves due to his polyamorous lifestyle, Baba Dez, a sacred sexual healer, manifests her back by doing Sex Magic with other women.
Directors: Eric Liebman, Jonathan Schell | Stars: Baba Dez, KamalaDevi, Maya Yonika
Votes: 126
8. Hesher (2010)
R | 106 min | Comedy, Drama
A young boy has lost his mother and is losing touch with his father and the world around him. Then he meets Hesher who manages to make his life even more chaotic.
Director: Spencer Susser | Stars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Devin Brochu, Natalie Portman, Rainn Wilson
Votes: 54,113 | Gross: $0.38M
9. Garden State (2004)
R | 102 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A quietly troubled young man returns home for his mother's funeral after being estranged from his family for a decade.
Director: Zach Braff | Stars: Zach Braff, Peter Sarsgaard, Natalie Portman, Ian Holm
Votes: 223,248 | Gross: $26.78M
10. They Shoot Divas, Don't They? (2002 TV Movie)
120 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A rock diva (Jennifer Beals) with a lengthy and often turbulent career hires a new assistant (Keri Lynn Pratt) whose sweet, helpful demeanor masks ulterior motives.
Director: Jonathan Craven | Stars: Jennifer Beals, Keri Lynn Pratt, Molly Hagan, Traci Lords
Votes: 393
11. The Joneses (2009)
R | 96 min | Comedy, Drama
A seemingly perfect family moves into a suburban neighborhood, but when it comes to the truth as to why they're living there, they don't exactly come clean with their neighbors.
Director: Derrick Borte | Stars: Demi Moore, David Duchovny, Amber Heard, Benjamin Hollingsworth
Votes: 41,816 | Gross: $1.47M
12. 8 Mile (2002)
R | 110 min | Drama, Music
Follows a young rapper in the Detroit area, struggling with every aspect of his life; he wants to make it big but his friends and foes make this odyssey of rap harder than it may seem.
Director: Curtis Hanson | Stars: Eminem, Brittany Murphy, Kim Basinger, Mekhi Phifer
Votes: 321,158 | Gross: $116.72M
13. The Canyons (2013)
R | 99 min | Drama, Thriller
When Christian, an LA trust-fund kid with casual ties to Hollywood, learns of a secret affair between Tara and the lead of his film project, Ryan, he spirals out of control, and his cruel mind games escalate into an act of bloody violence.
Director: Paul Schrader | Stars: Lindsay Lohan, James Deen, Nolan Gerard Funk, Amanda Brooks
Votes: 11,779 | Gross: $0.05M
14. Hard Candy (2005)
R | 104 min | Drama, Thriller
Hayley's a smart, charming teenage girl. Jeff's a handsome, smooth fashion photographer. An Internet chat, a coffee shop meet-up, an impromptu fashion shoot back at Jeff's place. Jeff thinks it's his lucky night. He's in for a surprise.
Director: David Slade | Stars: Patrick Wilson, Elliot Page, Sandra Oh, Odessa Rae
Votes: 168,152 | Gross: $1.01M
15. Spring Breakers (2012)
R | 94 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Four college girls hold up a restaurant in order to fund their spring break vacation. While partying, drinking, and taking drugs, they are arrested, only to be bailed out by a drug and arms dealer.
Director: Harmony Korine | Stars: Vanessa Hudgens, Selena Gomez, Ashley Benson, Rachel Korine
Votes: 148,840 | Gross: $14.12M
16. Asian School Girls (2014 Video)
Not Rated | 91 min | Action, Crime, Horror
After four Asian schoolgirls are drugged and gangraped by members of a crime syndicate, they train to hunt them down and exact revenge.
Director: Lawrence Silverstein | Stars: Sam Aotaki, Catherine Hyein Kim, Minnie Scarlet, Andray Johnson
Votes: 787
17. What Alice Found (2003)
R | 96 min | Crime, Drama
A young woman looking to escape her life is rescued on the highway by a friendly couple in an RV. But as the miles pass the couple's motives come into question and a strange mother/daughter relationship evolves.
Director: A. Dean Bell | Stars: Emily Grace, Judith Ivey, Bill Raymond, Jane Lincoln Taylor
Votes: 1,049
18. Forgetting the Girl (2012)
Not Rated | 85 min | Drama, Thriller
Haunted by a traumatic history, photographer Kevin Wolfe (Christopher Denham) struggles to systematically forget all his bad memories, but erasing his past threatens to consume his future. ... See full summary »
Director: Nate Taylor | Stars: Christopher Denham, Lindsay Beamish, Elizabeth Rice, Paul Sparks
Votes: 1,065
19. Jacob's Ladder (I) (1990)
R | 113 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
Mourning his dead child, a haunted Vietnam War veteran attempts to uncover his past while suffering from a severe case of dissociation. To do so, he must decipher reality and life from his own dreams, delusions, and perceptions of death.
Director: Adrian Lyne | Stars: Tim Robbins, Elizabeth Peña, Danny Aiello, Matt Craven
Votes: 117,972 | Gross: $26.12M
20. From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
R | 108 min | Action, Crime, Horror
Two criminals and their hostages unknowingly seek temporary refuge in a truck stop populated by vampires, with chaotic results.
Director: Robert Rodriguez | Stars: Harvey Keitel, George Clooney, Juliette Lewis, Quentin Tarantino
Votes: 340,866 | Gross: $25.75M
21. Kalifornia (1993)
R | 117 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A journalist duo goes on a tour of serial-killer murder sites with two companions, unaware that one of them is a serial killer himself.
Director: Dominic Sena | Stars: Brad Pitt, Juliette Lewis, Kathy Larson, David Milford
Votes: 58,263 | Gross: $2.40M
22. Brazil (1985)
R | 132 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A bureaucrat in a dystopic society becomes an enemy of the state as he pursues the woman of his dreams.
Director: Terry Gilliam | Stars: Jonathan Pryce, Kim Greist, Robert De Niro, Katherine Helmond
Votes: 211,327 | Gross: $9.93M
23. Blade Runner (1982)
R | 117 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
A blade runner must pursue and terminate four replicants who stole a ship in space and have returned to Earth to find their creator.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Edward James Olmos
Votes: 823,606 | Gross: $32.87M
24. Absolute Beginners (1986)
PG-13 | 108 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
In London in 1958, a young photographer seeks media stardom to keep the love of a beautiful, aspiring fashion designer.
Director: Julien Temple | Stars: Patsy Kensit, Eddie O'Connell, David Bowie, James Fox
Votes: 3,730 | Gross: $0.93M
25. Sid and Nancy (1986)
R | 112 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The relationship between Sid Vicious, bassist for British punk group Sex Pistols, and his girlfriend Nancy Spungen is portrayed.
Director: Alex Cox | Stars: Gary Oldman, Chloe Webb, David Hayman, Debby Bishop
Votes: 34,704 | Gross: $2.83M
26. The Apple (1980)
PG | 90 min | Music, Musical, Sci-Fi
In 1994, a young couple enters the world of the music industry, and subsequently the world of drugs.
Director: Menahem Golan | Stars: Catherine Mary Stewart, George Gilmour, Grace Kennedy, Allan Love
Votes: 2,678
27. The Party Animal (1984)
R | 78 min | Comedy, Fantasy
A farm boy arrives at college determined to lose his virginity, but has no luck with women... until he discovers the secret formula to the most powerful aphrodesiac in the world and becomes the party animal.
Director: David Beaird | Stars: Matthew Causey, Timothy Carhart, Jerry Jones, Robin Harlan
Votes: 921
28. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
R | 136 min | Crime, Sci-Fi
In the future, a sadistic gang leader is imprisoned and volunteers for a conduct-aversion experiment, but it doesn't go as planned.
Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee, Michael Bates, Warren Clarke
Votes: 881,795 | Gross: $6.21M
29. Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)
G | 106 min | Drama, History, Musical
Film version of the musical stage play, presenting the last few weeks of Christ's life told in an anachronistic manner.
Director: Norman Jewison | Stars: Ted Neeley, Carl Anderson, Yvonne Elliman, Barry Dennen
Votes: 29,953 | Gross: $24.48M
30. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
R | 133 min | Drama
In the Fall of 1963, a Korean War veteran and criminal pleads insanity and is admitted to a mental institution, where he rallies up the scared patients against the tyrannical nurse.
Director: Milos Forman | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, Michael Berryman, Peter Brocco
Votes: 1,073,075 | Gross: $112.00M
31. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
PG | 115 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
When strange seeds drift to earth from space, mysterious pods begin to grow and invade San Francisco, replicating the city's residents one body at a time.
Director: Philip Kaufman | Stars: Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Jeff Goldblum, Veronica Cartwright
Votes: 69,923 | Gross: $24.95M
32. The Stepford Wives (1975)
PG | 115 min | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Joanna Eberhart has come to the quaint little town of Stepford, Connecticut with her family, but soon discovers there lies a sinister truth in the all too perfect behavior of the female residents.
Director: Bryan Forbes | Stars: Katharine Ross, Paula Prentiss, Peter Masterson, Nanette Newman
Votes: 19,582 | Gross: $8.72M
33. Joe (1970)
R | 107 min | Drama, Thriller
Two men--wealthy conservative Bill and far-right factory worker Joe--form a dangerous bond after Bill confesses to Joe about murdering his daughter's drug-dealer boyfriend.
Director: John G. Avildsen | Stars: Peter Boyle, Dennis Patrick, Susan Sarandon, Patrick McDermott
Votes: 4,208 | Gross: $19.32M
34. The Wicker Man (1973)
R | 88 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A puritan police sergeant arrives in a Scottish island village in search of a missing girl, who the pagan locals claim never existed.
Director: Robin Hardy | Stars: Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee, Diane Cilento, Britt Ekland
Votes: 92,404 | Gross: $0.06M
35. Head (1968)
G | 86 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Musical
The Monkees frolic their way through a series of musical set pieces and vignettes containing surreal humor and anti-establishment social commentary.
Director: Bob Rafelson | Stars: Peter Tork, Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith
Votes: 6,943
36. Barbarella (1968)
Approved | 98 min | Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy
In the 41st century, an astronaut partakes in sexy misadventures while seeking to stop an evil scientist who threatens to bring evil back into the galaxy.
Director: Roger Vadim | Stars: Jane Fonda, John Phillip Law, Anita Pallenberg, Milo O'Shea
Votes: 37,745
37. Easy Rider (1969)
R | 95 min | Adventure, Drama
Two bikers head from L.A. to New Orleans through the open country and desert lands, and along the way they meet a man who bridges a counter-culture gap of which they had been unaware.
Director: Dennis Hopper | Stars: Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Jack Nicholson, Antonio Mendoza
Votes: 117,017 | Gross: $41.73M
38. Blow-Up (1966)
Not Rated | 111 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A fashion photographer unknowingly captures a death on film after following two lovers in a park.
Director: Michelangelo Antonioni | Stars: David Hemmings, Vanessa Redgrave, Sarah Miles, John Castle
Votes: 67,689
39. The Graduate (1967)
PG | 106 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A disillusioned college graduate finds himself torn between his older lover and her daughter.
Director: Mike Nichols | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft, Katharine Ross, William Daniels
Votes: 288,576 | Gross: $104.95M
40. Last Summer (1969)
R | 95 min | Drama
During summer vacation on Fire Island, three young people become very close. When an uncool girl tries to infiltrate the trio's newly found relationship, they construct an elaborate plot that has violent results.
Director: Frank Perry | Stars: Barbara Hershey, Richard Thomas, Bruce Davison, Catherine Burns
Votes: 2,153 | Gross: $2.37M
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