6. Keanoshow
This film was directed by Dave McKean and it goes for around 300$ for a DVD on Amazon. This is the most expensive rare DVD I know about. It is a collection of short films directed by mixed-media artist Dave McKean. Dave McKean is the artist most closely associated with the works of Neil Gaiman whose paintings adorn his books and various comic book works. Dave also did the artwork for the classic graphic novel “Arkham Asylum” by Grant Morrison.
Dave McKean directed the visually stunning film “Mirror Mask” for the Jim Henson Company. Known more as an artist than a filmmaker, but his short films (easily found on youtube, vimeo, and other video sharing sites) “The Week Before” and “Sonnet 138” are some of the most visual stunning and unique short films I have ever seen. Dave McKean is truly a master of his own visual style.
7. Shivers
“Shivers” or “The Parasite Murders” or “They Came From Within” is the first feature film by auteur director David Cronenberg. The film features all the ideals found in most of his later works. The film deals with sexuality, disease, mass hysteria, and a strange alien being that merges and invades a human host and causes a rabies like sexual passion in the tenants of an apartment complex.
For a director of such acclaim, it is amazing that the film does not have a release, it’s out of print, and the copies of “Shivers” go for high prices to collectors online. It is a fantastic film on its own, but also as a world-famous director’s very first film should at least have a wider release for film enthusiasts looking for a film where a classic director cut his stripes.
8. Begotten
“Begotten” is on of the first films by E Elias Merhige the director most known for his film “Shadow of the Vampire” as DVD copies have dropped from 200$ at one point to a mere 80$. The film was made in 1990 and plays like a 1920’s german or russian experimental silent film. The director made another art film years later called “The Din of Celestial Birds” that pairs wonderfully with this film.
“Beggotten” certainly isn’t for everyone, however, its legend alone among horror films is its being called a ‘roshach test for the mind’ is certainly among art film and heavy metaphorical horror film enthusiasts needs to be sent to be believed. As a film, it is a truly unique experience and like films like “Koyannisquatsi” and “Un Chien Andalou” has a strong place among art films in history and deserves to be seen.
9. Crossing the Line
What … Liam Nesson was in a bare knuckle boxing film? Yes. And it’s way out of print sadly to say. Back in the early parts of his career, Liam Nesson was in a film about a working class man who can’t seem to make ends meet in a busted scottish economy and becomes enwrapped in the mob and sets up a deal to become a bare knuckle boxer in an underground ring.
Directed by David Leland and originally titled “The Big Man”, this film also stars Billy Connolly and an early performance by Hugh Grant. The major set piece fight scene of the movie is featured on the Flixmix Ultimate Fights DVD.
10. The Horrors of a Malformed Man
For the first film on my list it was between this and “Don’t Look Now” which I do think needs a wider release, but I feel far less people have heard of this one and I believe it is one of the best in Japanese horror. The film was directed by Teruo Ishii and based on a short story by Edagawa Rampo (the Japanese Edgar Allen Poe), a famous Japanese author.
The film is released by Synapse Films which is a small boutique releasing company, so it is available if you are curious about seeing this gem. But because of the beauty of the Japanese landscape of the film, it deserves a much wider release or deserves to be known and talked about more at least. It was banned for 30 years because of its subject matter involving deformed people.
The central plot is about a man searching for his long lost father and finds him on an island run by a cadre of deformed people which he keeps on his island. It is similar to such stories as “The Island of Dr. Moreau”. The island is run by a crazed man (the father of the man character) who has webbed hands and moves like a classical dancer (because he was one of the founders of the Buto school of dance in Japan, Tatsumi Hijikata, a dance choreographer). His performance is one of the main reasons to see the film. His movements are errie, strange and echo great classic silent movie performances. For fans of bizarre horror “The Horrors of a Malformed Man” is not to be missed.
Author Bio: Daniel Krone has been working freelance in Los Angeles for the past 7 years and corresponding for such websites as Huffington Post. He is originally from Mobile Alabama.