Obviously there’s lots of weird trash in the direct to VHS/DVD/streaming ecosystems, but when it comes to something that actually got a first run theater release, what is your strangest?
For me, it’s Southland Tales. I actually kind of love this movie but it’s difficult to recommend because people you recommend it to might not look at you the same afterwards. The cast is positively stacked with big names, the movie looks great, and there’s a fantastic and really sad musical number half way through. This is the only movie that has truly captured the vibe of reading the biblical book of Revelation in that it’s making you go “wait, what?” every five minutes as it spirals into either intensely meaningful imagery or schizophrenia manifest on 35mm.
The first two that come to mind are Titane and Moebius.
I went into them both mostly blind and loved them both! If you like dark and strange movies, I would strongly recommend them.
Edit: I just remembered the Takashi Miike films Gozu, Visitor Q, and The Happiness of the Katakuris which I believe all had brief theater stints.