Orgazmo (1997)
Mormon Porn Star Superhero
An early work from South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone about a Mormon who becomes a porn star and then turns superhero
Gonzo Films
Gonzo refers to a style of cinema that is deliberately ridiculous, eccentric or offbeat. Gonzo films frequently deal with material that is bizarre, surreal or nonsensical in nature. They also feature non-sequitur humour presented in deadpan or wilful absurdity.
This is very similar to the works covered in Surrealist Films – one can perhaps most easily summarise Gonzo as surrealism presented with a sense of humour and/or quirky individualistic eccentricity.
Otesanek (2000)
Wooden Log-Baby Monster/Gonzo Surrealism
Hilarious Jan Svankmajer film about a mother who decides to treat a log as a child. Full of blackly funny humour before transforming into a macabre monster movie
Ouija Shark 2 (2022)
Gonzo Killer Shark Film
A sequel to the Gonzo Killer Shark film Ouija Shark, this goes even crazier
Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure (1985)
Overgrown Adolescent's Nonsense Adventures
Pee-Wee Herman is someone who polarises crowds to love or extreme hate. The was the first film from Tim Burton who seems charmingly attuned to the kitsch banality of Pee-Wee’s universe
Pee-Wee’s Big Holiday (2016)
Overgrown Adolescent's Nonsense Adventures
Pee-Wee Herman is a deliberately annoying character that is either adored or intensely loathed by audiences. This third film closely follows the structure of the first film with Pee-Wee in a series of nonsense adventures on a cross-country journey
The Phantom Gunslinger (1970)
Gonzo Slapstick Western
A mind-boggling oddity – a slapstick comedy Western where there seems no limit on how nutty things are allowed to go, including characters venturing to Heaven and Hell
The Pirate Movie (1982)
Gonzo Pirate Musical
Widely rididculed attempt to market Gilbert & Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance as a teen pop film by way of The Blue Lagoon. A mind-spinning film that seems to have no limit on how silly it is prepared to be, including numerous anachronistic contemporary pop culture in-jokes and fourth-wall breaking gags
Pootie Tang in “Sine Your Pitty on the Runy Kine” (2001)
Funky Incomprehensible Superhero
Film based on a Saturday Night Life sketch with Lance Crouther as a superhero who speaks a nonsense babble
Popeye (1980)
Gonzo Comic-Strip Adaptation
Robert Altman’s adaptation of the Popeye comic-strip starring Robin Williams has become widely regarded as a turkey but Altman’s eccentricity makes for a by no means unenjoyable film
Post Apocalyptic Commando Shark (2018)
Gonzo Killer Shark Film
Gonzo killer shark film that gets full marks for an entertainingly ridiculous title but is real bad movie material on all accounts
The Price of Milk (2000)
Kiwi Magical Realism
Quirkily eccentric and surreal New Zealand made comedy about a couple living on a farm
Prisoners of the Ghostland (2021)
Gonzo Post-Apocalyptic Film
Nicolas Cage’s career choices in recent years have taken him into serious psychotronic headspace. Shion Sono is a director whose film’s inhabit demented territory. It seemed inevitable that the two should meet up on screen
Radio Free Steve (2000)
Gonzo Post Holocaust
Wacky offbeat film about a group that set out across post-apocalyptic terrain in search of a pirate radio signal
Real Men (1987)
Gonzo Spy Film
A really strange comedy where John Ritter is dragged away by Jim Belushi who claims to be a spy supposedly dealing with aliens
Reckless Kelly (1993)
Gonzo Bank Robber Comedy
The second of the films directed, written by and starring Yahoo Serious where he plays a descendant of Australian outlaw Ned Kelly who discovers fame in Hollywood
The Refrigerator (1991)
Possessed Refrigerator
A film about a possessed refrigerator!
Repo Chick (2009)
Repo Man Sequel
Alex Cox sequelizes his off-the-wall cult hit Repo Man but only turns it into an amateurish, meandering effort that is only trying to be wacky and cultish
Repo Man (1984)
Gonzo Punk Film
Alex Coz’s surreal cult film with Emilio Estevez as an L.A. punk working as a repo driver who gets wound into the hunt for a car with radioactive aliens in the trunk
Return of the Killer Tomatoes! (1988)
Genre Spoof
The first of the sequels to Attack of the Killer Tomatoes. Featuring the first screen appearance of George Clooney.
The Road to Hong Kong (1962)
Screwball Comedy
After a decade, Bob Hope and Bing Crosby returned for their sixth and final Road movie. Both they and the knockabout comedy are on great form with the show taking on the influence of the 60s spy movie fad and even sending them to The Moon
Road to Morocco (1942)
Screwball Comedy
Road to Morocco was the third of the Bob Hope-Bing Crosby Road films and takes them on a parody of the Arabian Nights adventure
Robo Geisha (2009)
Cyborg Geisha/Gonzo Bio-Mechanical Transformations
Part of the fad for gonzo Japanese splatter films we had in the late 00s, featuring absurdly over-the-top splatter effects and demented action sequences.; Concerning cyborg-enhanced geisha who wade into battle going through a deliriously silly range of bio-mechanical transformations
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
Gender-Bender Rock Musical/Frankenstein Spoof
The No 1 cult film of all time, more a phenomenon than a film, a demented glitter rock homage to mad science cinema and 50s sf films run through with celebration of a gender-bender joie de vivre
The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do the Time Warp Again (2016)
Gender-Bender Rock Musical/Frankenstein Spoof
Nothing indicates how miscalculated this remake is than the fact it has been placed in the hands of the director of the High School Musicals and sundry Disney Channel fodder
The Saddest Music in the World (2003)
Kitsch Surrealism
The best budgeted of Guy Maddin’s films, a renaissance of his familiar kitsch surrealism and silent movie homages
The Sandman (2011)
Gonzo Comedy/Man Starts to Uncontrollably Shed Sand
Oddly eccentric Swiss comedy about a man who starts to uncontrollably shed sand. Undeniably reminiscent of the superior The Science of Sleep but not without its quirky amusements
Saviour of the Soul 2 (1992)
Hong Kong Martial Arts Fantasy
Sequel to their earlier Wu Xia film, although having nothing in common with it. All the moves are pushed to a level of cartoonish absurdity that proves amazingly silly
The Science of Sleep (2006)
Dreams and Wacky Surrealism
A Michel Gondry film that blurs the line between dream and reality with hilariously offbeat regard. Gondry indulges his eccentricities to the maximum with quite sublime results
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)
Teenage Nerd Romance/Gonzo Superheroics
An Edgar Wright directed comic-book adaptation made in a bewildering restless visual style that feels like two different films happening at once, one a sweet nerd romance and the other a completely gonzo superhero film
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978)
Gonzo Beatles-Adapted Musical/Classic Bad Movie
A real what-were-they-thinking turkey where someone had the idea of turning the Beatles’ album into a disco-era film starring The Bee Gees … In trying to contrive a plot around the songs and their surreally psychedelic lyrics, the film frequently makes no sense
Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D. (1990)
Gonzo Superhero/Troma Film
One of the more amusing and better made Troma films – their take on the superhero fad of the early 90s featuring a Japanese-themed superhero
Shadey (1985)
Psychic Photography
An incomprehensibly, baffling film about a psychic that leaves you wondering what people were thinking when they were making it, let alone how it obtained funding
Shark Side of the Moon (2022)
Gonzo Killer Shark Film
Another gonzo killer shark film from The Asylum, makers of Sharknado films, this features the entertaining absurdity of evolved humanoid Soviet sharks living on the Moon
Sharks of the Corn (2021)
Gonzo Killer Shark Film
Perhaps not the worst Gonzo Killer Shark film ever made but it would sit among the worst half-dozen involving a shark-worshipping cult conducting sacrifices to summon a shark god in the cornfields
Shaun the Sheep Movie (2015)
Aardman Animation
Probably the loudest I have laughed and the most unabashed fun I have had in a theatre all year. The most 100% successful of all of Aardman’s films to date at capturing the quirky and uniquely homesy style of their short films, this comes with gags packed in every single frame
Shirley Thompson Versus the Aliens (1972)
Gonzo Alien Visitors Film
One of the other films from Jim Sharman, director of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, a gonzo comedy where alien visitors bring a statue of the Duke of Edinburgh to life
Shock Treatment (1981)
Rocky Horror Sequel
A not uninteresting sequel to The Rocky Horror Picture Show, this has widely divided reactions among fans
Shrunken Heads (1994)
Disembodied Heads Take Revenge
Another film from Charles Band’s Full Moon Production centred around dolls – in this case, three murdered youths who are resurrected as flying shrunken heads. A film that never quite lives up to the outlandishness of its premise
Six-String Samurai (1998)
Post-Holocaust Rock'n'Roll Samurai
Gonzo comedy set in alternate world where a samurai-sword wielding Buddy Holly wanders through a post-apocalyptic present
Smoking Causes Coughing (2022)
Gonzo Deadpan Vignettes
Another of Quentin Dupieux’s hilariously gonzo comedies made up a series of deadpan surreal vignettes, including a witty parody of the modern superhero film
Son of the Mask (2005)
The Mask Sequel
Sequel to the Jim Carrey starring The Mask with Jamie Kennedy taking over in a film that was regarded as one of the worst sequels of all time
The Sore Losers (1997)
Gonzo Exploitation Homage/Alien Spree Killers
Film that seems to be trying to cram in as many exploitation elements as possible from UFOs to spree killers, zombies, Women in Prison and rock’n’roll
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)
South Park Film/Absurdist Adult Animation
A theatrical release spun off from tv’s cult absurdist/scatological show. Not as sophisticated as later seasons of the tv series but with a raucously wacky bite that is frequently hilarious
Spaghettiman (2016)
Gonzo Superhero Film
Possibly the most absurd notion to hit superhero cinema – a film in which the hero’s power is to fling spaghetti from his fingertips and hides his identity behind a paper bag. A low-budget, no-effects indie comedy with a deadpan sense of humour not likely to be everybody’s taste but I found downright hilarious
Spice World (1997)
The Spice Girls' Gonzo Escapades
The Spice Girls conduct their own version of The Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night, a largely plotless film with them clowning around. Including appearances from aliens.
The Spongebob Squarepants Movie (2004)
TV Series Spinoff/Gonzo Animation
Spongebob Squarepants was a sleeper hit on the Nickelodeon Channel that crossed over to find an adult following; this is the first of the film spinoffs. The film comes with a zanily surreal sense of humour that ran through the series that is frequently downright hilarious
Story of Ricky (1991)
Gonzo Splatter/Ultra-Tough Future Prison
An outrageous Hong Kong prison film that comes filled with mind-bogglingly over-the-top splatter effects
The Stupids (1996)
Family of Very Stupid People/Gonzo Comedy
A mind-bogglingly surreal John Landis film about a family who take everything literally. A completely demented viewing experience in watching as they bumble around trying to puzzle over who is stealing the garbage
Subferatu (2020)
Vampire on a German U-Boat Comedy
Comedy about a shipwrecked crew that are rescued by a German U-boat that is carrying a vampire on board
Superstarlet A.D. (2000)
Gonzo Post-Holocaust
Gonzo comedy that looks like a film about post-holocaust mutants that has been directed by Russ Meyer
Surf II (1984)
Gonzo Comedy
Eccentric 80s frat rat/surfer comedy – part of the weird joke is that there never was a Surf I. Eddie Deezen is a mad scientist turning surfers into zombies with a soda made of industrial waste.
Swiss Army Man (2016)
Castaway Befriends a Talking Corpse
A ridiculously off the wall and heartwarming film. Imagine a crosshatch between Weekend at Bernie’s and Cast Away – where Wilson the beachball is replaced by Daniel Radcliffe as a farting talking corpse
The Taint (2010)
Gonzo Bad Taste Comedy/Zombiefying Penis-Enlargement Drug
Film about a penis-enlarging drug that creates zombies, this goes for an outrageous bad taste vein are rarely lets up
Tamala 2010 (2002)
Demented Anime/Girl Cat's Space Adventures
Grungy low tech anime that comes out like a sarcastic version of Hello Kitty
Tank Girl (1995)
Post-Holocaust Punkette/Comic Book Adaptation
This is poorly regarded by fans of the original cult comic-book, nevertheless has a zany, anarchic energy and surreal sense of humour that is hard to dislike
Tarzoon, Shame of the Jungle (1975)
Animation/Adult Tarzan Parody
Animated parody of the Tarzan films made with a very adult sense of humour that was banned in several countries as a result
Terror Firmer (1999)
Movie Set Killer/Bad Taste Troma Comedy
Troma film in which Lloyd Kaufman turns his own autobiography into a Troma film where the results emerge as something akin to Ed Wood as remade by John Waters
Themroc (1973)
Reversion to Barbarism Satire
Anarchic French film entirely without dialogue as a group of people in an apartment begin to revert to pre-civilised behaviour
The Thief and the Cobbler (1994)
Gonzo Arabian Nights Adventure/Animation
Legendary animated masterpiece from Richard Williams that was butchered in release. Williams’ animation is visually extraordinary
Time Bandits (1981)
Gonzo Adventures Throughout Time
Highly enjoyable Terry Gilliam film about a young boy who joins a group of dwarves on a series of adventures though time
Tokyo Gore Police (2008)
Gonzo Japanese Splatter Film/Cops vs Bio-Mechanoid Mutants
One among the 00s spate of gonzo Japanese splatter films. The film exists as a series of outlandishly over-the-top and absurdly entertaining splatter and bizarrely cartoonish bio-mechanoid transformation
Tommy (1975)
Demented Rock Musical/Messianic Pinball Player
Ken Russell’s adaptation of The Who’s hit album is filled with gloriously mad, glitter rock excess and wildly over the top acting in the ways that only Russell ever managed
A Town Called Panic (2009)
Stop-Motion Animated Plastic Toys/Gonzo Comedy
Film made entirely with stop-motion animated plastic toys and with a sublimely nonsensical absurdiism that has more hilarity and creativity than most mainstream animated fare you will see all year
Toys (1992)
Toy-Maker Wars/Gonzo Fantasy
Genuinely eccentric Barry Levinson film that plays out as a post-Reaganite version of Willy Wonka and features some of the most amazing sets ever designed for a film.
The Triplets of Belleville (2003)
Gonzo Animation
Splendidly original and completely off the wall work of stylised animation from Sylvain Chomet
Troma’s War (1988)
Troma Film
The nearest that Troma Films ever made to an epic, their biggest budgeted film ever, a satiric war film, albeit conducted with their usual cartoon splatter effects and bad taste humour
Trump vs The Illuminati (2020)
Gonzo Satire/Trump's Clone Fight The Devil in Space
A clone of Donald Trump battles The Illuminati and the Egyptian god Anubis on Mars before travelling to Hell to sort out The Devil. The sheer dementia of the premise alone has one sitting down to watch
The Tune (1992)
Surrealist Animation
The first film from the inimitable Bill Plympton, a work of bizarre surrealist animation and strange satiric transformations as a man sets out on a journey to find the final line for a tune
The Twelve Tasks of Asterix (1976)
Animation/Comic-Book Character
Animated film based on the popular comic-books co-directed by the comic-book’s creators René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo,. This is disappointingly weak animation that substitutes slapstick cartoon gags for the comic’s more sophisticated humour
Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl (2009)
Gonzo Japanese Splatter Film
Completely insane Japanese film that wades in gore while playing everything up at a level of demented cartoonish absurdity. Possibly the most delirious movie-watching fun it is possible to have
A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas (2011)
Gonzo Stoner Film
The third film in the series of stoner comedies trips off into gonzo genre territory. A relentlessly and unashamedly vulgar film that also manages to be occasionally quite funny
Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)
Aardman Animation
Aardman Animation spread the seemingly universal appeal of their Wallace and Gromit short films out onto the big screen with deliriously nonsensical results
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (2024)
Aardman Animation
Aardman Animation give Wallace and Gromit their second film outing
Weird Science (1985)
Two Geeks Create the Perfect Woman
John Hughes cornered a certain 80s market on teen angst with films like The Breakfast Club. He also made this head-scratching oddity in which two nerds create the perfect woman
The Wind in the Willows (1996)
Talking Animals/Absurdist Adventures
Monty Python’s Terry Jones conducts a live-action adaptation of Kenneth Grahame’s classic children’s story
The Wind in the Willows (2006)
Talking Animals/Absurdist Adventures
Amiable live-action adaptation of Kenneth Grahame’s classic children’s work made for the BBC with an all-star cast
World Apartment Horror (1991)
Strange Apartment Building Comedy/Haunting
After making the groundbreaking anime Akira, Katsuhiro Otomo then chose to direct this oddity – a live-action comedy about a frustrated Yakuza enforcer trying to evict an apartment of foreigners that turns into a horror film in its last third
Wristcutters: A Love Story (2006)
Afterlife for Suicides
Oddball film set in an afterlife for suicides. You keep expecting the film to burst out into a vein of rich black comedy that never comes and you are left with a film that feels as though it is being eccentric for the sake of it.
Wrong (2012)
Gonzo Surrealism
Quentin Dupieux’s follow-up to the hilariously culty Rubber, an absurdist film about a man setting out to find his missing dog. You keep expecting something as mind-bendingly hilarious as Rubber but this is more of a mild amusement in the David Lynch-ian deadpan surrealist vein
Yakuza Apocalypse (2015)
Gonzo Yakuza Vampire Film
Japan’s Takashi Miike gained a cult with a series of films that went to extremes or crossed way over taboo lines; his films from the mid-2000s have become more experiments that produce a head-scratching “huh?”. Case in point being this Yakuza vampire film that frequently feels like much of it was being made up on the spot
Yakuza Weapon (2011)
Gonzo Japanese Splatter Film/Yakuza With Cyborg Attachments
Another Gonzo Japanese Splatter Film about a Yakuza heir who is blown apart by rivals and then rebuilt with cyborg attachments
YatterMan (2009)
Anime TV Series in Live-Action/Gonzo Giant Robot Heroics
Takashi Miike conducts a live-action adaptation of a 1970s anime tv series with completely madcap results. The effect is like drowning in multi-coloured candyfloss flavoured with LSD
Yellow Submarine (1968)
Animation/The Beatles Psychedelic Adventure
The third of The Beatles films, in this case an animated work that features likenesses of The Fab Four as they trip through some amazing nonsensical psychedelic visuals
Young Einstein (1988)
Gonzo Comedy/Alternate Albert Einstein
Bizarrely surreal comedy directed by and starring Yahoo Serious who plays Albert Einstein as an Australian who discovers surfing and rock
Zombie Ass: The Toilet of the Dead (2011)
Gonzo Japanese Horror/Zombie Ass Parasites
Completely insane gonzo Japanese horror that feels like it is made by a mad scat fetishist involving parasites that emerge out of people’s asses. The film is driven by its outrageously perverse imagery but for all that is haphazard and incoherent when it comes to explanatory rationale
Zombie Women of Satan (2009)
Freakshow Troupe vs Zombie Women
A WTF am I watching film where a performing freakshow troupe led by Pervo the Clown are pursued around a farm by topless zombie women
Zombieworld (2015)
Anthology of Zombie Short Films
A multi-director anthology of zombie-themed short films. As always in an anthology, the episodes vary but these are generally good with the standout being the side-splitting episode where Jesus faces a zombie horde