Stoker's sources on Tepes and Transylvania were very poor. He, for example, had never been there. Polidori's Ruthven is a much bigger influence on Dracula than Tepes, who I think Stoker latched onto only because of his reputation and the distinctive, exotic quality it would add to the story. I think though that Byron's bipolar and fear of intimacy caused him to look much more vampiric to Polidori than the way he treated women. Ruthven treats Polidori's protagonist like Byron treated Polidori.

Holy shit. I've never met anyone else who knows or will discuss this information. This may not be the right thread in which to do it, however.

(You're definitely right about Byron's total lack of ability to commit, however, he did tend to feed off of women, sexually. The relationship between Polidori and Byron was very similary to Ruthven and Polidori's protag., however, do you recall the speculation that Byron and Polidori might have been lovers?) ...Okay, I'm really sorry:( I'll stop.

I'm surprised nobody has mention "Santa Sangre" a surreal slasher drama...
and of course "The Cook the Thief His Wife & Her Lover" a exellent theatrical surreal drama

I thought The Cook the Thief His Wife & Her Lover was really cool when I saw it years ago. I really should give it another watch. I've been meaning to see Santa Sangre but I haven't come across a copy yet

It all makes sence in the end (Or, if you read the plot summary that came with the set, it's all explained in advance)

Have you read Byron's fragment of a vampire novel?

His Augustus Darvell character is fascinating. But it is, tragicall, a fragment - 3 pages...makes you really wish he finished it as it was engrossing from word one.

Some titles not mentioned yet:

IF
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063850/

The Magic Christian
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064622/

Work Is a Four Letter Word
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062503/

Koyaanisqatsi
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085809/

Okay, none of them fit a strict definition of surreal, but they're all pretty weird.

one of my all time favorite movies .. i was fortunate enough to score this one on laserdisc..

The forgotten
Donnie Darko
Hellraiser 5+6
Natural Born Killers

If you are into torrents I'm soon gonna make one....a dvd rip...

Just caught this at a revival house on a double bill with A Clockwork Orange just last month.

great night of cinema

I have uploaded "Santa Sangre" here: http://www.ilovetorrents.com/

..have to register but that is free...and remember this is a seeding place

I loved that drunken discussion of "the speed of the nail"...that is such a deranged scene. Good movie!

did anyone catch "Visions Of Suffering"? looks like a damn strange film. Its russian. Seach for the trailer on unearthedfilms.com

has anyone managed to see Visions Of Suffering? looks pretty damn surreal from the trailer.

Hmmm...surreal...definitely Donnie Darko. I'm sure I'll think of other ones too.

I know it'll seem a little lame a suggestion, but...Alice in Wonderland.
I always remembered this as just being a happy kids film with some music and all...then a few years back watched it with my little brother. Pretty bent stuff, and, I guess the whole thing is surreal?

Blueberry. Not sure WHAT's so surreal about it, it's just a "feel" like you're floating through the movie...

Gozu has been described as Lynchian/Cronenbergian.
i might want to check that one out.

There's an independent film maker by the name of Kevin Ford who makes these really odd independent movies (on miniDV). Visually they're nothing like Lynch, but storywise they're pretty out there.

They're quite entertaining, and many are downloadable for free.

www.mo-freek.net

"People are Dead" is pretty cool and if you're an Angela Bettis fan "Last Days of America" and "Loveinapocolypse" are neat.

don't know if anyone has already mentioned this as i can't be bothered to read the entire thread but nosferatu is slightly weird

*bump*

Donnie Darko, which i saw recently was rather surreal.

rented Brazil, havnt got along to watch it quite yet.

Alice in acidland or Alice in Tripland, dont remember the title but this is a strange flick.

could it be just simply "Alice"?

Brothers of the Head is very odd and not-so-grounded in reality

a scanner darkly.....tho it did feel real in a trippy way...or waking life

There is "Alice in Acidland" which I only saw the first ten minutes and it was awful, very poorly made.

And then there is "Alice" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095715/) which is surreal, and has a lot of stop-action animation. I really wanted to like this and am a big fan of Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, but I found this to drag and to be rather boring.

Eyes Without a Face is a good one.

Man, what a fucked up movie. I really liked it, but wow...seemed pretty straight forward at first, but just spiraled into absolute craziness. (Heh)

pan's labyrinth is a head fuck and also a top notch movie. just watched it tonight and was very impressed. but then, its no secret this is top quality. also, charlie and the chocolate factory (or any burton for that matter) and hitchhikers guide to the galaxy.

awesome. keep suggestions coming.

I just finished Brazil. pretty wierd.

never seen 1984....wasnt that a speilberg film?

Terry Gilliam's"Tideland."

Persona
One of Bergman's best, some parts are dizzying.

lol im an idiot.

check out Meshes of the Afternoon by Maya Deren, it and Un Chien Andalou are the pinnacle of surrealist films, IMO.

Meshes of the Afternoon pt. 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbJKyLXoqXc

Meshes of the Afternoon pt. 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GsNq...elated&search=

Six Men Getting Sick
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0hE5Rdinr8

The Alphabet by David Lynch (a lot better than Six Men Getting Sick, IMO)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...id+Lynch&hl=en

Lumiere et compagne by David Lynch
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...&q=David+Lynch

Un Chien Andalou
http://www.dailymotion.com/visited/s...-chien-andalou

These are probably the best two experimental/surreal films EVER.

I love Maya Deren, "Meshes on the Afternoon" was incredible. Her "At Land" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036618/) is also very good.

Bunuel (who did Un Chien Andalou w/ Dali) is considered one of the fathers of surreal cinema. Probably the most surreal is "Exterminating Angel" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056732/), which unfortunately is out of print. Hopefully they will get this on DVD soon. Wikipedia has a good plot synopsis for this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_ext...ing_angel#Plot

ok. glad you found those.

six men getting sick is totally fucked up....keeps repeating itself though.

Un Chien Andalou was pretty cool.
however i felt the atmosphere was kinda ruined by the upbeat and lively music.

im gonna watch the rest.

This is crazy. Check out this Ciggarette ad made by David Lynch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vor65mNB8Uk

yeah, I saw that.



And, no offence intended, but I think your comment about the music in Un Chien Andalou is kinda missing the point.

none taken. so what exactly is the point? i think surreal cinema NEEDS creepy atmosphere. crazy music destroys it. i wanna hear you POV though.