60 Dark and Surreal Films and TV Series
In this list I like to point out which films and TV series made an impression to me for being darkly mysterious. I am not talking about horror, suspense, drama or crime. These films and series made an appeal to another level of emotions - a deep sense of mystery. This mystery origins from a subtle combination of suspense, humor and surrealism. Decisive for this list is to what extent a film or TV series is able to achieve such sense of mystery.
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- CreatorMark FrostDavid LynchStarsKyle MacLachlanMichael OntkeanMädchen AmickAn idiosyncratic FBI agent investigates the murder of a young woman in the even more idiosyncratic town of Twin Peaks.
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsNaomi WattsLaura HarringJustin TherouxAfter a car wreck on Mulholland Drive renders a woman amnesiac, she and a Hollywood-hopeful search for clues and answers across Los Angeles in a twisting venture beyond dreams and reality.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsRudolf Klein-RoggeOtto WernickeThomy BourdelleA criminal mastermind uses hypnosis to rule the rackets after death.
- CreatorDaniel KnaufStarsMichael J. AndersonAdrienne BarbeauClancy BrownDuring the Great Depression, an Oklahoma farm boy and a charismatic minister learn that they are key players in a proxy war being fought between Heaven and Hell.
- CreatorMark FrostDavid LynchStarsKyle MacLachlanSheryl LeeMichael HorsePicks up 25 years after the inhabitants of a quaint northwestern town are stunned when their homecoming queen is murdered.
- DirectorAndrey ZvyagintsevStarsVladimir GarinIvan DobronravovKonstantin LavronenkoIn the Russian wilderness, two brothers face a range of new, conflicting emotions when their father - a man they know only through a single photograph - resurfaces.
- CreatorBruce WagnerStarsJim BelushiDana DelanyRobert LoggiaA multi-national corporation attempts to take over America while small pockets of resistance hold out against rampant technology.
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsBill PullmanPatricia ArquetteJohn RoseliusAnonymous videotapes presage a musician's murder conviction, and a gangster's girlfriend leads a mechanic astray.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsRudolf Klein-RoggeAud Egede-NissenGertrude WelckerArch-criminal Dr. Mabuse sets out to make a fortune and run Berlin. Detective Wenk sets out to stop him.
- CreatorBaran bo OdarJantje FrieseStarsLouis HofmannKaroline EichhornLisa VicariA family saga with a supernatural twist, set in a German town where the disappearance of two young children exposes the relationships among four families.
- DirectorLeos CaraxStarsDenis LavantEdith ScobEva MendesA man boards a limousine to be driven to his day's work: nine mysterious "appointments."
- DirectorRichard KellyStarsJake GyllenhaalJena MaloneMary McDonnellAfter narrowly escaping a bizarre accident, a troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a man in a large rabbit suit who manipulates him to commit a series of crimes.
- CreatorRebecca SonnenshineStarsMamoudou AthieDina ShihabiEvan JonigkeitAn archivist hired to restore a collection of tapes finds himself reconstructing the work of a filmmaker and her investigation into a dangerous cult.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsTom CruiseNicole KidmanTodd FieldA Manhattan doctor embarks on a bizarre, night-long odyssey after his wife's admission of unfulfilled longing.
- CreatorFabrice GobertStarsAnne ConsignyClotilde HesmeFrédéric PierrotIn a small French mountain town where everyone knows each other, the dead begin to inexplicably return as if their death never happened. Forcing the townsfolk to confront their difficult past as they seek to understand this phenomenon.
- DirectorRobin HardyStarsEdward WoodwardChristopher LeeDiane CilentoA puritan police sergeant arrives in a Scottish island village in search of a missing girl, who the pagan locals claim never existed.
- DirectorDario ArgentoStarsJessica HarperStefania CasiniFlavio BucciAn American newcomer to a prestigious German ballet academy comes to realize that the school is a front for something sinister amid a series of grisly murders.
- DirectorKaren ShakhnazarovStarsLeonid FilatovOleg BasilashviliVladimir MenshovGoing on a business trip, the hero of the film suddenly finds himself in a fantastic city. It is very similar to our world, only the hidden absurdity of everyday life here has become apparent.
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsSheryl LeeRay WiseMädchen AmickLaura Palmer's harrowing final days are chronicled one year after the murder of Teresa Banks, a resident of Twin Peaks' neighboring town.
- CreatorSatoshi KonStarsShôzô ÎzukaToshihiko SekiMamiko NotoSeemingly unconnected citizens of Tokyo are targeted for bludgeoning by a boy with a golden baseball bat. As detectives try to link the victims, they discover that following the assaults, the victims' lives have improved in some way.
- DirectorBryan ForbesStarsKim StanleyRichard AttenboroughMargaret LaceyA medium and her husband stage a kidnapping in order for her to pretend to solve the crime and achieve fame.
- CreatorDennis KellyStarsAdeel AkhtarPaul HigginsNeil MaskellAfter a group of people, who meet online, discover a bizarre graphic novel which seems to hold mysterious answers, they find themselves being tracked down by a merciless organization known merely as 'The Network'.
- DirectorJacques TourneurStarsFrances DeeTom ConwayJames EllisonA nurse is hired to care for the wife of a sugar plantation owner, who has been acting strangely, on a Caribbean island.
- DirectorJoel CoenEthan CoenStarsJohn TurturroJohn GoodmanJudy DavisA renowned New York playwright is enticed to California to write for the movies and discovers the hellish truth of Hollywood.
- DirectorSatoshi KonStarsJunko IwaoRica MatsumotoShinpachi TsujiA pop singer gives up her career to become an actress, but she slowly goes insane when she starts being stalked by an obsessed fan and what seems to be a ghost of her past.
- DirectorNarciso Ibáñez SerradorStarsLewis FianderPrunella RansomeAntonio IranzoA couple of English tourists arrive on an island where all the children have gone crazy and are murdering the adults.
- DirectorQuentin DupieuxStarsJack PlotnickTodd GiebenhainEric JudorDolph Springer wakes up one morning to realize he has lost the love of his life, his dog, Paul. During his quest to get Paul (and his life) back, Dolph radically changes the lives of others -- risking his sanity all the while.
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsJohnny DeppFrank LangellaLena OlinA book broker discovers his latest find may summon Satan.
- CreatorRockne S. O'BannonStarsMatthew DavisJessica LucasAlona TalTracks the investigation of a string of mysterious deaths and disappearances surrounding the show-within-a-show.
- DirectorFrank PerryStarsCliff RobertsonJoel GreyDorothy TristanA small-town police chief investigating a murder is offered help by a self-described psychic. However, when the chief discovers that the "psychic" is in possession of information known only to the police, he suspects that the man may be more involved in the case than he lets on.
- DirectorAldo LadoStarsIngrid ThulinJean SorelMario AdorfAn American journalist temporarily stationed in Central Europe searches for his new girlfriend, who has suddenly disappeared.
- DirectorDario ArgentoStarsDavid HemmingsDaria NicolodiGabriele LaviaA jazz pianist and a wisecracking journalist are pulled into a complex web of mystery after the former witnesses the brutal murder of a psychic.
- DirectorNicolas RoegStarsJulie ChristieDonald SutherlandHilary MasonA married couple grieving the recent death of their young daughter are in Venice when they encounter two elderly sisters, one of whom is psychic and brings a warning from beyond.
- CreatorHervé HadmarMarc HerpouxStarsVeerle BaetensFrançois DeblockGeraldine ChaplinLisa inherits an abandoned house from an unknown benefactor. On her first night in the house, after hearing noises, she knocks a hole in the wall and crawls through to discover an inescapable, infinite, labyrinthine "house."
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsKarolina GruszkaKrzysztof MajchrzakGrace ZabriskieAs an actress begins to adopt the persona of her character in a film, her world becomes nightmarish and surreal.
- DirectorSatoshi KonStarsMegumi HayashibaraTôru EmoriKatsunosuke HoriWhen a machine that allows therapists to enter their patients' dreams is stolen, all hell breaks loose. Only a young female therapist, Paprika, can stop it.
- DirectorPavel LunginStarsPyotr MamonovViktor SukhorukovDmitriy DyuzhevSomewhere in Northern Russia in a small Russian Orthodox monastery lives an unusual man whose bizarre conduct confuses his fellow monks, while others who visit the island believe that the man has the power to heal, exorcise demons and foretell the future.
- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsJean-Claude BrialyAdolfo CeliMichel PiccoliA series of surreal sequences that critique morality and society in a stream of consciousness style.
- DirectorGrigori KromanovStarsUldis PucitisJüri JärvetLembit PetersonPolice gets a call-out to a lonely hotel in the Alps. When an officer gets to the hotel everything seems to be all right. Suddenly, an avalanche cuts them out from the rest of the world, and strange things are going to happen.
- DirectorPupi AvatiStarsLino CapolicchioFrancesca MarcianoGianni CavinaStefano, a young restorer, is commissioned to save a controversial mural located in the church of a small, isolated village.
- DirectorJung Jin-youngStarsSu-yeon ChaJung Hae-kyunCho Jin-woongSoo-hyuk, an elementary school teacher in a rural village, has a secret. Every night, his wife Yi-young turns into another person.
- DirectorRobert MooreStarsPeter FalkAlec GuinnessPeter SellersFive famous literary detective characters and their sidekicks are invited to a bizarre mansion to solve an even stranger mystery.
- DirectorJacques TourneurStarsSimone SimonTom ConwayKent SmithAn American man marries a Serbian immigrant who fears that she will turn into the cat person of her homeland's fables if they are intimate together.
- DirectorKonstantin ErshovGeorgiy KropachyovAleksandr PtushkoStarsLeonid KuravlyovNatalya VarleyAleksey GlazyrinA young priest is ordered to preside over the wake of witch in a small old wooden church of a remote village. This means spending three nights alone with the corpse with only his faith to protect him.
- CreatorYasuyuki UedaStarsKaori ShimizuBridget HoffmanDan LorgeStrange things start happening when a withdrawn girl named Lain becomes obsessed with an interconnected virtual realm known as "The Wired".
- DirectorLucio FulciStarsCatriona MacCollDavid WarbeckCinzia MonrealeA young woman inherits an old hotel in Louisiana where, following a series of supernatural "accidents", she learns that the building was built over one of the entrances to Hell.
- DirectorLarry CohenStarsTony Lo BiancoDeborah RaffinSandy DennisA New York detective investigates a series of murders committed by random New Yorkers who claim that "God told them to."
- DirectorJack GoldStarsRichard BurtonLee RemickLino VenturaA telekinetic novelist causes disasters simply by thinking about them.
- DirectorMassimo DallamanoStarsFabio TestiKarin BaalCristina GalbóA teacher who is having an affair with one of his students is reluctant to present an alibi when his lover witnesses the first in a series of murders connected to their school.
- DirectorNick WillingStarsGoran VisnjicPaddy ConsidineShirley HendersonA hypnotherapist is caught up in the pursuit of a serial killer.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsDawn AddamsPeter van EyckGert FröbeIn 1960s Germany, criminal mastermind Dr. Mabuse uses hypnotized victims and the surveillance equipment of a Nazi-era bugged hotel to steal nuclear technology from a visiting American industrialist.
- DirectorGiulio QuestiStarsLucia BosèMaurizio Degli EspostiTina AumontA Sicilian widow earns her living as a clairvoyant, in Milan, but she hasn't got any power at all. Her son instead holds supernatural powers and with the help of his mother he becomes a strong sorcerer. But he fails perhaps to understand the real strength he possesses inside and unbinds uncontrolled forces that lead people that surround him to go mad.
- CreatorDan CurtisStarsJonathan FridGrayson HallAlexandra IslesThe rich Collins family of Collinsport, Maine is tormented by strange occurrences.
- CreatorJeff RakeStarsMelissa RoxburghJosh DallasJ.R. RamirezWhen a commercial airliner suddenly reappears after being missing for five years, those aboard must reintegrate into society.
- DirectorPater SparrowStarsZoltán MucsiLászló SinkóPál MácsaiA bookshop renowned for its rare works is mysteriously and completely filled with copies of a book entitled 1, which doesn't appear to have a publisher or author.
- DirectorGem DegerStarsAustin ChunnGem DegerIssy StewartWhen a teenager finds himself caught in a glitchy-glitzy reality with his onscreen male idol, he does all he can to be possessed by this man and ignore the violent clues of how he got there.
- DirectorCristian PonceStarsGermán BaudinoNadia LozanoHéctor OstrofskyFor the final broadcast of '60 Minutes to Midnight', the most famous journalistic show on television, host Adrián Marcato could expose a conspiracy that links the Government to a coven of witches.
- DirectorMichael VenusStarsGro Swantje KohlhofSandra HüllerAugust SchmölzerMarlene, a woman plagued by horrific dreams, suffers a breakdown in a remote village. As her daughter Mona follows, she comes upon a well-kept family secret and an old curse that ultimately threatens her life - a never-ending nightmare.
- DirectorChino MoyaStarsJohann MyersGéza RöhrigMichael GouldAn otherworldly journey through a Europe in decline - a collection of darkly humorous, fantasy tales about ill-fated characters and doomed fortune.
- DirectorAurelio ChiesaStarsTomas MilianLaura MoranteWilliam BergerAlien spirits from outer space land on earth and take over the bodies of the recently deceased--but their purpose isn't what it would appear to be.