Films six through 10 in the list of top psychedelic movies. Or, start at the beginning.
6. ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)
Back in April 1968, many a lysergically inclined hippie wondered how best to time “2001”: When to take the LSD for maximum effect. Drop too early, peak in the midst of a lot of gab about computer origins and involuntary space walks. Bummer. No, the primo experience meant peaking with the fantastic “Star Gate” sequence, the climax of Stanley Kubrick’s visually stunning sci-fi epic. The joke was on the hippies, of course, as “2001” brought its own psychedelic experience, no drugs required. The masterpiece has lost none of its potency today, here in the future. From the opening drama with the warring apes and the monolith, to the rising of the Star Child, “2001” delivers on all levels, especially the visual and the intellectual. Take the trip, again.
7. ‘Brand Upon the Brain!’ (Guy Maddin, 2006)
Roger Ebert aptly described this modern silent film as “a phantasmagoric story that could be a collaboration between Edgar Allan Poe and Salvador Dali.” Guy Maddin’s deeply strange yet affecting tale follows orphans trapped on an island lorded over by a lighthouse and a mad scientist. A Nancy Drew stand-in arrives to detect why the kids all have holes drilled in the back of their heads. Get out the undressing gloves! The Canadian director made this gem for $40,000, using amateur actors. Isabella Rossellini does the ghostly narration, or Laurie Anderson if you prefer (on Criterion’s Blu-ray). Also highly recommended: Maddin’s eerie follow-up, “My Winnipeg.”
8. ‘The Holy Mountain’ (Alejandro Jodorowsky, 1973)
Imagine Salvador Dali and Luis Buñuel set free to outrun the censors and satisfy their most twisted tendencies. Latin American filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky did just that, unleashing this fiesta of sacrilegious and sexual imagery upon the midnight movie circuit of the mid-’70s. There’s a significant post-breakup Beatles connection, with John Lennon providing funding and George Harrison once in the running to star as the antiheroic Christlike character, the Thief. LSD and mushrooms figured in the production budget. Mystical symbolism runs rampant (especially the Tarot) and dialog is in short supply. Jodorowsky’s DVD commentary provides the essential Baedeker for those needing to make sense of the senseless. This one’s for liberal and adventurous cinema fans, only.
9. ‘Fantastic Planet’ (Rene Laloux, 1973)
“Fantastic Planet” may not look quite as fantastic as it did in the early ’70s here, in the era of CG animation, but its psychedelic credentials have never been in question. Playing out across a surrealistic landscape, the animated sci-fi film brings us a future in which humans are mere playthings and wild things. The planet’s dominant species, the Draags, keep the feral humans as pets or cull them as pests. The French film’s political subtext (animal rights, racism) remains vital in today’s supercharged climate. Roland Topor was the man behind the bizarre illustrations and landscapes (some elements anticipating “Alien”), and Alain Goraguer provided the delightfully dated prog-psychedelic soundtrack.
10. ‘The Wizard of Oz’ (Victor Fleming, 1939)
Pssst. Have you experienced “Dark Side of the Rainbow”? The bit where you play the Pink Floyd album synced up with the movie “The Wizard of Oz.” It’s an amazingly immersive psychedelic experience. Of course, playing “The Wizard of Oz” without the help of Pink Floyd is an even more amazingly immersive psychedelic experience. Witches. Flying monkeys. A Technicolor yellow brick road leading to an Emerald City. Creepy squeaky little people to freak you out. Earworm tuneage. Man, it’s all there and has been since 1939.
More psychedelic movies
Other primo films re-creating the psychedelic experience. Some blow minds throughout (“Yellow Submarine”), others save the fireworks for a “special” section (“Tekkonkinkreet,” “A Field in England”).
Long Day’s Journey Into Night (2018)
Tekkonkinkreet (2006)
Altered States (1980)
Koyaanisqatsi (1982)
200 Motels (1971)
Yellow Submarine (1968)
Space Is the Place (1974)
Zabriskie Point (1970)
Metropolis (1927)
A Field in England (2013)
Head (1968)
Zardoz (1974)
Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams (1990)
Un Chien Andalou (1929)
Dark City (1998)
Zachariah (1971)
Easy Rider (1969)
Fantasia (1940)
Donnie Darko (2001)
Pink Floyd: The Wall (1982)
Alice in Wonderland (1951)
no ” the trip ?”….bummer.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How about Enter the Void
No Jack Nicholson in PSYCH OUT? 1968
My question too! I would put it in the top 5 for the posters alone , not to mention it being shot in the Haight Ashbury, ground zero for the psychedelic explosion in this country. Even if you’re not a psychedelic poster collector like me, the Strawberry Alarm Clock and The Seeds soundtrack should synch it
Obviously they can’t include *every* good film in this list, but all the comments are good suggestions! Here are a few more:
– Samsara (2011) – cycle of life and death, incredibly powerful imagery
– Sunshine Daydream (1972) – cool film of the Grateful Dead’s benefit concert near Eugene, Oregon with lots of Merry Prankster footage spliced in
– Taking Woodstock (2009) – not psychedelic overall but it’s a solid testament to that moment in history and there’s a groovy van scene starring Paul Dano!
– Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) – most definitely not psychedelic overall, but the characters use plenty of them and there are a few bugged out and hilarious scenes
– Moving Art (2018-present) – artful and often trippy cinematography of incredible places on our planet
Holy Motors has to be here hasn’t it?
Finally, someone besides myself remembers “Taking Woodstock!” That van scene was the essence of the sixties. Whoever filmed it knew how to trip. The closeups, the sweat, the melting walls, the sound track loop (lifted from a Love riff) that kept haunting me till my fuzzy brain finally weeks later coughed up its source. Thanx again, as usual, you guys.
I find that I’d rather not watch a movie while on psychedelics (what I see when I close my eyes while listening to music is usually more compelling), but some of them are very good at recreating or referencing the experience. Lots of good movies there, though! Good list!
Interesting list, glad to see Fantastic Planet on there. Amazing!
Holy Mountain, Fantastic Planet and 2001 are the trinity IMO.
My list would have to include “Head.” Regardless of your views on The Monkees, it’s an incredibly psychedelic film. Also, “The Trip,” and “Psych-Out.” I would also include the 1977 film “Suspiria.” The imagery in that movie is very trippy, like a brown acid trip.