Entertainment Weekly's 100 Best Movies You've Never Heard Of
Here's the list of Entertainment Weekly's 100 Best Movies You've Never Heard Of
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- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsAustin StokerDarwin JostonLaurie ZimmerA Highway Patrol Officer, two criminals and a station secretary defend a defunct Los Angeles precinct office against a siege by a bloodthirsty street gang.
- DirectorJohn SturgesStarsSpencer TracyRobert RyanAnne FrancisA one-armed stranger comes to a tiny town possessing a terrible past they want to keep secret, by violent means if necessary.
- DirectorSam PeckinpahStarsJason RobardsStella StevensDavid WarnerA hobo accidentally stumbles onto a water spring, and creates a profitable way station in the middle of the desert.
- DirectorFred SchepisiStarsWillie NelsonGary BuseyIsela VegaAn inexperienced farm boy hooks up with a legendary outlaw in Mexico and both are soon on the run from the law, Mexican bandits, and two families bent on revenge.
- DirectorJean RenoirStarsJean GabinJulien CaretteSimone SimonIn this classic adaptation of Emile Zola's novel, a tortured train engineer falls in love with a troubled married woman who has helped her husband commit a murder.
- DirectorJoseph H. LewisStarsCornel WildeRichard ConteJean WallaceA police lieutenant is ordered to stop investigating deadly crime boss Mr. Brown because he hasn't been able to get any hard evidence against him. He goes after Brown's girlfriend, who despises him, for information instead.
- DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsDeborah KerrDavid FarrarFlora RobsonA group of nuns struggle to establish a convent in the Himalayas, while isolation, extreme weather, altitude, and culture clashes all conspire to drive the well-intentioned missionaries mad.
- DirectorFrank HenenlotterStarsRick HearstGordon MacDonaldJennifer LowryOne morning, a young man wakes to find that a small, disgusting creature has attached itself to the base of his brain stem. The creature gives him a euphoric state of happiness but demands human victims in return.
- DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsOliver ReedSamantha EggarArt HindleA man tries to uncover an unconventional psychologist's therapy techniques on his institutionalized wife, amidst a series of brutal murders.
- DirectorGillo PontecorvoStarsMarlon BrandoEvaristo MárquezRenato SalvatoriIn 1844, a British mercenary helps the revolting slaves of an Antilles island colony gain independence from Portugal, but later returns to hunt down a local rebel leader and former protégé.
- DirectorRobert FrankRudy WurlitzerStarsKevin J. O'ConnorEric MitchellMary JoyA struggling musician sets out to find the legendary guitar maker Elmore Silk, with whom he hopes to strike a deal to make himself rich and famous.
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsLaurence OlivierJennifer JonesMiriam HopkinsA young girl from a provincial town learns the bitter reality of a big city and great love.
- DirectorMax OphülsStarsJames MasonBarbara Bel GeddesRobert RyanAn ambitious young LA department store model gets her wish of marrying a millionaire but she eventually discovers that rich life isn't always a happy one.
- DirectorJoan Micklin SilverStarsJohn HeardMary Beth HurtPeter RiegertCharles is a bored civil servant struggling through a harsh Utah winter. He spends most of his time reflecting on his romance with Laura, a coworker who left him to return to her husband, an A-Frame salesman.
- DirectorBill ForsythStarsBill PatersonEleanor DavidClare GroganAlan Bird witnesses how an ice cream van is attacked and destroyed by an angry competitor. This leads him into the struggle between two Italian families, the Bernardis and the Rossis, over whose ice cream vans can sell where in Glasgow.
- DirectorNeil JordanStarsSarah PattersonAngela LansburyDavid WarnerA teenage girl in a country manor falls asleep while reading a magazine, and has a disturbing dream involving wolves prowling the woods below her bedroom window.
- DirectorRobert SiodmakStarsBurt LancasterYvonne De CarloDan DuryeaAn armored truck driver and his ex-wife conspire with a gang to have his own truck robbed on the route.
- DirectorRobert Z. LeonardStarsJoan CrawfordClark GableFranchot ToneAn attractive dancer is rescued from jail by a rich man who helps her to have her first big opportunity at a musical play on Broadway.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsDan O'BannonDre PahichBrian NarelleIn the far reaches of space, a small crew, 20 years into their solitary mission, find things beginning to go hilariously wrong.
- DirectorPaul BartelStarsDavid CarradineSylvester StalloneSimone GriffethIn a dystopian future, a cross country automobile race requires contestants to run down innocent pedestrians to gain points that are tallied based on each kill's brutality.
- DirectorIrving RapperStarsBette DavisPaul HenreidClaude RainsAfter marrying her long-lost love, a musician finds the relationship threatened by a wealthy composer who is besotted with her.
- DirectorLuc BessonStarsPierre JolivetJean BouiseJean RenoIn a post-apocalyptic future where no one is able to speak, the few remaining humans fight over resources in order to survive.AKA Le Dernier Combat
- DirectorEdgar G. UlmerStarsTom NealAnn SavageClaudia DrakeThe life of Al Roberts, a pianist in a New York nightclub, turns into a nightmare when he decides to hitchhike to Los Angeles to visit his girlfriend.
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsWalter HustonRuth ChattertonPaul LukasA retired auto manufacturer and his wife take a long-planned European vacation only to find that they want very different things from life.
- DirectorGavin MillarStarsCoral BrowneIan HolmPeter GallagherIan Holm is children's author Lewis Carroll in this poignant fantasy-drama set in 1930s New York and populated by the fabulous special effects creatures of Muppet master Jim Henson.
- DirectorIrvin KershnerStarsSean ConneryJoanne WoodwardJean SebergSamson Shillitoe, mad genius of a poet irresistible to women, but plagued by writer's block, agrees to see a psychiatrist, and his beautiful wife.
- DirectorRoy RowlandStarsPeter Lind HayesMary HealyHans ConriedA young boy dreams that he is in an imaginary world where, assisted by his family's plumber, he must save other piano-playing kids like himself from the dungeons of his dictatorial piano teacher who also mind-controls his mother.
- DirectorRichard ElfmanStarsGene CunninghamMarie-Pascale ElfmanVirginia RoseThe bizarre and musical tale of a girl who travels to another dimension through the gateway found in her family's basement.
- DirectorMichael PowellStarsLeslie HowardLaurence OlivierRichard GeorgeA World War II U-boat crew are stranded in northern Canada. To avoid internment, they must make their way to the border and get into the still-neutral U.S.
- DirectorAdrian LyneStarsJodie FosterCherie CurrieMarilyn KaganA group of four teenage girls come of age in the asphalt desert of Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley arranged with a blazing soundtrack and endless drinking, drugs and sex.
- DirectorAllan ArkushStarsMalcolm McDowellAllen GarfieldDaniel SternMega-promoter Colin Beverly plans to sabotage the New Year's 1983 concert of small-time operator Max Wolfe. Wolfe's assistants Neil Allen and Willie Loman find romance while trying to save the drugs, violence, and rock and roll from Beverly's schemes.
- DirectorEdward D. Wood Jr.StarsEdward D. Wood Jr.Bela LugosiLyle TalbotA psychiatrist tells the stories of a transvestite (Glen or Glenda) and a pseudohermaphrodite (Alan or Anne).
- DirectorCharles WaltersStarsJune AllysonPeter LawfordPatricia MarshallGolden Globe winner June Allyson and Peter Lawford star in this enjoyable musical about a football hero who falls in love with his French tutor.
- DirectorTed PostStarsBurt LancasterCraig WassonJonathan GoldsmithDuring the early 1960s, U.S. military advisers in South Vietnam discover the same challenges that plagued the French army in Indochina ten years prior.
- DirectorJoseph H. LewisStarsJohn DallPeggy CumminsBerry KroegerTwo disturbed young people release their fascination with guns through a crime spree.
- DirectorRichard PearceStarsRip TornConchata FerrellBarry PrimusA widow with a young daughter travels to a ranch in Wyoming to manage the household of a rancher. After a while the man and woman develop a relationship that leads to a marriage. But life in the harsh place takes its toll.
- DirectorJohn BoormanStarsLee MarvinToshirô MifuneDuring World War II, an American pilot and a marooned Japanese navy captain are deserted on a small uninhabited island in the Pacific Ocean. There, they must cease their hostility and cooperate if they want to survive, but will they?
- DirectorJack SholderStarsKyle MacLachlanMichael NouriClaudia ChristianA cop and an FBI agent race for answers after law abiding people suddenly become violent criminals.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneYutaka SadaTatsuya NakadaiAn executive of a Yokohama shoe company becomes a victim of extortion when his chauffeur's son is kidnapped by mistake and held for ransom.
- DirectorGillian ArmstrongStarsJudy DavisJan AdeleClaudia KarvanA rock'n roll singer gets stranded in a small Australian town after losing her job in a band. She winds up in a trailer park only to encounter, by accident, the teenage daughter she deserted following her husband's death. In HD.
- DirectorBrian De PalmaStarsRobert De NiroAllen GarfieldLara ParkerA Vietnam vet moves into an apartment and peers through other people's windows across the street, meets one of the women, and discovers Black theater.
- DirectorStephen FrearsStarsFreddie StuartRalph BrownA.J. ClarkeTen years after ratting on his old mobster friends in exchange for personal immunity, two hit men drive a hardened criminal to Paris for his execution. However, while on the way, whatever can go wrong, does go wrong.
- DirectorMark RobsonStarsDouglas DickSteve BrodieJeff CoreyDuring WW2, a reconnaissance platoon is sent to map out a Japanese-held island but racial tensions arise between the white soldiers and the only black member of the group.
- DirectorBill ForsythStarsChristine LahtiSara WalkerAndrea BurchillAfter their mother commits suicide, two sisters end up living with their kind but peculiar aunt in their grandmother's old house in a small 1950s town.
- DirectorNicholas RayStarsHumphrey BogartGloria GrahameFrank LovejoyA potentially violent screenwriter is a murder suspect until his lovely neighbor clears him. However, she soon starts to have her doubts.
- 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.
- DirectorWes CravenStarsHeather LangenkampJohnny DeppRobert EnglundTeenager Nancy Thompson must uncover the dark truth concealed by her parents after she and her friends become targets of the spirit of a serial killer with a bladed glove in their dreams, in which if they die, it kills them in real life.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsSterling HaydenColeen GrayVince EdwardsCrook Johnny Clay assembles a five-man team to plan and execute a daring racetrack robbery.
- DirectorRobert AldrichStarsRalph MeekerAlbert DekkerPaul StewartA doomed female hitchhiker pulls Mike Hammer into a deadly whirlpool of intrigue, revolving around a mysterious "great whatsit".
- DirectorDavid MillerStarsKirk DouglasGena RowlandsWalter MatthauA fiercely independent cowboy gets himself locked up in prison to escape with an old friend.
- DirectorJosef von SternbergMel FerrerNicholas RayStarsRobert MitchumJane RussellWilliam BendixNick Cochran, an American in exile in Macao, has a chance to restore his name by helping capture an international crime lord. Undercover, can he mislead the bad guys and still woo the attractive singer/petty crook, Julie Benson?
- DirectorLloyd BaconMichael CurtizStarsBette DavisHumphrey BogartLola LaneA crusading district attorney persuades a clip joint hostess to testify against her mobster boss after her innocent sister is accidentally murdered during one of his unsavory parties.
- DirectorElaine MayStarsRose ArrickCarol GraceWilliam HickeyNicky is on the run from the mob, and he turns to old pal Mikey for help.
- DirectorSteve De JarnattStarsAnthony EdwardsMare WinninghamJohn AgarA young man hears a chance phone call telling him that a nuclear war has started and missiles will hit his city in 70 minutes.
- DirectorPaul MorrisseyStarsMarília PêraRichard UlaciaLinda KerridgeBrazilian drug dealers in Manhattan's Lower East Side start a war with a rival gang of Latino drug dealers. Their soldiers are Latino kids all under 17 because, as Rita La Punta says, "They can kill and not go to jail." The war escalates to include their German heroin supplier, his sexy English girlfriend, a Puerto Rican ex-cop, and the Japanese police captain. This movie is about racism, police corruption, junkies, and drug dealing. There is plenty of killing and even a visit to a store dedicated to the Latino pop group "Menudo."
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsCary GrantGinger RogersMarilyn MonroeA chemist finds his personal and professional life turned upside down when one of his chimpanzees finds the fountain of youth.
- DirectorSamuel FullerStarsConstance TowersAnthony EisleyMichael DanteA former prostitute relocates to a buttoned-down suburb, determined to fit in with mainstream society. But perverse secrets simmer beneath the wholesome surface.
- DirectorAnthony MannStarsJames StewartJanet LeighRobert RyanA bounty hunter trying to bring a murderer to justice is forced to accept the help of two less-than-trustworthy strangers.
- DirectorKathryn BigelowStarsAdrian PasdarJenny WrightLance HenriksenA small-town farmer's son reluctantly joins a traveling group of vampires after he is bitten by a beautiful drifter.
- DirectorKen HarrisonStarsWilliam Converse-RobertsHallie FooteMatthew BroderickThe moving story of a small Texas town in 1918. Until an influenza epidemic hit and several broken young men returned from the war in Europe.
- DirectorWilliam Peter BlattyStarsStacy KeachScott WilsonJason MillerAn ex-marine psychiatrist attempts to rehabilitate his patients by indulging their fantasies, and seeks to prove the existence of a loving God to one especially troubled inmate.
- DirectorNicholas RayIda LupinoStarsIda LupinoRobert RyanWard BondRough city cop Jim Wilson is disciplined by his captain and is sent upstate, to a snowy mountain town, to help the local sheriff solve a murder case.
- DirectorMarlon BrandoStarsMarlon BrandoKarl MaldenPina PellicerAfter robbing a bank in Mexico, Dad Longworth absconds with the loot leaving his partner Rio to be captured by the Rurales. Rio escapes prison but struggles with his conflicting desires to love Dad's stepdaughter Louise and to get revenge.
- DirectorJonathan KaplanStarsMatt DillonMichael Eric KramerPamela LudwigA group of bored teenagers rebel against authority in the community of New Granada after the death of one of their own.
- DirectorMartin RittStarsPaul NewmanJoanne WoodwardSidney PoitierDuring the 1960s, two American expatriate jazz musicians living in Paris meet and fall in love with two American tourist girls.
- DirectorDaryl DukeStarsRip TornAhna CapriElayne HeilveilMaury Dann (Rip Torn, in one of his most memorable performances) is a not-so-nice country-Western singer. He ruthlessly manipulates everyone around him to suit his selfish needs...he even gets his limo driver to take the blame for the death of a fan whom he stabbed.
- DirectorMichael PowellStarsKarlheinz BöhmAnna MasseyMoira ShearerA young man murders women, using a movie camera to film their dying expressions of terror.
- DirectorRobert TowneStarsMariel HemingwayScott GlennPatrice DonnellyThe intertwined lives and loves of three highly ranked athletes striving for the national team; Chris bounces between the beds of male coach Terry and her female friend, competitor, and role model Tory.
- DirectorMartin RosenStarsJohn HurtChristopher BenjaminJames BolamTwo dogs escape from a laboratory and are hunted as possible carriers of the bubonic plague.
- DirectorJohn BoormanStarsLee MarvinAngie DickinsonKeenan WynnAfter being double-crossed and left for dead, a mysterious man named Walker single-mindedly tries to retrieve the money that was stolen from him.
- DirectorLarry CohenStarsDavid CarradineMichael MoriartyCandy ClarkNYPD detectives Shepard and Powell are working on a bizarre case of a ritualistic Aztec murder. Meanwhile, something big is attacking people of New York and only greedy small time crook Jimmy Quinn knows where its lair is.
- DirectorImre GyöngyössyBarna KabayStarsHédi TemessyFerenc ZentheGábor FehérAn elderly Jewish couple, adopt an unruly non-Jewish child to whom they intend to pass on their wealth and knowledge before Nazi oppression engulfs Hungary.
- DirectorSam PeckinpahStarsJoel McCreaRandolph ScottMariette HartleyAn ex-union soldier is hired to transport gold from a mining community through dangerous territory. But what he doesn't realize is that his partner and old friend is plotting to double-cross him.
- DirectorDon SiegelStarsNeville BrandEmile MeyerFrank FaylenFed up with the inhumane prison living conditions, a general prison riot breaks out, leading to hostage-taking, a stand-off with the guards and eventual negotiations with the prison administration officials.
- DirectorJosef von SternbergStarsAkemi NegishiTadashi SuganumaKisaburo SawamuraFrom June 1944, twelve Japanese seamen are stranded for seven years on an abandoned and forgotten island called Anatahan.AKA The Saga of Anatahan
- DirectorPeter BogdanovichStarsBen GazzaraDenholm ElliottJames VilliersJack Flowers, an American hustler in early-1970s Singapore, dreams of building a fortune by running a brothel and returning to the States to live a life of luxury.
- DirectorGeorge T. NierenbergStarsWillie Mae Ford SmithThomas A. DorseySallie MartinDocumentary about the American gospel music scene, focusing on two of the movement's pioneering forces, Thomas A. Dorsey and Willie May Ford Smith.
- DirectorRobert AltmanStarsPhilip Baker HallA fictionalized former President Richard M. Nixon offers a solitary, stream-of-consciousness reflection on his life and political career - and the "true" reasons for the Watergate scandal and his resignation.
- DirectorRoger ChristianStarsKathryn HarroldZeljko IvanekShirley KnightA disturbed telepathic man is unable to fully control his ability to transmit his dreams and visions into the minds of the people around him, or even influence reality. A female therapist tries to help him, but his mother gets in the way.
- DirectorEdward DeinStarsTerry MooreFrank LovejoyKeenan WynnAn isolated diner on California's 101 highway provides the backdrop of the story involving nuclear secrets, foreign spies and federal agents.
- DirectorJosef von SternbergStarsGene TierneyWalter HustonVictor MatureIn Shanghai, dragon lady 'Mother' Gin Sling operates a gambling house for wealthy patrons but she clashes with influential land developer Sir Guy Charteris who wants to put her out of business.
- DirectorMichael RitchieStarsBruce DernBarbara FeldonMichael KiddA social comedy about a beauty pageant for young Californian women, held annually in Santa Rosa, and how it affects the locals and participants.
- DirectorAlan RudolphStarsWillie NelsonKris KristoffersonMelinda DillonDoc Jenkins is a country music star who's become fed up with the industry. With some help from an old friend he attempts to right some wrongs and get back at the ruthless promoter who's swindled him.
- DirectorJoseph RubenStarsTerry O'QuinnJill SchoelenShelley HackAfter murdering his entire family, a man marries a widow with a teenage daughter in another town and prepares to do it all over again.
- DirectorUlu GrosbardDustin HoffmanStarsDustin HoffmanTheresa RussellGary BuseyThe difficulties of a career burglar to reinsert himself after being released on parole.
- DirectorRobert AltmanStarsMatthew ModineMichael WrightMitchell LichtensteinFour young soldiers waiting to be shipped to Viet Nam deal with racial tension and their own intolerance when one soldier reveals he's gay.
- DirectorMartin BellStarsAnnieEddieAntoineGritty documentary that looks at the lives of teenagers living on the streets of Seattle.
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsRoman PolanskiIsabelle AdjaniMelvyn DouglasA bureaucrat rents a Paris apartment where he finds himself drawn into a rabbit hole of dangerous paranoia.
- DirectorNicholas RayStarsCathy O'DonnellFarley GrangerHoward Da SilvaAn escaped convict injured during a robbery falls in love with the woman who nurses him back to health, but their relationship seems doomed from the beginning.
- DirectorRalph L. ThomasStarsNick MancusoSaul RubinekMeg FosterDavid is a young man seduced by a religious cult that uses starvation, exhaustion, and brainwashing to mold recruits into money hustling disciples of a messiah-like leader. Chronicles David's chilling transformation into a gaunt, mindless shadow of his former self...and his ultimate salvation when friends and family launch a plan to kidnap and deprogram him.
- DirectorNicolas RoegStarsTheresa RussellGary OldmanChristopher LloydLinda is still tormented by giving up a baby for adoption at 15. She wants a baby, but her husband has enough in his model trains, mistress and being a doctor.
- DirectorJohn KortyCharles SwensonStarsLorenzo MusicJudith KahanMarshall EfronTwo wannabe heroes and their friends must stop a madman from giving everyone nightmares.
- DirectorRoger SpottiswoodeStarsNick NolteEd HarrisGene HackmanThree journalists in a romantic triangle are involved in political intrigue during the last days of the corrupt Somoza regime in Nicaragua before it falls to a popular revolution in 1979.
- DirectorRobert ZemeckisStarsKurt RussellJack WardenGerrit GrahamWhen the owner of a struggling used car lot is killed, it's up to the lot's hot-shot salesman to save the property from falling into the hands of the owner's ruthless brother and used-car rival.
- DirectorRobert BiermanStarsNicolas CageMaria Conchita AlonsoJennifer BealsAfter an encounter with a neck-biter, a publishing executive thinks that he's turning into a vampire.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsDana AndrewsRhonda FlemingGeorge SandersA serial killer has been killing beautiful women in New York and the new owner of a media company offers a high ranking job to the first of his senior executives who can get the earliest scoops on the case.
- DirectorKarel ReiszStarsNick NolteTuesday WeldMichael MoriartyA Vietnam veteran gets conned into helping an old Marine friend smuggle drugs into the country but ends up having to go on the run with his friend's wife when the deal goes sour.
- DirectorBruce RobinsonStarsRichard E. GrantPaul McGannRichard GriffithsIn 1969, two substance-abusing, unemployed actors retreat to the countryside for a holiday that proves disastrous.
- DirectorJohn BoormanStarsSean ConneryCharlotte RamplingSara KestelmanIn the late 23rd century, a savage trained only to kill finds a way into the community of bored immortals that alone preserves humanity's achievements.
- DirectorPeter GreenawayStarsBrian DeaconEric DeaconAndréa FerréolTwin zoologists lose their wives in a car accident and become obsessed with decomposing animals.