Ten Obscure Films You Should Watch Purely For Bragging Rights

For your viewing pleasure, I compiled a list of ten films I watched and enjoyed in the past year. Said enjoyment was based on my cinematic taste. I'm sharing the love because even the most adventurous cinephiles sometimes like knowing a bit about obscure movies before taking the plunge.

And away we go…

Bit

Poster for the 2019 queer vampire horror movie Bit. Tula Lotay’s illustration features images of the characters and scenes from the movie in colors of blue, pink, and purple. The tag line reads: Let men be the ones who are afraid to jog at night. — Promotional image for the lesbian vampire film **Bit**

Bit (2019) is a lesbian vampire movie. In fact, it’s currently my favorite queer vampire movie of all time. Per Autostraddle, "Bit is the one and only movie about a trans lesbian joining a lesbian separatist vampire girl gang lives up to its premise.”

My husband has also been a vampire film fan for decades (Vampyros Lesbos, Nosferatu), so I convinced him to watch Bit with me. He’s jaded by now, so I worried he wouldn’t like Bit—but he did! He said it was one of the best vampire films he’d seen in a long time. How’s that for an endorsement?!

What I love about Bit: the cool characters, the costume design, the social justice themes, the queer and punk aesthetic, how the family dynamics were integrated into the plot, the inventive take on vampire lore, the immersive world, the gore, and the humor.

My husband’s review of Bit: compelling story; the location and sets served the plot well; good dialogue and acting; and great cinematography for a micro-budget movie. He wished there’d been a lot more blood, but otherwise, Bit thoroughly entertained him.

The Lure

I enjoyed this movie, which has haunting music and dazzling cinematography. The Lure struck me as a film torn between being a straight-up musical horror film about cute monster mermaids and a metaphorical horror film about teen love, romance, and sexual awakening.

My favorite character from The Lure: the lesbian detective who has a tryst with one of the mermaids, who’s also a suspect in the detective’s murder investigation. Awesome!

I also liked the ending, which went in the opposite direction I expected but ultimately wanted. Kind of a “have your cake and eat it, too” ending.

The Lure has fun musical sequences, quirky characters, lots of blood, boobs, and body horror. Its flaws are part of its charm.

Golden Arm

Golden Arm is a female buddy comedy with arm wrestling, bar fights, a vampy villainess, romance, laugh-riot jokes, flashy costumes, tons of butch rep, female empowerment, and lots of corn (sort of). I highly recommend this movie because quality comedic sports movies with a majority female cast are still scarce—and this one is pure gold!

Read my post wherein I gush about 6 Reasons to Watch the Lady-Arm-Wrestler-Buddy-Comedy Movie Golden Arm.

I'm Your Man

I watched and enjoyed I'm Your Man, a thought-provoking SF drama from director Maria Schrader (who went on to direct the American biographical drama movie She Said, which was based on the book of the same title by The New York Times reporters Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey).

The 2021 film I’m Your Man (Ich bin dein Mensch) was inspired by a short story by Emma Braslavsky. It stars Maren Eggert as Alma the archeologist and Dan Stevens as Tom the android. The screenplay is by Jan Schomburg, Maria Schrader, and Emma Braslavsky.

Basically, Alma agrees to be in a temporary romantic relationship with Tom so she can write a report on the ethics of society giving androids like him full legal rights.

I'm Your Man has appeal for sci-fi romance fans if they don't mind an ambiguous ending that's more social commentary than HEA. For in-depth commentary about this movie, read my post about I'm Your Man.

Crumbs

Crumbs was written and directed by Miguel Llansó. Here's the description:

Our figurine sized supermen hero embarks on an epic surreal journey that will take him across the Ethiopian post apocalyptic landscape in search of a way to get on the hovering spacecraft that for years has become a landmark in the skies. (via IMDB.com)

Crumbs is great! Compelling characters, lots of cool, weird visuals, inventive post-apocalyptic setting, & quirky humor. Crumbs is science fiction romance-adjacent in that the story is anchored by a loving m/f couple. It has a bittersweet ending.

Bacurau

Premise: Mysterious phenomena abound in a near-future town that has strangely disappeared from Google Maps.

I discovered Bacurau after searching for a new-to-me-film on the Criterion Channel. Then I watched the trailer. What sold me wasn’t the marketing claim that millions of Brazilians had seen the film (so in a global sense, this film is arguably not that obscure), but rather the wonky flying saucer straight out of Ed Wood central casting! That's when I knew I had to see this movie.

I never knew what was going to happen next and that only added to my enjoyment. It was a case of taking a risk with a new-to-me film and it totally paid off. Bacurau is weird, wonderful, violent, and spooky. It has a mix of old-school UFO special effects and thought-provoking social commentary.

Read more about Bacurau in this 2019 article by David Hudson.

Paris Is Burning

Cinema achievement unlocked: I finally watched Paris Is Burning (1990) (thanks, Criterion Channel!). Jennie Livingston’s documentary is as amazing as I’d heard. It's also gut-wrenching in the way it highlights the thwarted ambition of so many talented ball performers.

Alienated

I discovered this micro-budget film after searching for "science fiction romance" on Amazon Prime. This sci-fi romance movie checks all the romance genre convention boxes, but it sure could have used higher production values.

I found Alienated entertaining, if derivative and flawed. To qualify, I like watching micro-budget films, so I can ignore some elements—like the use of stock footage and wonky special effects—that might take other viewers out of a movie.

I recommend Alienated for hardcore SFR fans who are desperate to watch any type of sci-fi romance film they can get their hands on. For more of my thoughts about Alienated, read my Twitter thread.

Summer of the Serpent

Summer of the Serpent (2004) is a delightful short about a young girl's encounter with mysterious visitors at a community swimming pool. It has mystery, humor, and quirky characters. Award-winning filmmaker Kimi Takesue directed Summer of the Serpent. I enjoyed it so much I watched it twice!

Future '38

Description: "A 1938 screwball comedy set in the far future year of 2018."

An American Agent from 1938 travels through time to hamstring Hitler! Transported to the year 2018, he hoodwinks hoodlums, infuriates the Fuhrer, and goes gaga for a gal 80 years his junior!

Future '38 was written and directed by Jamie Greenberg.

While this film didn’t hit my sweet spot as much as I would have liked, Future '38 has an interesting aesthetic, smart performances, time travel elements, and quirky humor. It has appeal for sci-fi romance fans, but in an SFR-adjacent way because of the bittersweet ending. I'd wager Future '38 is one for the pre-code Hollywood movie crowd as well.

Future '38 stars the mesmerizing Betty Gilpin (Glow), so that alone is a reason to watch it.

Fun fact: director Jamie Greenberg co-created Where In Time Is Carmen Sandiego for PBS.

That's a wrap! Thanks for reading. If you enjoy time travel romance books, I invite you to check out two sci-fi romances of mine:

Julie & Winifred's Most Excellent Adventure

Romance book trailer for Heather Massey’s f/f time travel romance and buddy comedy Julie & Winifred’s Most Excellent Adventure. Features the plot information, the illustrated romance book cover and bonus book art of the Disaster Pets by artist Eileen Widjaja, romance tropes, time travel footage, and other fun visuals, all set to the adventure comedy indie rock trailer music of musician Leslie Brown.

The Watchmaker's Lady

Cover for Heather Massey’s clockpunk romance The Watchmaker’s Lady

Bit