What are some of your favorite little known films? "Hidden Gems?"

[From The Shadows]

Of course the idea of the "hidden gem" is personal opinion. Some of these films may have been panned by the critiques or even movie-goers, or like the title suggests - they simply didn't receive much of an audience.

Mine:

Eye Of The Beholder (w/ Ashley Judd and Ewan McGregor)
The First Power (w/ Lou Diamond Phillips)
Flatliners (w/ Julia Roberts, Kevin Bacon and Keifer Sutherland)

[Kaled]

I Come In Peace with Dolph Lundgren.

[Vakanai]

Well, thanks to the internet and cult status everyone knows them now, but I used to be the only kid who watched The Dark Crystal and Big Trouble in Little China. And I was also the only one quoting Army of Darkness come to think of it. Weird how pop culture seemed to catch up with me almost over night.
School back in the day sucked

Hidden gems for this site though, in 2020? I got nothing.

[WebLurker]

City of Ember

[godisawesome]

This is old school: The Black Book/Reign of Terror.

It an American noir film by Anthony Mann... set in the French Revolution during the eponymous Reign of Terror (aka, the period where the Revolution “eats it’s children”, and when the National Razor started chopping off almost as many revolutionary heads as it did royalist ones.)

It’s very much a politically slanted telling of the story that couldn’t really be made in France - it’s version of Robespierre is openly angling to become dictator in it, even as the heroes insist they won’t allow royalist to win either - but as a fantastical film using the period of the Revolution as a backdrop, it’s very good.

Special mention goes to Arnold Moss as Joseph Fouche, embracing the historical personage’s opportunistic and cynical nature to make a perfect noir character, who is 100% driven by pragmatic survival and ambition - literally within the span of ten minutes, he switches from Robespierre’s servant, to ally to our hero, to trying to murder the hero so he can be the top dog, to back to Robespierre’s stooge, but only so he can set-up Robespierre for the other Revolutionaries, and emerge from the chaos alive and still part of the power structure... and all with a self-deprecating and devious smirk on his face and the kind of charisma that makes him a “reliable traitor” to all the other characters.

You can find a version of it on YouTube.

[Jackalope89]

Back in the day? Princess Mononoke. Back when anime wasn't so accepted as a "norm". Weird film, but I enjoyed the hell out of it (it was before I knew much about Japanese mythology, and wiki wasn't even a shadow of what it is now).

I was introduced to things like the Troma movies back then. And as I enjoyed the over the top antics of Army of Darkness, Troma was like that but with boobs. And Toxic Avenger, well, never knew a person wearing a tutu could be so intimidating.

[K7P5V]

^^^Since it's alright to mention anime, one of my all-time favorites would be...

Roujin Z

[AndrewCrossett]

Several John Sayles movies... The Brother From Another Planet, Lone Star, The Secret of Roan Inish.

[marshal88]

dreamscape with dennis quaid - the snake monster was nightmare fuel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRYp3LPL0bc

H.P.Lovecraft's NECRONOMICON - anthonlogy movie , nothing too outstanding but 2 of the co-directors became famous later on - christopher gans - brotherhood of the wolf and Shûsuke Kaneko - gamera heisei trilogy,godzilla gmk,death note etc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGxIJF3qwIs

wishmaster - shame the sequel sucked donkey balls especially 3 and 4 but the original wishmaster was cool with all the horror alumni appearing in it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdo9WxKndHs

[Username taken]

Darkman

10char.

[Frobisher]

Little Otik - Unnerving stop-motion tree baby

[batnbreakfast]

The Blackcoat's Daughter
Changeling (2008)
In The Mouth of Madness
Solomon Kane

[DanMad1977]

Enemy Mine
Condor Man
Maniac Cop 1

[caj]

Go from 1999. Stars Sarah Polley, Katie Holmes, Timothy Olyphant, Taye Diggs, William Fichtner, Scott Wolf, Jay Mohr, and Jane Krakowski. It's a fun ride for sure.

[CliffHanger2]

A Bitter Sweet Life,
Tales from the Hood.
The American-George Clooney
Art of War-Wesley Snipes