Recommend me movies with hopelessness and dread

[QualityChimp]

The thing is, the feeling of dread can be used as a dramatic tool that needs to be resolved, or it can be used to bring on the feeling of hopelessness.

The Road is about a road trip across America to the hope of a better climate, The Book of Eli is about a road trip across America to deliver hope.
Similar synopses, but very different in their delivery. The Road is a more worthy film, but I'd rather re-watch The Book of Eli any day. That's just me.

I went to the Secret Underground Nuclear Bunker in Scotland and was really excited as I first went in. The entrance was hidden in a farmhouse and felt like I was in The Andromeda Strain! By the time I got to the room showing The War Game, I was thoroughly depressed and was thankful nuclear war never broke out. Soldiers burning bodies and policemen shooting looters in the street.

A docu-drama like The War Game or Threads is really harsh in its brutal honesty, but films like Mad Max 2 use the post-apocalypse premise to be awesometacular.

A lot of John Carpenter's films have a feeling of dread and hopelessness, but are more awesome than depressing. The Thing, Prince of Darkness and Assault on Precinct 13 are all pretty tense (IMHO), but rock my world!

I'll be interested on your thoughts about the ones I've listed that you've already seen and what you think of any you seek out from it!

[koopatroopa90]

I heard Eden Lake makes you want to commit bloody suicide.

@Koopa, wtf? Mad Max 2 is fricking glorious!

Yeah tbh it's pretty damn funny in parts (do I remember the dog holding a trigger to a shotgun?), but generally the storyline is pretty lacking in hope. Have to admit I've only seen it the once and don't remember the end and remember there being a relatively graphic rape scene...

[Baseley09]

Along with the 78 version of Body Snatchers, I would recommend

Invasion of the bodysnatchers (1956)
The Body Snatchers (1993)
Invasion (2007)
The Puppet Masters (1994)

Yes they are all largely the same story, but the level of dread is incredible.

Obviously The Thing, which shares the same theme of paranoid terror.

Eden Lake, dunno if that fits here but it's well worth watching, grim and excellent.

[Soundwave]

Thinking about this if you want properly grim & hopeless then track down a copy of "Fight for Your Life"

Upbeat at the end but by good it's full of dread during...be warned it's fairly racist in content but shouldn't be viewed as being a racist movie by any stretch of the imagination.

Oh & the original Straw Dogs is a must as well.

Neil

[Brad]

Eraserhead:

[QualityChimp]

The 78 Bodysnatchers is easily the best one. So tense! The Fly, Spock and Hawkeye are all eccentric-looking actors and fit the feeling of paranoia perfectly.

Here's Alex Cox's Moviedrome introduction. When I visited San Francisco, I was really wary of the Transamerica Pyramid!

[Roddie]

Just saw Melancholia last night, that certainly seems to fit the bill.

Another vote for the already mentioned Grave of the Fireflies too - made just be the saddest film ever made.

[JazzFunk]

This thread has made me remember a little gem I saw about a decade ago, Last Night:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0156729/

It's pretty sad, and David Cronenberg's got a briefish role in it. Well worth seeing, if you're after non-gory despair.

[JSR]

Thanks for all the suggestions! Some really good choices there:

The Thing - one of my favorite movies, it has a great sense of dread. John Carpenter is a master of dread, even Ghosts of Mars is worthwhile because of his special flavor.
Grave of the Fireflies - a great film, it's probably the most depressing movie I've ever seen.
The Fly - love this one too. The progression of Brundle's transformation is wonderfully sad and disgusting.
The Mist - the setting is great, but some of the conflicts between the people were a bit hard to swallow, I still liked it overall though.
Dancer in the Dark - another super sad movie. Nothing bad to say about it, but I'll probably never see this one again. Bj?rk is too cute.

Some other movies I loved:

Survival of the Dead - while the critics hate it, I find this to be the greatest film Romero ever made. Zombie movies in general are great in terms of dread. The whole concept is based on the sense of impending, unavoidable doom.
Hostel - another one where a guy is in a seemingly hopeless situation, yet manages to come out of it through some great extreme choices.
Cabin Fever - bunch of kids out in a cabin get infected with something, everything turns to ****.
Doomsday - post-apocalyptic movie where the world is made up of several smaller societies, each more crazy than the last.
I Am Legend - you all know this one...
Planet of the Apes - Charlton Heston stranded on a planet ruled by apes. Great stuff.
King Kong (2007) - I find this one too to be a very bleak movie. Everybody die in the most inappropriate ways. Sad ending.
Everything by David Lynch - all of his movies feels bizarre and intimidating in good way.

Have wanted to see Eden Lake for a while. I already have a lot of hate for chavs, so this movie will probably make me start carrying a knife or something. Logan's Run also seems like a must watch. Soylent Green to seems cool, just too bad I already know the twist (like everybody does). Many more suggestions that I want to see, but have to start somewhere.

[idfei]

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Into the wild
The Sea Inside
Hunger
Donnie Darko
Breaking the Waves
Hilary and Jackie
The Pianist
The Fountain
Repulsion
High Tension
Possession (1981)
Suspiria
Bug
Million Doller Baby
Biutiful
My Life without You
The Descent
Funny Game
Sophie Scholl

[Roddie]

This thread has made me remember a little gem I saw about a decade ago, Last Night:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0156729/

It's pretty sad, and David Cronenberg's got a briefish role in it. Well worth seeing, if you're after non-gory despair.

Has to be better than the remake with Keira Knightley and Sam Worthington

[bash]

Sex and the city 1 and 2

[kryss]

I always found Silent Running fit that bracket. No-one can finish that movie without "Windmills of your mind" being stuck in their head for years afterwards.

[number9dream]

There's a few films I've watched recently that would fit this that I don't think have been mentioned yet -

The Grey Zone
The Chaser
Stake Land

[Soundwave]

What about Deer Hunter & Deliverance?

Can't believe I forgot about them until now.

Neil