Brian De Palma is one of the most influential directors of the New Hollywood generation. A devotee of Alfred Hitchcock and Jean-Luc Godard, De Palma updated his heroes' techniques for a new generation. As a result, his filmography includes some truly iconic crime films and thrillers: Carrie, Blow Out, Scarface, and Mission: Impossible, to list just a few. His movies are notable for their violence, energetic camerawork, and borrowings from other films.

Filmmakers as varied as Quentin Tarantino, Ronny Yu, Terrence Malick, and Edgar Wright have cited De Palma as a favorite and influence. Like most great directors, De Palma is also a big movie fan and has recommended several films over the years. His selections include several gritty, violent but intriguing movies that should appeal to his fans.

Updated on August 14, 2023, by Luc Haasbroek:

Brian De Palma's taste is as eclectic as his filmography. His favorites range from gory thrillers to historical dramas and experimental films. De Palma's recommendations include plenty of intriguing movies for his fans to dive into, and they provide a glimpse into some of his formative influences.

12 'Benny's Video' (1992)

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This psychological thriller is one of Austrian director Michael Haneke's lesser-known projects. It centers on the titular Benny (Arno Frisch), a detached and desensitized teenager who becomes obsessed with violence. Benny spends his time isolated in his room, surrounded by video equipment. One day, he brings a young girl he meets to his home, only for an accidental event to lead to her death. Instead of reacting with horror or guilt, Benny coldly records the incident on videotape.

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During a 2012 interview with Collider, De Palma named Haneke as an inspiration. "I remember seeing Benny’s Video in the '80s and becoming very interested in [Haneke]," De Palma said in a Collider interview. "I’ve made sure to see all of [Haneke's films] since.

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11 'Flanders' (2006)

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Set in a rural town in Northern France, Flanders follows three characters: Demester (Samuel Boidin), Barbe (Adélaïde Leroux), and Blondel (Henri Cretel). Demester, a farmer, is called to serve in the military, leaving behind his lover Barbe. While in the army, the film shows how Demester experiences the horrors of war and is shaken to the core.

Upon his return, Demester struggles to cope with his experiences and forms a close bond with Blondel, another soldier who went through similar trauma. "Flanders [...] which I saw I guess in Toronto, I was struck by," De Palma said during another 2012 interview. "I said 'My god!' and it gave me much food for thought."

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10 'The Naked Kiss' (1964)

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This melodrama directed by Samuel Fuller stars Constance Towers as Kelly, a former sex worker who seeks to leave her past behind and start a new life in a small town. However, upon arrival, she encounters resistance from the town's judgmental residents. Despite her best intentions, Kelly's past continues to haunt her, and she becomes entangled in a web of deceit, violence, and corruption.

During an interview with Film Comment, De Palma named The Naked Kiss as one of his "guilty pleasures." "I love Sam Fuller movies," he said, describing one of the film's key scenes as a "revelation".

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9 'White Dog' (1982)

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White Dog is a horror drama revolving around a Black dog trainer (Paul Winfield) as he tries to rehabilitate a dog that has been trained to attack Black people. The film uses this premise to explore racism in modern America: it's like Cujo meets Get Out.

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Winfield puts in a great performance, as does Kristy McNichol as starlet Julie Sawyer. The dog is also excellent. Its snaps and snarls are legitimately frightening. "Dogs in movies don’t normally scare me—but this dog is terrifying," De Palma has said. "I was so impressed with that dog that I used it in Body Double." Paramount Pictures worried that viewers would misinterpret the movie, so they essentially shelved it after it was completed. White Dog received a proper home video release in North America only in 2008 when Criterion added it to their collection.

8 'Homicidal' (1961)

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Homicidal stars Jean Arless as Emily, a woman who comes to a sleepy California town and murders a justice of the peace. The crime sets off a change of events - and the revelation of several secrets - that threaten to turn the town upside down. De Palma described Homicidal as "very creepy."

The underrated film was made by B-movie director William Castle, who was known for marketing his films with promotional gimmicks. In the case of Homicidal, viewers would receive a refund if they were too scared to stay until the end. On release, most critics compared Homicidal unfavorably to the work of Alfred Hitchcock. Since then, Homicidal's critical standing has improved.

7 'Salesman' (1969)

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This documentary follows four door-to-door bible salesmen as they travel from Boston to Florida trying to make a living. In particular, the film focuses on Paul, one of the salesmen who worries that he's lost his ability to close sales. It makes for a frank look at disillusionment and the struggle to get by, as the salesmen knowingly exploit people's faith to sell their $50 bibles.

The film is an example of the direct cinema documentary genre, which used lightweight, low-budget equipment and took a naturalistic approach to its subjects. This method allows the crew to get a great fly-on-the-wall look at the subjects and their lives. De Palma called Salesman "a great nonfiction movie."

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6 'Café Flesh' (1982)

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Café Flesh is an erotic sci-fi film set in a post-apocalyptic future where most of humanity can no longer have sex. The few that can perform for audiences at a sex club called Café Flesh. Director Stephen Sayadian spins this dark concept into a bizarre, artistic movie that some have interpreted as a satire of 1970s pornography.

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Café Flesh certainly won't appeal to everyone. It's too artsy for exploitation fans and too trashy for arthouse aficionados. But the right viewer might get a kick out of it. Sayadian also wrote the similarly-surreal pornographic film Nightdreams, which weaves in horror and Lynchian hallucinations. De Palma has also described Sayadian's work as a "guilty pleasure."

5 'David Holzman's Diary' (1967)

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David Holzman's Diary is a super-meta, low-budget mockumentary film about a fictional aspiring filmmaker (L.M. Kit Carlson) living on the Upper West Side. After he learns that he will be drafted into the army, Holzman begins filming his everyday life, and the boundaries between art and reality start to crumble.

David Holzman's Diary was the debut film from director Jim McBride, who would go on to direct the American remake of Breathless starring Richard Gere. De Palma was inspired by McBride's guerilla filmmaking. "When I first got my 8mm sound camera, I'd carry it around like David Holzman and try to film everything I did," he has said.

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4 'Point Blank' (1967)

Lee Marvin as Walker holding a gun and looking down at something in the film Point Blank

Point Blank is an early crime film by Deliverance director John Boorman. It stars Lee Marvin and John Vernon as criminals Walker and Reese. The pair steal money from a crew of criminals, but Reese turns on Walker, shooting him and leaving him for dead. Walker sets out to recover his half of the money and get revenge on Reese.

Point Blank has been embraced by several directors. Steven Spielberg and Steven Soderbergh have both cited it as an influence. De Palma has praised Marvin's obsessive, vengeful character, in particular, saying, "He's like The Terminator."

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3 'The Damned' (1969)

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This historical drama from director Luchino Visconti follows the Essenbecks, a wealthy family doing business with the Nazis in 1930s Germany. Family patriarch Joachim (Albrecht Schoenhals) despises Hitler, but his son Martin (Helmut Berger) is eager to work with Germany's future leaders. The plot unfolds against the backdrop of Hitler's rise: the Reichstag fire, the Night of the Long Knives, and the Nazis' consolidation of power.

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The Damned explores the Essenbecks' internal family dramas and secrets and serves as a portrait of the Junker class as the Germany they once knew vanished around them. It's held together by intelligent writing and complex performances from the leads. De Palma said The Damned was "unbelievable."

2 'Ludwig' (1973)

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Another historical story from Visconti, Ludwig is an oftentimes dark biopic that dramatizes the life of the mad king Ludwig II, ruler of Bavaria, a German kingdom, in the late 1800s. Ludwig was famous for his expensive, over-the-top tastes (he liked lavish castles and grand entrances) and for being the patron of the composer Richard Wagner. Visconti's film follows Ludwig's exploits as his country is dragged into the Austro-Prussian War. At the same time, the young king struggles with his secret gender identity as a gay man in a society that forbids it.

Helmut Berger gives an impressive, larger-than-life performance in the title role. De Palma has said that he was fascinated with the character of Ludwig as someone rich and powerful enough to make all their eccentricities come to life. "I’ve always been interested in the characters who create their own reality," he has said.

1 'The Secret Cinema' (1968)

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This short film follows Jane (Amy Vane), a woman whose life is being filmed without her knowledge and screened at a local theater. Her everyday struggles are turned into soap opera fodder. Jane's friends and even her psychiatrist are in on it and delight in watching her life on-screen. Eventually, Jane attends a screening herself and realizes the bizarre truth.

This dark little story is notable for pre-dating The Truman Show by a full 30 years. It explores similar themes around surveillance, privacy, and reality TV (which might explain why De Palma was initially attached to direct Truman Show before Peter Weir signed on). Spielberg was also a fan of Secret Cinema and featured a version of it in his Amazing Stories anthology series. De Palma claims that he was the one who told Spielberg about it.

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