Nicolas Winding Refn’s Favorite Films: 37 Movies the Director Wants You to See

“Alien” (1979)

Ridley Scott’s science-fiction horror masterpiece “Alien” is a favorite of many of the best directors working today, including Christopher Nolan, and Nicolas Winding Refn is no exception. “It’s the ultimate example of how a B-movie concept in the hands of a great Hollywood director equals a blockbuster masterpiece,” Refn told MovieMaker magazine about the film. The movie not only made Ridley Scott a Hollywood favorite, but it turned actress Sigourney Weaver into a bonafide film icon. 

“The Battle of Algiers” (1966)

Refn cites Gillo Pontecorvo’s historical war drama “The Battle of Algiers” as being one of the main sources of inspiration behind his decision to become a filmmaker, so much so that he used “Algiers” as a reference point for his feature filmmaking debut. As Refn told Criterion, “I was twenty-four years old when I made my first film, ‘Pusher’ (about the Danish drug underworld), and for it I stole everything I could, both visually and technically, from this film and ‘Cannibal Holocaust.'”

“Beauty and the Beast” (1946)

Just like fellow filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, Nicolas Winding Refn picked Jean Cocteau’s 1946 “Beauty and the Beast” adaptation as one of his favorite movies during an interview with the Criterion Collection. Refn pointed to Criterion’s own praise of the film, which reads: “The film is a landmark of motion picture fantasy, with unforgettably romantic performances by Jean Marais and Josette Day. The spectacular visions of enchantment, desire, and death in the film have become timeless icons of cinematic wonder.”

“Branded to Kill” (1967)

Seijun Suzuki is one of Nicolas Winding Refn’s favorite directors and he chose “Branded to Kill” as a personal highlight in an interview with the Criterion Collection. The official Criterion synopsis reads: “‘Branded to Kill’ tells the ecstatically bent story of a yakuza assassin with a fetish for sniffing steamed rice (the chipmunk-cheeked superstar Joe Shishido) who botches a job and ends up a target himself. This is Suzuki at his most extreme — the flabbergasting pinnacle of his sixties pop-art aesthetic.”

“The Burning Hell” (1975)

In selecting Ron Ormond’s “The Burning Hell” to stream on his website byNWR.com, Nicolas Winding Refn wrote the film is “so aggressive in selling you the Bible, it’s practically an attack on your senses.” The movie centers around the debate between a radical preacher and two Christians who don’t believe in hell. “Yes, it’s laughable, maybe even terrible, but this only serves to make it more unique,” Refn writes about “The Burning Hell.” “It’s almost an installation art piece. And some might consider the star of the show, Reverend Estus Pirkle, to be a bit of a Trump precursor.”

“Cannibal Holocaust” (1980)

Ruggero Deodato’s Italian cannibal horror film “Cannibal Holocaust” was named one of the most fucked-up movies ever made by Nicolas Winding Refn in an interview with Dazed magazine. “It’s just so vile and relentless and unpleasant to sit through,” the filmmaker said. “It’s just too tough for me. I appreciate its qualities, but it’s so relentless. The idea is very interesting: examining oneself through depravity, and at the same time for the exploit of pure entertainment and financial gain, yet claiming a hidden message. Once you see that movie, you’ll never forget it.”

“Cloverfield” (2008)

Believe it or not, but Refn told MUBI that Matt Reeves’ found footage thriller “Cloverfield” is one of the films that inspires him most. The film stars Michael Stahl-David, Odette Yustman, T.J. Miller, Jessica Lucas, Lizzy Caplan, and Mike Vogel as friends who struggle to survive after a giant monster lands in New York City and causes citywide destruction. The film was a huge financial success for Paramount Pictures, grossing $170 million worldwide on a $20 million production budget and launching a franchise that would spawn two sequels: “10 Cloverfield Lane” and “The Cloverfield Paradox.”

“The Curse of Frankenstein” (1957)

When it comes to the Frankenstein story, Nicolas Winding Refn simply can’t get enough. Terence Fisher’s 1957 British horror film is one of several adaptations of Mary Shelley’s legendary horror novel that Refn considers one of his favorite movies. The film, famously starring Peter Cushing as the title character and Christopher Lee as the monster, was such a financial success for Warner Bros. that it spawned a movie monster resurgence. Universal Pictures released “Dracula” the following year and “The Mummy” in 1959. Refn picked “The Curse of Frankenstein” as one of his main sources of inspiration in an interview with MUBI.

“Flesh For Frankenstein” (1973)

Refn told the Criterion Collection that Paul Morrissey’s horror film “Flesh For Frankenstein” is “the only film I’ve ever wished that I had made.” The Criterion synopsis reads: “Maverick filmmaker Paul Morrissey’s ‘Flesh for Frankenstein’ reevaluates the horror film, infusing it with satiric wit and sexuality. Morrissey’s tale of the mad Baron Frankenstein and his perverse creative urges was heavily edited upon initial release.”

“Hot Thrills and Warm Chills” (1967)

Refn once said that Dale Berry’s “Hot Thrills and Warm Chills,” is an example “for the argument that art doesn’t have to contain a single drop of good taste.” The movie was chosen to stream on Refn’s byNWR.com website. Berry’s film centers around three women who meet at a motel to plan a heist after many years of not seeing each other. “My fetish for Berry is so great that I not only bought all of his films, I bought all of his clothes,” Refn says. “Low-budget regional cinema fascinates me. These were movies made by people who had no ideas of what a film was supposed to be, and feel more as if they were made for the people at the bar on the corner or the cafeteria down the street than for Americans at large.”

“The Holy Mountain” (1973)

Alejandro Jodorowsky’s “The Holy Mountain” is a surrealist fantasy movie about an alchemist leading a group of people on a quest to reach enlightenment. “It’s a true experience,” Refn told Dazed about the movie. “It’s interesting and there’s nothing quite like it. I’m very good friends with Alejandro. During ‘The Neon Demon,’ we had a tarot reading every weekend. I really like him. I think ‘The Holy Mountain’ is one of those examples that transcends beyond being just a film. ‘El Topo’ and ‘The Holy Mountain’ — I like everything about them.”

“King Kong” (1933)

Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack’s iconic adventure film “King Kong” revolutionized giant monsters on film. In a 2015 interview with The Dissolve, Refn said he watched the film when he was five, and called it a formative experience for him as an artist.  

“The first time I saw it was on television in Copenhagen, and I remember I cried when the ape died,” Refn told The Dissolve. “But it introduced a great world of the fantastique to me. My first exposure was very much fantasy filmmaking, and I guess that’s what I do.” —WC

“Kwaidan” (1965)

Masaki Kobayashi’s four-part anthology film “Kwaidan” is one of the most beloved Japanese horror movies ever made. The movie won the Special Jury Prize at the 1965 Cannes Film Festival and went on to earn an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. Each entry in the film deals with themes of the supernatural. Refn told MovieMaker magazine “Kwaidan” was one of his favorite horror movies ever made, adding “When it comes to ghost stories, no one does it better than the Japanese.”

“La Dolce Vita” (1960)

Nicolas Winding Refn told MUBI that Federico Fellini’s 1960 masterpiece “La Dolce Vita” was one of a select group of films that most inspired his career as a director. The film, starring Marcello Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg, famously won the Palme d’Or at the 1960 Cannes Film Festival. Fellini’s muse Mastroianni stars as a philandering journalist who has a series of episodic adventures while spending a week in Rome.

“Mean Streets” (1973)

Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, and Harvey Keitel all shot to fame in 1973 off the strength of “Mean Streets,” Scorsese’s hectic crime thriller about two small-time Little Italy crooks in over-their-heads with a vicious loan shark. Speaking to The Dissolve, Refn said he watched the film when he was around 10 years old, and it had a major influence on his understanding of filmmaking. 

“I still remember to this day the scene where Robert De Niro steps into the club in slow motion and Martin Scorsese put on ‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash,'” Refn said. “The cutting was just like, wow. I was like, ‘That is what music and images can do, and they don’t have to say anything. That is cinema.'” —WC

“My Life as a Dog” (1985)

No one would describe Nicolas Winding Refn as a sentimental filmmaker, but that doesn’t mean he can’t have a soft spot for overtly sentimental cinema. The director told the Criterion Collection that Lasse Hallström’s “My Life as a Dog” is one of his favorite films. “I saw this film with my mother when I was very young,” Refn said. “It’s the only movie aside from ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ during which I’ve cried because I was happy.”

“Liquid Sky” (1982)

Slava Tsukerman’s “Liquid Sky” was hailed by Refn as “a great science-fiction movie” in an interview with Dazed magazine. The movie follows a group of aliens who come to New York City looking for heroin and find themselves thrust into the city’s club scene. “I think it’s probably the best movie about the New York club scene. It really accurately portrays that period,” Refn said. “It’s just very authentic, as it was shot in that area and that time. It’s very counterculture, in that sense, and that’s so great.”

“Man on Fire” (2004)

“The movie ‘Man on Fire’ is really good, and I like Tony Scott a lot,” Refn told Dazed magazine about the 2004 thriller starring Deznel Washington and the second film adaptation of A. J. Quinnell’s 1980 novel of the same name. “I think I saw it on television. He’s very good in it, Denzel Washington. That was very funky. It’s grotesque. It celebrates revenge as pure pornography. I’ve seen a lot of crazy things in movies. But crazy is interesting.”

“The Nest of the Cuckoo Birds” (1965)

Bert Williams’ “The Nest of the Cuckoo Birds” was one of the first movies Refn picked to stream for free on his personal website byNWR.com. Williams stars in the movie as an agent for the Liquor Control Department who escapes from a band of moonshiners by hiding out at a reclusive inn and investigating the identity of a secret killer. Refn is obsessed with the film’s blend of “horror, sex, and melodrama.” The director writes the film is a “strange, singular example of an unidentifiable genre.” 

“The Night of the Hunter” (1955)

Refn told the Criterion Collection that Charles Laughton’s 1955 thriller “The Night of the Hunter” is “a perfect example of the strength of cinema, in which an image can say a thousand words, whereas in literature a word cannot show a thousand images.” The Criterion synopsis reads: “A horror movie with qualities of a Grimm fairy tale, it stars a sublimely sinister Robert Mitchum as a traveling preacher named Harry Powell (he of the tattooed knuckles), whose nefarious motives for marrying a fragile widow, played by Shelley Winters, are uncovered by her terrified young children.”

“Night of the Living Dead” (1968)

“Sometimes the first of a genre ends up being the best,” Refn told MovieMaker magazine about George A. Romero’s 1968 horror classic. The movie introduced the cinematic zombie as moviegoers know it today and ended up being outrageously profitable by grossing $30 million worldwide on a $114,000 production budget. “Night of the Living Dead” spawned five sequels and made Romero an icon of the horror genre.

“Night Tide” (1961)

Refn selected Curtis Harrington’s thriller “Night Tide” as one of the first movies to stream on his curated film website byNWR.com. The film stars Dennis Hopper as a young sailor who falls for a woman he comes to suspect is a real mermaid with sinister intentions. Refn calls the thriller “one of the most important films of the pre-counterculture movement. It reminds me of a Hans Christian Andersen fairytale. It’s almost naively adolescent in its expression of falling in love, being obsessed with something delicate and fragile.”

“Peeping Tom” (1960)

Michael Powell’s disturbing psychological thriller “Peeping Tom” stars Carl Boehm as a serial killer who murders women while using a film camera to record their dying expressions. Refn told Dazed magazine he loved the movie while also calling it one of the most disturbing of all time. “Part of it was actually shot on that street (by Soho Hotel) down there,” Refn said. “It’s kind of an interesting anecdote of what can happen to a filmmaker if you make something as powerful as that (director Michael Powell’s career never really recovered from the controversy the film generated on its release), and how ahead of his time he was. Was it an influence? Probably. I don’t have specific people; I like all kinds of things.”

“Performance” (1970)

“’Performance’ is pretty wacky,” Refn said to Dazed when citing Nicolas Roeg and Donald Cammell’s crime drama as one of the most disturbing movies ever made. “It’s very counterculture and it’s an interesting mix of so many elements. I really remember the whole gangster scene — it’s pretty outrageous. In my opinion, I don’t think art can go too far. Any evolution of creativity is always pushing the boundary of anything. If somebody wanted an experience, I would highly recommend watching these films.”

“Planet of the Vampires” (1965)

Nicolas Winding Refn loves Italian director Mario Bava’s 1965 horror movie “Planet of the Vampires” so much that he introduced a special screening of the film at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. “It is a truly great film,” Refn told the Cannes audience. “It’s melodramatic; it’s operatic; it’s campy; has great music; leather costumes; spaceships; it has really wacky dialogue in Italian that does not make any sense.” Refn claims that Ridley Scott’s stole from “Planet” to make “Alien,” another Refn favorite (see above).

“I mean this with the highest respect,” Refn added. “I think it’s wonderful: everyone steals from everyone. And with ‘Alien,’ which is another masterpiece, it defined genre movies as having a very high artistic standard. But the irony is that it all comes back to this Italian movie that I don’t think has gotten the recognition it deserved.”

“Pretty Woman” (1990)

“It’s one of the greatest tricks Hollywood ever played,” Refn told Dazed magazine about Garry Marshall’s iconic romantic comedy, starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere. “Because morally, it’s completely bankrupt. Think about the storyline. It’s a great film, but it’s so morally disgusting and it’s sold as the greatest fairytale of them all. Is it connected with ‘The Neon Demon’? Oh yeah, very much. It’s the illusion of a world that is all make-believe. It aspires to our imagination. Just think what it’s about. It’s sexually warped.”

“Scorpio Rising” (1963)

Kenneth Anger’s experimental short “Scorpio Rising” from 1963 “is pretty funky,” Refn told Dazed magazine. “It’s a very inspiring film that’s all about fetish. How it uses music and has that whole fantasy world, it’s probably the best example of modern cinema, even though it was made in the 60s. I’m not a film analyst, but most of the things we do nowadays, also in advertising, lead back to Kenneth Anger’s work.”

“The Silence of the Sea” (1949)

Jean-Pierre Melville’s “The Silence of the Sea” was chosen by Refn as a leading source of inspiration for his career in an interview with MUBI. The drama is set during the German occupation of France and centers around the tense relationship that forms between a German lieutenant (played by Howard Vernon) and a Frenchman (Jean-Marie Robain) and his niece (Nicole Stéphane). 

“Sixteen Candles” (1984)

In an interview with GQ magazine before the release of his Cannes-winning drama “Drive,” Nicolas Winding Refn cited his love of John Hughes’ classic teen romance “Sixteen Candles” as being a big influence on his first collaboration with Ryan Gosling. “I grew up in the ’80s and John Hughes was the filmmaker making serious movies for teenagers. ‘Sixteen Candles’ was my first introduction to love in cinema, like pure, childish love. The first half [of ‘Drive’] was very much inspired by that emotion of the simplicity of love, the romanticism of love, the idea of love. They’re so pure and playful with each other, and it’s never complicated. It’s never messy, you know?”

“Sweet Smell of Success” (1957)

“In its perfect combination of directing, writing, cinematography, music, sound, and acting, this film is pure cinema,” Refn told the Criterion Collection about Alexander Mackendrick’s “Sweet Smell of Success.” Despite being a box office bomb at the time of release, “Sweet Smell of Success” is now often cited as one of the best movies ever made during the film noir golden age. The film stars Burt Lancaster as an unethical Broadway columnist hellbent on ensuring his sister does not have a romantic relationship with a jazz musician.

“The Shining” (1980)

“Seeing ‘The Shining’ is like watching a painting of pure terror,” Nicolas Winding Refn told MovieMaker magazine about Stanley Kubrick’s horror masterpiece, a favorite among other directors such as Martin Scorsese, Guillermo del Toro, and Alfonso Cuarón. “It has no purpose, sexuality, or function other than to completely terrorize you.” 

“Suspiria” (1977)

Dario Argento’s 1977 Italian supernatural horror film “Suspiria” was named by Refn as one of his biggest influences in a curated streaming list for MUBI. The director would go on to tell MovieMaker magazine that “Suspiria” is “the ultimate cocaine movie.” Jessica Harper stars as an American dance student who heads to Germany to attend a prestigious dance academy only to discover the professors belong to a coven of witches.

“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (1974)

Tobe Hooper’s iconic horror film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” isn’t just one of Nicolas Winding Refn’s favorite scary movies, it’s one of his all-time favorites period. “’The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, is, of course, an incredible film,” Refn told Dazed magazine. “More than anything else, it’s like an installation movie. It’s disguised as a horror film, disguised as an exploitation movie, disguised as pure ‘made for profit’, but it’s actually a very singular, non-sexual work of art.”

“Tokyo Drifter” (1966)

Refn told the Criterion Collection that Seijun Suzuki’s 1966 yakuza masterpiece “Tokyo Drifter” was one of his favorite films of all time. The filmmaker raved, “Unique, brilliant, fantastic! I love this movie!” Criterion’s official synopsis reads, “In this jazzy gangster film, reformed killer Tetsu’s attempt to go straight is thwarted when his former cohorts call him back to Tokyo to help battle a rival gang. Director Seijun Suzuki’s onslaught of stylized violence and trippy colors is equal parts Russ Meyer, Samuel Fuller, and Nagisa Oshima — an anything-goes, in-your-face rampage.”

“To Die For” (1995) 

Gus Van Sant’s black comedy “To Die For” was singled out by Refn as a major source of inspiration on his career in an interview with MUBI. The film is presented as a mockumentary and features an early leading role from Nicole Kidman that made her a breakout talent in America. Kidman stars as an aspiring television personality whose career obsessions lead her to film a documentary on two teenagers (Joaquin Phoenix and Casey Affleck) — she seduces Phoenix’s character and then gets them to murder her husband (Matt Dillon). Kidman was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Actress for her performance, and she won a Golden Globe Award.

“Vampyr” (1932)

“‘Vampyr’ has always reminded me of a mysterious dream I once had when I was very little,” Refn told the Criterion Collection about Carl Theodor Dreyer’s 1932 horror film, which just so happens to be a personal favorite of Guillermo del Toro’s as well. “The film has always stayed with me. I watch it before I make every film, and yet it still remains a mystery to me.”

“Videodrome” (1983)

“All I can say is that I love, love, love this film for its insanity and apocalyptic view of the digital revolution,” Refn told MovieMaker magazine about David Cronenberg’s 1983 body horror classic. “And with a last line like ‘Long live the new flesh,’ it’s pure poetry.”

James Woods stars as the president of a Toronto, Canada television station who becomes convinced that a new show called “Videodrome” can revitalize the company. The show is a body horror program within Cronenberg’s body horror movie, centered around the brutal torture and murder of random victims inside a red room.