Cliff Robertson, Genevieve Bujold & John Lithgow in Obsession (1976)

Obscurity factor: 6

Hitchcock was, reportedly, furious when this film was released. It does bear a striking resemblance to Vertigo, but there are unique twists and turns that make it quite different, and, ultimately a great deal more shocking. Michael Courtland (Cliff Robertson) is a New Orleans businessman preparing for a big project. He and his wife Elizabeth (Genevieve Bujold) are hosting a party to celebrate it. After the party Elizabeth and their daughter are kidnapped and held for ransom. In a botched attempt to get them back they're lost in an automobile accident. Jump ahead 15 years and Michael hasn't gotten over the loss. He's built an enormous monument to his family on the highly prized plot of land he and his partner (John Lithgow) were planning to build a development on and still lives alone (save for a housekeeper that's been in the family for years) in the big house he shared with his wife and daughter. A business venture offers an opportunity to go to Rome, and his partner convinces him to go. While there he meets Sandra (also Bujold), who is the spitting image of his dead wife. He becomes completely obsessed with the young girl, but surprises await him when he brings her home to New Orleans.

This stylish thriller, directed by Brian De Palma, has all the twists and turns you'd expect in an homage to Hitchcock and is beautifully shot on location in New Orleans and Rome by Vilmos Zsigmond.

Obsession was released on DVD in 2001, but is currently out of print, so it's a bit pricey at Amazon. You can, however watch it as an On Demand title there. The trailer is above, uploaded to YouTube by liuczek. The poster is available at MoviePoster.com.

Obscurity factor: 6 (available on DVD, known to De Palma buffs)

Genevieve Bujold & Michael Douglas in Coma 1978

My first experience of this film was seeing the best selling Michael Crichton novel in the thrift shops I haunted as a teenager. Because of the success of the book, it was pretty ubiquitous. The image of the body suspended by wires on the cover was creepy, but it was the kind of creepy you couldn't turn away from.

 

The success of the book pretty much guaranteed there would be a film, and a film there was. It was released in 1978 and was a Michael Crichton project from start to finish - novel, screenplay, and direction. Susan Wheeler (Bujold) is a doctor at the prestigious Boston Memorial Hospital. When a good friend (Lois Chiles) comes in for a routine procedure and ends up in a coma she's devastated and wants to know why. As she starts looking into it she finds that a lot of operations on young, healthy people end up with the patient in a coma. Is this just coincidence or is there something more sinister a foot? Her investigations lead her into the dark heart of a conspiracy and very real danger, but even her Doctor boyfriend (Douglas) has trouble believing her.  Look for Richard Widmark as the head of surgery at the hospital and Tom Selleck in a small role as a patient. In an interesting side note, the executive producer of the film is Martin Erlichman, Barbra Streisand's manager.

This film was a big hit when it was released and there's a lot of media of it out there - it's on DVD, VHS, laser disc... the soundtrack is even available. That being said, it sort of flies under the radar. It's infrequently screened on TV, and is rarely talked about. Still, it's remembered by many as a favorite. The trailer is above, uploaded to YouTube by augustotrek. The poster above is available on MoviePosterShop.com

Obscurity factor: 2 (easily found on many types of media, rarely screened or discussed)