Trailers of new release movies are generally available on the official site links.

IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):

American Animal (2011): Jimmy and James, two twenty-something trust-fund babies, live together in relative luxury, but unbalanced Jimmy becomes increasingly deranged when bookish James explains that he’s decided to grow up and get a job. Over and over, reviewers have used the word “bizarre” to describe it. We prematurely announced this was opening back in March, but this time we really mean it—for New Yorkers, at least. American Animal official site.

Beyond the Black Rainbow (2011): Surrealist sci-fi supposedly in the 2001 vein about a mute woman trying to escape from a mysterious enclave. Despite being handicapped by weirdness, Black Rainbow survived the film festival gauntlet to get an actual theatrical release; we are excited! Debuting this week in Los Angeles and New York City, with scattered showings across the central U.S. to follow. Beyond the Black Rainbow official site.

Elena (2011): Read our capsule review. Distributor Zeitgeist describes this dramatic battle over inheritance of a valuable apartment in Moscow is as a “modern twist on the classic noir thriller.” Playing sporadically across the U.S. over the early summer. Elena US distributor site.

IN DEVELOPMENT:

Farewell to Language [Adieu au Langage]: What may possibly be 82-year old Jean-Luc Godard‘s final movie is reportedly in production. It’s about a husband and wife who no longer speak the same language, and therefore must have their dog translate for them. Oh, and it goes without saying that it’s going to be in 3-D. We really hope this will get the bad taste of Film Socialisme out of our mouths before the Old Wave icon retires for good. Story courtesy of Movieline.

NEW ON DVD:

Being John Malkovich (1999): Read the Certified Weird entry! The Criterion Collection has finally begun stalking the List for new release candidates. Look for a deluxe treatment of Skidoo coming next month. Despite not receiving our finders’ fee, we’re thrilled with this choice. Several of the special features were ported over from the Universal release, but new material includes selected scene commentaries by Michel Gondry, a behind-the-scenes mini-doc, and new interviews with director Spike Jonze and the man everyone wants to be, John Malkovich. Buy Being John Malkovich (Criterion Collection).

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

Being John Malkovich (1999): See description in DVD above. Buy Being John Malkovich [The Criterion Collection Blu-ray].

FREE (LEGITIMATE RELEASE) MOVIES ON YOUTUBE:

The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus (2009): Read our capsule review! This Terry Gilliam fable about an immortal carnival barker’s various bets with the Devil remains a candidate to make the List—this is a good chance for you to watch it and see what you think. Watch The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus free on YouTube.

What are you looking forward to? If you have any weird movie leads that we have overlooked, feel free to leave them in the COMMENTS section.

Trailers of new release movies are generally available on the official site links.

IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):

Meeting Evil: Samuel L. Jackson plays a serial killer who sucks an average white male suburbanite into a “surreal, nightmarish murder spree…” Directed by Chris Fisher… now where have we heard that name before… oh no, that isn’t promising. Meeting Evil official site.

IN DEVELOPMENT:

The Garbage Pail Kids Movie remake: Does this sound like a pitch you would accept if you were a studio head? “Let’s remake a creepy 1987 flop kids movie based on a gross-out novelty card fad that was popular for about three weeks twenty five years ago!” Apparently, if you’re Michael Eisner, you say “yes, please.” Mike, this kind of decision is exactly why you’re the former CEO of Walt Disney. Deadline breaks the story, and not on April 1 (we double checked the date).

Zomboobies! (est. 2013): How to describe this: possibly what would result if Lloyd Kaufman was hired by a Japanese B-movie studio to direct a high concept Lucio-Fulci-meets-Russ-Meyer script? Whatever it is, it already has a website with a NSFW (in this case, “nearly safe for work”) teaser trailer. Zomboobies official site.

NEW ON DVD:

There are no new weird releases on DVD this week. I’m not sure we remember that ever happening before. Nonetheless, the Blu-ray equipped may find something of interest this week (see below).

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

Miramax Triple Feature: eXistenZ (1999)/B. Monkey (1998)/Malevolent (2002): Multi-movie packs are the latest studio gimmick; they can be good deals if you happen to like the movies featured. This particular collection seems fairly random. eXistenZ, David Cronenberg‘s virtual reality thriller, is by far the most interesting title here. B. Monkey (1998) is a neo-noir with Asia Argento as a femme fatale, and the generically-titled Malevolent (2002) is a generic-sounding maverick cop picture with Lou Diamond Phillips. Buy Existenz /B. Monkey /Malevolent [Blu-ray].

“The Tim Burton Collection”: Speaking of multi-movie packs, now this one is a good deal; seven films on Blu-ray for what you expect to pay for two discs, plus a collectible booklet. The set includes all of Burton‘s Warner Brothers output, meaning you get Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, Beetlejuice, Batman, Batman Returns, Mars Attacks!, The Corpse Bride, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. This set is (currently?) exclusive to Amazon.com. Buy “The Tim Burton Collection” [Blu-ray].

The Wizard of Gore (1970)/The Gore-Gore Girls (1972): See what we’re saying? They can’t sell just one movie per disc anymore. This Something Weird double feature lives up to the brand name with two of goremeister Herschell Gordon Lewis‘ weirdest efforts, made in an era when he was trying to reinvigorate his violence formula by adding a dose of surrealism. The Wizard of Gore concerns a grand-guignol stage magician whose illusions become reality after the show is over. The Gore-Gore Girls is about a slasher of strippers, is a comedy, and was Lewis’ final movie for 37 years until he made Blood Feast II: All U Can Eat. Buy The Wizard of Gore/The Gore Gore Girls [Blu-ray].

FREE ONLINE MOVIES:

This is Why Everyone Hates You (2011): This thirty-minute long, self-effacing comedy is a DIY 8 1/2, only with bananas crushed between toes, Spaghetti-O spitting, and a leather slave in a cardboard box. It’s also pretty darn funny. We highlighted the trailer (which you can see here) last week, but since nothing on YouTube caught our fancy this week we thought we’d give you another chance to catch it. Watch This is Why Everyone Hates You free.

What are you looking forward to? If you have any weird movie leads that I have overlooked, feel free to leave them in the COMMENTS section.

Trailers of new release movies are generally available on the official site links.

IN THEATERS (WIDE RELEASE):

The Cabin in the Woods: Five college kids find themselves trapped inside an impossibly clichéd horror movie situation at the titular locale; who is the puppetmaster pulling the strings? We passed on mentioning this big time Hollywood horror release last week as too mainstream, too hiply postmodern, but we’ve since changed our minds and now think this could be worth a bit of your weird attention. The Cabin in the Woods official site.

IN DEVELOPMENT:

Bunnyman 2 [est. 2012]: The sole source of potential weirdness in this one is that the serial killer looks like a (far less terrifying) Ice Cream Bunny with a chainsaw. We confess, we weren’t even aware there was a Bunnyman 1. Here’s a link to the not-safe-for-work (NSFW) trailer: Bunnyman 2 trailer.

Mondo Art [est. 2012]: By coincidence, the day I was writing about “Mondo” movies in the context of Sans Soleil and wondering to myself where the Mondos had gone, I get a notice of a new Mondo in production, this one covering the modern/performance art scene. Fringe movements exploited in the shock-doc include feminazi films, insane asylum art, and an “assault rifle aggression” artist. Another NSFW trailer (this time, for nudity and perversion): Mondo Art trailer.

NEW ON DVD:

“Citizen Welles: The Stranger (1946), The Trial (1962), Hearts of Age (1934)”: Here’s a 2.5 movie set of Orson Welles pictures. The Stranger is a solid, conventional anti-Nazi noir; of more interest (to us) is Welles’ adaptation of Kafka’s The Trial, the story of an average man accused of a crime but never told what he is supposed to be guilty of (this movie is in our reader suggested review queue). Both the feature films were already in print, but what makes this 2-disc set a bit more interesting is the inclusion of “Hearts of Age,” Welles’ rarely seen 8-minute first film, in which a young Orson plays Death and which was actually inspired by Surrealism. Nothing new here, but an interesting collection nonetheless. Buy “Citizen Welles”.

Dirtbags (2009): According to the synopsis, this is a retitled (but identical) re-release of Dirtbags: Evil Never Felt So Good, which itself is supposedly a remake of a probably non-existent movie called Dirtbags: The Armpit of Metal. This “special” edition contains an interview with someone called Peter Steele and behind the scenes footage for extra features totaling about an hour and a half in length. Apparently, the movie is a date-rape comedy. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I’d have a lot more confidence in director Bill Zebub if he’d chosen the more elegant pseudonym Bill Z. Bubb. Buy Dirtbags.

“Eclipse Series 32: Pearls of the Czech New Wave”: Although some of these movies are currently in print from other sources, this 4-disc, 6 movie set from the Criterion Collection’s “Eclipse” line still counts as one of our most anticipated releases of the year. Covering the frequently surreal movies of the Czech New Wave from 1966-1969, the star of the set is the “madcap feminist farce” Daisies (already in our review queue). Also of note is the surreal and notoriously banned Report on the Party and the Guests. Other films are the anthology Pearls of the Deep, the eccentric comedy Capricious Summer, the subversive adultery drama The Joke, and Return of the Prodigal Son, a film about which we know absolutely nothing. This set could potential contain multiple movies that we’ll eventually certify as weird (if they live up to their legendary reputations). Buy “Eclipse Series 32: Pearls of the Czech New Wave”.

Girl on a Motorcycle (1968): Marianne Faithful leaves her newlywed husband, gets on a motorcycle, experiments with psychedelic drugs, and has flashbacks inside of flashbacks. This feminist counterculture road-trip film was billed as the European version of Easy Rider. Buy Girl On a Motorcycle.

“A Hollis Frampton Odyssey”: Another compilation of “not for everyone” experimental films from the 1960s avant-garde, of which the frustratingly ambiguous “Zorns Lemma” (1970) comes closest to being famous. Brilliance, or structuralist wankery? Now you can decide. 2 discs. Buy “A Hollis Frampton Odyssey” (Criterion Collection).

The Theater Bizarre (2011): A six-film horror anthology from directors Douglas Buck, Buddy Giovinazzo, David Gregory, Karim Hussain, Jeremy Kasten, Tom Savini, and Richard Stanley.  Apparently Hussain’s segment is surreal. Like any anthology, we expect this to be of mixed quality—but we like the title. Buy The Theater Bizarre.

Thor at the Bus Stop (2009): Ragnarök has arrived, and the Norse god Thor needs to take public transportation for his date to fight the Midgard serpent; his annoyed actions at a Las Vegas bus stop spark mini-dramas in those standing around him. Zero budget or not, you have to take notice of a concept like that. The DVD had been sold independently, but was picked up by VCI for a proper release. Buy Thor at the Bus Stop.

The Wicker Tree (2010): Two missionaries travel to a remote Scottish town where the villagers still worship the old pagan gods in this re-make/boot/hash of the Certified Weird The Wicker Man (1973).  It’s from original director Robin Hardy and brings back star Christopher Lee for a cameo, but reviewers suggested Hardy should have left the Old Gods sleeping.  We’ll probably check it out anyway: could it be worse than the infamous 2006 remake with Nicolas Cage? Buy The Wicker Tree.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

Girl on a Motorcycle (1968): See description in DVD above. Buy Girl On a Motorcycle [Blu-ray].

“A Hollis Frampton Odyssey”: See description in DVD above. Buy “A Hollis Frampton Odyssey” [Criterion Collection Blu-ray].

The Wicker Tree (2010): See description in DVD above. Buy The Wicker Tree [Blu-ray].

FREE (LEGITIMATE RELEASE) MOVIES ON YOUTUBE:

Stranger Than Fiction (2006): An IRS agent (Will Ferrel) comes to realize that he is actually a character in a novel being written by a creatively-challenged author (Emma Thompson)—and even worse, he figures out that she’s trying to come up with a plot twist to kill him off. This literate comedy-fantasy with a postmodern premise is one of the biggest hits available for free on YouTube, as well as the only movie starring Will Ferrel that critics actually liked. Watch Stranger Than Fiction free on YouTube.

What are you looking forward to? If you have any weird movie leads that I have overlooked, feel free to leave them in the COMMENTS section.

Trailers of new release movies are generally available on the official site links.

FILM FESTIVALS: TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL (New York City, Apr. 18-29)

The Tribeca Film Festival, started by Robert De Niro (and others) in 2002, has quickly become one of the most important US film festivals—although it’s still a distant second to Sundance on the indie scene. This year, they’ve even scored a mainstream coup, hosting the premiere of the summer comic book blockbuster The Avengers (yawn—but in a nice gesture, they’re allocating all the tickets to first responders: police, firefighters and military personnel). We’re more impressed by the fact that Tribeca Film distributed the Certified Weird male-janitor pregnancy comedy The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle (2009); for that, the organization will always hold a special place in our hearts. Here’s a few weird ones to look out for if you’re in NYC this week:

• “Avant-Garde Masters: A Decade of Film Preservation” – A special screening of seven avant-garde short films made between 1950 and 1986, including Kenneth Anger‘s “Rabbit’s Moon.” Screening 4/21.
• Chicken with Plums [Poulet aux prunes] – After his beloved violin is destroyed, a master musician loses the will to live and suffers a series of hallucinations, flashbacks and visitations from Sophia Loren and the Angel of Death. Live action from the makers of Persepolis.  4/22 & 24.
  
• Consuming Spirits – Experimental animation with a story involving three rust belt newspapermen with weird names: Gentian Violet 42, Victor Blue 38, and Earl Gray 64. 4/23-25.
• The Fourth Dimension – Per the festival synopsis, this triptych of short films with temporal themes is “weird, ominous, cool, compelling.” One of the three pieces is the Harmony Korine/Val Kilmer motivational speaker project we mentioned several months ago. 4/24-25, 27.
• Francophrenia (or: Don’t Kill Me, I Know Where the Baby Is) – Psychological thriller (?) constructed from “repurposed” behind-the-scenes footage from James Franco’s recent role as a performance artist on the “General Hospital” soap opera—confused yet? 4/22, 24-25, 28.
• Postcards from the Zoo – Indonesian film about a young woman raised in a magical realist zoo and what happens when she journeys into our drab world. 4/21, 23, 25, 28.
• Rat King – Another European film (see also Poland’s @Suicideroom) about teenagers sucked into a video game reality.

Tribeca Film Festival home page.

IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975): It’s a re-mastered, hi definition version of the ultimate comedy cult classic. If you’ve never heard knights say “Ni!” in remastered stereophonic sound, you’re in for a treat! Also with a 12-minute mystery short subject. Playing in Boston and Detroit next week, with stops in Philadelphia, Washington DC and St. Louis the following week. Oops! We forgot to mention this re-release when it played NYC & Seattle the past two weeks! Monty Python and the Holy Grail announcement from Rainbow Releasing.

NEW ON DVD:

Dead Or Alive 2 (2000): Takashi Miike‘s Dead or Alive (1999) was a Yakuza adventure with an apocalyptically weird ending; this sequel starts where that one ended and is completely surreal from start to finish, with the hitmen spouting wings or changing into children without explanation. There is a Dead or Alive 3 (which takes the series in a science fiction direction); to our knowledge, this is the first time the second film has been released separately in Region 1 (it was previously available as part of Kino’s three-film box set). Buy Dead Or Alive 2.

“Ernie Kovacs: The ABC Specials” (1961): Kovacs, the TV comedian who pioneered both experimental video techniques and absurd humor, may be the strangest funnyman you’ve never heard of. This disc collects five of his final specials for ABC TV, filmed at the height of his comedic powers just before he died in a car accident at the age of 42 on the brink of stardom. (This is a one-disc “best of”-type compilation of Shout! Factory’s 6-disc The Ernie Kovacs Collection, released last year). Buy “Ernie Kovacs: The ABC Specials”.

A Trip to the Moon (1902): A major restoration of the 13 minute A Trip to the Moon, Georges Méliès‘ seminal film fantastique and possibly cinema’s first blockbuster, which restores the original hand-tinted color from a single surviving print discovered in Spain. Featuring a new soundtrack by the electronic band AIR. The package contains a much longer documentary on Trip to round out the running time. This is take two on this release; as we reported in last week’s Weird Horizon, the DVD/Blu ray combo pack was released but almost immediately recalled due to problems with the Blu version.  Hopefully everything is sorted out now. But A Trip to the Moon (Restored) [DVD/Blu-ray combo].

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

A Trip to the Moon (1902): See description in DVD above. But A Trip to the Moon (Restored) [DVD/Blu-ray combo].

FREE (LEGITIMATE RELEASE) MOVIES ON YOUTUBE:

Reefer Madness (1936): From the prologue: “[Marijuana's] first effect is sudden, violent, uncontrollable laughter; then come dangerous hallucinations – space expands – time slows down, almost stands still ….fixed ideas come next, conjuring up monstrous extravagances – followed by emotional disturbances, the total inability to direct thoughts, the loss of all power to resist physical emotions… leading finally to acts of shocking violence… ending often in incurable insanity.” According to the movie, cannabis also makes you want to listen to piano music played really fast. Maybe it’s not what we typically think of as “weird,” but it certainly bears no resemblance to reality.

What are you looking forward to? If you have any weird movie leads that I have overlooked, feel free to leave them in the COMMENTS section.

Trailers of new release movies are generally available on the official site links.

IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):

Detention:  A postmodern, self-aware slasher sci-fi comedy that also parodies 1980s teen movies. Depending on how the idea is handled, this could totally rule, or end up totally gay.

NEW ON DVD:

Hidden (2011): Addictions turned into literal monsters run amok at an experimental clinic. We’re listing this as a possible “so-bad-it’s-weird” candidate. One of the few available reviews is titled “David Cronenberg called, he wants his story back!” Amazon reviewers complain the movie is incomprehensible and the screenwriters are “Alan and Alana Smithy,” so we’re cautiously hopeful. Buy Hidden.

Sleeping Beauty (2011):  From Australia comes this modern folktale that sounds like it has more to do with The House of Sleeping Beauties than with the classic fairy tale.  We like writer/director Julia Leigh’s quote: “I’m interested in Wonder Cinema…” On the other hand, we don’t like some reviewers’ quotes, like David Rooney’s “Soporific in every sense.” Buy Sleeping Beauty.

A Trip to the Moon (1902): A major restoration of the 13 minute A Trip to the Moon, Georges Méliès‘ seminal film fantastique and possibly cinema’s first blockbuster, which restores the original hand-tinted color from a single surviving print discovered in Spain. Featuring a new soundtrack by the electronic band AIR. The package contains a much longer documentary on Trip to round out the running time. This is a DVD/Blu-ray combo set, but if you’re specifically interested in the Blu version, please read the additional notes under “New on Blu-ray” below for details on a minor defect. NOTE: Since composing this entry the set was recalled while Flicker Alley corrects the defect. We leave the link up in case you want to pre-oder (we’ll remind you again next week!) Pre-order A Trip to the Moon (Restored).

The Witches of Oz (2011): A grown up Dorothy Gale discovers that the tales of the wonderful world of Oz she spins into children’s books don’t come from her imagination, but are repressed memories of a real place, and that the Wicked Witch is now coming to New York City to claim a magical artifact in her possession. This aired as a 150 minute miniseries in the UK, then a 110 minute cut very briefly ran in US theaters as a US theatrical release (this release is the complete version). Christopher Lloyd plays the Wizard, and reviews were generally negative. Buy The Witches of Oz.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

A Trip to the Moon (1902): See description in DVD above. Per Flicker Alley, there is an issue with the Blu-ray disc: one of the alternate audio tracks was supposed to feature an orchestral arrangement along with narration written by Méliès, but the narration is missing. The feature works properly on the DVD. New Blu-rays are being remastered and will be replaced in future sets, but if you order and receive one of the defective Blus you can request a free replacement from Flicker Alley’s site. Replacement discs will be available April 19.  Pre-order A Trip to the Moon Restored [Blu-ray].

The Witches of Oz (2011): See description in DVD above. Buy The Witches of Oz [Blu-ray].

FREE (LEGITIMATE RELEASE) MOVIES ON YOUTUBE:

RoboGeisha (2009): Read the reader review. It’s Japanese  splatterpunk about Robo-Geishas: what more do you need to know? Watch RoboGeisha free on YouTube.

What are you looking forward to? If you have any weird movie leads that I have overlooked, feel free to leave them in the COMMENTS section.

Trailers of new release movies are generally available on the official site links.

IN THEATERS (WIDE RELEASE):

The Hunger Games: In the anarchic future, teenagers are sent to battle to the death in a televised tournament. Nope, it’s not a remake of Battle Royale, and with lovely and talented but decidedly conventional Jennifer Lawrence headlining and a tween-friendly PG-13 rating (it’s actually aimed at Twilight fans), we’re declaring it (site unseen) unweird. It’s still noteworthy because of its similarity to the cult Japanese film (which, perhaps not at all coincidentally, is seeing a DVD release this week).  The Hunger Games official site.

IN DEVELOPMENT:

The ABC’s of Death (est. 2012): 26 directors each tell a short story about death based on an assigned letter of the alphabet. Some of the mini-auteurs whose work will be featured include Hélène Cattet and  Bruno Forzani (Amer), Jason Eisener (Hobo With a Shotgun),  Noboru Iguchi (RoboGeisha), Yoshihiro Nishimura (Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl),  Marcel Sarmiento (Deadgirl), Srdjan Spasojevic (A Serbian Film), and Yûdai Yamaguchi (Yakuza Weapon). The letter “T” was reserved for a contest winner. Sponsored by the Alamo Drafthouse, fast becoming the world’s coolest theater (like they weren’t before). The ABCs of Death page at Alamo Drafthouse.

NEW ON DVD:

Battle Royale [Batoru Rowaiaru] (2000): Read our capsule review. In the anarchic future, teenagers are sent to battle to the death in a televised tournament. Nope, it’s not Hunger Games. Buy Battle Royale.

Battle Royale: The Complete Collection: True BR fans with deep pockets will want to buy this 4-disc set, which includes the original theatrical cut, the director’s cut, sequel Battle Royale II, and a disc full of supplemental material. Buy Battle Royale: The Complete Collection.

Clown Hunt (2010): In an alternate universe where men hunt clowns in the wild for sport, a rare albino jester turns the tables and stalks them instead. The tagline says, “Clowns, they’re not just for laughing anymore.” Fellini once said, “Today all is temporary, disordered and grotesque. Who can laugh at clowns anymore?” Buy Clown Hunt.

The Devils (1971): Big, big news—but only for those of you living in Europe. Very loosely based on real-life medieval Satanic hysteria in a French nunnery, Ken Russell‘s The Devils is the most insane, pretentious and hallucinatory nunsploitation arthouse feature ever made.The British Film Institute releases a Region 2 DVD this week, but it is not the uncensored version with a pseudo-sex scene between Christ and a nun and Vanessa Redgrave masturbating with a leg bone. Warner Brothers is hopefully saving that complete cut for spectacular Region 1 release any day now—right? Buy The Devils at BFI.

The Dragon Lives Again [AKA Deadly Hands of Kung Fu] (1977): Bruce Lee goes to Hell where he fights James Bond, Zatoichi and Dracula with the help of Popeye the Sailor Man. The box cover advertises, “the strangest martial arts picture you will ever see,” and while Fantasy Mission Force may have something to say about that, we’re willing to give this semi-legendary flick a chance. Buy The Dragon Lives Again.

General Orders No. 9 (2009): An experimental environmental documentary self-described as “one last trip down the rabbit hole before it gets paved over.”  It appears intended in the spirit of Koyaanisqatsi; the cinematography looks fantastic, and for unknown the movie poster features a rabbit smoking a corncob pipe. Buy General Orders No. 9.

“Lexx”: Complete Season 3 (2000): A campy cult sc-fi series that sometimes gets tagged with the label “surreal.” It concerns a security guard, an assassin, a sex slave and a robot head who pilot a stolen giant insect spaceship through a bizarre universe. Buy “Lexx: Complete Season 3″.

“Lexx”: Complete Season 4 (2001-2002): See above. Buy “Lexx: Complete Season 4″. Seasons 3 & 4 are also available together in one set.

Lovelorn (2010): A brother goes to fight Death in a dreamscape to save his sister who’s in a coma but visiting the afterlife searching for her dead boyfriend… sounds trippy. The bad news is this What Dreams May Come-ish British indie holds a pathetic 3.8 rating on IMDB—but maybe it’s “so-bad-it’s-weird”? Buy Lovelorn.

The Museum of Wonders (2010): This is a modern-day Italian remake of Freaks. No word on whether actual deformities were cast in the main roles (we suspect not). Buy Museum Of Wonders.

Season in Hell: Evil Farmhouse Torture (2012?): A farmer who is actually a cult leader with a gateway to Hell in his basement tortures nude women in what the makers call “a surreal psychedelic homage to the 70′s era of horror films.” The (very R-rated) YouTube trailer brags that it was “BANNED from theatres” (it was BANNED from an IMDB listing, too). Buy Season In Hell: Evil Farmhouse Torture.

This Is Not a Movie (2011): Per the ad copy this is a “surreal, psychedelic, apocalyptic quest” undertaken from inside a Las Vegas hotel room. Not to be confused with This Is Not a Film (2010), the celebrated documentary clandestinely made by Iranian director Jafar Panahi while under house arrest. Buy This Is Not a Movie.

What You Don’t See (2009): A teenage boy still coping with his father’s suicide befriends a strange, free-spirited couple while vacationing with his mother and her new boyfriend on the eerie Brittany Coast. This Teutonic psychological thriller did well overseas but failed to find theatrical distribution in the U.S., so it’s basically unknown here. Buy What You Don’t See.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

Battle Royale [Batoru Rowaiaru] (2000): See description in DVD above. Buy Battle Royale [Blu-ray].

Battle Royale: The Complete Collection: See description in DVD above. Buy Battle Royale: The Complete Collection [Blu-ray].

General Orders No. 9 (2009): See description in DVD above. Buy General Orders No. 9 [Blu-ray]

This Is Not a Movie (2011): See description in DVD above. Buy This Is Not a Movie [Blu-ray].

FREE (LEGITIMATE RELEASE) MOVIES ON YOUTUBE:

Room 6 (2006): A schoolteacher with a fear of hospitals searches for her boyfriend after he’s carted away in an ambulance and finds bizarre medical horrors instead. The user ratings aren’t great, but it’s got lots of hallucinations and hospital-horror completists may want to check it out. Watch Room 6 free on YouTube.

What are you looking forward to? If you have any weird movie leads that I have overlooked, feel free to leave them in the COMMENTS section.

Trailers of new release movies are generally available on the official site links.

IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):

Attenberg (2010): An awkward and alienated young woman who studies humanity through mammal documentaries learns about sex from her only friend. Part of the New Weird Greek cinema, it’s in our reader-suggested review queue; we will be all over this one when it comes out on DVD, if not before. Attenberg official site.

The Ballad Of Genesis And Lady Jaye (2011): Documentary on artist-musician Genesis P-Orridge (of Throbbing Gristle) and the series of cosmetic surgeries he and his lover Lady Jaye undertook to look like each other. A weird guy and a weird subject, for sure. Opening at Chelsea Cinemas in Long Island, new York, future screenings doubtful. The Ballad Of Genesis And Lady Jaye official site.

Dissolution (2010): Set in Israel, based on “Crime and Punishment,” and described in the press release as an “almost surreal fairy-tale.” Why “almost” surreal? That almost scares us off. Dissolution official Facebook page.

Sound of Noise (2010): A music hating cop tries to silence a band of avant-garde percussionists who are planning to stage a performance art symphony in the public spaces of Stockholm in this quirky Swedish satire. It’s won a few awards on the festival circuit and is often described as “absurd.” Sound of Noise official Facebook page.

FILM FESTIVALS: SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST (SXSW) (Austin, TX, Mar. 9-17)

If you can’t get your indie film into Sundance, the massive SXSW festival in Austin, Texas has become your next best bet. Like just about every other major festival, they’ve recently added a “Midnight Movie” category to the lineup. Here’s some of the weirder stuff playing there (some are debuts, some have been seen before):

• Beast – A man’s obsessive love for his pretty but unfaithful wife causes him to physically transform and develop cannibalistic urges in this surreal-sounding Danish drama/horror. Screening Mar. 11-12, 14, 17.
  
• Citadel – An agoraphobic widower is attacked by feral children seeking to take his baby daughter; to stop them he must enter a deserted tenement building nicknamed “The Citadel” with the help of a vigilante priest. In the “Midnighters” category, playing Mar. 11-13 and again on the 15th.
• Girls Against Boys – Psychological thriller about two female bartenders who embark on a killing spree. A midnight feature screening Mar 9-10, 13-14.
• Her Master’s Voice – This strikes us as an odd documentary subject: a British ventriloquist takes the dummy of her dead mentor to “Venthaven,” a “graveyard for puppets of dead ventriloquists” in Kentucky. Mar 11-12, 14.
• Iron Sky – Nazis who fled to the moon are planning an invasion of Earth in 2018. This steampunk spoof has some actual buzz around it. Mar 10-11, 14.
  
• John Dies in the End – Cult director Don Coscarelli adapts a popular webseries about two losers saving the world from a psychedelic drug being used by aliens to take over the planet. A “midnigter” for sure and one of our more anticipated 2012 releases. Mar 12 & 15.
  
• Keyhole – The latest Guy Maddin film (it’s a talkie this time) stars Jason Patric as Ulysses, a gangster on the run, journeying through his labyrinthine house trying to find his wife (Isabella Rossellini). The U.S. premier of this long-awaited (by us) feature. Debuting March 11 with more screenings Mar 14 & 17.
• Nature Calls – A scoutmaster convinces his millionaire brother’s adopted kid to sneak off on a camping trip, prompting dad to go on a woodsy expedition to find him. There’s no reviews or even a trailer for this debuting film from Todd Rohal, but the presence of Patton Oswalt and Johnny Knoxville as the headliners leads us to believe this is a move towards the mainstream from the director who has heretofore specialized in singularly odd comedies. Mar. 11 & 16.
• Pavilion – A 15-year old boy moves to Arizona to live with his father; it’s self-described as “ethereal” and promises an obscure, impressionistic experience of troubled youth. Mar 10, 12, 14.
• V/H/S – A horror anthology wherein burglars are hired to break in to a home to steal a rare VHS tape, but find that every cassette they watch is stranger and more disturbing than the last one. Mar. 11, 13 & 16.
• Wildness – Another one which we can’t quite figure out from the description: it’s about a weekly party at a bar, avant-garde performance artists, transgendered immigrants, and promises a touch of magic realism. Mar. 9, 11, 14 & 15.

SWSX Film Festival official homepage.

NEW ON DVD:

“Classic Monsters Spotlight Collection”: This 4-disc collection of classic Universal horrors (Dracula, Frankenstein, The Bride of Frankenstein, and Creature from the Black Lagoon) was released with little fanfare and no reports on extra features. Bride is our fave (and the weirdest) of this essential set. Buy “Classic Monsters Spotlight Collection”.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

The Little Shop of Horrors (1960): Read our capsule review. The Roger Corman quickie classic about a man-eating plant gets an unlikely Blu-ray release. Includes both the original and the (yeech) colorized version. This downmarket Skid Row tale doesn’t seem like it would benefit from hi-def, so unless you just have to have it in Blu or in color, we’d recommend getting the Trailers From Hell! version instead. Buy The Little Shop Of Horrors [Blu-ray].

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975): This Arthurian spoof with the knights who say “Ni!” and an unexpectedly fragile Black Knight is the masterpiece of pop-absurdist comedy and the holy grail of Monty Python features. This package contains a plethora of extra features, some of which appeared on previous releases and some which are unique to this Blu. Buy Monty Python and the Holy Grail [Blu-ray].

Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957): Dubbed “The Worst Movie Ever Made” by Michael Medved (although it’s nowhere close to the worst),  Ed Wood‘s deliriously and hilariously inept tale of aliens reanimating the dead is absolutely essential viewing for anyone who’s seriously interested in cinema, not just weird movie buffs. Like Little Shop above, however, we’re skeptical that it will benefit from Blu-ray treatment. This release contains the colorized version (why, oh why?), some Ed Wood home movies and commercial demos, and snarky Mike Nelson commentary (the same features are on Legend’s DVD version). Buy Plan 9 From Outer Space [Blu-ray].

The Skin I Live In (2011): Pedro Almodovar’s first venture into horror is the elegantly perverse tale of a deranged plastic surgeon (Antonio Banderas) who invents a synthetic skin, and finds an unexpectedly appropriate subject to test it on. The film is ironic and disturbing but stops just short of “weird”; it’s still a recommended offbeat outing for fans of moral horror. Buy The Skin I Live In (Blu-ray/DVD Combo).

FREE (LEGITIMATE RELEASE) MOVIES ON YOUTUBE:

The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Crazy Mixed-Up Zombies (1964): A layabout greaser (played by director Ray Dennis Steckler under the pseudonym “Cash Flagg”) gets sucked into an incredibly strange plot involving a carnival fortune teller using hypnotism to create zombies. It’s also a musical, of sorts. Our all-time favorite movie title, it gets bonus points for its crazy, pre-psychedelia dream sequence. Future hall of fame cinematographers Laszlo Kovacs (Five Easy Pieces) and Vilmos Zsigmund (Close Encounters of the Third Kind) both worked as assistant cameramen on Creatures. It’s a terribly made movie, and a terribly mad one.

What are you looking forward to? If you have any weird movie leads that I have overlooked, feel free to leave them in the COMMENTS section.

Trailers of new release movies are generally available on the official site links.

IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):

American Animal (2011): Jimmy and James, two twenty-something trust-fund babies, live together in relative luxury, but unbalanced Jimmy becomes increasingly deranged when bookish James explains that he’s decided to grow up and get a job. We didn’t notice this when it played festivals last year, but quotes like the one from Slant’s Kenji Fujishima wondering if he “needed to be stoned in order to fully get on its bizarre wavelength” make us wonder if we missed a weird one. It was picked up for theatrical distribution by Screen Media Films, but we have no idea where this might be playing. American Animal official site.

Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie (2012): Read our capsule review. Tim and Eric’s movie garnered lukewarm reactions (including ours) on its video-on-demand debut, but true fans will want to flock to the theaters to support the cult TV pair—won’t they? Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie official site.

IN DEVELOPMENT:

Frankenweenie (post-production, debuts Oct. 2012): Read our review of the original short. We’ve been burnt too many times hoping for Tim Burton to recapture the magic he once had, so we’re not going to get excited about this stop-motion remake of the short Frankenstein parody that originally got him fired from Disney. Watch the just-released trailer and determine your own level of anticipation.

NEW ON DVD:

The Catechism Cataclysm (2011): Read our capsule review. Star Steve Little won a 2011 Weirdcademy Award for his portrayal of the geeky rock n’ roll priest on a canoe trip. Buy The Catechism Cataclysm.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

Baba Yaga (1973): Read our capsule review. This witchy S&M giallo starring Carroll Baker is an unexpected, but welcome, edition to the Blu-ranks. Buy Baba Yaga [Blu-ray].

FREE WEIRD MOVIES ON THE WEB:

The Humping Pact (2012): We’ll let director Dmitry Paranyushkin describe this one in his own words: ” it’s a meditative contemplation on the persistence in the futile and simultaneous tribute to desolate spaces that have lost their creative potential. And it’s full of multiplied naked men.” He wasn’t kidding about the naked men. Don’t follow this link unless you appreciate the artistic appeal of multiple nude dudes furiously thrusting their pelvises. You’ve been warned. You may also join in the “Humping Pact” at their own website: the makers hope to send naked humping men to various world destinations, and even promise “guest humpers” (Harmony Korine seems the obvious choice). Watch The Humping Pact on Vimeo or get more humping info on humping at humpingpact.com.

What are you looking forward to? If you have any weird movie leads that I have overlooked, feel free to leave them in the COMMENTS section.

Trailers of new release movies are generally available on the official site links.

IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):

DOGGIEWOGGIEZ! POOCHIEWOOCHIEZ! (2012): A found-footage feature film montage from the guys at Everything is Terrible, consisting entirely of clips featuring dogs (more than 2,000 of them, apparently). According to the advertising, it’s also–in some sense we can’t quite wrap our heads around—a remake of The Holy Mountain. Not really appearing in theaters, but rather on tour screening for one night only in various seedy bars and disreputable nightclubs across the US and Canada, through April.  Check the Everything is Terrible website for dates near you, or you can purchase the DVD from them directly.

FILM FESTIVALS: FANTASPORTO (Oporto, Portugal, Feb 24 – Mar 3):

Fantasporto has become one of our favorite film festivals, since three of their grand prize winners (Toto the Hero, Pan’s Labyrinth and Idiots and Angels) have gone on to be Certified Weird (with more to come). With that track record, we consider Fantasporto an excellent predictor of what we’ll be focusing on in the coming months; of all the world’s major festivals, these guys take the offbeat most seriously. Heck, this year’s featured retrospectives are the films of Alain Robbe Grillet, shown alongside the oeuvre of Ed Wood; how much more simpatico with our tastes could they get? Here are some of the flicks we’d make it a point to check out, if we could only get out to Portugal:

• The Bunny Game – B&W experimental shocksploitation about a prostitute named “Bunny” picked up and ritualistically tortured and humiliated but a trucker named “Hog.”
  
• Chinese Take-Away [Un Cuento Chino] – Quirky culture clash dramedy about an irritable Argentinian who reluctantly takes a Chinese immigrant under his wing; features a cow falling from the sky.
• Gandu – The life of a young man who lives with his mother—a kept woman—becomes increasingly hallucinatory as he experiments with drugs, pornography and rap music in an attempt to find meaning in his life. A rare slice of surrealism from the Indian subcontinent, decidedly un-Bollywood.
• Guilty of Romance – Provocateur Shion Sono is back with another might-be-weird transgression: a “true crime” policier that involves three middle-class women playing dangerous sadomasochistic games.
• Keyhole – The latest Guy Maddin film stars Jason Patric as Ulysses, a gangster on the run, journeying through his labyrinthine house trying to find his wife (Isabella Rossellini).
• Kill List – A psychologically scarred hit man agrees to the proverbial “one last mission” and finds it ironically horrifying.
• Meat – Surreal/absurd Dutch black comedy revolving around a perverted butcher.
• The Theater Bizarre -  A six-film horror anthology from directors Douglas Buck, Buddy Giovinazzo, David Gregory, Karim Hussain, Jeremy Kasten, Tom Savini, and Richard Stanley.  Apparently Hussain’s segment is surreal.
• This Must Be the Place – Here’s a truly odd premise for a comedy: a retired goth-rock star hunts the Nazi who persecuted his father at Auschwitz.  Starring Sean Penn, of all people, as the laconic, androgynous angel of vengeance.
• Zombie Ass: Toilet of the Dead – We’d probably skip this scatological zom-com, except that, since it’s from the director of The Machine Girl and RoboGeisha, our readers would demand we report on it.
  

NEW ON DVD:

Bad Actress (2011): Black satire about a has-been TV actress who finds that personal tragedy leads to career success. It took director Robert Lee King a dozen years to make this follow-up to his minor cult hit Psycho Beach Party. Buy Bad Actress.

Blank City (2011):  Documentary on the “no wave” Super-8 experimental film movement in New York City in the late 1970s/early 1980s exemplified by Nick Zedd, Richard Kern, Lydia Lunch, etc., along with a couple of characters who emerged from the underground into the (relative) mainstream: Jim Jarmusch and Steve Buscemi.  With lots of archival footage and the inevitable commentary from John Waters. Buy Blank City.

Track 29 (1988): A woman whose husband is obsessed with model trains starts a relationship with hitchhiker claiming to be her long-lost son. Image Entertainment quietly re-releases this Nicolas Roeg surrealist flop: the star power of Teresa Russell, Christopher Lloyd and a young Gary Oldman couldn’t help something this weird thrive at the box office. Buy Track 29.

Where The Dead Go To Die (2012): A talking dog takes neighborhood children on what’s described as a “surreal hell-ride.”  The box cover is surreally appealing, but we have our doubts about any film released by a director working under a ridiculous pseudonym (Jimmy ScreamerClauz?), and Unearthed Films does not exactly have the greatest track record (can we forgive them for Slaughtered Vomit Dolls yet)? Buy Where The Dead Go To Die.

World on a Wire (1973): Originally made for German television, this dystopian Rainer Werner Fassbinder story scooped the virtual reality storyline more than twenty-five years before The Matrix.  According to the press release, it’s a “satiric and surreal look at the weird world of tomorrow from one of cinema’s kinkiest geniuses.” A Criterion release. Buy World on a Wire (Criterion Collection).

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

Alien vs. Ninja (2012): Read our capsule review. A silly but entertaining little B-movie that delivers exactly what the title promises. This is a DVD/Blu-ray combo pack. Buy Alien vs. Ninja [Blu-ray/DVD Combo].

Blank City (2011): See description in DVD above. It’s a bit strange to consider a hi-def release detailing a movement with such lo-fi aspirations. Buy Blank City [Blu-ray].

Where The Dead Go To Die (2012): See description in DVD above. Buy Where The Dead Go To Die [Blu-ray].

World on a Wire (1973): See description in DVD above. Buy World on a Wire (Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray].

FREE ONLINE WEIRD MOVIES:

Race War: The Remake (2011): Read our capsule review. DWN productions, known more as mask-makers than filmmakers, are offering their politically incorrect Tromaesque blaxploitation comedy as a free download. Buy a DVD (or one of their masks) if you like it, won’t you? Download Race War: The Remake free from DWN productions.

What are you looking forward to? If you have any weird movie leads that I have overlooked, feel free to leave them in the COMMENTS section.

Trailers of new release movies are generally available on the official site links.

IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):

Father’s Day (2011):  Read our capsule review! From Canadian pranksters Astron-6, this is the first Troma release we’ve actually been looking forward to in some time. Opening in NYC with dates to follow throughout the US and Canada (and one in the Czech Republic) through May. If you’re interested in seeing it on the big screen then check the release schedule at Father’s Day official site.

The Turin Horse (2011): There’s little that’s truly strange out there in theaters right now, so we thought we’d take this opportunity to mention the latest (and final?) film from sometime weird director Béla (Werckmeister Harmonies) Tarr.  It concerns the fate of the beaten horse philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche hugged on the day he went insane, and by all accounts the pacing makes Tarkovsky look like Steven Spielberg.  Playing for a week at the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center in New York city, then screening across the USA at museums and other specialty venues throughout the spring. The Turin Horse official site.

IN DEVELOPMENT:

Thunder-Sky (2012): Our own Alfred Eaker has completed his latest film: a documentary about Raymond Thunder-Sky, the autistic son of a Mohawk chieftain who dressed up as a clown and went out to paint construction sites in the streets of Cincinnati.  Limited screenings begin in March.  No official site but you can get more info at Eaker Productions Facebook Page.

NEW ON DVD:

Horror Classics: House on Haunted Hill (1959)/Little Shop of Horrors (1960)/Carnival of Souls (1962)/I Bury the Living (1958): It’s a slow week for new releases, so we’ll mention this public domain collection that includes two films of interest: Roger Corman‘s oddball carnivorous plant comedy Little Shop of Horrors (read our review) and the microbudget creepfest Carnival of Souls (read the Certified Weird entry). Buy Horror Classics 4-pack (House on Haunted Hill/Little Shop of Horrors/Carnival of Souls/I Bury the Living).

Yakuza Weapon (2011): A yakuza hit man is blown to bits and then rebuilt with a retractable Gatling gun arm, rifle in the kneecap, etc.  Co-directed by the auteur behind Meatball Machine and from the studio who brought you Alien vs. Ninja; if you’ve been paying attention to the Japanese splatterpunk movement, you know what to expect here. Buy Yakuza Weapon.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

La Jetée (1962)/Sans Soleil (1983): Chris Marker is one of the most influential filmmakers whose name you’ve never heard.  The influential science fictioner La Jetée was a mindbending tale of time travel (only 28 minutes long and composed mostly of stills with narration, it was remade at feature length by Terry Gilliam as 12 Monkeys).  Sans Soleil is a highly decorated experimental documentary/travelogue that focuses on odd world customs (sort of like an intellectual, less exploitative version of Mondo Cane).  Criterion’s Blu-ray upgrade adds a few minor featurettes not on the DVD release, including a clip from a David Bowie video inspired by La Jetée. Buy La Jetée / Sans Soleil (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray].

Yakuza Weapon (2011): See description in DVD above. This is a two disc DVD/Blu-ray combo. Buy Yakuza Weapon [Blu-ray/DVD Combo].

FREE (LEGITIMATE RELEASE) MOVIES ON YOUTUBE:

Alice in Wonderland (1915): If (like us) you’ve became jaded to Wonderlands due to overexposure, here’s a new one: a 1915 silent version with actors (some very short ones) in fuzzy animal suits. This is not quite the earliest Alice adaptation (there was a 1903 short treatment), but it’s close enough.

What are you looking forward to? If you have any weird movie leads that I have overlooked, feel free to leave them in the COMMENTS section.