Our weekly look at what’s weird in theaters, on hot-off-the-presses DVDs, and on more distant horizons…
Trailers of new release movies are generally available on the official site links.
IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):
Blancanieves (2012): This modern silent film retells the story of Snow White, set in the world of Spanish bullfighting in the 1920s. It looks closer to The Artist than to Guy Maddin, but we’d be thrilled if the powers that be release just one silent film per year. Blancanieves official site.
Los Chidos (2012): A gringo interrupts the strange and lazy days of a taco-gorging Mexican family when he’s forced to stay with them after his car breaks down near their hovel. This attack on Mexican macho culture (directed by a Hispanic man, thankfully) includes cross-dressing, gross-out shock scenes with feces and menstrual blood, and alienation techniques (male voices dubbed for female characters and vice versa). Playing LA at the Downtown Independent Cinema for one week, and also screening at the Boston Underground Film Festival Sunday, Mar. 31 at 2:15. Los Chidos Facebook page.
Mental (2012): This Australian black comedy/satire involves a politician who hires a crack-smoking hitchhiker to play nanny to his five teenaged daughters, each of whom believes she suffers from a mental illness. We would have passed over mentioning this one if not for some reviewers declaring it “surreal, uncontrolled, frenzied,” “bewilderingly strange,” and “just plain nuts.” Mental official site.
Room 237 (2012): Read our capsule review. This survey of conspiracy-minded fans bizarre interpretations of The Shining (e.g., the movie was Stanley Kubrick‘s coded confession that he faked the moon landing) serves as both a testament to the power of film to fire the imagination and a warning about how personal obsessions can transform a work of art into something unrecognizable to others. It’s simultaneously available to view on demand
Wrong (2012): A man looking for his lost dog encounters bizarre characters and risks losing his sanity. This is director Quentin Dupieux’s followup to his weird hit Rubber, and per the official synopsis this one is “equally bizarre.” This one is also available for on demand
IN DEVELOPMENT:
The Young and Prodigious Spivet (est. 2013): A 12-year old child prodigy with a bizarre family hitchhikes across the U.S. to accept an award for discovering a perpetual motion machine. Adapted from a popular novel by the always-interesting Jean-Pierre Jeunet, with weird stalwarts Helena Bonham Carter, Judy Davis, and (obviously) Dominique Pinon gracing the cast. In 3D (sadly). No official site yet, but here’s an article from firstshowing.net.
NEW ON DVD:
Alois Nebel (2011): A rotoscoped Czech film noir about a mysterious visitor who visits a disturbed train dispatcher to unearth guilty Cold War secrets. The New Wave is long gone, but the tiny Czech film industry continues to innovate and astound. Buy Alois Nebel
The Death Wheelers [AKA Psychomania] (1973): Bullfrog-worshiping bikers kill themselves so they can come back as living-dead cyclists. Re-releasing old movies with new (or at least unfamiliar) titles is a time-honored exploitation movie trick, and aptly named bargain-distributor “Cheezy Flicks” isn’t above resorting to it—this film is better known as Psychomania. True fans may want to search for Severin Films restored release, but this one will be a few dollars cheaper. Buy The Death Wheelers [Psychomania]
From Beyond (1986): See description in Blu-ray below.
“Mystery Science Theater 3000: Vol. 26”: Have 26 volumes of this seminal bad-movie mocking series already been released? We say keep ’em coming ’till there’s nothing left in the vaults! This set brings us comic deconstructions of Bert I. Gordon’s technicolor fantasy The Magic Sword, surprising proof that Kathy Ireland can’t act thanks to the misfire comedy Alien from L.A., the dangerous death rays of Danger! Death Ray, and the unexpected appearance of Minnesota Vikings running back Robert Smith (the series’ only guest star) in The Mole People. Buy “Mystery Science Theater 3000: Vol. XXVI”
Phantasm II (1988): The direct sequel to the Certified Weird Phantasm (1979) has a grown-up Mike still haunted by the Tall Man. This sequel was a little more conventionalized than the seat-of-the-pants surrealism of the original. Shout! Factory gives it “Collector’s Edition” treatment with lots of extras. Buy Phantasm II
NEW ON BLU-RAY:
Dead Sushi (2012): Noboru Iguchi (The Machine Girl, RoboGeisha) makes 3-4 absurd, gory horror comedies per year. This one involves killer sushi (not “really good” sushi, but sushi that must be kickboxed into submission to keep it from eating you). Buy Dead Sushi [Blu-ray]
From Beyond (1986): Director Stuart Gordon followed up his cult smash Re-Animator (1985) with another adaptation of an H.P. Lovecraft story with much of the same cast as his first hit. This “Collectors Edition” is only available as a DVD/Blu-ray combo pack. The movie is currently in our reader-suggested review queue. Buy From Beyond [BluRay/DVD Combo pack].
Phantasm II (1988): See description in DVD above. Buy Phantasm II [Blu-ray]
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.