WEIRD HORIZON FOR THE WEEK OF 5/29/09

A 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 (WIDE RELEASE):

Drag Me to Hell (2009):  Sam Raimi returns to the horror genre, but judging by the trailer I wouldn’t expect anything Evil Dead-esque or too out of the ordinary; the in-demand Spiderman director now has too much to lose by being innovative.  Prove me wrong, Sam!  Drag Me to Hell official site.

IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):

Daytime Drinking [Not Sool] (2008):  Per the press release, this low-budget South Korean pic about a drinker on “an increasingly strange odyssey nursing a never-ending hangover.”  The publicists compare it to quirky indie films like Stranger than Paradise and SidewaysDaytime Drinking official site.

Pontypool (2009): An intellectual zombie movie from Canada wherein zombism is spread in a surprising (and allegorical) way. Pontypool official site.

NEW ON DVD:

Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus (2009):  What could we say about this product that the title doesn’t already tell you?  Well, it’s got a dream cast of Lorenzo Lamas and Debbie Gibson and it’s from Asylum, a  studio that specializes in rushing out direct-to-DVD movies that sound a lot like recent hits (e.g., Transmorphers).  How bad could it possibly be?   Buy from Amazon.

The Sky Crawlers [Sukai kurora] (2008):  Latest visually impressive sci-fi anime from Mamoru Oshii, director of Ghost in the Shell, about children who are trained from birth as pilots to fight in an endless dogfight.  Buy from Amazon.

NEW ON YOUTUBE (LEGITIMATE STUDIO-SANCTIONED RELEASES):

Christmas Evil (1980):  Offbeat, low budget character study about a killer Santa that’s not as exploitative as future films exploring the same “killer Santa” territory.  Read our capsule reviewWatch 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.

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