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 at the official site links.

Lots of strange happenings this week!

IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):

The Neon Demon (2016): An aspiring model (Elle Fanning) moves to Los Angeles and is menaced by a cabal of mysterious women. Nicolas Winding Refn‘s allegorical horror tale is one of our most anticipated films of the year, and so far it’s divided critics right down the middle. The Neon Demon official site.

Swiss Army Man (2016): Stranded on a desert island, a man makes friends with a dead body that washes ashore, using it to survive and to make his way home. A surprise sensation at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, the “farting corpse” movie came out of nowhere to be one of the most talked about films (if not the most acclaimed). Swiss Army Man official site.

SCREENINGS – (Los Angeles, Cinefamily, 6/24-26, 28):

Suspiria (1977): Read the Certified Weird entry! The Cinefamily caps off its month-long “All of Them Witches” series with Dario Argento‘s eye-popping occult classic. If you miss it at the witching hour tonight, you can still catch it Saturday, Sunday or Tuesday. Suspiria at Cinefamily.

SCREENINGS – (Silver Springs, MD, AFI Silver Theater, 6/27-28):

Johnny Got His Gun (1971): Read the Certified Weird entry! Screenwriter Dalton Trumbo’s weird anti-war passion project goes inside the mind of a WWI casualty turned into a vegetable. Johnny Got His Gun at AFI Silver Theater.

FILM FESTIVALS – New York Asian Film Festival (New York City, June 22 – July 9):

Now in its 15th year, the NYAFF (hosted by Lincoln Center) seems to get high quality Asian movies overlooked by other festivals. It doesn’t hurt that this year’s fest is anchored by a couple of Certified Weird revival screenings: 1989’s Tetsuo: The Iron Man (this Saturday, June 25) followed by Tekkonkinkreet (a June 26th screening commemorating the anime’s 10th anniversary).

• Alone – A Korean photographer becomes lost in a mental labyrinth when he keeps blacking out and awakening in a different spot. Screens July 6.
• Creepy – Kiyoshi Kurosawa‘s latest is a return to his horror roots, as a detective comes out of retirement to investigate a cold case and finds an irrational world instead. June 29.
• Hentai Kamen 2: The Abnormal Crisis – The sequel to the reader-suggested movie we still haven’t reviewed about a superhero who gets his powers from wearing women’s panties. Catch it July 6.
• The Mermaid – A mermaid assassin is sent to kill a businessman whose dolphin-killing sonar is massacring her people in Stephen Chow‘s latest weird comedy. July 2.
• The Tenants Downstairs – A devilish landlord spies on his perverted tenants in this extreme Taiwanese film. International premiere July 9 (it’s the closing film).
• Too Young to Die! – A high school metalhead finds himself in Buddhist hell after a bus crash. Screens July 1 & 9.

New York Asian Film Festival homepage.

IN DEVELOPMENT (pre-production):

About Endlessness (est 20??): Post “living” trilogy, 366-fave Roy Andersson has secured funding for a new feature film (apparently retitled from the working title “1001 Nights”). This one will involve stories from India and the Middle East and a Scheherazade-style framing device, which should allow Andersson to continue his favored sketch format. Read the footnote at Screen Daily and an older article at Cinema Scandinavia.

IN DEVELOPMENT (completed):

Atmo HorrorX (2016): It’s hard to tell exactly what happens here, but it looks like the movie follows an assassin creature through a future world run by pharmaceutical companies. Director Pat Tremblay promises that “[t]he movie is a VERY weird one, it’s kind of a psychedelic horror b-movie inside an experimental satire and then wrapped into a cryptic mystery thriller…” Chances are pretty good we’ll review it. Atmo HorrorX official site.

NEW ON DVD:

Embrace of the Serpent (2015): Read our review. Apocalypse Now on the Amazon, under the influence of ayahuasca. Buy Embrace of the Serpent.

Fantastic Planet (1973): Read the Certified Weird entry! An outfit called Accent Cinema released a wonderful DVD of René Laloux and Roland Topor’s psychedelic science fiction allegory in 2007, but it went out of print; the Criterion Collection to the rescue!  Buy Fantastic Planet [Criterion Collection].

Human Highway (1982): The owner of a roadside diner built next to a nuclear power plant tries to torch the place for the insurance money. This bizarre comic vanity project from singer Neil Young co-stars members of Devo (who sing a version of Young’s “Out of the Blue, Into the Black”) and debuts on DVD in a director’s cut that’s different than the old VHS tapes that were kicking around. Buy Human Highway.

Knight of Cups (2016): Impressionistic survey of a hedonistic writer searching for meaning in the modern world. The six main sections of Terrence Malick‘s latest mystical drama are named after Tarot cards, so study up on your symbolism. Buy Knight of Cups.

Lee Scratch Perry’s Vision of Paradise (2015): “Fairytale documentary” about the legendary and eccentric Rastafarian music producer, with animation sequences depicting Scratch as a superhero fighting evil. Perry is the Sun Ra of reggae, and he “conquer[s] all the vampires.” Buy Lee Scratch Perry’s Vision of Paradise.

Shark Exorcist (2015): A priest must exorcise a great white shark who’s possessed by Satan. Just when we think the shark spoof cycle has, er, “jumped the shark,” they pull us back in with a new gimmick. Buy Shark Exorcist.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

Embrace of the Serpent (2015): See description in DVD above. Buy Embrace of the Serpent [Blu-ray].

Fantastic Planet (1973): See description in DVD above. The Criterion release ports over most of the special features from the Accent Cinema release, and adds a second short cartoon (1965’s Les temps morts) and a few additional interviews. Buy Fantastic Planet [Blu-ray].

Human Highway (1982): See description in DVD above. Buy Human Highway Blu-ray.

Knight of Cups (2016): See description in DVD above. Buy Knight of Cups [Blu-ray].

Lady in White (1988): A young boy witnesses the ghostly recreation of a murder, and the victim enlists him to help bring her killer to justice. Atmospheric (some say “surreal”) horror with a small following. Buy Lady in White [Blu-ray].

NEPOTISM CORNER:

“See Hear Podcast episode 29 – Catch My Soul”: “El” Rob Hubbard guests on this podcast about music in film. This episode’s topic, as you might have guessed, is the obscure “Othello” rock opera Catch My Soul (reviewed here). 366 gets name-checked, and Rob does a great job as the guest expert, so if you have a passing interest in the film you’ll want to give this podcast a listen. Listen to the “See Hear Podcast episode 29 – Catch My Soul”

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.