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.

IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):

Woodshock (2017): A grieving woman (Kirsten Dunst) smokes synthetic cannabinoids in the woods and hallucinates a lot. It’s savaging by critics makes it possibly A24’s first critical flop. Woodshock official site.

FILM FESTIVALS – Fantastic Fest (Austin, TX, 9/21-9/28):

The Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, TX may be America’s coolest theater. Their brand has grown so big that now they have franchised Drafthouses, and even distribute their own (generally weird) movies. One of the Alamo’s hippest projects is Fantastic Fest, going into its thirteenth year. As per usual, there is a fantastic slate of weird movies and some neato revivals here.  Coming at the tail end of the film festival season, much of the movies are retreads, but the Drafthouse folks always find a way to save some surprise debuts. We won’t do more than mention films we’ve already mentioned from other festivals, including the surreal resort feature All You Can Eat Buddha, the mindbending “cult” film The Endless, Giorgos Lanthimos‘ highly awaited The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani‘s poliziotteschi tribute Let the Corpses Tan, Selma Blair and Nicolas Cage as the killers Mom and Dad, and Palme d’Or winner The Square. Here’s what we’ll be tracking down the road:

• Anna and the Apocalypse – A Scottish Christmas zombie-invasion musical. Screens Sep. 22 & 26.
• Anyab (1981) – Per the description, this is an Egyptian rip-off of The Rocky Horror Picture Show (sans cross-dressing). Sep. 24 & 26.
• Applecart – Vacationers are disturbed by an odd woman (Barbara Crampton) in a midnight movie the programmers describe as “weird, wild and blood-soaked.” Sep. 22 & 27.
• Blue in My Mind – A Swiss teenage girl finds her body transforming (in a Cronenbergian way) and, per the trailer, also eats goldfish. Screens Sep. 27 only.
• Gerald’s Game – During a sex game a man dies leaving his wife handcuffed to the bed; hallucinations ensue in this feature adapted from a Stephen King story. Sep. 24 & 26.
• Ichi the Killer (2001) – A restored print of Takashi Miike‘s sadomasochistic yakuza hit. Catch it Sep. 27.
• Mary and the Witch’s Flower – A girl becomes a witch for a day in this anime from Studio Ghibli refugees that brings to mind Kiki’s Delivery Service with flying whales. Sep. 22 & 27.
• The Nude Vampire (1970) – A special screening of Jean Rollin‘s batty sex/vampire mashup (and List Candidate) to celebrate the release of Kier La-Janisse’s book “Lost Girls: The Phantasmagorical Cinema of Jean Rollin.” On Sep. 24, hosted by La-Janisse.
• The Originals – Reality (and time)-bending Egyptian film about a banker recruited into a secret society. Sep 22 & 26.
  
• Pin Cushion – A mother and daughter in a new town retreat into fantasy when targeted by bullies. Sep. 22 & 26.
• Topknot Detective – Mockumentary (?) about a brief Japanese cult TV series starring a samurai detective. Sep. 23 & 25.
• Vidar the Vampire – A Norwegian farmer is vampirized by a bloodsucker claiming to be Jesus Christ. Sep. 24 & 28.
• World of Tomorrow Episode Two: The Burden of Other People’s Thoughts – The 40-minute sequel to Don Hertzfeldt brilliant short “World of Tomorrow“; the original will also be shown, and Hertzfeld will lead a discussion during the intermission. World premiere Sep. 23, encore Sep. 28.

Fantastic Fest official site.

NEW ON DVD:

The Bad Batch (2016): Ana Lily Amirpour‘s much-anticipated followup to A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night features Keanu Reeves and Jim Carrey and was originally pitched as “a dystopian love story in a Texas wasteland and set in a community of cannibals.” Critics didn’t like it much, but then again they hated Southland Tales when it first came out, too. Buy The Bad Batch.

“Jean-Luc Godard + Jean-Pierre Gorin: Five Films, 1968-1971”: Five rare films (A Film Like Any Other, See You at Mao, Wind from the East, Struggles in Italy, Vladimir and Rosa) from Jean-Luc Godard‘s “Dziga Vertov” period. These experimental, avant-garde hippie-era Marxist screeds are dated and an acquired taste. Buy “Jean Luc-Godard + Jean-Pierre Gorin: Five Films, 1968-1971 {Blu-ray + DVD].”

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

The Bad Batch (2016): See description in DVD above.  Buy The Bad Batch [Blu-ray]

“Jean-Luc Godard + Jean-Pierre Gorin: Five Films, 1968-1971”: See description in DVD above. Comes on 6 discs (we’re not sure how they are divided between DVD and Blu-ray).  Buy “Jean Luc-Godard + Jean-Pierre Gorin: Five Films, 1968-1971.”

Starship Troopers (1997): Read the reader recommendation. Nothing new in this 20th Anniversary reissue except that it’s a 4K Ultra upgrade (with a spare Blu-ray in case your TV, like most, can’t handle 4k). Buy Starship Troopers [4K/Blu-ray].

CERTIFIED WEIRD (AND OTHER) REPERTORY SCREENINGS:

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). We won’t list all the screenings of this audience-participation classic separately. You can use this page to find a screening near you.

• Bloomington, IN, 9/23 – 24 – Stalker (1979). At Indiana University Cinema.
• Columbus, OH, 9/22 – Audition [Ôdishon] (1999). At Gateway Film Center.
• Columbus, OH, 9/27 & 28 – Fantastic Planet [La Planète Sauvage] (1973). At Gateway Film Center.
• Los Angeles, CA, 9/22 – Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001). At the Nuart Theater.
• Nashville, TN, 9/23-25, 28 – Suspiria (1977). At the Belcourt Theater.
• New York City, 9/22 – The Exterminating Angel [El àngel exterminador] (1962), with a panel discussion. At the Film Society of Lincoln Center.
• New York City, 9/22-9/26 – Stalker (1979). At IFC Center.
• New York City, 9/22 – 9/23 (midnights) – El Topo (1970). At IFC Center.
• New York City, 9/23 – The Cremator [Spalovac Mrtvol] (1969). At the Film Society of Lincoln Center.
• New York City, 9/24 – Solaris [Solyaris] (1972). At Videology Bar & Cinema,
• Oakland, CA, 9/22 & 25 – Santa Sangre (1989). At the New Parkway Theater.
• Oakland, CA, 9/23 & 25 – Dogtooth [Kynodontas] (2009). At the New Parkway Theater.
• Oakland, CA, 9/24 & 26 – Eyes Without a Face [Les Yeux sans Visage] (1965). At the New Parkway Theater.
• Tuscon, AZ, 9/22 – 9/28 – Suspiria (1977). At the Loft Cinema.

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.