We’ll promise to bring you the following reviews next week: James Harben shares the The Company of Wolves (1984); G. Smalley gets a hankering to cover the urban alienation of Crave (2012); Alfred Eaker takes on another Summer Blockbuster as he tries to put Amazing Spiderman 2 in its place; and L. Rob Hubbard (and friends) can’t escape yet another tilt at last year’s surreal Disney satire Escape from Tomorrow.

It was another lean week for weird search terms used to locate the site, but we’ll bring you the oddest searches we found in our logs for the popular feature we like to call “Weirdest Search Term of the Week.” First off is “women get naked by plant ghost movie”: we love the concept of ghost plants that remove women’s clothes! (To be fair, we love the concept of anything that removes women’s clothes). Similar in spirit is “movie 22 giant woman vs octopus xvideo” (if we were betting men, we’d put our money on the 22 giant women). The previous entry might have won our Weirdest Search Term of the Week contest, except for the fact that it returns legitimate Google results, which can’t be said about our actual winner: “horror movie where woman takes pills and grows horse penis.” We’re sure someone will identify the horse-penis pill movie, though, and then where will that leave us?

Here’s how the ridiculously-long-and-ever-growing reader-suggested review queue currently stands: Abnormal: The Sinema of Nick Zedd; Rubin & Ed; The Real McCoy; Themroc; Candy (1968); Night of the Hunter; The Fox Family; Midnight Skater; Angelus; Cloudy with a Chance of  Meatballs; Yokai Continue reading WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE →

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):

Borgman (2013): Strange things happen when a rich woman harbors a mysterious fugitive. From the intriguing Dutchman Alex van Warmerdam, who says it is his darkest movie yet. Drafthouse Films opens Borgman in New York this week with scattered U.S. screenings to follow throughout the summer. Borgman official site.

SCREENINGS – (Cinefamily, Los Angeles, Jun. 6-9):

“Welcome, Space Brothers: The Films of the Unarius Academy of Science”: It seems that last week’s screening of the public access films of Ruth E. Norman’s Los Angeles-based UFO cult (see last week’s Weird Horizon for more info and a trailer) proved so popular that they’ve scheduled additional screenings of “The Arrival” starting this weekend. No new past-life regression workshops, however; maybe you can attend one in your next life?  “Welcome, Space Brothers” at Cinefamily.

SCREENINGS – (Cinefamily, Los Angeles,Jun. 9 & 11):

The Hourglass Sanitorium (1973): Read our review. In more serious fare, Cinefamily presents Wojciech Has‘ rarely-screened Surrealist masterpiece about a time-bending sanitarium as part of Martin Scorsese‘s “Masterpieces of Polish Cinema” series. More information, screening times and a new trailer at the Cinefamily Hourglass Sanitorium page.

NEW ON DVD:

Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction (2012): A documentary portrait of the oddball cult actor (who sings two folk songs in the movie). Our readers will best know Stanton from his appearances in the Certified Weird INLAND EMPIRE (2006) and Repo Man (1984). Buy Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction.

“Video Nasties: The Definitive Guide”: Here’s an interesting three-disc set. Disc one contains the 2010 documentary Video Nasties: Moral Panic, Videotape, and Censorship, about the infamous list of 72 horror films the British government deemed too vile and depraved to be shown in the United Kingdom (although ultimately many of these movies successfully beat obscenity prosecutions, or were released with a few minutes cut out). Discs 2 & 3 contain trailers for each of the nasties, with some additional commentary by film historians. For years, the video nasty list was used as a source by extreme horror fans looking for “quality” entertainment. Although none of the movies on the Directory of Public Prosecutions list has (yet) been Certified Weird by us, Dario Argento‘s Inferno (1980) and Andrzej Zulawski’s Possession (1981) are official List Candidates (a “nasty” citation for the critically acclaimed, award-winning Possession proved a particular embarrassment for the British Board of Film Censors). Buy “Video Nasties: The Definitive Guide”.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

Death Bed: The Bed That Eats (1977): Read our review! It’s hard to believe this ultra-low budget 1977 amateur outsider horror movie would benefit from hi-def remastering, but the draw in this Cult Epics Blu is the special features that were not present on the bare-bones DVD release, particularly the commentary track by director George Barry. Buy Death Bed: The Bed That Eats [Blu-ray].

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.

Here’s what’s coming up in next week’s reviews: James Harben will sample Frank Henenlotter‘s addictive 1988 black comedy, Brain Damage; we’ll take a look at Quentin Dupieux‘s latest absurdist comedy caper, Wrong Cops, and we’ll venture into the depravity of 2005’s cult classic Sin City (whetting your appetite for the release of the noirish sequel on August 22).

Unusual sex and unusual food dominated the list of the weirdest search terms that brought people to 366 Weird Movies last week. Sexy queries like “1980’s movie about zombies having sex” and “octopus sex movies” were common. (We should also mention the person who was searching for “whats the name of the movie with the yellow monster pervert”—they may have been a week early with that search). On the culinary side, “movie about a girl asked to eat a leader of a cult” caught our eye. Our official Weirdest Search Term of the Week combines our readers’ preoccupations with sex and food: “black and white horror movie where son michal eat womans breast.”  Yum!

Since New Yorker Films’ promised release of Celine and Julie Go Boating has yet to materialize (a year and waiting now), we’re officially moving Jacques Rivette’s playfully surreal farce to our out-of-print holding pen (see bottom of this post). With that alteration, here’s how the ridiculously-long-and-ever-growing reader-suggested review queue currently stands: Brain Damage (next week!); Abnormal: The Sinema of Nick Zedd; Rubin & Ed; The Real McCoy; Themroc; Candy (1968); Night of the Hunter; The Fox Family; Midnight Skater; Angelus; Cloudy with a Chance of  Meatballs; Continue reading WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE →

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.

SCREENINGS – (Cinefamily, Los Angeles, May 30-31, June 1):

“Welcome, Space Brothers: The Films of the Unarius Academy of Science”: A retrospective of the public-access quality propaganda films of Unarius, a 1970s and 1980s UFO cult educational foundation that was largely run by that late Ruth Norman, who was sort of a square, non-musical, honky version of Sun Ra. Friday night features an “Intro to Unarius,” with a Q&A with current cult institute members and a screening of the short film, “A Trip to the Underground Cities of Mars” (1977). Saturday’s slate includes workshops, more public access shorts, and the feature-length pro-alien screed The Arrival (1978). There will be more screenings and guided visualizations on Sunday. True believers and skeptics bent on mockery will rub elbows at this strange gathering. Los Angelites can get the full schedule of events here: “Welcome, Space Brothers…”

SCREENINGS – (Cinefamily, Los Angeles, June 2-3):

The Saragossa Manuscript (1965): Read our review! Cinefamily continues to make the argument for relocating to L.A. almost irresistible with this rare screening of Wojciech Has‘ account of the phantasmagorical journeys of the Unknown Soldier through time and space. Part of the Martin Scorsese-sponsored “Masterpieces of Polish Cinema” series. More information, showtimes and a newly-cut trailer here.

NEW ON DVD:

Blue Movie (1978): A woman is rescued from a rape by a sadomasochistic photographer. Forgotten Italian weird sleaze in the Salo-chic mode. Buy Blue Movie.

Buttwhistle (2014): A young man rescues a girl from a suicide attempt, then wishes he hadn’t when she gets too attached to him (and gives him the nickname “buttwhistle”). A talking bar of soap supplies some surrealism. Buy Buttwhistle.

Journey to the West (2013): A fantasy/comedy/adventure adaptation of a Chinese mythology classic featuring Buddhist demons and the Monkey King. Stephen Chow’s first directorial effort in five years should please his fans. Buy Journey to the West.

Sleepaway Camp (1983): A troubled teenage orphan goes to a summer camp where her peers start turning up dead. This teen horror with a surprise ending has one of the largest cult followings in slasher movie history, and is also in our reader-suggested review queue. Shout! Factory is selling their deluxe restored version in a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack. Buy Sleepaway Camp [BluRay/DVD Combo] [Blu-ray].

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

Eden and After (1970): This mix of Alice in Wonderland by way of the Marquis de Sade, with a heaping helping of LSD on the side, involves a young girl on a hallucinatory sadomasochistic journey. This title was on our “not-yet-on-DVD-in-America” list, and can technically remain there; for whatever reason, Redemption video is only releasing this title on Blu-ray. Buy Eden and After [Blu-ray].

Journey to the West (2013): See description in DVD above. Buy Journey to the West [Blu-ray].

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004): Bill Murray stars as Zissou, a Jacques Cousteau-style adventurer who sets off with a ragtag crew to hunt down a possibly mythical shark he believes to be responsible for his partner’s death. Criterion upgrades this Wes Anderson black comedy, which currently sits in our reader-suggested review queue, to Blu-ray. Buy The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou [Criterion Collection Blu-ray].

The Man Who Lies (1968): A fugitive insinuates himself into a Czech village, claiming to be the companion of a local war hero who has disappeared. Like Eden and After above, this is another Alain Robbe-Grillet title Redemption is releasing only on Blu-ray. Buy The Man Who Lies [Blu-ray].

Sleepaway Camp (1983): See description in DVD above. Buy Sleepaway Camp [BluRay/DVD Combo] [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.

On Memorial Day (this Monday) here in the States, we’ll start off with a review of the avant-garde indie Way Down in Chinatown, and follow that up with a “big” announcement. As we move into the meat of the week we’ll take a crack at whittling down that reader-suggested review queue with a look at Michael Almereyda‘s quirky dysfunctional family comedy Twister (1989), and also take a second look at Ed Wood‘s earnest 1953 pro-transvestism documentary Glen or Glenda? Meanwhile, flattered by the attention his Godzilla review drew, Alfred considers dumping his excursions into fringe cinema for the summer so he can focus on more of those disappointing mass-produced blockbusters people love so much. What will he skewer next? You’ll have to tune in Thursday to find out.

Our theme for our Weirdest Search Term of the Week contest itself comes from a search term: “this movie is weird” (which is itself a somewhat strange search, since it seems premised on the notion that Google knows what movie the searcher is watching at the time). This week’s runners-up: “a western where a man kicks steel balls at his enemies.” “What is the title of the movie about a man and his catsmust figure out what happened to the laser pointer”?  “Schizo film gay fetish planet.” All movies we’d like to see, but the official winner of our Weirdest Search Term of the Week is “movie mad man bites vagina addicted.”

Here’s how the ridiculously-long-and-ever-growing reader-suggested review queue currently stands: Twister (1989) (next week!); Glen or Glenda? (next week!); Celine and Julie Go Boating; Abnormal: The Sinema of Nick Zedd; Rubin & Ed; The Real McCoy; Themroc; Candy (1968); Continue reading WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE →