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WEIRD HORIZON FOR THE WEEK OF 11/1/2013

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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):

Mr. Nobody (2009): In 2092, an 118-year old man recounts his life story to a reporter, but the details of the various alternate personal histories he recounts are contradictory. This four-year old speculative feature from eccentric (Toto the Hero) is getting a very late, very limited U.S. release. Mr. Nobody official site.

The Visitor (1979): Jesus Christ sends an angel to snatch a woman with telekinetic powers from Atlanta, Georgia, and bring her to heaven before the Devil can get his hands on her. John Huston, Sam Peckinpah, , Glenn Ford, Mel Ferrer, Franco Nero and Shelley Winters all signed up for this Exorcist/Omen-ripoff that Drafthouse Films is resurrecting in hopes it will become the next exhumed camp hit (à la Miami Connection). The Visitor official site.

NEW ON DVD:

“Scream Factory All Night Horror Marathon, Vol. 2”: The “prize” feature here is the seven-director Dungeons & Dragonsploitation (!) flick The Dungeonmaster (1984), which is famous for bringing the world the solipsist’s favorite quote, “I reject your reality and substitute my own!” The rest of the mildly crazy entries in this rare horror box are Cellar Dweller (1988), about horror cartoonists who accidentally summon ancient demons; Catacombs (1988), about Italian monks who accidentally summon ancient demons; and Contamination .7 (1993), about nuclear power plant managers who accidentally create mutant radioactive killer trees. Buy “Scream Factory All Night Horror Marathon, Vol. 2”.

Tabu (2012): A two-part experimental art movie, with the first section taking place in modern Lisbon and the second half being a dialogue-free flashback to an affair in Africa. The title references F.W. Murnau’s scandalous silent film Tabu: A Story of the South Seas (1931). Buy Tabu.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

100 Bloody Acres (2012): Two brothers find themselves running low on the corpses they need to make their organic fertilizer, until they find three stranded motorists. This Australian horror-comedy reportedly puts a bloody new spin on familiar ideas, and the Twitch reviewer called it “completely bizarre.” Buy 100 Bloody Acres [Blu-ray].

“Attack Of The B’s”: A wacky collection of el cheapo B-movies that includes a couple of our favorites oddities from the genre: Spider Baby (1968) and The Brain that Wouldn’t Die (1962), along with sixteen others including such usual B-list suspects as A Bucket of Blood, I Bury The Living, Little Shop of Horrors, Plan 9 from Outer Space, and Santa Claus Conquers Martians. A nice selection a crazy flicks, but these are all standard definition, full frame 480i transfers compressed onto a single (?!) disc—these movies won’t benefit from Blu-ray presentation. Buy “Attack Of The B’s” [Blu-ray].

FREE (LEGITIMATE RELEASE) MOVIES ON YOUTUBE:

Tombstone Canyon (1932): Read our review. An early attempt to mix horror and the Western, with a black-cloaked phantom in the role of desperado.

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.

List Candidates, Reader Recommendations

THREE TAKES ON ESCAPE FROM TOMORROW (2013)

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Escape from Tomorrow has been promoted to the List. Comments are closed on this preliminary review; please visit the official entry.

We received an unprecedented three separate reviews of Randy Moore’s controversial surrealist satire Escape from Tomorrow, the independent feature which was shot guerrilla-style at Disney World and which many originally supposed would be unreleasable thanks to Disney’s notoriously aggressive legal department. We have decided to compile these three individual takes into one giant mega-post for your enjoyment and edification. So here’s everything you need to know about Escape from Tomorrow, at least for now…

DIRECTED BY: Randy Moore

FEATURING: Roy Abramsohn, Elena Schuber, Katelynn Rodriguez, Jack Dalton, Danielle Safady, Annet Manhendru, Allison Lees-Taylor, Lee Armstrong, Stass Klassen

PLOT: A day in the life of an American family vacationing at Disneyland… or Walt Disney World… or at least some Disney related theme park. Only the day starts out with Jim (Roy Abramsohn) getting a call from his boss, who tells him that there’s no job for him to return to. Things can only go downhill from there, but everything is filtered through a cheerful veneer. From a spreading cat-flu epidemic, to stalking teen-age girls, brainwashing by Park cyborgs, it just goes to show that “bad things happen everywhere”… even in the Happiest Place On Earth. (synopsis by L. Rob Hubbard)

Troubled family man Jim White and his family try to enjoy their final day in Disney World, but he becomes distracted by a pair of pretty French teenagers, blackouts, and visions of sinister happenings in the idyllic theme park. As the intensity of White’s visions grow, so too do tensions between him and his family, and soon it seems he might lose them and himself altogether to the weird power of Disney World. Would he really miss them, though, or does Disney offer him something better? (synopsis by Ben Sunde)

A middle-aged man (who looks an awful lot like a husky Tom Cruise) gets promptly fired via telephone amidst a family vacation to Disneyworld, and proceeds to break down mentally and physically with his family while he covertly follows two barely-legal Parisian teenagers during his waltz through the happiest place on earth. (synopsis by Ryan Aarset)

1. L. Rob Hubbard

WHY IT SHOULD MAKE THE LIST: Aside from the accomplishment of actually shooting on Disney property completely in plain sight, the film’s subversive commentary on Disney’s hold on the collective imagination has a solid bite that has not been previously approached as directly as it is here.

COMMENTS: “Jim, listen to me. Don’t let your imagination run wild. It’s a transitional period.”

This is the first full sentence of Escape from Tomorrow, and it’s a key—if not the key—to understanding exactly what writer/director Randy Moore is up to in this groundbreaking film. Thanks to its impressive and unique origins, Escape from Tomorrow now occupies a spot analogous to that The Blair Witch Project held over a decade ago (leaving aside the latter film’s massive box office) in independent film. And, like Blair Witch, Escape is starting to encounter backlash in reaction to the hype that accompanied its debut at Sundance as “the best film that you may never get a chance to see.” Most of that backlash centers around a perceived lack of bite in the satire, and to criticism of the acting and filmmaking as “amateurish” and “just plain awful.” To each his own, but since most of the initial discussion centered around the film as a cause célèbre when it appeared to be waiting to be crushed by Disney’s corporate paw, now that it has been released with very little reaction from The Mouse House, some are feeling cheated that perhaps the film didn’t go as far as it could taking on Disney… that it’s a missed opportunity.

Still from Escape from Tomorrow (2013)Those who hoped for a harsh slash and burn attack on Disney and its park practices will need to seek satisfaction elsewhere, but those who feel that the satire is too soft and too on the surface are missing the point entirely. Escape from Tomorrow is a comic nightmare of the subconscious: “Lynchian” has been used many times in descriptions of the film. But Moore isn’t a -style surrealist; his take in presenting the paranoia and sexual tension that lurks in the corners of The Happiest Place On Earth is closer to the work of .

“Imagination” is a word that is repeated throughout Escape from Tomorrow, and it is the coin of this realm. After all, the whole function of amusement parks such as Disney World is to provide a playland. What could be better than having your playland already thought out for you—characters, scenarios, every little thing? Disney may not have been at it the longest, but they have certainly been very thorough in “imagineering” characters and places that have Continue reading THREE TAKES ON ESCAPE FROM TOMORROW (2013) →

Miscellanea

WEIRD HORIZON FOR THE WEEK OF 10/25/2013

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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):

Toad Road (2013): Drugged-out losers decide to drop acid and head down the abandoned country road that local legend claims leads straight to the gates of Hell. Partly improvised, it’s gained multiple comparisons to the work of . Toad Road official site.

CROWDFUNDING:

The B.C. Butcher (est. 2104): It’s a girl-gang slasher film set in prehistoric times, but that may not even be the weirdest thing about this project. It’s co-written and directed by 17-year old Kansas Bowling, who wants to become the first female teenage director of a cavewoman gore movie. Of course, she insists on shooting the movie on 16-mm film—kids today! The B.C. Butcher at Indiegogo.

NEW ON DVD:

Molly’s Theory of Relativity: A female astrophysicist agonizes about losing her job and seeks counsel from relatives, ghosts and trick-or-treaters. No one seemed to like it much except for the New York Times‘ Stephen Holden, who praised it as a “surreal, post-Freudian gabfest.” Buy Molly’s Theory of Relativity.

Only God Forgives: A Bangkok drug-smuggler (Ryan Gosling) becomes involved in a web of vengeance when his brother kills an underage prostitute. Although this seems fairly straightforward, there are reportedly a few bizarre (and ultraviolent) moments in this film. Buy Only God Forgives.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

Only God Forgives (2013): See description in DVD above. Buy Only God Forgives [Blu-ray].

“The Vincent Price Collection”: The centerpiece of this collection (to us, at least) is the somewhat weird art-deco black comedy The Abominable Dr. Phibes. Three directed Poe movies (The Fall of the House of Usher, The Masque of the Red Death and The Pit and the Pendulum), The Haunted Palace, and the underrated Witchfinder General are the other offerings from the diabolical Mr. . Each movie sports new special features. Buy “The Vincent Price Collection” [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.

Miscellanea

WEIRD HORIZON FOR THE WEEK OF 10/18/2013

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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):

Hellbenders: The “Augustine Interfaith Order of Hellbound Saints” are a team of exorcists who remain in a constant state of sin so that demons will possess them and they can then commit suicide and take the critters back to Hell with them. We have some minor doubts about the theological foundation of this plot. Hellbenders at the Official Clancy Brown site.

FILM FESTIVALS – Toronto After Dark (Toronto, Ontario, Oct. 17-25):

There’s not too much out of the ordinary (at least, as that term applies to the horror/fantasy genre) screening at this year’s Toronto After Dark. We did notice one debuting film we might want to take a chance on:

  • Motivational Growth – A mold growing in filthy home of a depressed man starts giving the homeowner motivational advice (which may not be in his best interests). Featuring the voice of . Screens Oct. 20.

Check out the rest of the offerings at the Toronto After Dark official website.

IN DEVELOPMENT:

Bad Chicken (early 2014): Black comedy about a perverted, sociopathic chicken who tricks humans into doing his bidding by promising to put them on a reality television show. This project is scheduled to be released on DVD and VOD in January 2014.

NEW ON DVD:

Birdemic 2: The Resurrection (2013): Read our review of the original Birdemic. This sequel apparently contains everything you loved about the first trashsterpiece, except that now there are cave-women and zombies marauding alongside the animated GIF birds. Buy Birdemic 2: The Resurrection.

Jug Face (2013): Read our capsule review. This offbeat hick horror about a strange folk cult who worships a pit is a worthy alternative if you’re tired of formulaic Hollywood horror. Buy Jug Face.

Night Tide (1961): Read our review. Curtis Harrington’s moody mermaid meditation introduced Dennis Hopper to the world. Buy Night Tide.

ThanksKilling 3 (2012): Fowl-mouthed killer turkey Turkie goes hunting for the last copy of the mythical ThanksKilling 2 in this raunchy $100,000 sequel to the $4,000 original. The tag-line is “boobs in the first second!,” which calls to mind our observation that the first movie blew it’s nudity budget in the first five minutes. Buy ThanksKilling 3.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

“Christopher Nolan Director’s Collection”: This set includes the three Dark Knight movies, the thriller Insomnia, and two movies of tangential interest to weirdophiles: the backwards-running experimental mystery Memento and the dream infiltration blockbuster Inception. Essentially the same set was released last year; it’s been updated to add The Dark Knight Rises. Buy “Christopher Nolan Director’s Collection” [Blu-ray].

Eyes Without a Face [Les Yeux Sans Visage] (1960): Read the Certified Weird entry! Criterion’s Blu-ray upgrade of the semi-surreal horror classic materializes just in time for Halloween festivities. Buy Eyes Without a Face [Criterion Collection Blu-ray].

In the Mouth of Madness (1994): A horror writer’s works drive his readers insane, and upon investigation it appears that his fictional worlds may be bleeding into the real one. This John Carpenter cult fave is in our reader-suggested review queue. Buy In the Mouth of Madness [Blu-ray].

Jug Face (2013): See description in DVD above. Buy Jug Face [Blu-ray].

Night Tide (1961): See description in DVD above. Buy Night Tide [Blu-ray].

FREE (LEGITIMATE RELEASE) MOVIES ON YOUTUBE:

The Naked Kiss (1964): This odd melodrama famously opens with a scene of a bald prostitute beating her pimp with a shoe. This offbeat production is considered a companion piece to the Certified Weird Shock Corridor, largely because both feature tabloid subject matter and star the underrated Constance Towers. Watch The Naked Kiss free 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.

Miscellanea

WEIRD HORIZON FOR THE WEEK OF 10/11/2013

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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):

Escape from Tomorrow: A middle aged man follows two jailbait teen girls through an increasingly fantastic and surreal theme park. We never thought Disney would let this movie, which was shot on their property guerrilla style without permission, see the light of day, yet here it is. Simultaneously released on video on demand. Escape from Tomorrow official site.

FILM FESTIVALS – Sitges Film Festival (Sitges, Spain, Oct. 11-20):

Alhough Sitges has a fine slate of fantastic films as always, we’ve seen most of the offerings at other film festivals (a handful of the features are already out on DVD here in the U.S.). Here are a few notable films we noticed that appear to be debuting there:

  • 3x3D – Three renowned filmmakers—France’s still-kicking , England’s reclusive , and Portugal’s nearly-local Edgar Pêra—experiment with the possibilities of 3D filmmaking beyond the Hollywood blockbuster. Screens once only, on Oct. 15.
  • Abductee – The wildly uneven splatterpunk farceur tries his hand at a serious speculative Cube-like drama, about people who are abducted and imprisoned with only a numeric tattoo and a black stone as clues to their fate. Oct. 15.
  • Cheatin’ – ‘s latest weird animated feature is about a woman who, with a magician’s help, takes the shape of her paramour’s ex-girlfriends. Oct 18.
  • Goltzius & The Pelican Company – speaking of , his latest lavish feature film is based on a Renaissance engraver’s depictions of Bible stories. Oct. 11.
  • The Taking – A man wakes up tied to a tree with a stranger, menaced by an odd family, in this horror that’s said to have a Lynchian feel. Oct. 17.
    .
  • Vic+Flo Saw a Bear – A couple of lesbian ex-cons hole up in a backwoods cabin but are besieged by strange visitors. Oct 15 & 16.
  • Wrong Cops – A comedy about cops-gone-wrong from ; the cast includes , Marilyn Manson, and former “Twin Peaks” spouses and Ray Wise. Oct 15.

Sitges Film Festival official site.

NEW ON DVD:

Night Train to Terror (1985): See description in Blu-ray below.

Resolution (2012): A buddy ties his meth addict pal up in a cabin in the woods for an involuntary detox, and things get weird in this low-budget meta-horror that earned some comparisons to The Cabin in the Woods. The Village Voice’s Nick Schager even claims it puts Cabin to shame. Buy Resolution.

Suzune Evolution [AKA The Parasite Doctor Suzune: Evolution] (2011): The long-awaited sequel to Suzune Genesis is finally here! We never did figure out what Suzune Genesis was, but it’s from Japan, concerns a “parasite doctor,” and the DVD cover has women in tight black leather and maid’s costumes on the front cover, so we figure we’d dig it. Buy Suzune Evolution.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life (1983): The least-successful, grossest and most sketch-oriented of the Python’s three original sketch films, Meaning of Life os still memorable for it’s exploding gluttons and paeans to the sanctity of sperm. This “30th Anniversary Edition” includes an hour-long reunion with the surviving Pythons. Buy Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life [Blu-ray].

Night Train to Terror (1985): In the train ride framing sequence, God and Satan argue over the fates of various mortals. Their debates are illustrated by three full length movies cut to fit into a 20 minute time slot (sacrificing character development where necessary, but keeping all the gore and nudity); the result is an incoherent train wreck of a movie that nevertheless manages to make it to Blu-ray before Celine and Julie Go Boating. Buy Night Train To Terror [Blu-ray + DVD].

Resolution (2012): See description in DVD above. A DVD + Blu-ray combo pack. Buy Resolution [Blu-ray + DVD Combo Pack].

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.