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):

Blancanieves (2012): This modern silent film retells the story of Snow White, set in the world of Spanish bullfighting in the 1920s. It looks closer to The Artist than to Guy Maddin, but we’d be thrilled if the powers that be release just one silent film per year. Blancanieves official site.

Los Chidos (2012): A gringo interrupts the strange and lazy days of a taco-gorging Mexican family when he’s forced to stay with them after his car breaks down near their hovel. This attack on Mexican macho culture (directed by a Hispanic man, thankfully) includes cross-dressing, gross-out shock scenes with feces and menstrual blood, and alienation techniques (male voices dubbed for female characters and vice versa). Playing LA at the Downtown Independent Cinema for one week, and also screening at the Boston Underground Film Festival Sunday, Mar. 31 at 2:15. Los Chidos Facebook page.

Mental (2012): This Australian black comedy/satire involves a politician who hires a crack-smoking hitchhiker to play nanny to his five teenaged daughters, each of whom believes she suffers from a mental illness. We would have passed over mentioning this one if not for some reviewers declaring it “surreal, uncontrolled, frenzied,” “bewilderingly strange,” and “just plain nuts.” Mental official site.

Room 237 (2012): Read our capsule review. This survey of conspiracy-minded fans bizarre interpretations of The Shining (e.g., the movie was Stanley Kubrick‘s coded confession that he faked the moon landing) serves as both a testament to the power of film to fire the imagination and a warning about how personal obsessions can transform a work of art into something unrecognizable to others. It’s simultaneously available to view on demand (a strategy film distributors are increasingly adopting when the movie is too niche-oriented to get into very many theaters). Room 237 official site.

Wrong (2012): A man looking for his lost dog encounters bizarre characters and risks losing his sanity.  This is director Quentin Dupieux’s followup to his weird hit Rubber, and per the official synopsis this one is “equally bizarre.” This one is also available for on demand viewing. Wrong official site.

IN DEVELOPMENT:

The Young and Prodigious Spivet (est. 2013): A 12-year old child prodigy with a bizarre family hitchhikes across the U.S. to accept an award for discovering a perpetual motion machine. Adapted from a popular novel by the always-interesting Jean-Pierre Jeunet, with weird stalwarts Helena Bonham Carter, Judy Davis, and (obviously) Dominique Pinon gracing the cast. In 3D (sadly). No official site yet, but here’s an article from firstshowing.net.

NEW ON DVD:

Alois Nebel (2011): A rotoscoped Czech film noir about a mysterious visitor who visits a disturbed train dispatcher to unearth guilty Cold War secrets. The New Wave is long gone, but the tiny Czech film industry continues to innovate and astound. Buy Alois Nebel.

The Death Wheelers [AKA Psychomania] (1973): Bullfrog-worshiping bikers kill themselves so they can come back as living-dead cyclists. Re-releasing old movies with new (or at least unfamiliar) titles is a time-honored exploitation movie trick, and aptly named bargain-distributor “Cheezy Flicks” isn’t above resorting to it—this film is better known as Psychomania. True fans may want to search for Severin Films restored release, but this one will be a few dollars cheaper. Buy The Death Wheelers [Psychomania].

From Beyond (1986): See description in Blu-ray below.

“Mystery Science Theater 3000: Vol. 26”: Have 26 volumes of this seminal bad-movie mocking series already been released? We say keep ’em coming ’till there’s nothing left in the vaults! This set brings us comic deconstructions of Bert I. Gordon’s technicolor fantasy The Magic Sword, surprising proof that Kathy Ireland can’t act thanks to the misfire comedy Alien from L.A., the dangerous death rays of Danger! Death Ray, and the unexpected appearance of Minnesota Vikings running back Robert Smith (the series’ only guest star) in The Mole People. Buy “Mystery Science Theater 3000: Vol. XXVI”.

Phantasm II (1988): The direct sequel to the Certified Weird Phantasm (1979) has a grown-up Mike still haunted by the Tall Man. This sequel was a little more conventionalized than the seat-of-the-pants surrealism of the original. Shout! Factory gives it “Collector’s Edition” treatment with lots of extras. Buy Phantasm II.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

Dead Sushi (2012): Noboru Iguchi (The Machine Girl, RoboGeisha) makes 3-4 absurd, gory horror comedies per year. This one involves killer sushi (not “really good” sushi, but sushi that must be kickboxed into submission to keep it from eating you). Buy Dead Sushi [Blu-ray].

From Beyond (1986): Director Stuart Gordon followed up his cult smash Re-Animator (1985) with another adaptation of an H.P. Lovecraft story with much of the same cast as his first hit. This “Collectors Edition” is only available as a DVD/Blu-ray combo pack. The movie is currently in our reader-suggested review queue. Buy From Beyond [BluRay/DVD Combo pack].

Phantasm II (1988): See description in DVD above. Buy Phantasm II [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.

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):

Silver Circle (2013): Fiscal rebels create an underground silver currency, but agents from the Federal Reserve oppress the freedom fighters in this libertarian thriller that looks like it was created through one of those “make your own movie” online animation services. No matter your opinion on monetary policy, this movie is a bad idea with a capital BAD. Silver Circle official site.

SCREENINGS – (BAM, Brooklyn, NY, Mar. 22-38):

Le Pont du Nord (1981): Two women discover a magical map that turns Paris into a hallucinatory board game. From Jacques (Celine and Julie Go Boating) Rivette, this movie is debuting in U.S. theaters more than 30 years after its release! Le Pont du Nord at BAM.

BOOKS:

“Aleister Crowley in the Mouth of Hell: The Screenplay Never Filmed”: For years self-described “weird” filmmaker Carlos Atanes intended to make a movie about occultist Aleister Crowley, but after three false starts he’s thrown in the towel and decided to just publish the screenplay instead. Buy “Aleister Crowley in the Mouth of Hell: The Screenplay Never Filmed”.

IN DEVELOPMENT (Postproduction):

3x3D (est. 2013): A suite of three 3D short films from Jean-Luc Godard, Peter Greenaway, and Portuguese director Edgar Pêra. Each of the shorts is some kind of metacinematic meditation on film in the third dimension. More information at Stereoscopy News.

NEW ON DVD:

Strange Frame (2012): This animated lesbian science fiction musical features the voice of Tim Curry (as the villain) and looks strange indeed. What we have learned this week is that lesbian animation>libertarian animation. Buy Strange Frame.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

Zeta One [AKA The Love Factor] (1969): Per the IMDB plot summary, this attempt to cash in on the sexy psychedelic success of Barbarella is about “a race of topless, large-breasted women from the planet Angvia, in another dimension, come to earth to kidnap women to repopulate their planet.” Who finds, remasters, and releases trash like this on Blu-ray? Jezebel, the soft-porn releasing branch of Redemption Films, that’s who—and God love ’em for it! Buy Zeta One [Blu-ray]

FREE (LEGITIMATE RELEASE) MOVIES ON YOUTUBE:

The Baby of Mâcon (1993): Peter Greenaway followed up Prospero’s Books with this controversial black satire involving a supposed virgin birth; American distributors refused to carry because of a gang rape scene. Thanks to reader “Lee” for pointing us towards this one! Obviously this movie is “not safe for work.” Watch The Baby of Mâcon 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.

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):

K-11 (2012): A record producer wakes up after a night of partying and finds himself imprisoned in Los Angeles Prisons K-11 unit—that’s where they send the homosexuals and transgendered folk. Directed by Kristen Stewart’s mom Jules (a veteran Hollywood script supervisor), it currently scores a 0% positive on Rotten Tomatoes, though on the plus side the Hollywood Reporter called it “like a deranged John Waters remake of The Shawshank Redemption.” K-11 official site.

Reality (2012): A fishmonger becomes so obsessed with appearing on the Italian version of the “Big Brother” reality TV show that he loses touch with reality. This satire appears to have some surreal moments and is earning a lot of comparisons to the works of Fellini. Reality official site.

Spring Breakers (2012): Harmony Korine‘s new movie—which looks like a return to the exploitation roots of his first screenplay, the juvenile delinquency shocker Kids—features ex-Disney starlets Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens and is being pumped by MTV. It looks like it could be Korine’s first ever non-weird directorial effort, but we’re sure he’ll slip something strange in there. Spring Breakers official site.

Upside Down (2013): A Romeo/Juliet romance in a bizarre setting: twin planets with opposing gravity, one sitting on top of the other. Surely there’s nothing weird here besides the high concept and the visuals, but those are strange enough to at least earn this movie a mention. Upside Down official site.

Vanishing Waves (2012): A therapist becomes erotically involved with a patient in a coma when he uses an experimental technique to enter her sleeping consciousness. A Lithuanian movie being distributed in the US by exciting newcomer Artsploitation Films, it will play New York this week with Chicago and LA dates to follow. Vanishing Waves official site.

SCREENINGS – (Portland,OR, Tues. Mar. 19):

Maximum Shame (2010): Read our capsule review! Carlos Atanes‘ “apocalyptic fetish horror musical chess sci-fi weird feature movie” gets a rare US screening for lucky Portlanders. The Hollywood Theater must be a pretty weird venue if this is what they show on a Tuesday. Maximum Shame at Hollywood Theater, Portland, OR.

FILM FESTIVALS – 51st Annual Ann Arbor Film Festival (Ann Arbor, MI, Mar. 19-24):

Let’s face it: with over 200 experimental films (mostly shorts) screening, most of them from directors so obscure even we’ve never heard of them, writing even a short guide to the 2012 AAFF is too daunting a task for us to take on. Two of the highlights we noticed: “Psychedelic Visions and Expanded Consciousness – Los Angeles in the ’60s and ’70s” (March 20) and a Suzan Pitt retrospective (split into two sessions, March 21 & 23, it covers essentially all of Pitt’s surreal animations, and she’ll be on hand to answer questions). Wander into any random screening at Ann Arbor and chances are what you see would qualify as “weird.” This one features the most disturbing Film Festival trailer we’ve yet to see. Ann Arbor Film Festival homepage.

NEW ON DVD:

Alice in Wonderland (1966): This black and white, minimally staged version of the famous story, made for British television, features Peter Sellers as the King of Hearts and Sir John Gielgud as the Mock Turtle. Curious that this should show up now, as the BBC released an elaborate, extras-laden edition of this title in 2010. Buy Alice in Wonderland.

Alice Through the Looking Glass (1973): Luckless (or lucky) Alice finds herself stuck in yet another magical realm of nonsense, where she meets characters like Tweedledee and Tweedledum and Humpty Dumpty. This belated followup to the BBC’s 1966 hit TV movie doesn’t feature the star power of Wonderland, and to our knowledge it has never been released on Region 1 DVD before now. Buy Alice Through the Looking Glass.

Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away (2012): A woman is enticed to enter a strange circus tent and finds herself traveling through multiple carnivalesque dimensions, each of which just happens to be based on a separate Cirque du Soleil production. This “movie” is little more than a sampler/ad for CdS’s semi-surreal live shows, but it is cheaper than dropping a C-note to get into one of their Vegas showrooms. Buy Cirque Du Soleil: Worlds Away.

Free Radicals: A History of Experimental Cinema (2012): The title tells all; this is an 80 minute survey of 20th century experimental film, highlighted by the final recorded interview of pioneer Stan Brakhage. This doc takes its name from a five minute animated short by Len Lye, which is included in its entirety. Buy Free Radicals: A History of Experimental Cinema.

This Must Be the Place (2011): Here’s a truly odd premise for a comedy: a retired goth-rock star hunts the Nazi who persecuted his father at Auschwitz.  Starring Sean Penn, of all people, as the laconic, androgynous angel of vengeance. Buy This Must Be the Place.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away [Limited 3D Edition] (2012): See description in DVD above. This set includes a Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D and DVD copy. Buy Cirque Du Soleil: Worlds Away [Blu-ray].

This Must Be the Place (2011): See description in DVD above. Buy This Must Be the Place [Blu-ray].

Tristana (1970): A respectable old man with one weakness—women—seduces a younger woman put into his charge; she escapes him, but later returns after she loses her leg. From the Cohen Film Collection, this restored version includes an alternate ending to Luis Buñuel‘s psychosexual classic. Buy Tristana [Blu-ray].

FREE (LEGITIMATE RELEASE) MOVIES ON YOUTUBE:

Zontar, the Thing from Venus (1966): Zontar (the three-eyed thing from Venus) comes to Earth and starts enslaving people using his monster bat minions, but one scientist is convinced he’s a good guy who’s just misunderstood. This made-for-TV remake of Roger Corman‘s It Conquered the World was so bad, it embarrassed even director Larry (Mars Needs Women) Buchanan.

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.

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):

The ABCs of Death (2012): 26 directors each tell a short story about death based on an assigned letter of the alphabet. Some of the auteurs whose work is featured: Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani (Amer), Jason Eisener (Hobo With a Shotgun), Noboru Iguchi (RoboGeisha—he does the tasteful “F is for Fart”), Yoshihiro Nishimura (Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl),  Marcel Sarmiento (Deadgirl), Srdjan Spasojevic (A Serbian Film), and Yûdai Yamaguchi (Yakuza Weapon). The letter “T” was reserved for a contest winner. Also available on your computer on demand. The ABCs of Death official site.

FILM FESTIVALS – South by Southwest (SWSX) (Austin, TX, March 8-16):

Housed in the belly of Southern hipsterdom—Austin, TX—South by Southwest began as a music festival in 1986, and by 1994 expanded to include films. Today, it is probably the second most important venue for independent films in the United States; and, judging by the number of pictures choosing to premiere at SWSX, it’s gaining ground on Sundance every year.  While we’ve already noted several of these films playing at other festivals—including Harmony Korine’s Spring Breakers (making its official U.S. debut), Belgium’s magical realist feature The Fifth Season, Nick (son of John) Cassavetes’ Yellow, and Calvin Reeder‘s latest surreal horror, The Rambler—here are some other movies of weird appeal appearing at SWSX for the first time:

• Evil Dead – A Sam Raimi-approved modern remake of the 1981 cult horror about demonic possession in a cabin; it seems like a pointless endeavor, but it’s understandably creating a buzz amongst horror fans. Screening March 8.
• I Am Divine – A documentary on the world’s favorite 300-pound copraphagiac transvestite, Harris Glenn Milstead, better known as Divine. March 9.
• The Lords of Salem – This modern-day witchcraft story from notorious goremeister Rob Zombie reportedly takes his breed of horror in a new, artier direction. March 11 (at midnight, natch).

• Swim Little Fish Swim – The two teasers tell us nothing about this indie (in one a guy sings a blues number about the hallucinogen DMT), but the synopsis describes a “dreamlike journey from childhood to adulthood.” Screening March 11.

 South by Southwest official site

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

“A Nightmare on Elm Street Collection”: Hellish Freddy Krueger stalks teenagers in their nightmares in this series that was the most inventive and by far the best of the slasher craze of the 1980s. The early films contained some genuinely creepy dream sequences, while later “dream warrior” installments became increasingly campy and ridiculous as Freddy turned more into a bad pun factory than a figure of menace. Contains seven movies spread across five Blu-rays. Buy “A Nightmare on Elm Street Collection” [Blu-ray].

FREE (LEGITIMATE RELEASE) MOVIES ON YOUTUBE:

Deep Red [Profundo Rosso] (1975): Read our capsule review. Somehow, Dario Argento‘s convoluted giallo about a psychics, scary dolls and brutal set piece murders is available to watch (for now) on YouTube. It’s a bad, full-frame print, true, but hey, it’s free! Watch Deep Red 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.

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):

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.” Molly’s Theory of Relativity official site.

Stoker: Chan-wook Park‘s highly anticipated American debut stars Mia Wasikowska as a girl who becomes obsessed with her uncle after the death of her father; Nicole Kidman plays the crazy, sadistic mother. This psycho-thriller looks mildly weird, at best, but Park’s fans would be justifiably furious with us if we didn’t mention this one. Opening this week in New York, L.A., Toronto and Boston. Stoker official site.

War Witch [Rebelle]: A 14-year old girl is conscripted as to become a child soldier in a nameless African war, then is revered as a “War Witch” when the rebels decide she can speak to spirits. We’re not sure just how much magic is mixed in with the realism here, but there is an unavoidable Beasts of the Southern Wild vibe to the trailer. War Witch official site.

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FILM FESTIVALS – Fantasporto (Porto, Portugal, March 1-9):

We love the taste of the programmers at genre showcase Fantasporto, as testified to by the fact that three of the festival’s “Grande Prémio” winners—Toto the Hero, Pan’s Labyrinth and Idiots and Angels—have made it onto our List of the 366 Weirdest Movies of all time, with more to come. This year’s slate of films, however, strikes us as less impressive than usual, maybe because so many of the movies comprising the program are older entries (one of the competitors has been out on DVD for five months already). Only two of the films below, Delirium and Vanishing Waves, are new to us. Still, we wish we were there.

• Ace Attorney – Takashi Miike’s  futuristic courtroom comedy is based on a video game and involves improbable hairstyles and ghost co-counsel.
• Berberian Sound Studio – A neurotic British sound engineer used to working on quiet nature documentaries goes mad when he takes an assignment designing the audio for a 1970s Italian horror film.
• Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same – We hate to stereotype, but cool weird b-movie title usually equals lame predictable parody.
• Delirium – Surreal Ukrainian film about a psychiatrist treating a man who is obsessed with knots.
• Iron Sky – Nazis from the moon invade Earth.
• Vanishing Waves – A therapist becomes erotically involved with a patient in a coma when he uses an experimental technique to enter her sleeping consciousness.

Fantasporto official homepage (English).

NEW ON DVD:

Beyond the Clouds (1995): Four misty, dreamlike love stories connected by the linking device of a movie director (John Malkovich) considering his next project. Michelangelo Antonini began filming this, his last movie, at 83 years of age, but suffered a stroke during the middle of the production; the remainder of the work was completed by Wim Wenders. Buy Beyond the Clouds.

Chicken with Plums [Poulet aux Prunes] (2011): Read our capsule review. This visually spectacular romantic fantasy about the deathbed hallucinations of an Iranian concert violinist was overlooked by almost everyone else, but it was a favorite of ours. Buy Chicken with Plums.

Freaky Deaky (2012): The plot, adapted from an Elmore Leonard novel, involves two hedonistic brothers (Crispin Glover and Andy Dick), the detective who’s investigating a rape charge against one of them, two bomb-making radicals trying to extort money from the siblings, and other crazy characters. Despite bankable talent (Christian Slater also appears), this thriller with the tagline “crime is such a trippy thing” was apparently too eccentric for a distributor to pick up, and makes its debut on DVD. Buy Freaky Deaky.

Holy Motors (2012): Read our capsule review. 366 readers gave Holy Motors three Weirdcademy Awards (Weirdest Picture, Weirdest Actor, and Weirdest Scene); now that it’s on video it’s officially eligible for the List. You may want to see it. Buy Holy Motors.

The Master (2012): Read our capsule review. Joaquin Phoenix plays a rocket-fuel drinking postwar horndog who falls into the hands of a cult leader in this ambiguous existential exercise from Paul Thomas Anderson. Buy The Master.

“Midnight Horror Show: The Master Collection”: A bargain collection of contemporary microbudget fringe-horror, including Bane:An Experiment in Human Suffering, Crowbar: The Killings of Wendell Graves, The Defiled, Fast Zombies with Guns, Nina: Crazy Suicide Girl, One Hour to Die: You Have All Been Poisoned, and most importantly Lady of the Dark: Genesis of the Serpent Vampire. Going by the titles alone we are sure this collection is going to meet somebody‘s definition of “weird.” Buy “Midnight Horror Show: Master Collection”.

“Midnight Movies Vol 11: Mondo Triple Feature”: The shockumentary that started it all, the cynical and bizarre Mondo Cane, is paired with the even more exploitative sequel Mondo Cane 2 [AKA Mondo Pazzo] and Women of the World, which investigates such important women’s issues as hookers and live childbirth. All three movies were churned out by filmmakers Jacopetti and Prosperi in 1962 and 1963. Buy “Midnight Movies Vol 11: Mondo Triple Feature”.

“Midnight Movies Vol 12: Shockumentary Triple Feature”: More mondo madness from Italian muckrakers Jacopetti and Prosperi. Africa Blood & Guts exploits an entire continent while capturing stomach-turning massacres of both animals and humans; Goodbye Uncle Tom (in our reader-suggested review queue) is their only fictional work, a “documentary” about the slave trade in the American south; and 2003’s Godfathers of Mondo wraps things up with a retrospective look at the pair’s crazy career. Buy “Midnight Movies Vol 12: Shockumentary Triple Feature”.

Red Tears [AKA Monster Killer] (2011): Two detectives hunt a decapitating serial killer who turns out to have supernatural powers. More Japanese B-movie madness with a mashup plot mixing horror, martial arts, comedic violence, and police procedural. Buy Red Tears.

Suzune Genesis [AKA The Parasite Doctor Suzune: Genesis] (2011): Per distributor Tokyo Shock: “When your body is bursting with all kinds of erotic parasites, the only person that can save you is Dr. Suzune!” There’s no info on this one anywhere, but we suggest a blind buy based on that tagline. This is part one of a series continued in Parasite Doctor Suzune: Evolution. Buy Suzune Genesis.

Zombie Lake (1981): Nazi zombies rise from their aquatic graves to terrorize nude female volleyball players! Widely considered to be Jean Rollin‘s worst horror effort, this was co-scripted by the notoriously inept Jess Franco. Do not confuse with the even more hated Oasis of the Zombies, another zombie-nudie released in 1982 by (you guessed it) Jess Franco, which is also being released by Redemption this week. Buy Zombie Lake.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

Holy Motors (2012): See description in DVD above. Buy Holy Motors [Blu-ray].

The Master (2012): See description in DVD above. Buy The Master [Blu-ray].

Silent Hill: Revelation (2012): Read our capsule review. This pack also contains a 3D Blu-ray, DVD, digital copy and UltraViolet access. Buy Silent Hill: Revelation [Blu-ray].

Zombie Lake (1981): See description in DVD above. Buy Zombie Lake [Blu-ray].

FREE (LEGITIMATE RELEASE) MOVIES ON YOUTUBE:

The Penalty (1920): Read our capsule review. A legless Lon Chaney runs a crime empire in this, his debut feature.

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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.