It’s time for the 2024 edition of the Weirdcademy Awards, the premier (only) awards contest exclusively focused on weird films, chosen by weird film fans. That means shorts as well as features. We’ve collected all five nominees for 2024′s Weirdest Short of the Year together in one place, for ease of voting. You can cast a vote for your favorite until March 1. Choose carefully, because you can only vote once. This year’s slate features party-hearty doppelgängers, cotton ball cookies, psychic pet science, an animated plague of mutations, and an eerie minimalist music video from an old friend.
You can watch all the nominees in full below before voting (shorts may contain adult language, dead pets, cartoon blood, and unsanitary cookie preparation):
366 Weird Movies may earn commissions from purchases made through product links.
Quick links/Discussed in this episode:
Sundance Film Festival: Normally, we would preview this festival before it started, but this year we lost track and waited until it was over to start our coverage. That’s probably a better procedure anyway, as we can now read the early returns and get a better sense of what’s meaningfully weird at what remains America’s most significant indie movie festival. Here’s a bunch of premieres we’ll be looking for in the coming year:
By Design – Juliette Lewis turns into a chair (seriously, that’s the plot). From Amanda Kramer, so you know it’s weird.
Dead Lover – A gravedigger reanimates her dream man in what is described as a campy and gonzo spin on Frankenstein with some cult movie potential.
OBEX – A man travels into a video game to save his abducted dog. From Albert Birney, so you know it’s weird.
Rabbit Trap – Two musicians record a mystical sound which drives them mad in this Welsh folk horror.
The Thing with Feathers – A grieving father is haunted by a giant talking crow.
The Sacrifice (1986): Read Alfred Eaker’s review. Andrei Tarkovsky‘s final film (he was dying of cancer as he filmed it) is a typically austere and challenging spiritual tale of a man who wishes to sacrifice himself to save his family from an apocalypse. This is the 4K UHD release of a previous Blu-ray (also included). Buy The Sacrifice.
“Twin Peaks: From Z to A”: Probably the ultimate Twin Peaks collection (although all of this material has been available in various previous editions). Includes all three TV seasons and Fire Walk with Me, a 4K UHD of the pilot and the notorious “Gotta Light?” episode from Season 3, along with 20+ hours of (all previously released) bonus material. Buy “Twin Peaks: From Z to A”.
FREE ONLINE WEIRD MOVIES:
Warner Brothers quietly dumped released a slew of back catalog titles on ad-supported free YouTube streams this week. The most notable, for our purposes, are Canonically Weird titles True Stories (1986) (our review, viewing link) and The Science of Sleep (2006) (our review, viewing link). No idea how long these will be available, so enjoy while you can!
WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:
No guest is currently scheduled for next week’s Pod 366, but Giles Edwards and Gregory J. Smalley plan to return with a look at what’s weird in news and new releases. Of course, on Sunday the Weirdcademy Awards voting opens to everyone, so be sure to get your votes end (voting ends on March 1, the day before Hollywood’s Most Conventional Movie Awards airs.) In written reviews, Shane Wilson takes on one that Came from the Reader-Suggested Queue in Hanzo the Razor (1972), about a Tokugawa-era lawman with an unusual crime-fighting tool; Giles Edwards also dives into the queue for the 2007 English horror The Devil’s Chair; and Gregory J. Smalley gives another answer to the eternally-recurring question If Footmen Tire You, What Will Horses Do? Onward and weirdward!
Cafe Flesh (1982): Read Terri McSorley’s review. The ultimate weirdo porn film from the team that would go on to make Dr. Caligari. Released in a limited edition of 2000 copies from Mondo Macabro, this sold out almost immediately, so you’ll have to search for a used copy (which may be difficult since major retailers like Amazon and Ebay won’t carry adult items).
“Death Laughs Among Us: Films by John Schnall”: Animator Schnall went on to make videos for MTV and Saturday Night Live, but this collection focuses on his lesser-known and little-seen early underground work. Buy “Death Laughs Among Us: Films by John Schnall”.
Ghost Cat Anzu (2024): Read Giles Edwards’ review. This Ghibli-esque anime is available to buy (only) on VOD (presumably a rental option will follow at some point); a physical media release is also coming in the first week of March. Buy Ghost Cat Anzu.
Hippo (2023): Read Giles Edwards’ review. The black and white black comedy arrives on Blu-ray, with a bonus short and behind-the-scenes footage. Buy Hippo.
The Keep (1983): Read Shane Wilson’s review. No missing footage from Michael Mann’s notoriously slashed supernatural thriller, but a lot of extra features in this Vinegar Syndrome UHD/Blu release. Buy The Keep.
Kuso (2017): A series of surreal vignettes set in a post-apocalypse Los Angeles, from musician-turned-filmmaker Flying Lotus. This film shocked Sundance with its weirdness, but was not well-received by mainstream critics; it was previously available on an international DVD, but this is its first appearance on Blu-ray. Buy Kuso.
Love Me (2024): Kristen Stewart and Steven Yeun star as a bouy and a satellite (respectively) who meet after humanity’s extinction and fall in love. This film that Tasha Robinson of Polygon calls “a daringly weird debut” is now in theaters across the country, after debuting at Sundance last year. Love Me official site.
Supervixens (1975): Read Alfred Eaker’s review. Zany sexploitation that marked a return to bodacious form for Russ Meyer after a flirtation with the mainstream; Severin adds 3+ hours of bonus material. Buy Supervixens.
WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:
No guest scheduled for next week’s Pod 366, when Greg and Giles expect to cover the week’s weird movie news and releases. In written content, Shane Wilson returns to Once Within a Time (2023), Gregory J. Smalley plans to catch Love Me (see above), and we’ll release our (somewhat late) nominations for the 2024 Weirdcademy Awards. Onward and weirdward!
Ed and Rooster’s Great Adventure [AKA Ed and Rooster’s Big Adventure] (2025): Two seagulls investigate alternate realities. A real amateur oddity, a Google Play rental seems like the only way to see this at the moment. Ed and Rooster’s Great Adventure official site.
Love and Crime (1969): A rarity from Teruo Ishii: an anthology telling the stories of four female killers, out now for the first time in North America on a Blu-ray from 88 Films. Buy Love and Crime.
Myth of Man (2024): The Winans (Ink) are back with another mystical low-budget fantasy that should be plenty weird. Expanding into major markets this week after some early previews, with scattered screenings continuing through February. Screening info at the film’s homepage.
Rumours (2024): Read Gregory J. Smalley’s review. G7 leaders encounter giant forest brains and exploding, masturbating zombies during the apocalypse in this outrageous surrealistic satire from Guy Maddin and the Johnsons, now on Blu-ray. Buy Rumours.
The Substance (2024): Read Gregory J. Smalley’s review. Coralie Fargeat’s outrageous beauty satire got a home video release in all formats two days before it landed five Oscar nominations. Buy The Substance.
Sundance Film Festival: A quick scan revealed nothing especially weird debuting at Sundance this year; we’ll keep our ears open to hear if anything generates an odd buzz in the coming days. Sundance Film Festival official homepage.
WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:
Next week we return to normal on Pod 366 with Gregory J. Smalley and Giles Edwards running through the week’s new releases. In written reviews, Shane Wilson adds his two cents to the pile of 366 opinions on Hundreds of Beavers (in conjunction with it’s wide Blu-ray release), while Greg reveals the winners of the Online Film Critics Society’s annual awards (and tells you how he voted, as well). Onward and weirdward!
Omni Loop (2024): Mary Louise Parker is going to die thanks to a black hole growing in her chest, so she takes a pill to repeatedly travel back in time to try to. Now available on Blu-ray (or DVD) only (at least at the moment). Buy Omni Loop.
“Pastoral: To Die in the Country”: A special screening of this rare and often requested Japanese avant-garde autobiographical film from Shuji Terayama, courtesy of NYC’s Japan Society. As always, we hope that this screening presages an imminent physical media (or even just a streaming) release. “Pastoral: To Die in the Country” at Japan Society.
Next week, Gregory J. Smalley will be back from vacation, though likely still suffering from jet lag, as he is joined on Pod 366 by Pete Trbovich (and possibly others); the major topic of discussion will be David Lynch. In written reviews, Shane Wilson excavates the Soviet supernatural mystery Dead Mountaineer’s Hotel (1979), while Giles Edwards struts his stuff with the musical blaxploitation oddity Darktown Strutters (1975). Onward and weirdward!
Celebrating the cinematically surreal, bizarre, cult, oddball, fantastique, strange, psychedelic, and the just plain WEIRD!
