366 Weird Movies may earn commissions from purchases made through product links.
Our weekly look at what’s weird in theaters, on hot-off-the-presses DVDs and Blu-rays (and hot off the server VODs), and on more distant horizons…
Trailers of new release movies are generally available at the official site links.
NEW ON HOME VIDEO:
Bat Pussy (1971): Female vigilante Bat Pussy (Dora Dildo) tries to thwart a middle-aged couple from making a pornographic film, but ends up joining in. It’s ugly people attempting flaccid sex and may be the worst, least arousing pornographic film ever made—but you don’t soon forget the sight of Bat Pussy bouncing across the countryside on her Bat Space Hopper. Runs less than an hour, but is presented in two cuts (a print with extra footage was discovered in 2019 and dutifully restored), with shorts and the bonus porno feature Robot Love Slaves. Bat Pussy is on Blu-ray, Angel’s Egg is not. Amazon thoughtfully refuses to stock it, but you can buy Bat Pussy directly from Something Weird (if you hate sex, and hate your own entertainment even more).
Damselvis, the Daughter of Helvis (1994): The ghost of country singer Helvis visits his daughter, Damselvis, in a dream and sends her on a quest to resurrect him. The rarely-seen debut of rockabilly-surrealist auteur John Micheal McCarthy gets a Blu-ray release (though it’s currently listed as “out of stock” at Amazon, you may be able to grab a limited edition copy from Vinegar Syndrome when their website goes back live on January 1). Dare we hope for Teenage Tupelo soon? Buy Damselvis, the Daughter of Helvis.
“The Films of Doris Wishman: The Daylight Years”: Something Weird/American Film Genre Archives’ final Wishman set (after The Moonlight Years and The Twilight Years) covers the nudist films that got her started in the sexploitation biz. Obviously, the jewel here is the incomparable Nude on the Moon, but if you like to see naked people (minus the pubic regions) playing volleyball, this is your jam. Buy “The Films of Doris Wishman: The Daylight Years.”
Sylvio (2017): The story of a small-town gorilla stuck in a debt collection job, who dreams of starting a puppet show. The debut from Strawberry Mansion‘s Albert Birney and Kentucker Audley, this arrives on home video for the first time (Blu-ray only) with bonus shorts (but is listed as “out of stock” at the time of this writing). Buy Sylvio.
This section will no longer be updated regularly. Instead, we direct you to our new “Repertory Cinemas Near You” page. We will continue to mention exceptional events in this space from time to time, however.
WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:
Lots of changes coming to 366 Weird Movies in 2023. Old names will be gone, new faces may appear. Let’s discuss some of the disruptions, shall we?
1. “Saturday Shorts” will continue, for the time being (you’ll see why we mention this fact soon enough).
2. The Big Book of all canonized weird movies will be released in 2023, even if we have to self-publish.
3. The entire website may be radically redesigned after the book is published.
4. New category title: “It Came from the Reader-Suggestion Queue.” We can no longer promise to cover every movie suggested in the massive suggestion box, but we’ll keep looking at them and reporting on ones of interest.
5. The column you are reading right now—“Weird Horizon,” one of our longest running features—may go on hiatus, return in scaled down form looking drastically different, or disappear entirely. That’s because…
6. We’ll be debuting the 366 Webcast/Podcast in its place. (Name still pending: we’re considering the functional title “The 366 Weird Movies Podcast,” or perhaps “Pod 366: A Weird Movies Podcast.” Suggestions are welcomed in the comments.) We plan discussing new releases—on home video or theatrical—in that forum, with the occasional guest to spice up the discussion. The first episode is set to debut a week from today, with Gregory J. Smalley and Giles Edwards contemplating what looks weird at the upcoming Sundance and Slamdance festivals. Joe Badon is booked as guest on the second episode, where the topic will be “weird movies.” This project is expected to evolve over time.
7. Over the course of the year we’re going to try to hold a watch party for every canonically weird movie that is currently available for streaming on Netflix. Amazon Prime, Hulu, or free services (via our Discord channel). These will be held on various nights at various times, whether anyone shows up or not. First up will be Metropolis (1927) at 8PM ET on Monday, January 2nd (time negotiable), via Tubi/Discord.
But we’ll continue bringing you reviews of weird movies in the format you’ve become accustomed to. For example, next week we’ll release our official list of the 10 Weirdest Movies of 2022 on New Year’s Day. In reviews, The Electric Man (2022) shocks Giles Edwards; Shane Wilson goes back to the reader-suggested queue for They Came Back [Les Revenants] (2004); and Amy Vaughn puts on a tight leather catsuit and rides with The Girl on a Motorcycle (1968). Onward and weirdward!
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.
366 Weird Movies may earn commissions from purchases made through product links.
Our weekly look at what’s weird in theaters, on hot-off-the-presses DVDs and Blu-rays (and hot off the server VODs), and on more distant horizons…
Trailers of new release movies are generally available at the official site links.
IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):
Cirkus (2022): A pair of twins are separated at birth; one of them ends up as an electrified circus performer. With almost nothing truly weird debuting in theaters or on home video in this slow holiday season, maybe this wilder-than-usual Bollywood comedy will hit the right note. The trailer’s worth a peek. Cirkus official Twitter page.
STREAMING DEBUTS (MUBI):
“The Kingdom Exodus” [“Riget Exodus”] (2022): Lars von Trier (who was recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease) returns with a third (and reportedly final) season of his TV series about a spooky hospital where weird events occur. A good acquisition for cinemaphile streamer Mubi. “The Kingdom Exodus” at Mubi.
This section will no longer be updated regularly. Instead, we direct you to our new “Repertory Cinemas Near You” page. We will continue to mention exceptional events in this space from time to time, however.
FREE ONLINE WEIRD MOVIES ON TUBI.TV:
The Lobster (2015): Read the Canonically Weird entry! If you’re sick of Christmas movies already, why not get a head start on your Valentine’s Day viewing with Yorgos Lanthimos‘ romantic black comedy about humanity’s universal need to pair up or be turned into an animal of their choice.Watch The Lobster free on Tubi.
NEPOTISM CORNER:
“Average Joe Travels the California Inscape”: An absurd fantasy radio-play series starring average detective Average Joe. Some episodes are written by Amy Vaughn and/or “Penguin” Pete Trbovich, all are voiced/narrated by Giles Edwards (with guest voices). The last season had Joe investigating a pumpkin spice caper involving a witch and a leprechaun. Season 6 starts in 2023, and there will be a special episode dropping on Christmas Day. Average Joe Travels the California Inscape home page.
WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:
Io Saturnalia to all those who celebrate!
Next week, while half of America is taking their vacation days, we’ll be bringing you a full slate of features. El Rob Hubbard gets you up to speed on Escape to the Silver Globe, a documentary about the making of the ill-fated On the Silver Globe; Shane Wilson dives into the reader-suggestion queue for some 80s music video nostalgia of Electric Dreams (1984); Amy Vaughn describes the Ghost-O-Vision Korean lesbian ghost story Memento Mori (1999), also a long-neglected reader suggestion; and Gregory J. Smalley gives you his first pass rundown of the top 10 movies of 2022 (mainstream edition). Onward and weirdward!
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.
Celebrating the cinematically surreal, bizarre, cult, oddball, fantastique, strange, psychedelic, and the just plain WEIRD!
