This month’s Amazon Prime Watch Party—Come to Daddy (2019)— (changed at the last minute from Violence Voyager)—starts in fifteen minutes.
You’ll need to be an Amazon Prime member in the US to participate.
Here is the link to join: https://amz.onl/gYX5dJ6
See you soon!
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):
The Amusement Park (1973/2019): An elderly man goes to an amusement park and finds only a nightmare. This big-time oddity was a semi-educational film funded by the Lutheran Church and intended to expose ageism in society. But the churchies were predictably perplexed by the avant-garde results after inexplicably hiring horror specialist George Romero to make it, and chose to shelve the film. It was restored in 2019 and will be available at limited venues starting this week; it will likely be streaming sometime soon for the curious. Notes on the restoration of The Amusement Park from the George Romero Foundation.
Dementia Part II (2018): This non-sequel tribute to Dementia is a black and white indie horror about an ex-con who takes a job as handyman for a demented old woman. A midnight movie that was made in a month on a dare, and is now in limited release in theaters, with VOD and DVD releases coming on June 1. No official site located.
NEW ON HOME VIDEO:
The Father (2020): Read our review. If you’re looking for a recent Oscar winner with even the mildest hint of weirdness, this disorienting portrait of a man with dementia stands alone. Blu-ray or DVD. Buy The Father.
Santa Sangre (1989): Read the Certified Weird entry! Not eligible for bundling in the Alejandro Jodorowsky Collection due to rights issues, Jodo’s tale of an armless mother and her serial-killing son is out in a separate deluxe package from Severin, with a 4K Ultra disc, Blu-ray, soundtrack CD, and a disc of extras (including a full-length Santa Sangre documentary). Buy Santa Sangre.
CANONICALLY WEIRD (AND OTHER) REPERTORY SCREENINGS:
We’re seeing a few more venues cautiously reopening at reduced capacity. Will things be back to normal in this space by the autumn? We’ll see!
FREE ONLINE WEIRD MOVIES:
Pesticide (2021): The official plot synopsis reads, “The lives of an avant-garde musician, a serial killer, a kingpin and his right hand man intertwine in a tale of violence, psychedelia and betrayal.” “Pesticide” is a hallucinogen sold by a pusher in a green mask in this microbudget YouTube feature, set in a dystopian future that looks just like contemporary suburbia; someone spent a lot of time in a basement creating the psychedelic effects. Contains mature language.
https://youtu.be/Gipw0uRnSLo
WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE: Please join us tomorrow night at 10:15 PM ET on Amazon Prime for a group viewing of Violence Voyager (2018). As always, the link to join will appear here, on Facebook, or on Twitter around 10 PM ET.
And after a couple of slow weeks, we’re picking up the pace a little on reviews, bringing you two next week: Giles Edwards on the supernatural horror The Empty Man (2020), and on the epic-length avant-garde drama Used and Borrowed Time (2020). 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):
Black Easter (2021): A team of whiz-kids accidentally create time-travel and an evil Muslim uses it to go back to 1st century Palestine to assassinate Jesus. You’re not likely to encounter this one by accident, but if it sounds familiar, this is actually a re-cut of Assassin 33 A.D. (apparently, the director added voiceovers to explain what was going on in various timelines to help “stupid” reviewers). Black Easter official site (claims it’s coming out in March 2022, but hey, time is relative).
RK/RKAY (2021): An Indian filmmaker finds that a character he created (and portrayed) for a failed retro-60s film has somehow escaped into reality. One of the few critics who’s seen it calls it “surreal,” but as metamovies go, it sounds closer to Woody Allen than Charlie Kaufman. In a few theaters across the country or in virtual cinemas; venues available at the RK/RKAY US distributor site.
NETFLIX:
Super Me (2019): Chinese movie about a screenwriter who is chased by a demon in his nightmares, but discovers that he can turn a hefty profit by bringing items he dreams about into the real world. Reviewers were pretty ho-hum, complaining about tonal shifts and a nonsensical ending—but those are not necessarily deal-breakers for weird movie fans. Watch Super Me on Netflix.
NEW ON HOME VIDEO:
No Reason (2010): Horror film about a naked woman “trapped inside an allegory of torment and carnage.” This cheap German gore sickie is now on Blu-ray (or on an updated DVD, if you prefer), and released by the current distributor of A Serbian Film. Buy No Reason.
Tickles the Clown (2021): Computer-animated tale of a clown who fights for the Illuminati in the year 4040. Since the writer/director is also credited with Bigfoot vs. the Illuminati and Trump vs. the Illuminati, it seems like it must be intended as a comedy, possibly set in an extended Illuminati universe? All we really have to go on is a trailer. Buy Tickles the Clown.
CANONICALLY WEIRD (AND OTHER) REPERTORY SCREENINGS:
Again, not a lot to report in this space this week, although close to half the venues we normally follow have reopened. Due to limited seating restrictions, we’ve noticed a few new screenings selling out online before we can even list them. We expect to see a little more each week until repertory cinemas come back at full strength. In the meantime, we have discovered a few new drive-in venues to spotlight, in Austin and Miami.
YOU LINK US! YOU REALLY LINK US!:
Criterion Reflections – Episode 98 – Federico Fellini’s Roma – We’re one of the supplemental links for David Blakeslee’s podcast episode devoted to Fellini’s Roma. Mille grazie!
WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE: Likely attendees may now vote for the film we’ll screen at our next Amazon Prime Weird Watch Party, scheduled for May 22 at 10:15 PM ET. This poll stays open until Monday midnight.
And once more, it will be a light week for new reviews, with only the surreal microbudget shot-on-video feature Beyond Dream’s Door (1989) scheduled (postponed from last week) appearing here. Work continues behind the scenes on the manuscript for the print version of the list of the 366 best weird movies of all time. (Though we stress that the fact that we’re making great progress on completing the manuscript doesn’t mean that you’ll see the book sitting on your shelf soon). 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.
Here’s the poll to vote in May’s Amazon Prime Weird Watch Party, which will start on Saturday, May 22 at 10:15 PM ET. If you plan on virtually attending, please vote for the movie we’ll be watching below. We’ll screen the movie that get the most votes; your host, Gregory J. Smalley, will personally break any ties. Note that unlike our other polls, you can only vote once. Poll closes at midnight ET on Monday, May 17. You may vote for multiple movies, but not for every movie (because that would be pointless).
Now vote!
Our next Weird Watch Party on Amazon Prime is scheduled for May 22 at 10:15 PM.
As always, we’ll be looking for nominations from people who plan to attend. After we get the minimum five nominations and likely attendees, we’ll put up a poll. Management will break any ties. We’re open to suggestions for different starting times, dates, or methods of propagating the watch link.
Amazon Prime’s catalog of movies is larger (and less exclusive) than Netflix’s. Ed Dykhuizen’s availability spreadsheet is a good resource to check for Canonically Weird movies (look for ones marked “free w/ Prime” in the “Amazon” column). Or, do your own research and come up with a title from Amazon. Eligible movies will have a “watch party” button on their Amazon page. You must be a Prime subscriber; you don’t have to download an extension or additional software.
When the party is set to begin we’ll announce it in three places:
Make your nominations in the comments below.