Category Archives: Free Online Weird Movies

Alfred Eaker's Fringe Cinema, Free Online Weird Movies

ROGER CORMAN’S A BUCKET OF BLOOD (1959)

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The cult favorite Bucket of Blood (1959) was ahead of its time, literally pioneering the phrase “supplemental feature.” Having finished A Bucket of Blood ahead of schedule, Corman fashioned his supplemental material in a second cult favorite feature, Little Shop of Horrors (1960), shot on an old  set.  As a producer, Corman’s oeuvre is, naturally, outrageously varied, from Z-grade potboilers to arthouse films. Corman’s output as a director was almost as varied, but the quality of his work took an improved turn with this film (with no small assistance from writer Charles B. Griffith, who also penned Shop). Corman’s directing career essentially ended with 1971’s Von Richthofen and Brown, although he returned nineteen years later  for Frankenstein Unbound (1990), which was mostly panned. Like the director himself, Frankenstein Unbound may be underrated; as underrated as some of Corman’s Poe films are overrated.

Still from A Bucket of Blood (1959)Producers Samuel Z. Arkoff and James Nicholson challenged Corman to break his own record of a six day shoot, quality be damned. Despite the five-day shoot, Bucket of Blood remains one of Corman’s best efforts. It is essentially a reworking of House Of Wax (1953) transplanted to a beatnik coffee shop.  (in his only starring role) plays the geek busboy Walter who wants to become as hip as the beatniks, poets, jazz musicians, and artists at the Yellow Door Cafe. Walter not only want to impress his customers, but also his unrequited love: hostess Carla (Barboura Morris). He gets his opportunity when he accidentally kills a cat, panics, and covers up the evidence in clay. He becomes an artistic sensation. Before you can say “Sweeney Todd,” Walter’s next masterpiece is of the two-legged mammalian variety. An irksome detective joins the list of victims turned masterpieces; and, naturally, Walter’s posthumous fame will supersede his homicidal proclivities.

Although Griffith’s humor is obvious and caters to two-dimensional stereotypes of artists and beatniks as insufferably pretentious, the movie wins due to admirable cynicism in the writing, combined with Corman’s staid directorial style and a cast with personality. Although Little Shop of Horrors is probably the better film, Bucket of Blood has earned its status as an authentically quirky cult film.  What may be Corman’s most ambitious “B” film was three years away: The Intruder (1962), a different type of horror altogether, which will appear in this space next week.

Alfred Eaker's Fringe Cinema, Free Online Weird Movies

I BURY THE LIVING (1958)

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 exemplifies the star of yesteryear. He was not a twenty-something, pretty Twilight boy chiseled out of wax. He was craggy and already middle-aged when cast as Paladin in “Have Gun Will Travel,” television’s greatest westerns series. Boone was a perfect anti-hero and a memorable, complex villain in countless films, including ‘s The Tall T (1957). Despite his rough exterior, Boone was an erudite actor, and his proudest accomplishment may have been the tragically short-lived “Richard Boone Show” (1963) which brought repertory theater to small screen American audiences (even if, predictably, the fare was too original for that audience). Boone’s way to starring roles from character parts was a slow one, and his early body of work included low budget genre films, such as the quirky, flawed gem, I Bury The Living (1958).

Boone, one year into the iconic “Have Gun Will Travel,” is as understated in I Bury the Living as the movie’s title is trashy. The film was directed by prolific Z-movie director Albert Band (father of Full Moon Productions’ Charles Band), who gives it a brooding, British noir milieu, employing psychedelic montages (shot by cinematographer Frederick Gatelyand) and expressionist sets (from Edward Vorkapich). It plays like an extended “Twilight Zone” episode with one noticeable difference: an ending which almost kills it.

Still from I Bury the Living (1958)Bob Kraft (Boone) inherits the family graveyard. Former groundskeeper Andy McKee (, who gives a good performance despite an awful Scottish accent) is retiring after 40 years. McKee shows Kraft a large map of the cemetery. The map is basically a pin board: white pins indicate an empty plot, and black ones an occupied plot. When Kraft accidentally places a black pin in the plot assigned to a living person, that person dies. And so it goes. Kraft goes mad after multiple deaths, believing he has the power of life and death via those pins.

What is most remarkable about the film is its low budget style (shot almost entirely in a L.A. cemetery), including what may be the creepiest map in celluloid history. The map transforms several times, growing menacingly. It is like Doran Grey’s canvas as if painted by Franz Kline. In one effective vignette, the map looks like a giant mirror adorned in black pins. Kraft’s mental state and Gerald Fried’s thrashing score parallel the mirror.

A film like this should have gone out in a blaze of glory. Instead, a cop-out finale unconvincingly reveals a disgruntled employee and we don’t buy it one bit. The final montage pulls out all the “Twilight Zone” stops in a imitative way. Despite the flaws, I Bury the Living  is deserving of its sleeper status. Unfortunately , the producers did little to promote it, and the film became buried until it became a mild cult favorite, fell into the public domain, and was lauded by that Fort Knox of obscure genre gold: Sinister Cinema.

Alfred Eaker's Fringe Cinema, Free Online Weird Movies

BILL MORRISON’S SPARK OF BEING (2010)

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Spark of Being can be watched in its entirety for free on IMDB.

Spark of Being (2010) is an example of an artist resisting an aesthetic anchor. ‘s films are often categorized as non-narrative and experimental, so the idea of this artist tackling such a perennial chestnut such as “Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus” leads us to wonder exactly how he is going to deconstruct such a familiar narrative. Throwing out all preconceived assumptions, Morrison pays homage to Mary Shelly and makes her Gothic creation fresh again with a startlingly literal interpretation. Indeed, Spark of Being may be one of the most faithful cinematic adaptations of the book to date.

Using found footage, Morrison teams with jazz trumpeter Dave Douglas and his electric sextet, Keystone, to illustrate Shelly’s tale. Douglas is an eclectic trumpeter who once worked as a sideman with the John Zorn ensemble Masada. With an original score that is simultaneously mercurial and animated, it is hard to imagine a more perfect composer for Spark of Being. 

Still from Spark of Being (2010)A frequent (and sometimes justifiable) criticism in films this textured is that the style becomes so all-important the end result is a viewer deprived of a heart to identify with. In short, often, a human element is missing. Morrison has referred to this film itself as “the Creature,” and given the agonized condition of footage chosen, Morrison’s creature may be the most pathos-laden performance of the character since . One can only imagine the painstaking process it took in assembling Morrison’s creation into a cogent psyche, imbued with personality as predominant “presence.” A popular comparison might be the collaboration between  and Claude Rains in producing a personality-driven Invisible Man (1933), but Morrison’s approach is more innovative, while still being true to the author’s tenets. Douglas’ music provides an informative touch of flesh stretched over the cranium supplied by archival footage from Ernest Shackleton’s film of an Antarctic expedition. As in the novel, the film opens here in the segment titled “The Captain’s Story.” The viewer steps with the Captain in his interaction with creator and created and the unfolding tragic drama.

Through laboratory footage we meet “A Promising Student” and adopt his sense of ambition and wonder. Educational footage and decayed nitrate, which looks hauntingly like an intensely animated closeup of an Emilio Vedova canvas, bring “The Doctor’s Creation” to violent life.

In “The Creature Watches” antiquarian city crowds, desolate landscapes and achingly lonely images of a child endow the creature with a Chaplinesque essence. The psychedelic beauty of “The Creature’s Education” is extended and sublime. The heartbreaking “Observations Of Romantic Love” segues into the bitter sting of ‘The Doctor’s Wedding” and the inevitable dejection of “The Creature in Society.” In “The Creature Confronts His Creator,” the new Adam dares to accuse a negligent father, and in “The Creature’s Pursuit” it is God who is tried and condemned. A justifiable patricide is, perhaps, the greatest burden of all. It is the stuff of horror, even nearly 200 year old horror served up in our own mythological consciousness.

Free Online Weird Movies, Miscellanea

WEIRD HORIZON FOR THE WEEK OF 9/27/2013

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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 (WIDE RELEASE):

Metallica: Through the Never: A 3-D mix of a Metallica concert film with some sort of post-apocalyptic roadie road trip. Fans will eat up the headbanging stuff, but the narrative part looks pretty headscratching; Kontroll‘s directs. Opens this week in IMAX theaters, with a nationwide release starting next week. Metallica: Through the Never official site.

IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):

The Wicker Man – The Final Cut (1973): Read the Certified Weird entry. The director-approved restoration is debuting in New York City and touring the U.S. thereafter. We’re sure if this “final” cut contained any previously unseen footage, they’d be shouting about it from the rooftops. The Wicker Man – Final Cut schedule from Rialto Pictures.

NEW ON DVD:

“Betty Boop: The Essential Collection, Volume 2”: More insane Fleischer Brothers’ animation featuring the unnaturally sexy child/woman flapper. This set includes the Masonic “Bimbo’s Initiation,” which is a great example of how dreamlike and nonsensical these cartoons could get at their wildest. Buy “Betty Boop: The Essential Collection, Vol. 2”.

Prince of Darkness (1987): Quantum physics students discover the essence of liquid Satan (seriously!) in a Church basement. This “Collector’s Edition” of the John Carpenter cult item features a director’s commentary and numerous supplements. Buy Prince Of Darkness.

Room 237 (2012): Read our capsule review. The documentary about shaky fan interpretations of The Shining includes an entire second disc of bonus material, including eleven deleted scenes; expect more crazy conspiracy theories. Buy Room 237.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

“Betty Boop: The Essential Collection, Volume 2”: See description in DVD above. Buy “Betty Boop: The Essential Collection, Vol. 2” [Blu-ray].

Prince of Darkness (1987): See description in DVD above. Buy Prince Of Darkness [Blu-ray].

Room 237 (2012): See description in DVD above. Buy Room 237 [Blu-ray].

FREE (LEGITIMATE RELEASE) MOVIES ON YOUTUBE:

Spooks Run Wild (1941): The fast-talking “East Side Kid” hole up in a haunted house with . This movie probably helped inspire “Scooby Doo,” and cited it as an influence on Keyhole.

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.

Free Online Weird Movies, Miscellanea

WEIRD HORZION FOR THE WEEK OF 9/20/2013

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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 (WIDE RELEASE):

The Wizard of Oz: An IMAX 3D Experience (1939): Read our review. Dorothy is off again to see the Wizard, now with flying monkeys in 3D. We love the movie, and are willing to tolerate the gimmick if it brings it to a wider audience. The Wizard of Oz Imax 3D official site.

IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):

+1 (2013): Supernatural happenings disrupt the collegiate blowout of the year. The synopsis is coy about the movie’s twist, but online chatter suggests it may be something we’ve seen before. +1 official site.

FILM FESTIVALS – Fantastic Fest (Austin, TX, Sep. 19-26):

The Alamo Drafthouse may be America’s coolest theater—where else can you grab a burger and an Irish coffee milkshake before watching a screening of Willy Wonka with Veruca Salt and Mike Teevee in attendance? Their brand has grown so big that now they even distribute their own (generally weird) movies. Sure, some of them kind of suck, but still, how cool is it that an arthouse theater chain gives movies that are too “special” for general audiences a chance to be seen? One of the Alamo’s hippest projects is the Fantastic Fest, now in its eighth year. As per usual, there is a fantastic slate of weird movies and some astounding revivals here. While there are a dozen or more “of interest” movies showing here that we’ve already noted in our entries on Cannes, Venice, Toronto, and other venues, here are some other titles and events that are special to Fantastic Fest:

  • Detective Downs – Norwegian mystery (?) about a detective with Down’s Syndrome who is hired because of his presumed incompetence. Screens Sep. 20 & 25.
  • The Devils – If you’re within a two-hour drive of Austin, quick, drop whatever you’re doing; ‘s notorious, outrageous nunsploitation/artsploitation hybrid is screening today only, Friday Sep. 20th, at 2:45 PM Central Standard Time.
  • Escape from Tomorrow – To our knowledge, this surreal theme park satire, with scenes secretly shot guerrilla-style on Disney resort property, has not been screened since Sundance. Not only does it suddenly appear at Fantastic Fest, but there is an elaborate new trailer supporting it. We still worry that Disney lawyers will never allow this film to see the light of day in any meaningful way (although small scale screenings are scheduled in the future), so catch it while you can—if you missed today’s 11:30 AM showing, then Thursday, Sep. 26 is your only chance.

  • Journey to the West – ‘s first directorial effort in five years is a fantasy adventure adaptation of a Chinese mythology classic featuring Buddhist demons and the Monkey King. Sep. 21 & 24.
  • Kid’s Police – A cop action/drama, performed entirely by a cast of 10-year olds (a la 1976’s Bugsy Malone). Sep. 22 & 26.
  • Mood Indigo – directs a lighthearted surreal romance from a novel by Boris Vian, starring Amelie‘s Audrey Tautou as the female love interest. No wonder it’s in our reader-suggested review queue. Sep. 22 & 25.
  • Maruyama, the Middle Schooler – From the writer of Zebraman comes this hallucinatory tale of an imaginative middle-school boy who dreams of one day becoming flexible enough to perform auto-fellatio. Sep. 22 & 26.
  • Nightbreed – The Cabal Cut – This is the director’s cut of Clive Barker’s 1990 cult horror about an encounter between a village of mutants and a serial killer. Sep. 21 only.
  • Proxy – A pregnant woman joins a support group after she is assaulted on the streets; festival programmers boast it’s “one of the most… truly crazy stories ever seen at Fantastic Fest.” Screening Monday, Sep. 23.
  • Septic Man – It sounds like a Canadian version of The Toxic Avenger, featuring a plumber who gains super powers after being trapped in a septic tank. Sep. 20 & 23.

Fantastic Fest official site.

NEW ON DVD:

Somebody Up There Likes Me (2012): A suitcase keeps a man eternally young in this partly animated absurdist comedy that spans decades. Keith Poulson stars, but word has it that “Parks and Recreations”‘s Nick Offerman steals every scene he’s in.  Buy Somebody Up There Likes Me.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

The Bride of Frankenstein (1935): The evil Dr. Pretorius manipulates Frankenstein into creating a new creature: a mate for his Monster. This sequel adds elements of black comedy and is superior to the excellent original; it transcends the macabre genre and is truly one of the greatest movies ever made. Buy The Bride of Frankenstein [Blu-ray].

The Devil Bat (1940): In an absurd revenge scheme, mad scientist invents a giant bat and an aftershave that makes it attack the wearer. As good as The Bride of Frankenstein is, that’s how bad The Devil Bat is; still, this poverty row embarrassment has some cachet among camp fans. Buy The Devil Bat [Blu-ray].

Dracula (1931): Read our review. The Blu-ray contains the contemporaneously-shot Spanish version as a bonus feature, so you can judge for yourself which interpretation is superior. Buy Dracula (1931) [Blu-ray].

Dracula, Prince of Darkness (1966): Read our capsule review. Hammer won’t let Universal hog the pre-Halloween classic Blu-ray spotlight all to itself. Buy Dracula, Prince of Darkness [Blu-ray].

Frankenstein (1931): A scientist creates life from dead bodies, then loses control of his creation. Not quite as astounding (or as weird) as the sequel Bride, but an excellent horror classic on its own terms. Buy Frankenstein [Blu-ray].

Slacker (1991): Read our capsule review. The Criterion Collection upgrades ‘s seminal indie to Blu-ray. Buy Slacker [Criterion Collection Blu-ray].

The Wolf Man (1941): Read our capsule review. Fill out your Blu-ray collection with this tale of a poor soul cursed to become a beast when the wolf-bane blooms and the autumn moon is bright. Buy The Wolf Man [Blu-ray].

FREE (LEGITIMATE RELEASE) MOVIES ON YOUTUBE:

The Impossible Kid [AKA The Impossible Kid of Kung Fu] (1982): 2’9″ martial arts star Weng Weng returns in this goofy exploitation sequel to the Filipino “hit” spoof For Y’ur Height Only. In this outing, the kid-sized karate expert rescues kidnapped businessmen from the mysterious Mr. X. Watch The Impossible Kid 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.