Steven Kostanski in person provides impressive contrast to his creations. Starting his career in make-up and prosthetics, Kostanski has dabbled in animation and, indeed, most of filmmaking’s many avenues. The day after the world premier of the bombastic chuckle-fest, Frankie Freako, he was good enough to have a quiet and informative chat with 366. Tune in for comedy advice, back-story, and an HO gauge-drop from the interviewer.
Jesus Shows You the Way to the Highway‘s Miguel Llansó returns to talk with Giles Edwards about his latest film, Infinite Summer, a more restrained (but still wild) film about a meditation app that takes you to a purple nebula.
It takes pluck, self-confidence, and a decade of your life to learn everything you need to know about all the angles of production. Filmmaker Sander Maran and his brother, actor and producer Peeter, have much to say about Chainsaws Were Singing, their adventure in musical comedy filmmaking.
Includes bonus film introductory remarks and following Q&A.
366 Weird Movies may earn commissions from purchases made through product links.
Quick links/Discussed in this episode:
Jakob Skrzypa’s site for information on Vampire Zombies… From Space! and other projects
Nosferatu (1922)/Terror of Dracula (1922?): Read the Canonically Weird entry for Nosferatu! This is the Essex Films version of Nosferatu, which uses the character names from the novel (i.e., it’s Count Dracula, not Count Orlok). Although the ad copy is ambiguous, we gather that Terror of Dracula is a 30 minute cut of Nosferatu that was sold on 8mm film to home collectors via mail order; it’s included as a bonus. John Mucci composes new scores for the films. These are curiosities for completists, released by reelclassicdvd (but on Blu-ray). Buy Nosferatu/Terror of Dracula.
Only the River Flows (2023): A Chinese policeman questions whether they have the right suspect in a murder, as he struggles with nightmares that suggest madness. Played in Cannes in Un Certain Regard, and although most critics are coy about the actual plot (favoring words like “enigmatic”) it suggests the potential to be marginally weird. Only the River Flows official site.
WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:
On next week’s Pod 366, we’ll do our last live check-in at the 2024 Fantasia Festival, with a special guest scheduled: Nina Martin, Associate Professor of Film Studies at Connecticut College and occasional film reviewer at her personal blog I Wear Black on the Outside. In written reviews, Giles Edwards will have another week of festival reviews, reports and interviews: we’ll soon have a review for Chainsaws Were Singing (mentioned prominently in this Week’s Pod 366) along with interviews with that film’s director and an actor, Frankie Freako‘s Steven Kostanski, and a date with Miguel Llansó (Jesus Shows You the Way to the Highway) to discuss his latest offering, Infinite Summer. Meanwhile, Shane Wilson chips in a written review of another reader-suggestion: Leos Carax‘s incestuous but literary Pola X (1999). Onward and weirdward!
…Or does it? Ultimately, it doesn’t matter. Much like a lot in life. This lesson, and more, comes to you courtesy of Joel Potrykus‘ latest romp, the small-gauge tragi-comedy featuring two of the auteur’s classic character creations: Buzzard‘s Marty and Derek. Ambling back to the big screen after a ten year hiatus, they grace Vulcanizadora with pathos and comedy. Joel himself provides cheerful insight in this recorded conversation from Fantasia’s VIP room (and he proves himself indeed to be a very important Potrykus).
Includes bonus film introductory remarks and following Q&A.