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 at the official site links.

IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):

The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017): Giorgos Lanthimos‘ latest reunites him with The Lobster‘s Colin Farrell, playing a cardiologist who befriends a 16-year old boy. Much anticipated, and finally here (well, at least it’s in selected U.S. cities). The Killing of a Sacred Deer official site.

Never Here (2017): An artist whose work violates others’ privacy finds herself pretending to be a witness to a murder while slowly losing her mind. Reviews were mixed but generally positive, and the poster describes it as “Lynchian,” but the main press coverage has revolved around the fact that it’s the last film appearance for the late Sam Shepard. No official site found.

IN DEVELOPMENT:

Chained for Life (est. 2018): The title is a reference to (although not a remake of) a 1952 exploitation film starring conjoined twins Daisy and Violet Hilton (who also appeared in Freaks). We found this one in a casting call listing looking for female twins, a giant, a dwarf, an amputee, and an actor with Down syndrome. The listing explains it’s about “freaks” cast in a movie who “swipe the film’s camera equipment after-hours and make their own film.” Sounds like an exploitation-era throwback, but we note it’s the upcoming sophomore feature of Aaron Schimberg, whose praised but little-seen debut Go Down Death earned comparisons to the work of Guy Maddin. Chained for Life casting call (closed) at Backstage.

NEW ON DVD:

Howl’s Moving Castle (2004): Read the Certified Weird entry! GKIDS acquired the license to all of Hayao Miyazaki‘s films from Disney and is re-releasing this steampunk/fantasy along with a number of others this week. Buy Howl’s Moving Castle [DVD/Blu-ray combo].

Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989): A teenage witch starts her own delivery-by-broomstick service. Part of GKIDS’ wave of Miyaki reissues (see also Howl’s Moving Castle). Buy Kiki’s Delivery Service [DVD/Blu-ray combo].

My Neighbor Totoro (1988): Read our review. Miyazki’s first crossover hit in America is about an (imaginary?) magical childhood friend. Buy My Neighbor Totoro [DVD/Blu-ray combo].

Ponyo (2008): Read our capsule review. Japan’s environmentalist take on “The Little Mermaid,” full of Miyazaki’s childlike magical realism. Buy Ponyo [DVD/Blu-ray combo].

Princess Mononoke (1997): A warrior tries to intercede in a war between a mining colony and followers of a forest god. Typical Miyazki fantasy mixed with environmental themes. Buy Princess Mononoke [DVD/Blu-ray combo].

Spirited Away (2001): Read the Certified Weird entry! Miyaki’s most popular and acclaimed movie, about a little girl lost in the spirit world, may also be his weirdest. Buy Spirited Away [DVD/Blu-ray combo].

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992): Read our review. This Criterion Collection edition of the prequel to “Twin Peaks” repeats a lot of material available on other releases (particularly the “Entire Mystery” box set), but does have exclusive new interviews with actress Sheryl Lee and composer Angelo Badalamenti. Buy Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

“Alfred Hitchcock: The Ultimate Collection”: A set of 15 of Alfred Hitchcock‘s greatest hits, including, of course, the Certified Weird Vertigo (1958), along with two discs with select episodes of “Alfred Hitchcock Presents.” Obviously a big-ticket item, but at a list price of $85, it actually comes out to a bargain at $5 per disc. Buy “Alfred Hitchcock: The Ultimate Collection”.

Howl’s Moving Castle (2004): See description in DVD above. All the GKIDS Miyazaki releases are available in dual format combo packs only. Buy Howl’s Moving Castle [DVD/Blu-ray combo].

Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989): See description in DVD above. Buy Kiki’s Delivery Service [DVD/Blu-ray combo].

My Neighbor Totoro (1988): See description in DVD above. Buy My Neighbor Totoro [DVD/Blu-ray combo].

Ponyo (2008): See description in DVD above. Buy Ponyo [DVD/Blu-ray combo].

Princess Mononoke (1997): See description in DVD above. Buy Princess Mononoke [DVD/Blu-ray combo].

Spirited Away (2001): See description in DVD above. Buy Spirited Away [DVD/Blu-ray combo].

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992): See description in DVD above. Buy Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me [Blu-ray].

The Voice of the Moon (1990): An escaped mental patient (Roberto Benigni)  Federico Fellini‘s final movie never received North American distribution and has remained a largely unseen curiosity in his filmography; Arrow Academy tries to reverse that perception with this 2-disc special Blu-ray. Buy The Voice of the Moon [Blu-ray].

DVR ALERT!:

Turner Classic Movies: TCM’s October lineup includes several Certified Weird features, screened commercial-free. If you still have cable or satellite and a big pot of coffee, you can check out a double feature of Eyes Without a Face and Kwaidan overnight on Monday (heading into Tuesday) starting at 2:00 AM EST. Wednesday brings us Carnival of Souls at 8:00 PM. Check your local listings or see the entire schedule at Thought Catalog.

CERTIFIED WEIRD (AND OTHER) REPERTORY SCREENINGS:

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). We won’t list all the screenings of this audience-participation classic separately. You can use this page to find a screening near you.

• Bloomington, IN, 10/20 (midnight) – Bubba Ho-Tep (2002). At Indiana University Cinema.
• Chicago, IL, 10/20-10/21 (midnights) – Jacob’s Ladder (1990). At Music Box Theater.
• Louisville, KY, 10/20 – Donnie Darko (2001). Free patio screening. At Lydia House.
• Oakland, CA, 10/22 – Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001). At the New Parkway Theater.
• Pittsburgh, PA, 10/21, 10/23 -10/26 – Evil Dead II (1987). At the Row House Cinema.
• Pittsburgh, PA, 10/21, 10/23-10/26 – Suspiria (1977). At the Row House Cinema.
• Pittsburgh, PA, 10/22, 10/26 – Nosferatu (1922). At the Row House Cinema.
• Pittsburgh, PA, 10/22 – Vampyr (1932). At the Row House Cinema.
• Pittsburgh, PA, 10/22 – Häxan [Witchcraft Through the Ages] (1922). At the Row House Cinema.
• Tuscon, AZ, 10/21 – The Wicker Man (1973). The “Final Cut.” Free outdoor screening at MOCA Tuscon.
• Vancouver, BC, Canada, 10/26 – Suspiria (1977). At the Rio Theater.
• Yonkers, NY, 10/20 – House [Hausu] (1977). At the Drafthouse.
• Yonkers, NY, 10/25 – Death Bed: The Bed That Eats (1977). At the Drafthouse.

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.

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 at the official site links.

IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):

Sylvio (2017): The story of a small-town gorilla stuck in a debt collection job, who dreams of starting a puppet show. Premiered at SWSX and earned a very limited theatrical run (in NYC and Baltimore, with a few more small festivals to go). Sylvio official site.

NEW ON DVD:

The Lure (2015): Read Alex Kittle’s festival review. The Criterion Collection wisely snapped up this mermaid horror musical and gives it their special treatment, with interviews, deleted scenes, and two Agnieszka Smoczynska shorts. Buy The Lure.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

The Lure (2015): See description in DVD above. Buy The Lure [Blu-ray].

CERTIFIED WEIRD (AND OTHER) REPERTORY SCREENINGS:

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). We won’t list all the screenings of this audience-participation classic separately. You can use this page to find a screening near you.

• Chicago, IL, 10/13 & 10/14 (midnights) – Evil Dead II (1987). At the Music Box Theater.
• Los Angeles, CA, 10/13 – Suspiria (1977). At the Aero Theater.
• New York City, NY, 10/13 & 10/14 – Barbarella (1968). At IFC Center.
• New York City, NY, 10/13 & 10/14 – The Holy Mountain (1973). At IFC Center.
• New York City, NY, 10/13 – 10/19 – Stalker (1979). At IFC Center.
• New York City, 10/14 – The King of Comedy (1983) with Adaptation. (2002). At the Metrograph.
• New York City, 10/14 – Donnie Darko (2001). One ticket purchaser will win a replica of Frank’s bunny suit (on condition that they wear it for the screening). At Videology Bar & Cinema.
• Vancouver, BC, Canada, 10/15 – Akira (1988). At the Rio Theater.

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.

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 at the official site links.

IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):

As*holes (2017): This incestuous anal sex themed comedy with a butt monster aims to be the grossout anti-hit of the year. We’re a bit surprised it got distribution; this is the kind of movie that promotes its (almost universal) negative reviews as a badge of honor. As*holes official Facebook page.

IN DEVELOPMENT (Filming):

Abruptio (2018): A bomb is implanted in a man’s neck by an unknown puppeteer to coerce him into criminal acts. Sounds pretty average for a thriller, except the kicker is that the entire cast will consist of “life-sized, realistic latex puppets.” Jordan Peele, Robert Englund and Sid Haig will provide voice talent. This is the only title in Looper’s list of Bizarre Movies Coming Out in 2018 That Will Melt Your Mind that looks like it has moderate mind-melting potential to us.

FILM FESTIVALS – Sitges Film Festival (Sitges, Spain, Oct. 5 – 15):

Although Sitges always offers an excellent slate of fantastic films, they’re more into quantity than exclusivity. We’ve seen most of the choicest offerings listed at other film festivals. Skipping those, here are a few notable films and long shots we noticed:

• Black Hollow Cage – A girl who lives alone with her father and talks to her dog through a device called “mom” discovers a black cube in the woods. Screening Oct 9-11.
  
• Purgatoryo – Filipino film about an illicit outfit that rents out corpses to weirdos.  Catch it Oct 6 if you can.
• Tokyo Vampire Hotel – Shion Sono always pings our radar; his latest involves a feud between vampire clans. Another Oct. 6 date.
• Ulrike’s Brain – An undead battle between the corpses of a radical left-wing activist and a neo-Nazi who died of AIDS, from avant-garde provocateur Bruce LaBruce. Oct 11 & 12.

Sitges Film Festival home page.

NEW ON DVD:

A Ghost Story (2017): Read our review. Definitely an unconventional Halloween viewing choice, but would make a great costume. Buy A Ghost Story.

The Ornithologist (2016): While searching for an elusive black stork in Portugal, an ornithologist gets lost in the forest and experiences events that mimic the story of St. Anthony of Padua, with a gay twist. This was a nominee in our just-concluded readers’ choice poll, so it has at least two fans here. Buy The Ornithologist.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

A Ghost Story (2017): See description in DVD above. Buy A Ghost Story [Blu-ray].

Vampyr (1932): Read the Certified Weird entry! The Criterion Collection upgrades Carl Theodor Dreyer‘s weird Expressionist horror to Blu. Buy Vampyr [Blu-ray].

CERTIFIED WEIRD (AND OTHER) REPERTORY SCREENINGS:

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). We won’t list all the screenings of this audience-participation classic separately. You can use this page to find a screening near you.

• Columbus, OH, Oct. 11 – The Greasy Strangler (2016). At Gateway Film Center.
• New York City, NY, Oct. 6 – Oct. 7 (midnights) – House [Hausu] (1977). At Videology Bar & Cinema.
• New York City, NY, Oct. 6 – Oct. 7 – The Holy Mountain (1973). At IFC Center.
• New York City, Oct. 6 – Oct. 12 – Stalker (1979). At IFC Center.
• New York City, NY, Oct. 9 – Night of the Hunter (1955). At Film Society of Lincoln Center.
• New York City, NY, Oct. 12 – Dead Man (1995). At Film Society of Lincoln Center.
• Oakland, CA, Oct. 6 – Suspiria (1977). At New Parkway Theater.
• Oakland, CA, Oct. 7 –Phantasm (1979). At New Parkway Theater.
• Silver Spring, MD, Oct. 6 – Oct. 7 – House [Hausu] (1977). At AFI Silver Theater.
• Silver Spring, MD, Oct. 9 – Oct. 11 – Shock Corridor (1963). At AFI Silver Theater.
• Sitges, Spain, Oct. 7 – Suspiria (1977).  Part of the Sitges Film Festival.
• Sitges, Spain, Oct. 10 – Nosferatu (1922). Part of the Sitges Film Festival.
• Toronto, Canada, Oct 7 – Beauty and the Beast [La Belle et la Bete] (1946). At TIFF Bell Lightbox.

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.

CONTEST CLOSED! Thanks to all who entered.

It’s been a while, but 366 Weird Movies brings you a new DVD giveaway contest! Since we’ve been asked this question a lot lately, and are probably going to be asked it a lot more in the future, what we’d like you to do is to give us suggestions in the comments about what you think we should do with this website after we reach our target of 366 Certified Weird Movies. We have some ideas, which we won’t be publicly divulging in full just yet, but maybe you guys will come up with some great ideas we hadn’t thought of.

To enter, simply post your thoughts in the comments to this post. We are going to select the winner randomly using random.org, so you don’t have to provide the best suggestion to enter. In fact, although we want to hear your thoughts, you don’t even have to have a suggestion to enter: you can simply mention in the comments that you love the site and you’d like to enter the contest.

The usual eligibility rules apply: to receive the DVDs, you must supply us with a mailing address in the United States. (Don’t publish your address in your comment! We’ll contact you through email). If you don’t meet those qualifications you can still comment for fun, but let us know you’re not in it for the prize. We’ll stop accepting entries Thursday, October 12, at midnight. (The winner will be mailed on October 17, the official release date).

Our prize is once again provided by  Artsploitation Films (distributors of the Certified Weird Der Samurai): a factory-sealed Blu-ray of Red Christmas, a 2017 holiday-themed horror/comedy, starring 80s genre icon Dee Wallace. From the box cover:

“Horror legend Dee Wallace (The Hills Have Eyes, The Howling, E.T., Cujo) stars as the mother of a family, gathered together in a remote house on Christmas night. When a mysterious, deformed young man appears at their door, holiday cheer quickly turns to bloody, imaginatively orchestrated violence as the family members fight off the vengeful intruder. The film infuses comedy, dark family secrets with outlandish gore and adds the controversial subjects of religion and abortion into its blood-stained mix.”

Red Christmas – Trailer from artsploitation on Vimeo.

You have your instructions, now get to it!

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 at the official site links.

IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):

Lucky: The adventures of a crusty 90-year old atheist living his final years in a quirky desert town. Probably not very weird but certainly offbeat, featuring the last screen performance of cult icon Harry Dean Stanton and a rare acting role for David Lynch. Lucky official site.

FILM FESTIVALS – Beyond Fest (Los Angeles, 9/29-10/10):

LA’s Beyond Fest usually features revivals of classic genre fare (which we’ve listed in our “repertory screenings” section) mixed in with recent hits from other festivals like the  Sequence Break (Oct. 8), Uganda’s madcap Bad Black (Oct 10), and Giorgos Lanthimos‘ highly awaited The Killing of a Sacred Deer (the Oct. 10 closing film). We like their taste.  Although they rarely land debuts, this year they do have one item of some interest:

• Best F(r)iends – Tommy Wiseau and Greg Sestero reunite for a followup to The Room (also screening at Beyond Fest); whether they can recapture the “magic” remains to be seen, but Wiseasu is never ordinary. Sep 30, in a double feature with The Room, with Wiseau, Sestero and Justin MacGregor in attendance. Understandably, it is sold out already.

Beyond Fest homepage.

NEW ON DVD:

David Lynch: The Art Life (2016): Documentary about 366 fave David Lynch, focusing on his formative years and on his painting. We’re (pleasantly) surprised that the Criterion Collection snapped up this one, though they bring few extra features this time (an interview with the director is the only item of note). Buy David Lynch: The Art Life.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

David Lynch: The Art Life (2016): See description in DVD above. Buy David Lynch: The Art Life [Blu-ray].

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978): Read our review. If you’re a fan of all-star flop musicals on Blu-ray, have we got a deal for you! Buy Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band [Blu-ray].

CERTIFIED WEIRD (AND OTHER) REPERTORY SCREENINGS:

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). We won’t list all the screenings of this audience-participation classic separately. You can use this page to find a screening near you.

• Bloomington, IN, 10/5 – Heavenly Creatures (1994). At Indiana University Cinema.
• Columbus, OH, 9/29-9/30 – Fantastic Planet [La Planète Sauvage] (1973). 4K restoration. At Gateway Film Center.
• Columbus, OH, 10/1-10/5 – Jacob’s Ladder (1990). At Gateway Film Center.
• Columbus, OH, 10/1-10/4 – Vertigo (1958). At Gateway Film Center.
• Los Angeles, 9/29 (midnight) – The Holy Mountain (1973). At the Nuart Theater.
• Los Angeles, 10/1 – Phantom of the Paradise (1974). With Paul Williams in attendance. Sold out; standby only. At the Egyptian Theater.
• Los Angeles, 10/1 – Suspiria (1977). Q&A after with Dario Argento, Udo Kier, and Barbara Magnolfi. Two showings: 7:00 and 10:00; the early screening is sold-out and standby only. Part of Beyond Fest. At the Egyptian Theater.
• Los Angeles, 10/2 – Suspiria (1977) and Opera (1987) (double feature). With Dario Argento, Barbara Magnolfi and William McNamara. Sold out; standby only. Part of Beyond Fest. At the Egyptian Theater.
• Nashville, TN, 9/19-10/1. Suspiria (1977). At the Belcourt.
• New York City, 9/29-10/3 – Stalker (1979). At IFC Center.
• New York City, 9/29-9/30 (midnights) – The Holy Mountain (1973). At IFC Center.
• New York City, 9/30 (midnight) – Paprika (2006). At Nitehawk Cinema.

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.