We have a couple of physical media items to give away, and we’re making it simple. We’re asking you to name a weird and obscure movie we may not have noticed that’s currently playing for free on Amazon Prime. But, since not everyone has Amazon Prime or cares to do research, that’s optional—we’re making the contest open to everyone. Simply make a comment below that you wish to be entered in the contest. (You may also make an Amazon Prime recommendation without being entered in the giveaway, naturally).
Contest eligibility rules: You must comment on this post informing us of your desire to be in the contest. Due to the adult nature of the prize, you must be over 18 years of age to enter. To receive the two discs, you must supply us with a mailing address in the United States. (Don’t publish your address in your comment! We’ll contact the winner through email.) 366 contributors are not eligible to win the prize. We’ll stop accepting entries this Sunday, July 26, at midnight EST. The winner will be chosen randomly from all eligible comments. If the winner does not respond to our request for a mailing address within 48 hours, we’ll email a runner-up, and so forth, until the prize is given away.
As for the prizes:
You’ll get Grapevine Video’s 2008 release titled Haxan. Please note, however, that this is not the usual public domain cut of the film, but actually the shorter Witchcraft Through the Ages version that was released in 1968 with an avant-garde jazz score and narration by William S. Burroughs. If you’ve only seen the canonically weird original, this is a different experience altogether.
Plus, we’ll throw in a fresh Blu-ray copy of the newly-released homoerotic prison drama The Prince (2018), which currently has an 88% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Per the box cover, “The Prince is a deeply affecting exploration of masculine aggression, loyalties and desire.” Contains explicit scenes. You can read more about the film and watch the slightly NSFW trailer at distributor Artsploitation Films’ The Prince page.
Both disks are factory sealed. That’s a weird double feature, for sure. It can be yours for the price of a comment.
Here’s the poll to vote in our latest weird Netflix watch party, scheduled for Saturday, July 25, at 10:15 PM EST. If you plan on virtually attending, please vote for the movie we’ll be watching below. We’ll screen the movie that gets 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 EST on Wednedsay, July 22. You may vote for multiple movies, but not for every movie (because that would be pointless).
After a digression into the world of Amazon Prime, we’re back onto Netflix Watch Parties this week. We plan to alternate between the two services for the time being. Assuming there’s enough interest, our next Netflix party will be scheduled for Saturday, July 25 at 10:15 PM.
As always, we’ll be looking for five movie screening nominations from people who plan to attend. After we get the minimum five nominations and likely attendees, we’ll put up a poll.
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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):
Saint Maud (2019): A young and devout hospice nurse seeks to save souls—then the body horror sets in. A hit at last year’s Fantastic Fest that got picked up by A24: those are good credentials. Rotten Tomatoes reports it’s opening this week, but A24 still lists the release date as “coming soon.” We’ll provide more info when we hear something. Saint Maud official site.
IN DEVELOPMENT (in production):
Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass (202?): Previously adapted (and canonized here) by Wojciech Has as The Hourglass Sanatorium (1971), none other than stop-motion mavens the Quay Brothers will take their turn at adapting Bruno Schulz’s surreal novel. They have been at work on the project for ten years now, and have released six minutes of preview footage to whet your appetite. Yes, there are creepy puppets. Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass entry at Cinando.
Bacurau (2019): Read our review. Perhaps sensing that they have an outside shot with this outluer during awards season, Kino Lorber releases this genre mashup about soldiers-of-fortune hunting Brazilian villagers in a lavish Blu-ray or DVD. Buy Bacurau.
Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941): Read the Canonically Weird entry! Finally, a break for us suckers: W.C. Fields‘ crazy final film had not been available (outside of box sets) in the U.S. before this Kino Lorber Blu-ray release. Includes a commentary track by film historian Eddy Von Mueller and a contemporary Fields documentary originally broadcast on Canadian TV. Buy Never Give a Sucker an Even Break.
Starfish (2018): Read our review. This apocalyptic drama was released on DVD last year, but this Blu-ray upgrade pulls out all the stops with tons of special features and a bonus soundtrack CD. Buy Starfish.
VHYes (2019): Read our review. This fun little compendium of erstaz-VHS retro sketches is now out on VOD, DVD, or Blu-ray. Sadly, there’s no VHS release. Buy VHYes.
Independent theaters are cautiously starting to reopen across North America at diminished capacity, although the big chains (and Alamo Drafthouses) remain shuttered. That said, we have a dribble of new screenings to announce this week. We expect this section to continue to grow slowly throughout the summer, although we wouldn’t predict things to return to anywhere near normal until the fall, at the earliest. You’ll have to use your own judgment as to whether it’s safe to go to movie theaters at this time.
WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE: After a tight back and forth battle, our first Amazon Prime Watch Party poll ended in a tie, so host Gregory J. Smalley breaks the stalemate in favor of Human Lanterns (arguing that Possum, while excellent, might be a little grim for a party). The screening will start at 10:15 PM tomorrow. As usual, we’ll drop the link here and on our Facebook and Twitter pages shortly before the show begins (of course, if you subscribe to 366 Mail you’ll get a notice by email as well). Don’t worry, Netflix-only subscribers, we’ll return to Netflix screenings next week, and plan to alternate between the two services as long as readers are interested.
It’s been a while, but next week, we’ll announce another DVD/Blu-ray giveaway. Then it’s on to a full slate of reviews: Pete Trbovich tackles some Mexican nunsploitation with Satanico Pandemonium (1975); Giles Edwards looks at (and listens to) the latest visual album to make our radar, Spindrift’s Haunted West (2020); and Gregory J. Smalley checks out the recently-restored Japanese expressionist fantasy The Mad Fox (1962). 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!
Plus, we’ll throw in a fresh Blu-ray copy of the newly-released homoerotic prison drama The Prince (2018), which currently has an 88% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Per the box cover, “The Prince is a deeply affecting exploration of masculine aggression, loyalties and desire.” Contains explicit scenes. You can read more about the film and watch the slightly NSFW trailer at distributor Artsploitation Films’ The Prince page.
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