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The Assassin of the Tsar (1991): A man in a Soviet mental institution insists he has killed two different tsars, despite the fact that he would have had to be centuries old to do so. Karen Shakhnazarov directs Malcolm McDowell (versions were filmed in both English and Russian) in this psychological time-traveling mind-bender. Buy The Assassin of the Tsar.

Eyes Without a Face (1960): Read the Canonically Weird entry! Nothing new from this Criterion collection classic release, it’s just the 4K upgrade. Buy Eyes Without a Face.

Ferat Vampire (1982): A race car driver gets a new vehicle that runs on blood. A bizarre regional cult film from Czech New Wave icon Juraj Herz. Buy Ferat Vampire.

Jacob’s Ladder (1990): Read the Canonically Weird entry! This Limited Edition 4K disc comes exclusively from Lionsgate and includes a never-before-seen featurette (something called “The Rungs of Jacob’s Ladder“) along with legacy features. Buy Jacob’s Ladder directly from Lionsgate.

School in the Crosshairs (1981): A high school girl uses her psychic powers to stop a fascist alien takeover of her school. Of the four rare Nobuhiko Obayashi movies Cult Epics is releasing this year, School in the Crosshairs seems by far the wildest and the closest in spirit to Hausu. Buy School in the Crosshairs.

“Treasures of Soviet Animation, Vol. 1”: This Deaf Crocodile compilation contains 3 short (the longest is 48 minutes) psychedelic sci-fi Soviet cartoons:  “The Mystery of the Third Planet,” “The Return,” and “The Pass.” These shorts are remastered and available for the first time outside of Russia. Buy “Treasures of Soviet Animation, Vol. 1”.

WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:

W.M. Weikart of Soul to Squeeze will be our guest on Pod 366 next week. In written reviews, Shane Wilson fits a date with Frankenhooker (1990) onto his reader-suggested Halloween viewing card, while Gregory J. Smalley takes in a fall Harvest (2024). And don’t be surprised if there’s a surprise review in there as well. Onward and weirdward!

366 Weird Movies may earn commissions from purchases made through product links.

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Discussed in this episode:

The Dark Crystal (1982): Read Gregory J. Smalley’s review. This 4K UHD + Blu-ray Steelbook edition of Jim Henson’s uncanny valley puppet fantasy was formerly a Walmart exclusive, now available everywhere. Buy The Dark Crystal.

Eddington (2025): Read Gregory J. Smalley’s review. For Ari Aster completists, his pandemic drama arrives on 4K UHD (only) with a making-of doc and six cool collectible postcards. Buy Eddington.

F____ My Son! (2025) A.I. scandal: Todd Rohal‘s upcoming midnight movie about a mom trying to get her monster son laid continues to make news, although maybe for the wrong reasons.  Rohal’s complete explanation of where and how A.I. was used in the film, thanks to Variety. Variety also brings us this list of upcoming screening venues (NYC, LA, Austin and so forth).

Labyrinth (1986): Read Gregory J. Smalley’s review. Same situation as Dark Crystal above; love the cover design on this one. Buy Labyrinth.

Mr. K (2025): Crispin Glover kicks off Crispin Glover week by starring in this neosurrealist effort that casts him as a man trapped in an impossible-to-exit hotel. Zachary Lee of RogerEbert.com apparently called it “perhaps the weirdest film I’ve seen this year,” although the official review RE decided to go with in print was Simon Abrams complaint that it amounts to “second-hand surrealism.” Mr. K at Music Box Films.

No, You’re Wrong! or, Spooky Action at a Distance (2025): Speaking of Crispin Glover, here’s his latest directorial experiment (announced by our crew a couple weeks weeks ago). Still no idea what this is like, and like a lot of Crispin’s other projects it will probably be confined to theatrical viewings. We might have a report for you down the line. No! You’re Wrong or: Spooky Action at a Distance official site.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975): Read the Canonically Weird entry! The cult classic trans-musical arrives for the first time on 4K UHD, in a Steelbook, no less. Standard Blu-ray included (along with—unconfirmed but presumed—special features ported over from previous releases). Buy The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

The Sweet Idelness (2025?): Pitched as the first AI-directed (?) feature film, credited to “FellinAI.” The plot involves a future eu/dys-topia where AI and robots do all the work while humans enjoy idleness. Sure to raise a controversy. More at Variety.

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992): Read the Canonically Weird entry. Nothing especially new here, just a 4K UHD upgrade from the Criterion Collection Buy Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me.

WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:

No guest firmly scheduled for next week, although we have some ideas. In any case, we will definitely return to run down the week’s weird news and releases. In written content, Eugene Vasiliev gives us an informative explanation of the “parallel cinema” of the late Soviet Union; Shane Wilson gets into the Halloween spirit with the reader-suggested Clive Barker/Stephen King anthology Quicksilver Highway; Giles Edwards addresses the low-budget weirdness of Soul to Squeeze (2025); and Gregory J. Smalley spirals into the madness that is the Uzumaki anime adaptation. Onward and weirdward!

366 Weird Movies may earn commissions from purchases made through product links.

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Discussed in this episode:

Dogtooth (2009): Read the Canonically Weird entry! As we expected, Dogtooth‘s recent 4K restoration and theatrical re-release ends with a 4K UHD set (and standard Blu-ray). Buy Dogtooth.

“Drug-O-Rama Video Party”: Four sex & drugsploitative features from the 1960s. The titles are Help Wanted Female (1968), the mondo-ish Hedonistic Pleasures (1969), Alice in Acidland (1969), and The Hard Road (1970–some sources say 1973). Groovy.  Buy “Drug O-Rama Video Party.”

The Ice Tower (2025): Read Giles Edwards’ review. Lucile Hadzihalilovic‘s fairy tale variant opens this week at IFC Center, and maybe other hoity-toity art-houses across the country. No official site (in English) located.

Perfect Blue (1997): Read the Canonically Weird entry! A “remastered” version of Satoshi Kon‘s groundbreaking psychological thriller in the form of anime is now in cinemas across the nation. Perfect Blue listing at Fandango to find a cinema near you.

“Phantasmatapes” (2025): Glitchy remixed versions of the public domain creature features The Revenge of Dr. X and The Brain That Wouldn’t Die, presented as a TV double feature complete with local commercial parodies. From Bleeding Skull, with additional short films. Buy “Phantasmatapes.”

Sgt. Kabukiman NYPD (1990): A detective turns into a superhero based on Japanese stereotypes in this early entry from Troma‘s extended universe. The movie is notable for originating the Troma car crash, and the 4K UHD + Blu-ray set comes with the usual trove of bonus features (many new). Buy Sgt. Kabukiman NYPD.

She Loved Blossoms More (2025): A Greek indie about two brothers building a time machine to bring back their dead mother that, by all accounts, gets super-weird. In limited theaters and simultaneously debuting on VOD. She Loved Blossoms More official site.

The Toxic Avenger (2023): Read Gregory J. Smalley’s review. If you ever wanted to know what a Troma movie would look like with Hollywood actors like Peter Dinklage, Kevin Bacon, and Elijah Wood, the extremely gory (but less offensive) remake is now available on-demand (with a Blu-ray dropping later this month). Buy or rent The Toxic Avenger (2023).

V/H/S/Halloween (2025): Another installment of the retro horror anthology series, this time with a Halloween theme. Directors involved include a bunch of relative newcomers, Alex Ross Perry, and the name that brings this project to our attention: Casper Kelly (the friendly ghost). It might show up in a theater or two, but mainly you can watch it on Shudder. V/H/S Halloween official Facebook page.

“The Wes Anderson Archive”: Uncle Wes‘ weirdest (Asteroid City) unfortunately isn’t represented in this box set from the Criterion Collection. What you get is a hefty 10 4K UHD and 10 Blu-ray set of Anderson’s first ten films: Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Darjeeling Limited, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Isle of Dogs, and The French Dispatch. (Pro tip: wait for the 50% off sale in November). Buy “The Wes Anderson Archive”.

WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:

No guest (definitively) scheduled for next week’s Pod 366, but Greg and Giles should return to discuss the week’s weird news and new releases. Also on YouTube , Pete Trbovich revives his “Ten Weird Things” clip series with Dead Leaves (just in time for Autumn)! In written content, Shane Wilson takes on Chile’s Pinochet-as-a-vampire fantasy El Conde (2023), while Gregory J. Smalley also stays scary with a look at the strange Japanese horror Best Wishes to All (2022). Onward and weirdward!

366 Weird Movies may earn commissions from purchases made through product links.

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Discussed in this episode:

“Fantastic Fest 2025”: Fantastic Fest generally marks the end of the festival season for us, usually debuting a few late-bloomers that missed earlier festivals and traditionally reviving a strange forgotten B-movie or two. Here are four titles Giles Edwards will be keeping an eye out for, post-fest:

• Dawning – remote vacation home, trauma recovery, mysterious visitor are the spooky elements in this Spanish/Norwegian picture to be released stateside by SpectreVision
• Decorado – Alberto Vázquez‘ feature length expansion of his existential mouse short
• Dildo Heaven – Doris Wishman‘s final film, released in 2002, has been restored (!) and will be out and about in some form or another soon
• The Ice Tower – Lucile Hadzihalilovic‘s scenario concerns a teenage runaway who lands at a film set for an adaptation of “The Snow Queen”; full review coming soon

Fantastic Fest homepage.

No! You’re Wrong, or, Spooky Action at a Distance (2025): Another Crispin Glover experimental film, with little to go on other than the Expressionistic trailer. As with many of Glover’s specialist films, this will tour with the director available at each screening, starting at its world premiere at the Museum of Modern Art this upcoming Oct. 2 (and probably will not reach streaming or physical media). No! You’re Wrong at Crispin Glover’s home page.

One Battle After Another (2025): Leonardo DiCaprio is a burnt-out radical stoner fighting the Man to save his missing daughter. Paul Thomas Anderson learned his lesson from the last time he tried to adapt Thomas Pynchon—but did he learn the right lesson? One Battle After Another official site.

Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror (2025): Richard O’Brien‘s son, Linus O’Brien, directs this tribute to the sci-fi musical cult classic. In limited theaters; you can check for a venue near you at the Strange Journey official website.

WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:

Circumstances (almost) beyond our control delayed the posting of this week’s Pod 366 episode, and will cause us to shift this week’s Saturday Short to a Sunday Short. But never fear, even with a busy week ahead, we should be back on schedule for next week’s Pod 366 (“The Return of Greg”) to drop on Friday. In upcoming written content, Shane Wilson begins his Halloween reader-suggested watch season with the unserious Gory Gory Hallelujah (2003); Enar Clarke encounters Shôhei Imamura‘s Warm Water Under a Red Bridge (2001), and Giles Edwards climbs The Ice Tower (see above). Onward and weirdward!