Category Archives: Pod 366: A Weird Movies Podcast

Our weekly podcast of new and upcoming weird movie releases

POD 366, EP. 117: KRYPTIC FRIENDSHIP, EMPIRE TALES

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Discussed in this episode:

The Empire [L’Empire] (2024): Commandant Van der Weyden and his sidekick Charpentier are back (although they may have a smaller role to play) in this sci-fi spoof about warring tribes of aliens in human form. This film, aimed squarely at fans of ‘s curious brand of Gallic absurdity, arrives on Blu-ray and VOD this week. Buy The Empire.

Friendship (2025): brings his awkwardly surreal shtick to the feature film format as a man trying to make friends with his cool neighbor. Getting excellent reviews, although critics sometimes seem confused as to whether its a comedy or a psychological horror movie. Friendship at A24.

Kryptic (2024): Read Giles Edwards’ festival summary. The horror about a woman encountering a mysterious cryptid in the Canadian wilderness may be playing theaters somewhere, but you’re more likely to find it in its simultaneous VOD incarnation. Kryptic official site.

Tall Tales (2025): A visual album by Mark Pritchard and Thom Yorke, with surrealistic visuals from artist Johnathan Zawada. We learned about this too late to warn you about its one-night-only theatrical debut on May 8, but we are confident it will show up later in one form or another–Oscilloscope is involved and will likely be treating it in a similar fashion to Godfrey Reggio‘s Once Within a Time , with limited engagements followed by a physical and streaming release. Tall Tales official site.

WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:

As announced, next week’s guest will be contributor/friend-of-the-site Alex Kittle, who contributed to the latest Re-Animator 4K UHD box set release from new player Ignite Films (order here). In written reviews, Shane Wilson revisits God Told Me To (1976); Enar Clarke responds to our call to review more weird stuff from Africa with a look at Cameroon’s Les Saignantes [The Bloodiest] (2005); Giles Edwards checks out ‘s Mutant Aliens (2001); and Gregory J. Smalley preps for summer by taking in the madness of ‘s The Surfer (2025). Onward and weirdward!

POD 366, EP. 116: JOEL POTRYKUS, VULCANIZADORA, AND A DOZEN MOVIES

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Discussed in this episode:

“The AGFA Mystery Mixtape Vault”: What’s in it? We don’t know, it’s a mystery, but it is described as a “hallucinogenic trip to a found footage wonderland.” Buy “The AGFA Mystery Mixtape Vault”.

Career Bed (1969)/Sex By Advertisement (1968): The early sexploitation films of : in Career Bed, an aspiring actress learns about the casting couch; Sex by Adevrtisement  “explores the weird world of erotic newspaper ads in a mondo-film styled pastiche.” We’re not 100% convinced by the hype that these will be exceptionally strange by (our high standards), but they have their fans. Buy Career Bed/Sex By Advertisement.

A Desert (2025): An aging photographer encounters all-American perversity in the Southwest. Bloody Disgusting’s Meagan Navarro reports that the film “opens a puzzle box of weirdness and nihilism…” A Desert official site.

Empire of the Dark (1990): Read Pete Trbovich’s Apocrypha Candidate review. The interdimensional Satanist movie comes to Blu-ray 4 years after Pete rediscovered it. Coincidence? Absolutely! Buy Empire of the Dark.

Mother, Couch (2023): Read Giles Edwards’ review. Sub-Buñuelian absurdity about a mother who refuses to get up from a furniture store couch. The Blu-ray comes with commentary and a behind-the-scenes featurette, Buy Mother, Couch.

Pale Rider (1985): A mysterious Preacher () rides into a Western town and protects the common people from an evil mining company. Only subtly weird; Roger Ebert called Eastwood’s performance “mysterious and fascinating.” Buy Pale Rider.

Spoonful of Sugar (2022): Read Gregory J. Smalley’s review. Three years after release, this hallucinogenic horror gets a decent Blu-ray release complete with director’s commentary, featurettes, and a booklet essay. Buy Spoonful of Sugar.

The Surfer (2025): tries to take his son surfing in Australia, but locals aren’t having it in this psychological thriller from . Just let Cage loose on the beach, and a weird movie is likely to emerge. The Surfer official site.

Sweet Dreams (2023): Read Giles Edwards’ review. Slightly surreal period drama set in the sugar plantations of Indonesia. Buy Sweet Dreams.

Up! (1976): Read Alfred Eaker’s review. In Alfred’s opinion, this comedy with lots of Hitler is ‘s “most surreal live-action, X-rated cartoon”; buy it in either Blu-ray or 4K UHD formats from Severin. Buy Up!.

The Visitor (2024): A sexy man emerges from a suitcase and seduces a family. You can now watch Bruce la Bruce’s homoerotic and explicit twist on Teorema on Blu-ray.  Buy The Visitor.

Vulcanizadora (2024): Read Giles Edwards’ festival capsule. Two troubled middle aged men travel into the woods to fulfill a dire pact. Only tangentially weird, but Joel Potrykus‘ latest low-budget dramedy is getting the best reviews of his career, and they’re well-earned. Opening in NYC this week, then expanding to major cities. Vulcanizadora official site for screening dates.

WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:

We have no guest officially scheduled for next Pod 366, although we didn’t have one officially scheduled at this point last week, so who knows? Regardless, we’ll be back to discuss the weird news and new releases. In written content, we knock three items out of the reader-suggested queue as Shane Wilson tackles Ross Perry’s unofficial low-budget adaptation Impolex (2009), Enar Clarke reviews ‘s skewed take on King Lear (1987), and Giles Edwards takes a gander at the late-Soviet children’s animation Purple (or Lilac) Ball (1988); meanwhile, Gregory J. Smalley breaks the reader-suggested ranks to catch a current theatrical release that should interest readers: ‘s latest, The Shrouds. Onward and weirdward!

POD 366, EP. 115: WEIRD OF FORTUNE

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NEPOTISM CORNER:

Seminar: Daisies: Bostonian alert for 5/5/25! Alex Kittle will be delivering a lecture on Daisies (1966), the anarchic and psychedelic classic, at Coolidge Corner theater in Brookline. Reservations available at the link.

WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:

No guest (or game) scheduled for next week’s Pod 366; we’ll return to covering the week’s weird news and releases. In written content, its Shane Wilson vs. Bruce Lee vs. Gay Power (actually Kung Fu contra As Bonecas); Enar Clarke reports on a new Invention (2025); and Gregory J. Smalley investigates the underground crime of Jacker 2: Descent to Hell (and, necessarily, Jacker). Onward and weirdward!

POD 366, EP. 114: BATMAN NINJA’S BLUE EGG SHROUDS

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Discussed in this episode:

Angel’s Egg (1985): Read Simon Hyslop’s List Candidate review. ‘s surreal anime has been one of our most desired physical media releases since this site began almost 20 years ago. One catch: this is an Australian release (theatrical and Blu-ray), but we do expect it to make its way to North America soon. Umbrella Entertainment’s announcement.

Batman Ninja (2018): Read Alfred Eaker’s review. Batman as a ninja in feudal Japan? On 4K UHD? Yep. This is being rereleased in conjunction with the sequel (see below). Buy Batman Ninja.

Batman Ninja vs. Yakuza League (2025): A sequel to Batman Ninja (above) features Batman Ninja facing off against more familiar-but-Japanicized characters; on 4K UHD (only) or a VOD purchase/rental. Buy Batman Ninja vs. Yakuza League (4K UHD).

Blue Sunshine (1977): Read El Rob Hubbard’s List Candidate review. The cult film about acid burnouts gets a 4K upgrade from Synapse; it comes with a number of cool extras, including two vintage LSD scare films and a copy of the soundtrack CD, and a Blu-ray for those of us still stuck in the 2010s. Buy Blue Sunshine.

Ninja Terminator (1985): A typical mashup featuring an old kung fu movie with new ninja scenes incompetently added; this one may be Ho fans’ favorite. The Blu-ray includes a rare interview with the mysterious Ho. Buy Ninja Terminator.

The Shrouds (2024): David Cronenberg‘s latest is about a funeral director widower who develops a business allowing grievers to watch their loved ones decompose. In some theaters now from Janus, which means that we can likely expect it to show up in the Criterion Collection soon. The Shrouds official site.

WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:

No guest on next week’s Pod 366; Greg and Giles will discuss the week’s news and new releases. In written content, Shane Wilson unleashes a review of a Greydon Clark alien invasion movie Without Warning (1980), Enar Clarke gazes at Pink Narcissus (1971), it’s Giles Edwards vs. Ninja Batman vs. Yakuza League (2025) (see above), and you can read  Gregory J. Smalley on On Becoming a Guinea Fowl (2024).

Onward and weirdward!

POD 366, EP. 113: ON BECOMING A PINK BABY VOURDALAK

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

Quick links/Discussed in this episode:

Baby Invasion (2024): A home invasion thriller (set inside a video game?) following a group of mercenaries who break into mansions while wearing baby-face digital avatars. A predictably divisive experimental provocation, this showed up on VOD unexpectedly (thanks to an anonymous poster for noticing and pointing it out to us). Buy or rent Baby Invasion on VOD.

On Becoming a Guinea Fowl (2024): Shula discovers her uncle’s dead body lying by the side of the road, then reluctantly joins in the funeral arrangements. A24’s marketing material describes this Zambian movie as ”surreal and vibrant.” Now on VOD at premium pricing; we expect the rental cost to come down in a month or so. Buy or rent On Becoming a Guinea Fowl.

Pink Narcissus (1971): A gay prostitute imagines himself in various exotic settings: the Roman empire, a Turkish harem, a bullfighting ring, etc. This newly-restored avant-garde experimental queer feature is in our reader-suggested queue, and we presume a physical media release will follow shortly, giving us a chance to check it out. Playing at the Metrograph in NYC, with future dates scheduled in Seattle and Silver Springs, MD (and hopefully more). Pink Narcissus at Strand Releasing.

The Vourdalak (2023): Read Giles Edwards’ Apocrypha Candidate review. This Blu-ray comes with deleted scenes and two short films from director . Buy The Vourdalak.

WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:

No guest next week on Pod 366, but Greg and Giles will return with a look at what’s weird in new releases. In written content, Shane Wilson reflects on a Better Man (2024) (the Robbie-Williams-as-a-chimp biopic), El Rob Hubbard proclaims The Dragon Lives Again (1977), Gregory J. Smalley  shows you Hallucinations of a Deranged Mind (1978), and Giles Edwards endures a Baby Invasion. Onward and weirdward!