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

 

Discussed in this episode:

Brick (2005): Read Shane Wilson’s review. Joseph Gordon-Levitt starred in Rian Johnson‘s debut, playing a hard-boiled teen detective who talks like someone out of Mike Hammer story. Buy Brick.

Caligula: the Ultimate Cut (1979/2023): Various versions of the refashioned Caligula keep tricking out like blood from a decapitation machine. This week, it’s on VOD; there is likely another 4K UHD release (an American version to match Umbrella’s already-available Australian 4K) coming eventually (there’s a Canadian 4K releasing next week from Unobstructed View). We’re going to assume you’re up to speed now and stop talking about Caligula Ultimate Cut releases for the time being.  Buy or rent Caligula: The Ultimate Cut on VOD.

Demon Pond (1979): A traveler investigates a mysterious pond which holds numerous spirits who control the lives of a nearby town. The Criterion Collection found and restored this seldom-seen Japanese fantasy, which to our knowledge has never been released in the U.S. on home video before. Buy Demon Pond.

Once Again (For the Very First Time) (2024): An experimental/impressionistic love story of a street dancer and a poet/rapper. Dubbed a “hip-hop fantasia,” as the trailer will confirm. Once Again (For the Very First Time) official site.

Resurrection (2025?): Bi Gan‘s new project, which has already been in production for over a year, has garnered more international funding and will continue shooting this year. The plot, which involves a woman trapped in a dreamscape while undergoing a medical procedure who tells stories to an android corpse, sounds terrifically weird, and may help solidify Gan as the Chinese Tarkovsky. Read more at Variety.

Rumours (2024): Guy Maddin‘s latest (with collaborators Galen and Evan Johnson) has big name stars Cate Blanchett and Alicia Vikander as G7 leaders who encounter a sudden apocalyptic crisis (and find zombies and a giant brain). While this did not make as big a splash as we hoped on the festival circuit, reviewers have been kind, calling it “odd,” “surreal,” and yes, “weird.” Rumours official site.

WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:

Next week’s Pod 366 guest will be Paolo Zelati, author of the book “American Nightmares“, which collects his interviews with horror directors like Jack Hill, David Cronenberg, and Don Coscarelli. In other video content, Pete Trbovich brings us a special “Halloweird” edition of Weird View Crew with 1984’s Dreamscape (and possibly more video surprises to come). In  written reviews, Shane Wilson tackles the Halloween sign-language oddity Deafula (1975), Giles Edwards is confounded by the Buñuelian scenario of Mother, Couch (2023), and rumor has it Gregory J. Smalley will be headed to the theater to catch Rumours (see above). Onward and weirdward!

Onward and weirdward!

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

Discussed in this episode:

Nadia Robertson linktree

Beyond Fest (Los Angeles, CA, Sept. 25-Oct.9):

We now join Beyond Fest, already in progress. Fortunately the second half of the festival is more loaded that the first half was (although we regret to inform you that you’ve missed the 4K restoration of Tarsem Singh‘s The Fall and The Cell). As is often the case at Beyond Fest, this year is more noteworthy for its revivals that for its debuts. And unfortunately, most will be sold out by the time you read this. But for the rest of the week you could potentially see a double feature of the original Dune (1984) and Blue Velvet (1986), (with Kyle MacLachlan in attendance) or A Boy and His Dog (1975) (with Don Johnson). You could also catch Guy Maddin‘s latest Rumours, together with a rare screening of his Vertigo mashup The Green Fog (with Maddin and co-directors Evan and Galen Johnson), followed by another Maddin-attended double feature of The Saddest Music in the World (2003) and Brand Upon the Brain! (2006) on Sunday. Maybe you live in Los Angeles and some of these will not be sold out by the time you read this; otherwise, just be sad along with the rest of us. Beyond Feat official home page.

Daaaaalì! (2024): When we heard absurdist prankster Quentin Dupieux would be making a biopic about surrealist icon Salvador Dali, it quickly became one of the most anticipated titles in these parts. Now it’s here, in major city theaters across the U.S. throughout the fall, on VOD soon. Daaaaalì! official site.

Megalopolis (2024): Read our three-reviewer Megalopolis Apocrypha Candidate mega-review! Francis Ford Coppola‘s America-as-the-Roman-Republic fever dream may be driving away audiences in droves, but not the weirdos around here: we give it three thumbs up. Megalopolis official site.

The Platform 2 (2024): The original was a Netflix pandemic-era cult hit about a mysterious Cube-style institution, with the twist that a giant platter of food descended down the elevator-shaft-like prison, meaning those on the bottom levels got empty bellies but the satisfaction of understanding the anti-capitalist metaphor firsthand. We have no idea what the Platform 2 will bring, but it looks like revolution, and maybe over-explanation. Give it a chance on Netflix starting Oct. 4.

WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:

We have no guest scheduled for Pod 366 next week, but Giles and Greg will be back to discuss the week’s weird news and releases. In written reviews, we’re pivoting into Halloween season: Shane Wilson expresses love for From Morn to Midnight (1920), a spooky Expressionist silent horror that Came from the Reader-Suggested Queue; El Rob Hubbard reports on Deaf Crocodile’s Soviet-era folk horror The Savage Hunt of King Stakh (1980); Giles Edwards gorges himself on Netflix’s The Platform 2 (2024),  and Gregory J. Smalley goes back to the cinema to see what the deal is with the latest Aaron Schimberg/Adam Pearson collaboration A Different Man. Onward and weirdward!

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

Quick links/Discussed in this episode:

Caligula: The Ultimate Cut (2023/1979): Read Pete Trbovich’s review of the theatrical cut. This is editor Thomas Negovan’s complete reimagining of the disastrous Caligula, using mostly (only?) footage that was shot for the original production but either unused or cut out by Bob Guccione. This release includes the theatrical cut for comparison purposes (we would have been disappointed if it didn’t). Buy Caligula: The Ultimate Cut.

Cuckoo (2024): Read Giles Edwards’ Apocrypha Candidate review. Tilman Singer‘s Bavarian-set ecological horror shows up on VOD this week (at premium pricing) for purchase or rental. Buy or rent Cuckoo.

A Different Man (2024): Yearning to be an actor, disfigured man undergoes a procedure to “fix” his appearance, but then finds himself playing second fiddle to a charismatic thespian with neurofibromatosis. This dark comedy/psychological thriller reunites Aaron Schimberg and Adam Pearson in a movie deemed quality enough for A24 to pick up. A Different Man official site.

Fang (2022): Read Giles Edwards’ review. The Blu-ray of this horror/drama about a mentally ill man who thinks he is turning into a rat includes a director’s commentary, and is currently only available from the director’s personal site. Buy Fang.

Fantastic Fest (Austin, TX, Sep. 19-26):

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. This year, we noticed one movie that’s already scheduled for limited release—A Different Man (see above)—and a number of movies we’d first heard of elsewhere: Harmony Korine‘s Baby Invasion, Apocrypha Candidate Chainsaws Were Singing, sci-fi Daniela Forever, the restored 2008 fantasy The Fall, Megalopolis (one week ahead of its wide release), the surrealistic family drama She Loved Blossoms More, and Matthew Rankin‘s Universal Language. Here are the new-to-us entries we’ll be keeping an eye out for:

• The Birthday (2004) – Corey Feldman (!) stars in this overlooked indie about a man who sneaks into a birthday party where a cult is also making preparations for the end of the world.
  
• Disembodied (1998) – A trippy, gritty shot-on-video body horror about a woman who turns New Yorkers into slime.
• Dragon Dilation – Bertrand Mandico is back with an experiment in split-screens, adapting both “Petrouchka” and “The Divine Comedy” (not clear if its simultaneously or sequentially).
  
• Plastic Guns – A criminal profiler misidentifies an innocent man as a serial killer in this French black comedy with dance numbers.
  

Fantastic Fest homepage.

Howl’s Moving Castle (2004): Read the Canonically Weird entry! Shows begin next Thursday and run through October 3, alternating subbed and dubbed versions. Find a theater near you at GKids Howl’s Moving Castle page.

WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:

Next week’s guests on Pod 366 will be Greg DeLiso and Addison Binek of Psycho Ape Part II: The Wrath of Kong. In other video content, Pete Trbovich returns with a Weird View Crew look at the A.I.-themed sci-fi horror Demon Seed (1977)¹. Lovers or the written word can check in here for the following trio of reviews: Shane Wilson wants a refund for I Bought a Vampire Motorcyle (1990); Giles Edwards takes in the ultraviolent puppet show Abruptio (2023); and Gregory J. Smalley explores The Animal Kingdom (2023). Onward and weirdward!

1. This posting has been delayed due to an automated copyright claim from YouTube (ironically, flagged by AI). ↩︎