It Came from the Reader-Suggested Queue

IT CAME FROM THE READER-SUGGESTED QUEUE: BROTHERS OF THE HEAD (2005)

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DIRECTED BY: Keith Fulton, Louis Pepe

FEATURING: Harry Treadaway, Luke Treadaway, Tania Emery, Jane Horrocks

PLOT: Conjoined twins Tom and Barry are conscripted into show business by an unscrupulous promoter who plans to make them into gimmicky pop stars, but they follow their own path, becoming punk rock pioneers.

Still from Brothers of the Head (2005)

COMMENTS: The original Siamese twins, Chang and Eng Bunker (who were, in fact, born in Siam, present-day Thailand), were a sensation from the moment they arrived on American shores. For a decade, they toured the country shocking audiences with the horrifying wonder of their physical connection. Their private lives were the subject of public fascination: they married a pair of sisters and fathered 19 children between them, fueling speculation about the physical and moral gymnastics required to accomplish such a feat. They kept slaves until the Civil War, returned to touring to rebuild their fortunes after the war, quarreled with P. T. Barnum, and eventually died within hours of each other.

I was starting to think about how much the plot of Brothers of the Head paralleled the tale of the Bunkers, when the film came right out and made the comparison itself. The Howe boys hold up a picture of their predecessors in conjoined fame, noting the similarity of their situations, and when they did, my heart sank a little. Far from pre-empting any protests, it solidified my fear that this story of shocking originality—conjoined twins become rock stars—was only going to walk down well-tread paths.

Brothers of the Head takes the form of pseudo-documentary, unspooling the short but eventful professional lives of the twins through a series of I-was-there talking head interviews and a remarkably deep treasure trove of archival footage. It’s delivered with a high degree of authenticity, which is not surprising considering the nonfiction pedigree of directors Fulton and Pepe, who helmed two different Terry Gilliam making-of documentaries, including Lost in La Mancha. But it also puts the central characters at a level of remove, ensuring that we can never know them except through the interpretations of others. And that choice ends up causing the most damage to the film’s credibility, because it means that any point the filmmakers want to make must be delivered with skull-crushing obviousness. Suggestions of impropriety by the boys’ handlers are conveyed through nervous tics and unsubtle hints. The arrival of a pretty girl to drive a (metaphorical) wedge between the brothers is endlessly dissected by present-day commentators with 20/20 hindsight. And were you wondering if Tom and Barry were working through their troubles via their songs? If the glaring transparency of the lyrics doesn’t tip you off, then the latter-day interviewee observing “Now what do you think that was all about?” with a cockeyed glare should Continue reading IT CAME FROM THE READER-SUGGESTED QUEUE: BROTHERS OF THE HEAD (2005) →

Miscellanea

AND THE WINNERS OF THE 16TH ANNUAL WEIRDCADEMY AWARDS ARE…

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In just a few hours, the telecast of the Oscars (or, as we refer to them, the “Weirdcademy Awards for squares”) will begin. We are happy to steal the Academy’s thunder by announcing cinema’s weirdest winners of 2025 now.

Note that this year, two categories—Weirdest Short and Weirdest Scene—actually ended in ties, requiring an editorial tiebreaker. For this reason, you can consider ‘s “Salad Fingers 14: Crows” and the Bugonia scene where flies his mom like a kite as 2025 honorable mentions. Now on to the official in-the-books winners!

In the category of “Weirdest Short Film,” the tiebreak yields a legendary big night out.

“Yes I Didi” by

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In the category of “Weirdest Actress,” the Award goes to two-time winner , who, it turns out, actually looks like an alien when you shave her head in Bugonia. Stone is also nominated in the Most Conventional Actress race in a few hours; she has no shot. Celebrate with us, Emma!

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In the category of “Weirdest Actor,” notches his third Weirdcademy award for feeding a dead rat to a fellow surfer in The Surfer.

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In the category of “Weirdest Scene,” in a tiebreaker, the Weirdcademy Award goes to Reflection in a Dead Diamond for the showdown between a clothed man, naked katana-wielding female.

refelction in a dead diamond weirdest scene of 2025

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And the “Weirdest Picture” Award of 2025 goes to and for their bizarre Eurospy fantasia Reflection in a Dead Diamond, in a major upset over favorite (and Oscar-nominated) Bugonia.

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Thanks voters, see you again next year!

Pod 366: A Weird Movies Podcast

POD 366, EP. 159: ANTENNA’S UP – ANTENNA RELEASING’S BILLY RAY BREWTON & RYAN VERRILL

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Audio link (Spotify)

YouTube link

Discussed in this episode:

Antenna Releasing: A new boutique theatrical/physical media distribution company run by guests Billy Ray Brewton and Ryan Verrill along with Francis Galluppi (not appearing in this episode)

Alpha (2025): After a girl gets a homemade tattoo, her mother fears she may have acquired a disease that will turn her into a statue. Julia Ducournau’s third feature has not earned the critical or audience buzz of Raw or Titane, but still appears to be strange stuff. In limited release this week. Alpha US distributor site.

The Bride! (2026): A mad doctor reanimates a woman to serve as companion for his male monster creation; for some reason, this happens in 1920s Chicago. Last week, we ignored ‘s “punk feminist” remake of The Bride of Frankenstein, and it’s tanking at the box office, but some reports (“chaotic, weird and beautiful”–Cleveland Plain Dealer) suggest that this may be a wilder and more interesting mess than we originally supposed. The Bride! official site.

Blue Sunshine (1977): Read El Rob Hubbard’s review. The “bad acid turns people into bald maniacs year later” cult film just got a 4K release last year; this stripped-down standard edition lacks the booklet, poster, and the soundtrack CD, but includes all the other numerous extra features. Buy Blue Sunshine.

Dead Lover (2025): A gravedigger reanimates her dream man in a campy and gonzo spin on Frankenstein. These special screenings in the UK and Ireland only are advertised as being presented in Stink-O-Vision (stench unspecified.) We hope it presages a US theatrical run in the near future. Dead Lover venues and tickets (UK & Ireland, Mar. 20-Apr. 10).

Viridiana (1961): Read Alfred Eaker’s review. ‘s celebrated anticlerical drama from the end of his Mexican period isn’t weird by the director’s early and late standards, but is still recommended. This is the 4K UHD upgrade (standard Blu-ray included) of the previous DVD-only release. (Also note: when we checked, it was $3 cheaper to buy the 2-disc combo than it was to buy the solo Blu-ray.) Buy Viridiana.

WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:

No guest scheduled for next week’s Pod 366, but Giles, Greg, and Pete will return to discuss the week’s weird movies. In written content, Shane Wilson knocks the conjoined twin pseudo-documentary musical biopic Brothers of the Head (2005) out of the reader suggestion queue, Micheal Diamades investigates whether there’s any substance to ‘s latest AI feature Incorporeal Man, and Enar Clarke takes a Splendid Outing (1978) on Blu-ray, while Gregory J. Smalley plans to check out what’s the deal with The Bride! (see above). And on Sunday we’ll announce the winners of the Weridcademy Awards (still time to vote for features and shorts if you haven’t cast your ballot yet). Onward and weirdward!

Capsules

CAPSULE: VISIONS OF SUFFERING (FINAL DIRECTOR’S CUT) (2006/2016)

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Visions of Suffering is available to watch on video-on-demand in either it’s original 2006 version or the 2016 “Final Director’s Cut.”

BewareWeirdest!

DIRECTED BY:

FEATURING: , Anastasia Asafova, Andrey Iskanov

PLOT: A necrophilia-obsessed man is haunted by demons.

Still from Visions of Suffering (Final Director's Cut) (2016)

COMMENTS: Ominously titled, as if to warn potential viewers, Andrey Iskanov’s Visions of Suffering is available both in an original 2006 cut and in a shorter 2016 “Final Director’s Cut.” Given the option of watching both, it seems obvious that 90 minutes of Suffering is preferable to 120 minutes of Suffering. Without having seen the original, I feel confident in saying Iskanov made the right decision to cut out 30 minutes of Suffering.

While the movie is extremely abstract and opaque in its details and methodology, playing like a feature length music video for an industrial noise/death metal crossover band, the basics of the thin plot are not especially difficult to comprehend. Sasha, our bespectacled protagonist, wanders through a misty yellow forest until he encounters a guy wearing a burlap sack on his head (the synopsis explains that this is a shaman and that Sasha interrupts an occult ceremony, perhaps thus bringing a curse on his head). Of course, it was all a dream, and Sasha wakes up and immediately screens a necrophilia porno flick before discovering that his phone is on the fritz. He leafs through books on Jack the Ripper and an anthology of murder scene photos while waiting for the repairman to arrive. While the repairman fixes the phone, they talk about dreams, and the guest casually drops some vampire lore. Phone fixed, Sasha calls his girlfriend (?) Vika, who’s busy shooting lesbian cutter porn. After hanging up, Sasha sees some vampires loitering about outside, and one of them stabs him in the earlobe through the keyhole. Then Sasha has some visions of suffering, and Vika’s car is possessed as she drives to his apartment while wearing iron cross sunglasses. Sasha has some more visions of suffering and calls an exorcist type (played by the director), who explains that Sasha has likely riled up some demons through his desecration of the dead. The director offers to fix the problem for 7000 euros, but that’s too steep for Sasha. So he has some more visions of suffering until the demon Golgatha shows up in his apartment with a sword and starts hacking up the furniture. Then he wakes up, and everything’s OK.

It’s a familiar old story, but Iskanov films it with some genuine style, if not taste or discipline. Much of the film is shot through hazy green/yellow filters that turn cheap costumes and effects that would probably look ridiculous in the full light of day into creepy nightmare fuel. (At times it’s like a less-effective Begotten, without the mythological resonances.) The sound mix is thick, dripping with ooze, spooky noises, and shrieks and moans off one of those atmospheric Halloween sound effect compilations. There is a lot of shock imagery: mutilation, autopsies, explicit sex, implied necrophilia. There are also a lot of superimposed image, especially in the fast-cut opening credits sequence that shows off Iskanov’s gift for montage. But all of this artistry is in service of a juvenile morbidity that seems to arise from listening to too many Marilyn Manson albums under the influence of too much hashish.

Suffering earns the rare and, in some quarters, coveted “” + “” tags. That’s not a recommendation for most folks. The Beware is for content—explicit sex, grotesque real autopsy footage, and some sick stuff that made even me cringe—but even excepting those, the film will prove a bit of a slog for most viewers because of its nonlinearity, tonal monotony, and humorlessness. Still, although it might have worked better chopped up into a series of easily digestible shorts, thanks to some memorably spooky imagery and resourcefulness in disguising his budgetary limitations Iskanov’s movie is not as much of a trial as it sounds like on paper. Fans of experimental extreme horror will eat it up. But please, don’t force me to watch the 2-hour version.

WHAT THE CRITICS SAY:

“The movie is really about an endless stream of colorful cinematography and visuals, head-trips, nightmares, atmosphere, bizarre creatures, etc… the plot and characters never really develop. In other words, too undisciplined.”–Zev Toledano, The Worldwide Celluloid Massacre

(This movie was nominated for review by “Josh.” Suggest a weird movie of your own here.)

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