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

DIRECTED BY: Jordan Stowe-Merritt

FEATURING: Emma Hallinan, Marcel Jortzik

PLOT: A parent mourns the loss of her pinball-playing son—but has the kid returned as a ghost?

WHY IT WON’T JOIN THE APOCRYPHA: We had retired this section explaining why individual movies wouldn’t make the List after we completed the first 366 entries, but Tommy stirs us to revive it. What in the world are our readers thinking in constantly promoting this pedestrian British hokum for inclusion on our sacred List? Are you all a bunch of idiots who just don’t get the mission of this site? Our own correspondent even stated that Tommy was “like something out of a bad acid flashback” with a “non-stop assault of insane imagery” resulting in a film that was “bizarre to the point of self-parody.” I’d like to know what the hell movie he was watching! These complaints are not to impugn the movie itself, which is well-enough-acted and shot (if way too short for a feature presentation)—but it’s nowhere close to one of the weirdest films of all time.

COMMENTS: In 1969, the cacophonous British rock and roll band the Who dropped a double-album-length “rock opera” about a messianic deaf, dumb and blind kid who could miraculously play pinball. In 2017, a team of fellow Brits dumped this faithless adaptation in which (spoiler alert) you never even see the title character. That’s right, apparently this revisionist version of Tommy takes place after the deaf, dumb and blind kid has turned into a dead, dumb and blind kid. And there is no pinball in the film whatsoever! It comes from a no-name director and is performed by a (capable) cast of unknowns, but with no cameos from the Who or “rock ‘n’ roll” celebrities (which would have been a great idea.)

Instead, this time the story focuses on a couple who are grieving the death of the woman’s son in a new house that may be haunted. It’s a cut-rate affair,  with just two main actors, two main locations, and no vintage pinball machines in sight—they obviously blew their entire budget just getting the rights to the IP. And, at about 20 minutes in length, it’s actually less than a third of the length of the original album. There’s not even much weirdness to be found. Sure, there’s a de rigueur ambiguous horror movie ending that saves you the trouble of having to spend money on a spectral special effect. And there’s the fact that the couple here buy their bananas in bag form (thanks to sharp-eyed YouTube commenter grilledcheese2084 for picking up on this and commenting “WTF, who buys bagged bananas?”) An even more subtle dollop of surrealism occurs after Ryan leaves the pub and races home to check on Lucy: if you look closely, you’ll notice that he’s driving on the left side of the road. This was probably accomplished by reversing the film in post, but however they did it, it adds a subtle note of unease that was desperately needed.

And, of course, Tommy‘s weirdest choice is to use none of the Who’s original music at all. A bold gambit, for sure, but one I can’t say I entirely agree with.

Still, despite those meager surrealist touches, the entire thing is a slapdash slap in the face to Who fans. Who can believe Pete Townshed and Roger Daltrey (who made such an impression as Franz Liszt) would have allowed their psychedelic phantasmagoria to be turned into what is little more than a YouTube short, a “Tommy” adaptation in name only? The pinballcentric material is inherently strange enough that it could have produced a really weird movie, in the right hands. Maybe Hollywood can do a proper reboot someday? I’m not sure who would be capable of helming such an effort;  the late Ken Russell would have been perfect. But as it stands, this Tommy is not only deaf, dumb and blind—but also lame.

Tommy recently came out in a 4K UHD edition from Shout! Factory—are these guys desperate enough to release anything?—despite the fact that you can watch it for free (split into two parts) on YouTube (see below). I seriously doubt that you’ll see anything different on that disc, but if you’re foolish enough to spend good money on it, be our guest!

WHAT THE CRITICS SAY:

“…doesn’t give a damn about the material he started with…”–Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times (contemporaneous)

Tommy - 50th Anniversary Edition 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray [4K UHD]

•  

Check Price

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

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 DEVELOPMENT: STILL ALIVE :

Nosferatu (202?): Variety reports that Harry Styles has dropped out of Robert Eggers remake of Nosferatu (1922), co-starring Anya Taylor-Joy. (Also no longer attached to the project: recent Oscar winner Will Smith). We’re neutral on Styles’ departure, but the news here is that Eggers’ cursed Nosferatu project is not yet dead—it remains, it seems, in some weird unearthly state between life and death. Read more at Variety.

NEW ON HOME VIDEO:

The American Scream (1988): A family takes a vacation at a winter resort filled with oddballs in this confusing amateur horror film filled with WTF? moments. A candidate for the so bad it’s weird club. First time on Blu-ray (only) from Culture Shock. Buy The American Scream.

Delta Space Mission (1984): Done in the style of a children’s cartoon and earning comparisons to both 2001: A Space Odyssey and Fantastic Planet, this science fiction epic from behind the Iron Curtain (Romania, to be exact) concerns a super-intelligent AI computer who falls in love with an alien journalist. New player Deaf Crocodile releases the deluxe Blu-ray. In our reader-suggested review queue, with streaming options (and our coverage) coming in April. Buy Delta Space Mission.

Flesh for Frankenstein [AKA Andy Warhol’s Frankenstein] (1973): Read Alfred Eaker’s mini-review of Flesh for Frankenstein. Less famous but gorier and possibly even campier than it’s companion piece, Blood for Dracula, this features Udo Kier as Frankenstein stitching together a monster (and doing naughty things to cadaver organs along the way). Vinegar Syndrome releases a 3 disc pack, with a UHD disc, a 3-D Blu-ray, a standard Blu-ray, and two hours of supplementary materials. Buy Flesh for Frankenstein.

(WARNING: above trailer NSFW for gore, nudity and declarations of intended gall bladder molestation)

Hair for Hyde [AKA Andy Warhol’s Jekyll and Hyde] (1974): Having lost the services of Udo Kier (who had decided to leverage his cult fame to make serious movies with Fassbinder), Paul Morrissey unwisely leaned too far into camp, and hired a spectacularly miscast Jerry Lewis for a dual role (making this the “Nutty Professor’s” only gore movie). A spectacular misfire on every level, it’s weird for reasons never intended (Jerry Lewis in patchy werewolf makeup attempting to rape a barmaid played by Holly Woodlawn?), and ended the series of Warhol-backed horror remakes—and Morrissey’s career. Blu-ray only with minimal supplements. Buy Hair for Hyde.

Ham on Rye (2019): Read Giles Edwards Apocrypha Candidate review. Adolescents undergo a strange ritual that will allow some of them to escape their nowheresville town, while others will be left behind. Their fates hinge on whether they slip up at the deli counter and accidentally order pastrami on wheat. The Blu-ray includes an optional director’s cut, deleted scenes, and a commentary track. Buy Ham on Rye.

Red Spirit Lake (1993)/We Await (1996): Of these two direct-to-video horrors from microbudget director Charles Pinion, We Await, which concerns a cannibal family who eats hallucinogenic ooze from a green crystal and keeps a human dog, seems the stranger by far. Lots of bonus features on this double feature Blu-ray from an outfit called Saturn’s Core. Buy Red Spirit Lake/We Await.

Sister Tempest (2020): Read Giles Edwards’ review. Anne defends herself against an intergalactic tribunal in the case of her missing sister. She also performs one of the stranger karaoke numbers in recent memory. Now on DVD; Blu-ray coming to retailers in May. Buy Sister Tempest.

CANONICALLY WEIRD (AND OTHER) REPERTORY SCREENINGS:

This section will no longer be updated regularly. Instead, we direct you to our new “Repertory Cinemas Near You” page. We will continue to mention exceptional events in this space from time to time, however.

FREE WEIRD MOVIE STREAMING EVENTS:

WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:

It looks like Ari Folman‘s dystopian virtual reality animation The Congress will be the featured screening at our next Weird Watch Party in the late hours of Saturday, April 9, but we will leave the discussion open through the weekend.

In next week’s reviews, Gregory J. Smalley will take on the psychopathic Period Piece (2006) from the reader-suggested review queue, then move to the new-release front for a look at the twisty psychological thriller Ultrasound (2022). Finally, in a 366 exclusive, Giles Edwards uncovers and transcribes a previously unpublished interview on the genesis of Leslie Stevens‘s Esperanto horror film, Incubus. 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.