Our weekly look at what’s weird in theaters, on hot-off-the-presses DVDs, and on more distant horizons…
Trailers of new release movies are generally available at the official site links.
SCREENINGS – (Los Angeles, Cinefamily, Mon., 10/17):
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010): Apichatpong Weerasethakul (or “Joe,” as his American friends call him) will be in attendance to discuss his Certified Weird mystical breakthrough about death and reincarnation as part of Cinefamily’s “Celebration of the Uncanny in 11 parts.” Joe sticks around until Wednesday for a second of 11 parts of the celebration when his latest, the narcoleptic Cemetery of Splendors, screens. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives at Cinefamily.
SCREENINGS – (Los Angeles, Bob Baker Marionette Theater, Tues., 10/17):
Santa Sangre (1989): Alejandro Jodorowsky‘s armless serial killer movie is probably his most Halloween-y feature. Screens as a double feature with Hammer‘s Vampire Circus, with cocktails, live circus acts and other surprises (one presumes Bob Baker has scary marionettes prepared). Off site but hosted by Cinefamily, naturally. Santa Sangre at Bob Baker Marionette Theater.
SCREENINGS – (Silver Spring, MD, AFI Silver Theater, Fri., 10/14):
Certified Weird Triple Feature: OK, these three movies all played at AFI last week, and they are not officially a triple feature (tickets sold separately), and we don’t think the programmers have been reading this column, but come on? How often do three Certified Weird movies line up by chance at a single venue? That’s right, you can catch Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory at 5:15, segue into Daisies at 7:15, and cap it off with Blue Velvet at 9:00. It’s like an introductory course in weirdness. AFI Silver Theater.
IN DEVELOPMENT:
Abracadabra (2017): Director Pablo Berger and actress Maribel Verdu (of the Certified Weird silent Snow White adaptation Blancanieves) reunite for this black comedy. The plot will follow Verdu’s efforts to rid her husband of an evil spirit and, according to Cineuropa, will “straddl[e] terror and ludicrousness.” More info at Cineuropa.
Re-Animator: Evolution (2017): A remake of the H.P. Lovecraft short story about a mad doctor bringing the dead to life. This version, by Serge Levin, with Johnathon Schaech co-scripting and starring as Herbert West, will attempt to make a true horror film out of the story that was previously adapted (with incredible success) as a transgressive black comedy by Stuart Gordon and Brian Yuzna. Skepticism abounds in these offices, but read more at Bloody Disgusting.
Small Star Seminar (est. 201?): Collaborative film project by and starring The American Astronaut‘s Cory McAbee as a singing motivational speaker traveling the country and inspiring people to dream small. He’s accepting donations through Fractured Atlas (a new crowdfunding platform we’ve never heard of before). In the accompanying video, McAbee implies he might accept a couch to crash on in your town in lieu of a donation. Small Star Seminar at Fractured Atlas.
NEW ON DVD:
The Astro-Zombies (1968): In a very slow week for weird movie releases, you might take a chance on this Ted V. Mikels proto-slasher mad scientist atrocity, starring John Carradine and busty Tura Satana as some kind of Iron Curtain Mata Hari. The optional commentary track by Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett may make it all tolerable. Buy Astro-Zombies.
NEW ON BLU-RAY:
The Astro-Zombies (1968): See description in DVD above. This is one of Wayne “Trapper John” Rodgers’s two produced movie scripts (the other was Dr. Sex). Buy Astro-Zombies [Blu-ray]
FREE (LEGITIMATE RELEASE) MOVIES ON YOUTUBE:
Purge (2010): Set in the “257th parallel universe,” the protagonist is a dominatrix unhappy with her assigned role in a totalitarian society. Director David King says it’s “an experiment in using a variety of unusual techniques to create a dystopian reality with virtually no money… influenced by Jean-Luc Godard’s more intellectual films of the 1970’s and visually by George Lucas’s THX1138.” Watch Purge free on YouTube.
What are you looking forward to? If you have any weird movie leads that I have overlooked, feel free to leave them in the COMMENTS section.