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Since Pod 366 replaced our deprecated Weird Horizon column, it’s been a while (well, Thanksgiving) since we’ve posted one of these. But with no Pod this Christmas week, it’s back! And we have a number of last-minute home media releases to inform you of.
ONLINE DEBUTS:
The Sudbury Devil (2023): Read El Rob Hubbard’s review. Listen to our interview with director Andrew Rakich and producer Veronika Payton. Microbudget (but you’ll never notice) period horror about weird Puritan witchcraft practices and genocidal guilt. Self-distributed, so all the rental proceeds go to the folks who made it. Buy or rent The Sudbury Devil on the official site.
HOME VIDEO:
Dream Scenario (2023): Read Gregory J. Smalley’s review. Schlemiel professor Nicolas Cage starts showing up in random people’s dreams—now on VOD. Buy Dream Scenario digitally (or wait for cheaper rental prices in a few weeks)
Les Vampires (1915): Read Alfred Eaker’s review. Irma Vep and her gang of miscreants terrorize Paris in these fantastique serials that influenced the burgeoning Surrealist movement. This is a Blu-ray reissue of an out-of-print set. Buy Les Vampires.
“Masaaki Yuasa: Five Films – Collector’s Edition”: A major release from Shout! Factory in collaboration with GKIDS. The five fantastic Yuasa features are the Canonically Weird Mind Game; the Apocryphally Weird Night Is Short, Walk on Girl; the kid-friendly Lu Over the Wall; Ride Your Wave; and his latest, the anachronistic historical musical Inu-Oh. Plus rare shorts, the previously unreleased-on-disc English-language dub of Night Is Short, and more extras. A truly special collector’s edition. Buy “Masaaki Yuasa: Five Films – Collector’s Edition.”
Mondo New York (1988): A late entry in the mondo craze, exploring bizarre and creepy behavior from the New York “underground” scene. Animal lovers beware, but you’ll also see junkies, transsexuals, and performance artists like Lydia Lunch and Karen Finley (sans yams). Now in Blu. Buy Mondo New York.
“Shaw Brothers Classics: Volume Four“: If you’re looking for a very late Christmas gift for some weirdo (or maybe for something on which to spend that cash your parents gave you), and you love goofy late-era kung fu, Arrow’s latest Shaw box may be the thing for you. Among the twelve programmers on offer here are some extra-crazy ones like Five Elements Ninjas and Holy Flame of the Martial World; as always, the Shawscope looks great and Arrow brings the extra features. Buy “Shaw Brothers Classics: Volume Four.”
WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:
On next week’s post-Christmas Pod 366, and Giles Edwards will run down their votes for Best Weird Movie of 2023.
In written reviews, Smalley revisits The Adult Swim Yule Log for the holidays; Shane Wilson travels with Werner Herzog on some Encounters at the End of the World (2007); and El Rob Hubbard takes a stroll with the giallo Death Walks at Midnight (1972). Onward and weirdward!