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 THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):

Mega Time Squad (2018): Read Giles Edwards’ mini-review and listen to his interview with director Tim Van Dammen. A New Zealand set time-travel caper comedy. Unknown where it is playing, but Rotten Tomatoes assures us it’s going up on a screen somewhere this week. Mega Time Squad official site.

Ruben Brandt, Collector (2018): A psychotherapists commissions thefts of famous paintings, believing he will stop having nightmares about the artworks once he owns them. Intellectual, mildly surreal adult animation from Hungary. Ruben Brandt, Collector official site.

IN DEVELOPMENT:

Big Shark (2019): Tommy Wiseau attempts to extend his 15 minutes of fame to the 18-minute mark with this effort exploiting 2013’s hot topic, sharks. It is pretty much guaranteed to be awful, but since Tommy’s mumbling his way through it, it will still probably be better than The Meg. The Big Shark official site currently redirects to a site selling Wiseau-branded boxer shorts with no mention of Big Shark.

Cristina (est. 2019): A woman is plagued by the demon raised by her Satanist father. Per the director, it’s a “fascinating and terrifying amalgam of classic theological horror films like Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcist, but armed with a hefty dose of surrealism.” Set to begin principal photography in the spring. No official site yet.

Kung Fu Hustle 2 (20??): Stephen Chow has announced that he has begun work on the sequel to 2004’s Canonically Weird Kung Fu Hustle. The sequel will take place in the present day, and Chow, now 56, will not star (but may appear in a cameo). “Martial Arts Action Cinema” appears to have broken the news in the English-speaking world, based on a Chow interview (in Chinese).

NEW ON HOME VIDEO:

Audition [Ôdishon] (1999): Read the Certified Weird review! Takashi Miike‘s terrifying masterpiece of anti-erotic extremity comes to Region A Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video, from a 2016 restoration, with most of the same features on the old Shout! Factory release plus  a new commentary track by Tom Mes, a new introduction from and interview with Miike, and more (first pressing includes an exclusive booklet, too). Buy Audition.

Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980): A prisoner is released in 1926 Weimar Germany and vows to go straight, but is sucked back into a life of crime. Rainer Weiner Fassbinder’s 15-hour miniseries is told straight for most of its running, but ends with a surreal epilogue. A Criterion Collection upgrade from DVD to Blu-ray. Buy Berlin Alexanderplatz.

Horror Express (1972): Read Otto Black’s review. A frozen “ape-man” turns out to be a body-possessing alien who causes trouble on the trans-Siberian express. Although this horror is (famously) in the public domain, true fans may want to purchase this Arrow Blu-ray for the restoration, commentary track, interviews, and first-pressing collectible booklet. Buy Horror Express.

Possum (2018): A puppeteer returns home to face his stepfather and secrets from his past. The script is from a short story the British director originally wrote for an anthology exploring Freud’s notion of the uncanny. On DVD or VOD. Buy Possum.

CERTIFIED WEIRD (AND OTHER) REPERTORY SCREENINGS:

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). We won’t list all the screenings of this audience-participation classic separately. You can use this page to find a screening near you.

• Chicago, IL, 2/15-16 – Audition [Ôdishon] (1999). At the Music Box Theater.
• Los Angeles, CA. 2/15 (midnight) – Blood Diner (1987). At the Nuart Theatre.
• New York City, NY, 2/15-17 – Blue Velvet (1986). At IFC Center.
• New York City, NY, 2/15-17 – Suspiria (1977). At IFC Center.
• New York City, NY, 2/15-18, 2/20 – The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972). At the Metrograph.
• New York City, 2/16-17 – Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971). At the Nitehawk Theater (Prospect Park).
• New York City, NY, 2/19 – The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension (1984). At the Quad.
• New York City, NY, 2/21 – Enter the Void (2009). At the Metrograph.
• Pittsburgh, PA, 2/16-19 – Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song (1971). At Row House Cinema.
• Portland, OR, 2/17 – Barton Fink (1991). At the NW Film Center.

FREE (LEGITIMATE RELEASE) MOVIES ON TUBI.TV:

Night Train to Terror (1985): Read the Certified Weird entry! If everybody’s got something to do—everybody but you—then maybe you can watch this to horror anthology, made from three unreleased features cut down to the point of incoherence and linked by a framing story about God and Satan arguing about the fate of the characters while a teenage lipsynching New Wave band practices in the next train compartment. Watch Night Train to Terror free on Tubi.tv.

WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE: Next week we’ll announce the winner of 366 Weird Movies’ biggest fan contest (still time to enter!) In terms of reviews, Pete Trbovich will go into the reader-suggested review queue for 1973’s Lemora: A Child’s Tale of the Supernatural, while G. Smalley brings you a long-delayed review of Dennis Hopper‘s psychedelic flop The Last Movie (at last!) plus The Greasy Strangler ‘s  Jim Hosking‘s sophomore feature (a romantic comedy, of all things), An Evening With Beverly Luff Linn. And, we’ll reveal the winners of the 9th Annual Weirdcademy Awards (there’s still time to vote in that, too, although the only contests that are actually competitive are Weirdest Short Film and Weirdest Scene).

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.