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.

IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):

The Ghoul (2017): A police detective goes undercover as the patient of a suspicious psychotherapist while investigating a series of bizarre murders that leave victims in an undead state. You have to take notice of any psychological thriller that gets a good review in “The Fortean Times.” The Ghoul official site.

Planetarium (2016): A movie director seeks to exploit two psychic sisters (Natalie Portman and Lily-Rose Depp) in between-the-wars Paris. Reviews suggest that it’s a mess, but perhaps a somewhat weird mess. Planetarium Facebook page.

IN DEVELOPMENT (completed):

Mother (2017): Paramount released the first trailer for Darren Aronofsky‘s Mother (starring Jennifer Lawrence) this past week. Anticipation is sky-high for this “psychological horror” movie, despite the fact that there have been few to no leaks about the plot. The trailer suggests weirdness is still a live possibility. It premieres at the Venice Film Festival in a couple of weeks, so we’ll know soon enough. Mother official Facebook page.

NEW ON DVD:

“Seijun Suzuki’s Taisho Trilogy”: Full of eroticism, ghosts, and mysterious widows, this set collects three surreal period films from Japanese maverick Seijun Suzuki: Zigeunerweisen (1980), Kageroza (1981), and Yumeji (1991). All set during the Taisho era (1912-1926), these three movies have never been released on Blu-ray before and have been long out-of-print on DVD. Buy “Seijun Suzuki’s Taisho Trilogy” [DVD/Blu-ray].

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

Re-Animator (1985): Stuart Gordon‘s influential 80s black comedy adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft‘s story about a couple of mad scientists raising the dead is an outrageous hoot and a seminal cult film. Arrow Video pulls out all the stops with this 2-Blu Limited Edition that includes the original cut and the much-longer “integral” version (it’s complicated), along with the commemorative booklet and reams of extras you’d expect. Buy Re-Animator [Limited Edition Blu-ray].

“Seijun Suzuki’s Taisho Trilogy”: See description in DVD above. Set includes three DVDs and three Blu-rays. Buy “Seijun Suzuki’s Taisho Trilogy” [DVD/Blu-ray].

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.

• Los Angeles, 8/12 (midnight) – Pink Flamingos (1972). At the Vista.
• New York City, 8/11-8/16 – Stalker (1979). At IFC Center.
• New York City, 8/11 (midnight) – The Horrors of Spider Island [Ein Toter hing im Netz] (1960). At Spectacle Theater.
• New York City, 8/12 – Eraserhead (1977). At Film Society of Lincoln Center.
• New York City, 8/12 – The Face of Another (1966). At the Museum of Modern Art.
• New York City, 8/12 & 8/15 – Videodrome (1983). At the Museum of Modern Art.
• New York City, 8/12-8/13 – Mulholland Drive (2001). At Nitehawk Cinema.
• New York City, 8/13 – House [Hausu] (1977). At Film Society of Lincoln Center.
• Silver Spring, MD, 8/13 – Léolo (1992). At AFI Silver Theater.
• Silver Spring, MD, 8/16 – My Winnipeg (2007). At AFI Silver Theater.

BOOKS:

“The Holy Mountain” – A full-length appreciation of Alejandro Jodorowsky‘s mystical masterpiece by Latin American literature professor Alessandra Santos. We haven’t gotten out hands on it yet, but we do now this site’s review is cited in the bibliography.  Buy “The Holy Mountain (Cultographies)”.

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.