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):
Don’t Leave Home (2018): An Irish woman contacts a painter priest whose models disappear. Maybe a longshot for “weird,” but early reviewers have used words like “dreamy” and “elliptical.” Cranked Up Films Facebook page.
Mandy (2018): Read Giles Edwards’ Fantasia report and interview with director Panos Cosmatos. The psychedelic revenge story starring Nicolas Cage as—get this—a crazy lumberjack finally gets its limited release. Weirdos will be lined up around the block. Mandy official site.
Slice (2018): Chance the Rapper debuts as Chance the Actor, playing a werewolf pizza delivery guy. Jacob Knight of “birth. movies. death.” called it “genuinely weird” in a review that compares it to Repo Man. Slice official site.
IN DEVELOPMENT:
“Wakey Wakey?” (201?): The trailer (?) below was dropped onto YouTube without further comment. It would seem to be an announcement for a new installment of Becky Sloan and Joseph Pelling‘s puppet nightmare “Don’t Hug Me, I’m Scared.” Or perhaps a feature film, or a Netflix series. We will see…
NEW ON HOME VIDEO:
Brain Dead (1991): Read our review. This very strange B-movie about a hallucinating brain surgeon was made by Roger Corman‘s studio, and forced Peter Jackson to change the name of his zombie film from Braindead to Dead Alive in the U.S. to avoid confusion. Now out on Blu-ray for the first time from Shout! Factory. Also streaming on Amazon Prime. Buy Brain Dead
Slice (2018): See description in “limited release” above. If you can’t catch the werewolf pizza boy rapper in theaters, it’s being released simultaneously for rental or purchase on video-on-demand. Buy or rent Slice
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.
- Dallas, TX, 9/19 – Beyond the Black Rainbow (2010). At the Texas Theater.
- Denver, CO, 9/15 – Fight Club (1999). At the Alamo Drafthouse.
- Los Angeles, CA, 9/14 (midnight) – Akira (1988). At the Nuart.
- Los Angeles, CA, 9/16 – CzechMate: In Search of Jiri Menzel. A seven hour, chapterless documentary on the Czech New Wave which, because of its imposing length, will probably only be screened this once in the U.S. At UCLA Film & Television Archive.
- Louisville, KY, 7/14 – Persona (1966). At the Speed Art Museum.
- New York City, NY, 9/14-9/20 – Perfect Blue (1997). At the Metrograph.
- New York City, NY, 9/14-9/15 (midnights) – A Clockwork Orange (1971). At IFC Center.
- New York City, NY, 9/14-9/15 (midnights) – El Topo (1970). At IFC Center.
- New York City, NY, 9/14-9/15 (midnights) – Suspiria (1977). At IFC Center.
- New York City, NY, 9/15 (midnight), 9/17 & 9/20 – Akira (1988). At the Metrograph.
- New York City, NY, 9/18 – Altered States (1980). At the Metrograph.
- New York City, NY, 9/18 – Meet the Feebles (1989). At Spectacle Theater.
- San Francisco, CA, 9/14 & 9/17 – Perfect Blue (1997). At the Roxie.
- San Francisco, CA, 9/15 – The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), Metropolis (1927), and Nosferatu (1922), plus shorts from Buster Keaton and Felix the Cat, with live scores by Club Foot Orchestra. At the Castro Theater as part of the Silent Film Festival.
- Tuscon, AZ, 9/19 – Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010). At the Loft.
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.