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):
Girl Asleep (2015): On her fifteenth birthday, a neurotic teen girl is thrown into a fantasy world. Looks like a less aggressively surreal version of Valerie and Her Week of Wonders, or a more aggressively surreal version of Labyrinth. Girl Asleep official site.
SCREENINGS – (Multiple U.S. locations, Sep. 24):
“A Town Called Panic: Double Fun”: Indian, Cowboy and Horse return in two shorts set in the childishly surreal world of A Town Called Panic: “Christmas Panic” has C & I nearly ruining the holiday, while “Back to School Panic” has the mischievous duo invading a pig’s brain in an attempt to cheat on a class assignment. A strange but very welcome event from GKids: a list of participating theaters can be found at GKids A Town Called Panic page.
SCREENINGS – (Fox Theater, Toronto, Ontario, Sep. 29):
The Holy Mountain (1973): Read the Certified Weird entry! Alejandro Jodorowsky‘s classics sure are making the rounds lately; they’ve even made it all the way up to Canada! Check out the Fox Theater site.
FILM FESTIVALS – Fantastic Fest (Austin, TX, Sep. 22-29):
The Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, TX may be America’s coolest theater. Their brand has grown so big that now they have franchised Drafthouses, and even distribute their own (generally weird) movies. One of the Alamo’s hippest projects is Fantastic Fest, going into its twelf th year. As per usual, there is a fantastic slate of weird movies and some neato revivals here. Coming at the tail end of the film festival season, much of the movies are retreads, but the Drafthouse folks always find a way to save some surprise debuts. We won’t do more than mention films we’ve already mentioned from other festivals, including the sure-to-be-classic killer mermaid musical The Lure; Aloys, Assassination Classroom: Graduation, and Hentai Kamen 2 (all of which we missed at Fantasia Festival); Ana Lily Amirpour‘s post-apocalyptic cannibal effort Bad Batch and the animated My Entire High School Is Sinking into the Sea (two recent TIFF offerings); and the omnipresent Greasy Strangler. Here’s what we’ll be tracking down the road:
- Bad Black – Tongue-in-cheek Ugandan action/comedy made for about $200. Screens Sep 25-26.
- Colossal – An alcoholic woman (Anne Hathaway) discovers that the appearance of a giant monster in Seoul coincides perfectly with her blackouts in this absurd allegory. Sep. 29 only.
- The Dwarves Must Be Crazy – A scatological comedy about a Thai village of dwarfs that is attacked by flatulent Krause spirits—floating heads with attached intestines. Sep. 24 & 27.
- Goke, Body Snatcher from Hell – The Certified Weird Japanese vagina-faced space vampire horror screens on Sep. 26.
- Jungle Trap – A reconstruction of a nearly-completed 1990 shot-on-video atrocity about loincloth-clad headhunter ghosts killing patrons at a hotel in the jungle. Sep. 24.
- Phantasm: Remastered (1979) – The Certified Weird horror/fantasy/sci-fi classic screens in a new 4K print (Phantasm is also playing at AFI’s Silver Theater in Silver Springs, MD, with Don Coscarelli‘s FF Q&A being streamed live afterwards). Sure to be a tough ticket on Sep. 24.
- Phantasm: Ravager – The final installment in a franchise that has (to be frank) long outlived its welcome. Get closure on Sep. 25 or 28.
- Salt and Fire – A scientist venturing to South America to study a volcano is abducted by shadowy men; the programmers call this “[Werner] Herzog‘s most wildly unpredictable film,” which seems like overselling. Sep 25 & 28.
- Zodiac Killer (1973) – A restoration of the exploitation film speculating about the celebrity serial killer’s motives, including his telepathic conversations with his Satanist pet rabbits. Sep. 25 & 28.
IN DEVELOPMENT (KICKSTARTER):
Parts Unknown (est. 2018): A “deranged” horror movie set in the world of professional wrestling. Director Richard Chandler promises us it will be “a very surreal atmospheric film reminiscent of old school Euro-horror with practical effects and an all retro-wave/synth soundtrack.” The Boston Film Family seem like good eggs and they’ve already raised almost half of their modest $2,500 goal. Consider a donation. Parts Unknown Kickstarter page.
NEW ON DVD:
Cat People (1942): Read Alfred Eaker’s review! Val Lewton and Jacques Tourneur‘s sublimated psychosexual horror classic gets the Criterion Collection treatment, in plenty of time to order for Halloween. Buy Cat People (Criterion Collection)
Labyrinth (1986): Read G. Smalley’s review. Speaking of Labyrinth, which we just were, a 30th Anniversary home video re-release with new featurettes drops from Sony this week. Buy Labyrinth
NEW ON BLU-RAY:
Cat People (1942): See description in DVD above. Buy Cat People [Criterion Collection Blu-ray]
Dead End Drive-In (1986): In a dystopian future, the Australian government solves the juvenile delinquency problem by creating drive-ins where teens check in, but they don’t check out. Arrow Films gives this odd Ozploitationer their usual Criterion-level treatment; special edition pressings include a special booklet. Buy Dead End Drive-In [Special edition Blu-ray]
Johnny Guitar (1954): Read Kevyn Knox’s review. Olive Films, who usually release bare-bones DVDs, have seen that special editions are the wave of the future, so their new “Signature” seies Blu-ray release of Joan Crawford‘s existential/feminist cult western includes multiple featurettes, a commentary track with critic Geoff Andrew, and an introduction by Martin Scorsese. Buy Johnny Guitar [Blu-ray]
Labyrinth (1986): See description in DVD above. Super-duper fans may want to spring for the expensive gift set
“Twin Peaks: The Original Series, Fire Walk With Me & The Missing Pieces”: Read our “Twin Peaks” review here, and our Fire Walk With Me review here. The entire run of David Lynch‘s seminal surreal soap was already on DVD, with copious extras; so was the prequel movie. But now you can have them all together on one reasonably-priced Blu-ray set. Buy “Twin Peaks: The Original Series, Fire Walk With Me & The Missing Pieces
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.