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 on the official site links.
IN THEATERS (WIDE RELEASE):
Metallica: Through the Never: A 3-D mix of a Metallica concert film with some sort of post-apocalyptic roadie road trip. Fans will eat up the headbanging stuff, but the narrative part looks pretty headscratching; Kontroll‘s Nimród Antal directs. Opens this week in IMAX theaters, with a nationwide release starting next week. Metallica: Through the Never official site.
IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):
The Wicker Man – The Final Cut (1973): Read the Certified Weird entry. The director-approved restoration is debuting in New York City and touring the U.S. thereafter. We’re sure if this “final” cut contained any previously unseen footage, they’d be shouting about it from the rooftops. The Wicker Man – Final Cut schedule from Rialto Pictures.
NEW ON DVD:
“Betty Boop: The Essential Collection, Volume 2”: More insane Fleischer Brothers’ animation featuring the unnaturally sexy child/woman flapper. This set includes the Masonic “Bimbo’s Initiation,” which is a great example of how dreamlike and nonsensical these cartoons could get at their wildest. Buy “Betty Boop: The Essential Collection, Vol. 2”.
Prince of Darkness (1987): Quantum physics students discover the essence of liquid Satan (seriously!) in a Church basement. This “Collector’s Edition” of the John Carpenter cult item features a director’s commentary and numerous supplements. Buy Prince Of Darkness.
Room 237 (2012): Read our capsule review. The documentary about shaky fan interpretations of The Shining includes an entire second disc of bonus material, including eleven deleted scenes; expect more crazy conspiracy theories. Buy Room 237.
NEW ON BLU-RAY:
“Betty Boop: The Essential Collection, Volume 2”: See description in DVD above. Buy “Betty Boop: The Essential Collection, Vol. 2” [Blu-ray].
Prince of Darkness (1987): See description in DVD above. Buy Prince Of Darkness [Blu-ray].
Room 237 (2012): See description in DVD above. Buy Room 237 [Blu-ray].
FREE (LEGITIMATE RELEASE) MOVIES ON YOUTUBE:
Spooks Run Wild (1941): The fast-talking “East Side Kid” hole up in a haunted house with Bela Lugosi. This movie probably helped inspire “Scooby Doo,” and Guy Maddin cited it as an influence on Keyhole.
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.
There are three different versions of The Wicker Man currently in circulation – the original 84-minute UK theatrical cut, the 96-minute US theatrical cut, and a 102-minute cut which is available on DVD but has never been shown in cinemas because some of the footage jumps in quality from 35mm to 16mm. This “new” version is just a cleaner print of the 96-minute cut, also known as the Abraxas version. Robin Hardy has decreed it to be the “director’s cut” because it contains nearly all the cinema-quality footage that still exists. So your guess is quite right – it does not include a single frame of new footage.