WEIRD SPECIES I: THE UNCANNY
“What is weird?” is a question I’m sometimes asked. I don’t like to answer the question, because I think we’re all familiar with that “weird” feeling, and I’m more interested in seeing what other...
View ArticleWEIRD SPECIES II: THE SURREAL
The uncanny—by which I mean the type of horror story that focuses on an encounter with supernatural powers and the existential dread that comes from contemplating the Unknown—was the first style of...
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THE WOLF MAN (1941) & THE WOLFMAN (2010)
“Even a Man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night may become a wolf when the wolf-bane blooms and the autumn moon is bright”. The best thing about the 1941 film is the tone-setting poem...
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TED HOOD, JR., AUTEUR OF “GRAVEROBBERS FROM OUTER SPACE”
“God would seem to indicate to us and not allow us to doubt that these beautiful poems are not human, or the work of man, but divine and the work of God; and that the poets are only the interpreters of...
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IN DEFENSE OF PRETENSE: THE JOYS OF PRETENTIOUS MOVIES
As a teenager coming of age in the 1980s, I became briefly obsessed with progressive space-art-rock band Pink Floyd in general, and their album “The Wall” in particular. The record was mopey, morbid,...
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KARLOFF
After the death of the silent star, Lon Chaney, The King of Horror crown was up for grabs. It was Universal Studios contract actor Boris Karloff who inherited Chaney’s mantle, and reigned supreme as...
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CAPSULE: A SERBIAN FILM (2010)
DIRECTED BY: Srdjan Spasojevic FEATURING: Srdjan Todorovic, Sergej Trifunovic, Jelena Gavrilovic, Katarina Zutic, Slobodan Bestic PLOT: An ethical and well-intentioned ex porn star collaborates with an...
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WHAT’S WRONG WITH BEING WEIRD FOR WEIRDNESS’ SAKE?
The names of film critics cited in this essay have been redacted to protect them from professional humiliation. “The filmmakers are stoned on weirdness for its own sake…”—from a negative review of...
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THE POISONOUS IMAGE IN WISCONSIN DEATH TRIP (1999)
A note about the following essay, from the author. Wisconsin Death Trip is a 1999 film directed by James Marsh, an oddball, morbid documentary inspired by a 1973 nonfiction book of the same title. The...
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BUNUEL’S “UN CHIEN ANDALOU” (1929)
Further thoughts on the Certified Weird “Un Chien Andalou” (1929) “Moving pictures merely repeat what we have been told for centuries by novels and plays. Thus, a marvelous instrument for the...
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PHANTASM: A PSYCHOGEOGRAPHY
WARNING: This essay contains spoilers for Phantasm. Phantasm is weird and fascinating, a chunky mix of delightfully sinister and distractingly campy, but its style and aesthetic do not suggest subtlety...
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TASTE BREAKERS
“The author was compensated for writing this article by a third party. Nonetheless, it was written specifically for 366 Weird Movies, and we believe the information and opinions contained in this...
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DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY, SOCIAL MEDIA AND INDEPENDENT CINEMA
Consider the difference between Eraserhead (1977) and INLAND EMPIRE (2006), The former was produced meticulously on a shoestring budget, with continual setbacks due to the cost of film (the medium)...
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RELIGULOUS (2008)
The following is not standard for 366 material, but given the controversial nature of the film, we feel it has an off the beaten path place here. When Bill Maher’s Religulous (2008) premiered, it...
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THE HISTORY OF SUPERHERO MOVIES (AND THEIR RABID FANBOYS) PART ONE
“Fan” is short for fanatic, and fanatic is synonymous with fundamentalist. Most people associate fundamentalism solely with religion, but this kind of zealotry is hardly confined to beliefs about the...
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THE HISTORY OF SUPERHERO MOVIES (AND THEIR RABID FANBOYS) PART TWO
Continued from last week’s survey of the history of the superhero movie. Today, Marvel has the upper hand in big screen superhero adaptations. However, DC has long ruled the small screen with both...
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REPORT FROM FANTASTIC FEST 2015
See also: Alex Kittle’s Top 5 Weird Movies of Fantastic Fest 2015 Fantastic Fest is an experience like no other. I say that not to shill, just to state a simple fact. This was my first time attending...
View ArticleREALIZING THE WITCH
Editors note: Richard Baxstrom, co-author (along with Todd Meyers) of “Realizing the Witch: Science, Cinema, and the Mastery of the Invisible”, contacted us with a request that we add the recently...
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MR. BURTON’S BRAND OF PECULIAR MOVIES: A TIM BURTON ROUNDTABLE
As we approach the culmination of the List of the 366 Weirdest Movies Ever Made, hard choices need to be made. There are some directors (including Russ Meyer, Jean Rollin, and Doris Wishman) who, while...
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WHAT MAKES A WEIRD MOVIE WEIRD?
Here at the Utility Muffin Research Kitchen, our staff is repeatedly faced with a perplexing question: How do you quantify a movie as “weird”? It’s like the old Supreme Court ruling on how to define...
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