October @ 366 Weird Movies: HAXAN, THE ADDICTION, AFTER LAST SEASON, more...

[Rev. Powell]

We start off October in the "Halloween spirit" by inducting SUSPIRIA into the weirdness hall of fame...

SUSPIRIA (1977): "...more an assault on the senses than a narrative; it’s Gothic horror atmosphere, squared."

THE STUFF (1985): "...a classic example of disgusting exploitation horror about a living parasitic desert that oozes up through the ground 'like a bubblin’ crude.'"-PD

SEA OF DUST (2008): "...like a Hammer Studios period movie acted by community theater thespians, with the addition of spurting gore effects supplied by exploding-head maestro Tom Savini."

HOME (2008): "Home will work best for those who find the carefully observed intimate details of other people’s family lives fascinating, but the leisurely pacing will make this thin allegory something of a grind for others."

THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST (2004): MEL’S LETHAL JESUS AND THE MOST REPREHENSIBLE ANTI-CHRISTIAN FILM EVER MADE: Title says it all.  By Alfred Eaker.

[Rev. Powell]

Last weeks additions:

THE APPLE (1980): "The Apple pulls you in many different directions: you’re never quite sure whether to tap your toes, roll your eyes, drop your jaw, or bring up your lunch." 

MARTYRS (2006): "I was expecting a real stick of dynamite, but instead, I got one of those Fourth of July smoldering snake novelties."-PD

THE ATTIC EXPEDITIONS (2001): "An interesting, confusing, out-of-control picture, it’s as fascinating for its misses as for its hits.  It falls just short of a general recommendation, but it is recommended to anyone interested in psychological, mindbending horror seasoned with heaping doses of confusion and who isn’t a stickler for great acting."

SPIRAL [UZUMAKI] (2000): "Any film that features death by washing machine, 'cute' human snails, men with butterfly tongues, women cutting off their fingerprints with scissors, car tires surrounded by human fruit roll-ups and high school girls wired into the telephone lines by their parasitic hair deserves a place on the final list."-KD

THE RAPTURE (1991): "The Rapture takes a new and refreshing approach to a subject which, more often than not, is hopelessly pious, stagnant and, ultimately, saccharine.  This is one of the most challenging, humanistic and Christian films of the last twenty years."-AE

[Rev. Powell]

More weird stuff:

ZEB HARADON'S REVISED TOP 10 WEIRD MOVIES: Zeb Haradon, director of ELEVATOR MOVIE, was unhappy with the first top ten list he submitted and replaced it with this, uh, "interesting" list instead.

MEGA PIRANHA (2010): "[Director Eric Forsbeg] understands it’s not plot but mega piranhas that are the draw, and keeps things moving quickly so he can get to scenes like Special Agent Fitch lying on his back booting away the fish that fly directly into his feet, while in the South American riverside village other (much larger) piranhas are jumping into buildings, either exploding or simply sitting there halfway through the roof, with their dorsal fins wagging in the breeze."

DEATH RACE 2000 (1975):"Death Race 2000 is what happens when very smart, talented people set out to make a ridiculous movie... 970s cult cinema at its trashy, funny best."--AS

4 (2005): "With it’s Kafkaesque moments, portentous dialogues, mutant piglets and nightmare crones, incidents of Khrjanovsky’s feature debut conjure up a gloomy mystery that would have fit comfortably into a Tarkovsky film; but unlike its inspirations, it lacks much of a story, is missing an undercurrent of hope that cuts the despair, and has no emotional core."

NECROMENTIA (2009): "I quote from Hellraiser: 'The suffering…the sweet suffering.'  I suffered watching Necromentia, but it sure as hell wasn’t sweet."-EG

SPACE IS THE PLACE (1974): "The plot is threadbare, involving villainous pimps and dealers, Black Panther avenger protagonists, local nightclubs, pool halls, cat houses, and, of course, an Outer Space Employment Agency that Sun Ra sets up after coming to Earth from a faraway planet."-AE

[Rev. Powell]

Finishing up October with more weirdness:

EVANGELION 1.11: YOU ARE (NOT) ALONE (2007/2010): "Anime fans will likely eat it up (though those especially fannish of the original series will inevitably find fault); the general viewer is likely to find Evangelion pretty, but too baffling in story and thin in character development to make them crave the three sequels."

THE ADDICTION (1995): "Even when the film’s open-ended chronology and its abstract conception of vampirism threaten to make the plot totally incomprehensible, you can hold onto Ferrara’s sincere interest in spiritual redemption and moral culpability."--AS

AFTER LAST SEASON (2009): "This mix of a thin paraspychological plot that’s approximately 50% padding, incoherent storytelling and incompetent production might have produced a bizarre enough concoction, but the weird little cherry on top is the 'telepathic' scenes brought to us courtesy of outdated software that was probably originally intended as an aid in architectural design."

NEVER LET ME GO (2010): "Despite not quite achieving its full potential, Never Let Me Go still a good choice for the arthouse patron jonesing for a flick with Brit accents, teardrops, and no car chases."

HAXAN: WITCHCRAFT THROUGH THE AGES (1922): "Maria, a beggar accused of witchcraft, is being tortured into confession. She suddenly gushes forth with one fantastic account after another, and the film visually tracks with her admissions, displaying demonic orgies, sacrilegious rituals conducted by the devil’s grandmother, and an eye-popping scene in which Maria gives birth to the devil’s children—children who look like a cross between the Mugwumps from Naked Lunch and something out of Star Wars‘ Mos Eisley Cantina."--AS. CERTIFIED WEIRD!


COMING NEXT MONTH: November entries...