Obviously there’s lots of weird trash in the direct to VHS/DVD/streaming ecosystems, but when it comes to something that actually got a first run theater release, what is your strangest?
For me, it’s Southland Tales. I actually kind of love this movie but it’s difficult to recommend because people you recommend it to might not look at you the same afterwards. The cast is positively stacked with big names, the movie looks great, and there’s a fantastic and really sad musical number half way through. This is the only movie that has truly captured the vibe of reading the biblical book of Revelation in that it’s making you go “wait, what?” every five minutes as it spirals into either intensely meaningful imagery or schizophrenia manifest on 35mm.
Bubba Ho-Tep is the winner for me. Elvis, still alive and kicking in a retirement home, needs to team up with JFK (who the CIA dyed black) to stop an Egyptian mummy that is eating the souls of the elderly.
I knew exactly what I was in for, and I had an absolute blast. I took my father with me, and his response was, “What the hell did I just watch?”
Still wish we’d actually gotten the prequel Bubba Nosferatu: Curse of the She-Vampires.