Tag: youtube

Six Anomalous Years / A Cosmic Christmas (1977)

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Today marks six years since I first started Anomalous Cinema. It’s quite an achievement as I have created somewhat similar websites in the past that rarely lasted more than one year. Part of what keeps me going is that I honestly believe that I am inspiring a small audience to watch better movies. I still hear friends talking about watching garbage, which is a damn shame. Hopefully you, I’ll just go ahead and say it… smarter people, have enjoyed some of my recommendations over the years.

Anyway, earlier this week my partner Suzie and I went to see a showcase of Holiday themed 16mm films called “The Psychotronic After School Christmas Special” at Portland’s historic Hollywood Theatre. It was pretty amazing. I had completely forgotten about the above linked A Cosmic Christmas, which was shown on TV during my childhood. This HD version of the film looks much sharper than what we saw, so enjoy the holiday spiced cheese if you dare. 

Let me tell you about the highlight of the screening: a 1969 short film called The Season. The Episcopal Church funded this crazy excoriation of the consumer aspects of the holidays that ended with bulldozers crushing multi-colored Christmas trees in the dump. I would have avoided that spoiler, but you cannot find this film online. It’s not on IMDb, and there’s hardly a mention of it on the internet aside from the Nyback Film Archive website (maintained by Greg Hamilton who put on this event). My point is, if you are able to see rare film screenings, do it. It is an exceptional feeling to know you’re seeing something special, and better yet, away from your usual TV and phone screen.

I want to close with a shout out to my friend Joe McDonald, who made the only recent donation to this site. He also wisely suggested making a list of all the films here. I will be adding an alphabetical / linked list very soon!

Happy Holidays. -Jonathan 

If you are a fan of Anomalous Cinema, please consider supporting this site by donating any amount (even $1.00 is appreciated) via Venmo @vergeoflight / Cash App $vergeoflight / or Paypal at this secure link. A Paypal account is not required. Thank you.

Dead Man’s Letters (1986)

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I really liked my graphic this week, so I opted not to crop it for a change.

Streaming on YouTube | imdb | trailer (in German with no subs – sorry)

This marks the first time I have recommended films by the same director back to back, but it felt like the right thing to do. Set in the aftermath of a nuclear holocaust, an assembly of intellectuals deal with their precarious lives, and the fate of human achievement. This is a much less abstract movie than Visitor to a Museum (previously recommended here). It is also considered to be Konstantin Lopushansky’s masterpiece. The style is not as challenging as Visitor, and it also has the advantage of being shorter than 90 minutes, with a relatively straight forward concept. The mostly sepia toned photography really works for this film too, and obviously reminds one of Stalker (1979), which the director worked on as a PA. The use of what seems to have been existing bombed out buildings, with very artistic added set dressing, is also very impressive. The films characters manage to say it all about the stupidity of humanity along the way too. This is a truly fantastic dark film that I give my most enthusiastic recommendation, as well as a rating of 10 out of 10.

Not available on domestic Blu-ray.

If you are a fan of Anomalous Cinema, please consider supporting this site by donating any amount (even $1.00 is appreciated) via Venmo @vergeoflight / Cash App $vergeoflight / or Paypal at this secure link. A Paypal account is not required. Thank you.

Visitor of a Museum (1989)

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Streaming on YouTube | imdb | trailer (unofficial but well made)

My coworker Dan turned me onto this amazing film recently. I had never heard of it, or writer and director Konstantin Lopushansky before. I am writing this after just finishing the movie, and have not done any research on the director (I did find this article that I will be reading later). I personally loved Visitor of a Museum, but I can tell you right away this is not a film for everyone. It is deliberately paced and on the long side. However if you are a fan of Andrei Tarkovsky (who was Lopushansky’s mentor) as well as early Jodorowsky and Lynch, you really need to watch this. The film is set in a post-apocalyptic future where a man decides to use his vacation to see a museum that is submerged in water most of the year. That’s all you really need to know. This is definitely an artsy movie, but unlike Tarkovsky, it manages to slip in various cult film staples like uncomfortable humor, disabled actors, and even a bit of sex. One element that really stood out to me was the haunting musical score and sound design. Think dark ambient but made by someone with access to real classical instruments and performers. I know that what I have said has immediately connected to film fans that are most likely appreciate this. If you are one of those folks, get on it.

NOTE ON QUALITY:  I watched the version on YouTube that is uploaded as UHD. I’m not a video expert, but I suspect it was upscaled from a Blu-ray. There is a fair amount of scratches in the film, a lack of grain, and quite a bit of visible compression artifacts. I wasn’t terribly bothered by any of that though. I have to imagine this one is hard to track down, so I am just grateful to the person that was kind enough to upload it.

Not available on domestic Blu-ray.

If you are a fan of Anomalous Cinema, please consider supporting this site by donating any amount (even $1.00 is appreciated) via Venmo @vergeoflight / Cash App $vergeoflight / or Paypal at this secure link. A Paypal account is not required. Thank you.

The Prowler (1981)

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Streaming on YouTube (sign-in required) | imdb | trailer

This ‘80s slasher just barely squeaks by my usual criteria for this website. The flaw here is that the acting and story between kill scenes is pretty mediocre. However when the blood is flowing, The Prowler is spectacular. Tom Savini did the FX and the murder sequences are all very memorable. The killer’s outfit is really intimidating too. The other thing I like about this film is that it’s a non-franchise, all-in-one horror flick. You will most likely enjoy this one if you keep your expectations low, or just fast forward to the juicy stuff.

NOTE ON QUALITY: I have this linked to the version on YouTube because it’s totally free and uncut as far as I can tell. It looks a bit compressed, so if you’re a stickler for quality, check out JustWatch to see where else it is streaming (currently several places), or watch the disc.

Available on Blu-ray from Blue Underground.

If you are a fan of Anomalous Cinema, please consider supporting this site by donating any amount (even $1.00 is appreciated) via Venmo @vergeoflight / Cash App $vergeoflight / or Paypal at this secure link. A Paypal account is not required. Thank you.

Dark Night of the Scarecrow (1981)

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Streaming on YouTube | imdb | trailer

A mentally disabled young man is wrongly executed by four small-town vigilantes. Those men are later picked off one at a time. Simple as that. This was a CBS network TV movie (originally shot for a theatrical release) that scared the crap out of me as a child. Thankfully it has held up very well since then, and remains an effective horror film in spite of being PG. Our “hero” is played by Larry Drake, who went on to play another mentally disabled character in the series L.A. Law, and was also in Darkman, and Dr. Giggles (but I like this film much better than any of those). If you are not into horror with minimal graphic violence, skip this one. However I maintain this is a solid scare flick in spite of being on the mild side.

Available on Blu-ray from VCI.

If you are a fan of Anomalous Cinema, please consider supporting this site by donating any amount (even $1.00 is appreciated) via Venmo @vergeoflight / Cash App $vergeoflight / or Paypal at this secure link. A Paypal account is not required. Thank you.

Surviving Edged Weapons (1988)

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Streaming on YouTube | imdb (current rating 8.4!!!) | (Funny Clip – not the trailer)

This is a documentary made for the police that is surprisingly entertaining for civilians. The people who produced it somehow did not realize that the majority of this video is hilarious and ridiculous. The historical and reenactment scenes will leave you in amused disbelief. There is some good info peppered in there too, so you’ll be more prepared for your next street fight. Amazingly Surviving Edged Weapons also features famed martial artist Dan Inosanto, who you may have seen in Big Trouble in Little China (or a bunch of lesser films). This video does show some pretty gruesome real-life injuries so don’t watch if you can’t handle that. Everyone else please enjoy this slab of inadvertently entertaining Anomalous Cinema.

Not available on Blu-ray.

If you are a fan of Anomalous Cinema, please consider supporting this site by donating any amount (even $1.00 is appreciated) via Venmo @vergeoflight / Cash App $vergeoflight / or Paypal at this secure link. A Paypal account is not required. Thank you.

A Page of Madness (1926)

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Streaming on YouTube | imdb | trailer (Flicker Alley disc ad)

A man’s wife is in an insane asylum, so he gets a job there to try to help her escape. It figures that the oldest movie I love, and one of the weirdest, is from Japan. Leave it to The Land of the Rising Sun to be an early adopter of strange cinema, and to keep cranking it out for almost a century. This was made one year before the first movie with sound, and three years before Un Chien Andalou was released. You’d think that Japanese audiences would have been utterly baffled by this film, but supposedly it was a hit. There’s a ton of unusual imagery, including many beautiful superimposed images and other innovative tricks to replicate hallucinations. The film also features some deep concepts that are expressed without a word. A Page of Madness is simply a work of art that demands to be seen by any fan of Anomalous Cinema.

I’ve desperately hunted for another ‘20s film to recommend on this site. There are several very good movies from this era, but all of them have dull dramatic parts, or other flaws which make them ineligible. Yeah, I know, I know, Un Chien Andalou but it’s a short, and every art school kid has already forced it under your nose. Unfortunately many silent movies are now lost, there was probably a real mind-blower among them. I truly hope that some weird masterpiece is available that I’ve missed. Here are some 1920s movies, a few rather obvious, that are definitely worth your time if you watch them with patience: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), Destiny (1922), Faust (1926), The Hands of Orlac (1928), Häxan (1929), The Man Who Laughs (1928), Metropolis (1927), and The Phantom of theOpera (1925).

Available on Blu-ray from Flicker Alley (search eBay), but the quality seems a little dubious.

If you are a fan of Anomalous Cinema, please consider supporting this site by donating any amount (even $1.00 is appreciated) via Venmo @vergeoflight / Cash App $vergeoflight / or Paypal at this secure link. A Paypal account is not required. Thank you.

Marat/Sade (1967)

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Streaming on YouTube free | imdb | trailer (sorry for the poor quality)

I do not like musicals. I avoid them like the plague. However when asked what my favorite musical is, I never hesitate to say Marat/Sade. Supposedly the old Marquis really did stage plays using inmates at the Charenton Asylum. I seriously doubt any of them were as amusing and fully realized as this one, but it’s fun to ponder. I’ve seen this multiple times over the years, including a 35mm print, and own the soundtrack LP. Patrick Magee is one of my all-time favorite actors, and here he plays a perfect Sade. The only reason I give this film a 9 out of 10 is because… it’s a damn musical.

Not available on domestic Blu-ray.

If you are a fan of Anomalous Cinema, please consider supporting this site by donating any amount (even $1.00 is appreciated) via Venmo @vergeoflight / Cash App $vergeoflight / or Paypal at this secure link. A Paypal account is not required. Thank you.

Milius (2013)

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Streaming on YouTube (also Roku and Plex) | imdb | trailer

I just rewatched Conan the Barbarian (1982 – currently streaming on Netflix) the other day for the zillionth time, so this seemed appropriate. This is the story of John Milius, the man behind Conan, Red Dawn, the screenplay for Apocalypse Now, and a ton of other things you wouldn’t immediately connect him to. Milius described himself as a Zen Anarchist (I love it), but he often gets dismissed as merely conservative because of his war fetish. If you’re not open to a right of center perspective, you should probably avoid this documentary. For the rest of you, get ready to be entertained by many stories about the crazy genius’ rollercoaster career and life.

BONUS: Here’s a text interview that Quentin Tarantino did with John Milius back in 1982 (?!?!?).

Not available on Blu-ray.

If you are a fan of Anomalous Cinema, please consider supporting this site by donating any amount (even $1.00 is appreciated) via Venmo @vergeoflight / Cash App $vergeoflight / or Paypal at this secure link. A Paypal account is not required. Thank you.

Christmas Evil (1980)

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Streaming on YouTube | imdb | trailer

This is my favorite Christmas horror movie. Yes, the original Black Christmas and Silent Night Deadly Night are great, but this one is just so much more twisted and fun. Christmas Evil is also built on intentional humor that works, and features an absolutely unforgettable ending. You might just spill your eggnog. 

Available on Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome.

If you are a fan of Anomalous Cinema, please consider supporting this site by donating any amount (even $1.00 is appreciated) via Venmo @vergeoflight / Cash App $vergeoflight / or Paypal at this secure link. A Paypal account is not required. Thank you.