FAUST Jan Svankmajer; DVD
Surrealist DVD (1994), New
"Faust" is a wonderful blend of real-time and stop-motion storytelling by a master of the surreal. An apparently ordinary everyman is led by curiosity into a dilapidated building which turns out to be a strange blend of alchemical laboratory, theater, and puppeteer's workshop. Suddenly, the man finds himself becoming the legendary Dr. Faust, selling his soul to the devil in exchange for magical powers. Jan Svankmajer is the true sorcerer here. He blends stage sets with real locations and seven-foot puppets with live actors, making magic of it all. Powerful, surreal, and more intelligent than any animation anywhere.
THE SAVAGE PLANET (1973); DVD
DVD Surreal Animation, New
This is a surrealist French animation from the 70s, and that's pretty much the sum-up of its description: Surreal, 70s, and French. Animations like this are quite rare, not only is it completely psychedelic, the intent was political in nature, though by these days the movie has toned down a bit. It is in fact a really pretty animation because of its use of colors and design, which for me is a lot more interesting than its historical value. For fans of animation of different types, it's a must see, but also for those who crave the underground psychedelic aspects of the 70s era.
THE COLOUR OF POMEGRANATES (Special Edition) DVD
DVD; Surreal (Sergei Paradjanov) 1969
Sergei Paradjanov's celebrated, dreamlike masterpiece paints an astonishing portrait of the 18th century Armenian poet Sayat Nova, the 'King of Song'. Paradjanov's aim was not a conventional biography but a cinematic expression of his work, resulting in an extraordinary visual poem. Key moments in his subject's life are illustrated through a series of exquisitely orchestrated tableaux filled with rich colour and stunning iconography, each scene a celluloid painting alive with sylised movement. One of cinema's most revered and beautiful films, The Colour of Pomegranates is a unique and rewarding experience that haunts the memory long after viewing... Extensive Bonus Features: Introduction by writer and filmmaker Daniel Bird; 'The World Is A Window: Making The Colour of Pomegranates' - a new documentary by Daniel Bird; Memories of Sayat Nova; Commentary by Levon Abrahamyan moderated by Daniel Bird; New improved subtitles.
MEET THE FEEBLES (1989) Peter Jackson; DVD
DVD; New
Cool puppetry and a whacked out plot make this New Zealand effort on par with some of the best cult films today. There are animals of all shapes, sizes, colors, and ethnicities; some are into money, others are into dancing, and then there are others who are into porn, coke, and feces. This film is rude, gross, demented, and hilarious. Peter Jackson's pre Hollywood glory days....ordinary people just don't make films this warped. Unfortunately, we will never see films of this quality from Peter Jackson again.
NEKROMANTIK 2 (Jorg Buttgereit) 1991; DVD
Limited Edition 2 disc box set (Barrel entertainment), New
This is quite a beautiful course of death, and I should like to think that those who became enamored of Nekromantik,also here should find a maggoty morsel or two, to satiate their rotten pallets. I certainly did. Necrophilia has no favorites, and this time around, the haunts are reserved for the ladies. And who ever said that a corpse is worse off in the tender and dismembering hands of a woman, than in a mans'? This destructive little thing tells the tale of Monika, a nurse, whose greatest wish when coming home,after caring for her patients, is to have an absolutely still and passive face to greet her lovingly. And what better cadaverous candidate, than good old Rob whose been nursing coffin-boards for the last five years? A beautiful relationship soon evolves, and in the loving hands of Monika, Rob soon learns how to part with those tiresome appendages one calls legs, arms and head. While I find the end sequence in Nekromantik rewarding and special, nothing had prepared me for the end sequence in Nekromantik 2. The first time I saw it, it blew me away. Even if you are a seasoned gore-hound, I can almost guarantee you that you have never seen an ending as bloody and bizarre as this! Fucking excellent! And of course the musical score is brilliant....
SMOKE 'EM IF YOU GOT 'EM; DVD
Special Edition DVD (1988), New
SMOKE ‘EM IF YOU GOT ‘EM is a long lost post-apocalyptic Aussie cult classic – a nuke and puke masterpiece for the post-punk crowd – set slap bang in the middle of Melbourne’s 80’s underground music scene. Starring Nique Needles (DOGS IN SPACE). In the smouldering devastation of post nuclear bomb-blasted Melbourne, a periscope protruding from a pile of rubble leads three desperate scavengers to a subterranean fall-out shelter. They muscle their way in, only to discover a raging party in a converted wine cellar, celebrating the Big Meltdown. There’s a band, booze, sex, drugs and a horde of sweat-soaked revellers partying like there is no tomorrow… which for these poor radiation-drenched end-of-the-worlders there isn’t. What choice do the scroungers have but to join in?
This special "Bong and Bang Cocktail" edition comes with over 3 hours of extra features including commentaries, interviews, music video’s short films and more…
DEAD HANDS DIG DEEP; DVD
Documentary DVD (2016), New
Thirty-eight-year-old Edwin Borsheim of the band Kettle Cadaver was once known for his bizarre stage antics and brutal self-mutilation. Now, years after the band's demise, Borsheim has fallen into complete seclusion on his acre of land in which he is surrounded by many of the horrible things he has created. As Edwin spirals further into a hole of drug abuse and self-destruction, those closest to Borsheim dissect his mental complexes as he himself reflects on his dark past.
Rated R - High impact themes and disturbing images.
THE JESUS LIZARD; Club (2011) DVD
Live DVD (2011)
Though it's impossible to properly convey just how ferocious a live band the Jesus Lizard are, particularly in smaller confines, Club does an admirable job capturing the quartet's first stateside show in more than ten years, in July 2009. The band's original line-up touch upon every full-length and EP they released, demonstrating how strongly their songs, including torching versions of "Killer McHann" and "One Evening," stand up today. There's actually nothing dated or putridly nostalgic about this exercise; the Jesus Lizard are like an ageless, un-caged animal with scores to settle and points to prove, particularly since they went out rather unceremoniously in 1999 as a weakened, incomplete unit. Yow proves to be a consistant menace, half-naked and threatening the audience in the midst of songs like "Mouthbreather," as he rolls over and through them like a possessed man caught in a whirlwind. Club reveals much about their reunion tour – most notably that it felt like they'd never stopped playing together in the first place.
HAXAN: WITCHCRAFT THROUGH THE AGES; DVD
DVD (1922) - (1968 re-release)
Directed by Scandinavian filmmaker Benjamin Christensen, 'Haxan -Witchcraft Through the Ages' (1922) is a strange silent film depicting black magic, witchcraft, and demonology from the middle ages to the 20th century. Shot and presented in documentary form, the film is more akin to a pseudo-scholarly lecture with moving visual aids. Not as intense or as shocking today as upon its initial release, the film is filled with nightmarish images that are certainly profane and explicit, but also humorous. Yes, sex goes hand-in-hand with Satan, and Christensen's flamboyant portrayal of the aforementioned character, complete with flicking, wanton tongue, drives home the point (well, that and a peppering of nudity). Unique to say the least, 'Haxan' is a rather weird curio of a film with some incredibly atmospheric, somewhat graphic images, esp. for that era.
The 1968 re-release with an electric jazz-fusion score by Jean Luc Ponty and narration by William S. Burroughs is a treat in itself.
ALICE; (Jan Svankmajer) DVD
DVD, New
Alice is a 1988 surrealist dark fantasy film written and directed by Jan Svankmajer Its original Czech title is Něco z Alenky, which means "Something from Alice". It is a loose adaptation of Louis Carrol's first Alice book, Alice's adventures in Wonderland(1865), about a girl who follows a white rabbit into a bizarre fantasy land. The film combines live action with stop motion animation, and is distinguished by its dark and uncompromising production design.
For Švankmajer, a prolific surrealsit director of short films for more than two decades, Alice became his first feature length film. The director had been disappointed by other adaptations of Carroll's book, which interpret it as a fairy tale. His aim was instead to make the story play out like a darkly disturbing amoral dream. The film has been widely praised and is certainly an astonishing film.
GUTTERBALLS; DVD
DVD, New
Canadian splatter comedy GUTTERBALLS (2008) is a damn fine sexually explicit, graphically violent, morally repugnant, willfully bad B-Movie that refreshingly takes itself seriously, despite the over-the-top subject matter. Heads will bowl.....
DVD release on Australian 'Bad Movies' independent label.
