Incredibly Strange Video

Ep. 34: Psycho Beach Party

Mon, 19 Jan 2026 12:00:00 -0500

Take the seminal surf movie Gidget from 1959, add in a bunch of slasher elements from the 80's, and use it all to deconstruct gender norms - that's Psycho Beach Party in a nutshell! This crazy stage-to-screen should-be-cult-classic is a must-see offbeat comedy for fans of incredibly strange cinema.

Chicklet Forrest is a sixteen year old tomboy who wants nothing to do with chasing boys and everything to do with chasing waves. It's not long before she joins up with a gang of local surfer guys in Malibu, and not long after that when some of them start washing up on the beach cut into pieces - and Chicklet and her split personalities are the prime suspects.

In our first episode of the new year, we dig into how this film parodies Gidget and in doing so takes for a lark the idea of "normalcy" that Hollywood so often tried to peddle to teens rolling up to the drive-in back in the 60's. It purports that under the surface of every Frankie Avalon movie, there was a repressed bubble of sexual deviancy and homosexuality just waiting to explode. And, so, this film lets it explode.

We also honor our dearly departed podcast cat, Trip, and welcome to the show our new podcast dog, Jiffy. Cassie proposes that many elements of Psycho Beach Party remind her of Akira Kurosawa's Ran. Ryan proposes everyone in Gidget was gay. We both embrace the new trend of being #cigfluencers and enjoy some nice, mild cigarettes during the show. Cassie explains the history of surfing. Ryan shares a spicy take on The Beach Boys explores how Gen Z has escaped 'The Royal Hays Code'. The line between Gidget and Psycho Beach Party becomes increasingly blurred as things progress.

Psycho Beach Party
Directed by Robert Lee King
2000, United States

Incredibly Strange Video is produced and edited by Ryan Quinn and Cassie Kay. Follow us on Bluesky @isvpodcast.bsky.social for updates on the newest episodes!

Theme music:
The End by EVA
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0

All excerpts from the films discussed are used for educational and critical purposes only.

No generative AI is used in the production of this show. Keep the world human.

Ep. 33: Terror at Tenkiller

Tue, 28 Oct 2025 12:00:00 -0400

What's spooky season without a certified slashic? And it doesn't get much more grindhouse than this - woefully maligned by most critics and audience reviewers alike, we're here to tell you this all but forgotten low-budget slasher is far more interesting and more intricately constructed than most would have you believe.

Terror at Tenkiller is a regional horror film from outside Tulsa, Oklahoma, shot in two weeks with a budget of $40,000. And while it doesn't fit into the traditional mold of 80's slasher films, that's precisely why we find it so interesting. Instead of hitting the narrative beats and conventional scares of something like Friday the 13th, this "people being murdered around a lake" flick channels techniques and narrative choices closer to the works of Robert Altman and David Lynch. In revealing its killer's identity in the first act, it also shifts its horror away from mystery and into the realm of dramatic irony, as everyone in the film so casually interacts with a bloodthirsty maniac.

It's a strange, surreal experience with surprisingly progressive writing, and since it was shot by a documentary filmmaker and not a horror-focused director, it also presents itself as a deep character study of its two female leads at a level most other slashers rarely accomplish.

Dreamlike, hypnotizing, and in our opinions endlessly intriguing, this film is a must-see for any fans of the slasher genre in search of something way outside of the norm. You can stream it on Arrow Player, Tubi, and Plex, or pick it up on its new Vinegar Syndrome Blu-Ray!

Happy Halloween, everyone!

Terror at Tenkiller
Directed by Ken Meyer
1986, United States

All excerpts from the films discussed are used for educational and critical purposes only.

No generative AI is used in the production of this show. Keep the world human.

Ep. 32: Encounters of the Spooky Kind

Wed, 15 Oct 2025 06:00:00 -0400

There's perhaps never been a more exciting movement in action filmmaking than the Hong Kong New Wave in the 1980's, and within that body of work perhaps no films more unique and unusual than the hopping vampire movies.

What are Hong Kong Hopping Vampires? Well, they're vampires from the Qing Dynasty who hunt for victims by...hopping. Feet together, arms out, one stiff hop after another. And this film - Encounters of the Spooky Kind - is the one that heralded in the entire craze with an unforgettable martial arts showdown between Sammo Hung as Bold Cheung and Yuen Biao as his Hopping Vampire foe.

And so in this episode we - along with cinematographer Ryan Kroboth, our friend Evan, and Dr. Connie Chen - explore just what the heck a hopping vampire is, why they exist, and furthermore how Sammo Hung and a host of other Hong Kong action filmmakers in the 80's were able to create the most insane stunts and fight sequences ever committed to film.

We're also getting into the weeds with how certain cinema lenses are used to achieve the signature "kung fu snap zoom" that fills this movie with dynamic frame adjustments, the history of Hong Kong cinema's Peking Opera tradition and the stuntmen/leading men who emerged from those schools, and of course discuss this film's unforgettable final frames and decide which side of the Letterboxd debate we fall on - is it extremely problematic or is it the best final "The End" freeze frame of all time?

So hop along with us as we continue through spooky season with, in our opinion, an essential film for the Halloween season, Encounters of the Spooky Kind!

Encounters of the Spooky Kind
Directed by Sammo Hung
1980, Hong Kong

Additional music credits:

"Yokai", "Dark Sakura", "Hannya", and "Yurei" by Kraosando

"Jing Diao" and "Xing Jie" by Jiangsu Song and Dance Ensemble

All excerpts from the films discussed are used for educational and critical purposes only.

No generative AI is used in the production of this show. Keep the world human.

Ep. 31: Spookies

Wed, 08 Oct 2025 06:00:00 -0400

It's Spooky Season, and what better way to kick things off than with the spookiest film that ever did spook - Spookies!

To say that Spookies has a unique production history is an understatement - the film started shooting in 1984 and didn't hit US theaters until 1988, over which time it was in the hands of three different directors and two directors of photography and multiple teams of actors and crews. We're here to give you all the gory details of how this thing got smashed together, and we're also here to tell you...it all kinda works?

Because we love Spookies. It's a practical effects showcase, full of creative monsters and traps and kills, truly wall to wall lunacy behind every door in this elaborate haunted house film. Even the house the filmed it in has some crazy history, and you'll be gobsmacked to learn why the family who owned the old mansion in Rye, NY rented it out to the film crew in the first place.

For this monumental episode, we are joined by an all-star cast, and the biggest group we've ever had on Incredibly Strange Video. Cinematographer Ryan Kroboth is back with us again, and for the first time since The Hottie and the Nottie, our good friends Evan and Rachel join us once again to discuss important issues such as how this film might be making commentary on Reaganism and trickle-down economics, as well as exploring what it means to be in a "Federalist Papers flow state".

So tap play and let's get weird with one of the weirdest movies ever made.

Spookies
Directed by Brendan Faulkner, Thomas Doran, and Genie Joseph
1986, United States

All excerpts from the films discussed are used for educational and critical purposes only.

No generative AI is used in the production of this show. Keep the world human.

Ep. 30: The Snazzy Awards 2025

Wed, 01 Oct 2025 06:00:00 -0400

It's the Season 1 finale! Instead of the Razzie awards, which poke fun at the worst movies of the year, we're hosting our first annual SNAZZY AWARDS! Over the next hours we'll be celebrating the best and boldest of the incredibly strange cinema we covered in our first season, revisiting the 29 films we discussed this year and choosing our picks for prestigious titles such as "Grossest Scene", "Best Gratuitous Nudity", "Best Explosion", and the highest honor of them all, "Excellence In Tastelessness"!

Which films will come out on top? Tap play to find out!

And thank you to everyone who has listened to Season 1!

Additional Music Credits:

Award show themes courtesy of Music For Video Library

"Ninja Theme" by Tennilkar Creations

All excerpts from the films discussed are used for educational and critical purposes only.

No generative AI is used in the production of this show. Keep the world human.

Ep. 29: Maximum Overdrive

Sun, 14 Sep 2025 06:00:00 -0400

"WE MADE YOU! WEEEEE MAAAAAADE YOOOOUUUUUU!"

Ahem, er yes, now that we've got that out of our system, let's gear up for the third and final installment of our BIG TRUCK TRILOGY. Master of horror Stephen King has left his mark across scary cinema for decades, but perhaps surprisingly, he only ever directed one film. And it's this one. And it's CRAZY.

Maximum Overdrive throws a simple premise at us in its opening moments - a comet passing by Earth possesses all of our machines, making them sentient and murderous. That's really all there is to it. From the word go, machines start chop chop chopping people up in increasingly creative and deranged ways, until we finally find ourselves trapped at the Dixie Boy truck stop with Gordon Bombay, Lisa Simpson, and Commissioner Gordon. And Commissioner Gordon has a ton of rocket launchers in the basement.

Sound amazing? It is amazing. Stephen King famously hates his one and only foray into the director's chair, but we're here to cut through the negativity like an electric carving knife sawing through a diner waitress' arm. Maximum Overdrive is a surprisingly dense and thought provoking movie with incredible stunt sequences, a killer soundtrack by freakin' AC/DC, and a genuinely iconic horror villain - The Goblin Truck!

So in this episode, we'll be talking about how this film makes some powerful statements about consumerism and how it's destroying humanity, extrapolating that into deeper meditations on how our increasingly digital lives have trapped us in a metaphorical truck stop, surrounded by mechanical vultures of our own making, just as the characters in the film find themselves stuck with no escape.

We'll also be digging into the hazy history of one of the film's most infamous scenes - you know, the one where a steamroller pulverizes a little league kid? Lots of folks remember that scene being a bit different when they saw it back in the 80's...but was it? Or is it just a case of the Mandela Effect at work?

There's a ton of wild stuff to dive into with this one, and as you'll hear us mention in the episode, if you want to see the original Green Goblin truck face live and in person, you can catch it this Halloween season at a spooky event near you! Check out thegoblinproject.com to find out where the restored prop is heading in October!

Oh! And hey! This is the second to last episode of Season 1! Woohoo! Thanks so much to everyone who has listened in so far! This has been such a fun project to launch and we're working on a special awards show style episode featuring all the films we've covered over the last year to wrap things up at the end of the month. So until then, keep it incredibly strange!

Maximum Overdrive
Directed by Stephen King
1986, United States

Additional music credits:

"Mississippi River" by Musicoman Free, @musicomanfree on YouTube and Instagram, "Drive Into the Night" by Harris Heller, and multiple AC/DC-style backing tracks by Rob Cavallo Music and Rock On Jam Tracks.

All excerpts from the films discussed are used for educational and critical purposes only.

No generative AI is used in the production of this show. Keep the world human.

Ep. 28: Flatbed Annie & Sweetie Pie: Lady Truckers

Fri, 29 Aug 2025 06:00:00 -0400

When 2 women, 18 wheels, and 16 gears are rollin'...move over! The two women in question are Annie Potts as Flatbed Annie and Kim Darby as Sweetie Pie, two lady truckers on the run from a relentless repo man (played by Harry Dean Stanton before he'd again play a repo man in, um, Repo Man) and menacing cocaine traffickers. Fred Willard and Joe Estevez are also hanging around the fringes of this obscure made-for-TV movie that has been relegated to general obscurity...until now!

Or at least whenever this podcast itself escapes obscurity itself. In any case, the ISV crew is approaching this film with one big question: Is this a feminist movie? At the bare minimum it is surprisingly respectful of its female leads, especially for a film made in 1979. They have agency, they aren't sexualized, and they grow together as platonic friends who are never shoehorned into a romantic relationship because that's what audiences might expect - but does it go further than that? Is this a long lost gem of feminism in film?

In addition to that discussion, Ryan and Cassie introduce a new segment called "Exploitation or Empowerment?", wherein Ryan offers up a scene for Cassie and she decides which way it swings in that (sometimes very fuzzy) dichotomy. And in the "Thoughts From Letterboxd" segment, they counter some negative reviews that claim the film is poorly constructed, by analyzing the cinematography and editing and how it comes together to create emotional impact from the very beginning of the film.

It's a unique spin on the 70's/80's trucker genre that you can stream for free on Tubi! So come hit the road and explore this forgotten road trip classic. Oh, and did we mention it's from the same director as Xanadu?

Flatbed Annie & Sweetie Pie: Lady Truckers
Directed by Robert Greenwald
1979, United States

Additional music by Infraction No Copyright Music

All excerpts from the films discussed are used for educational and critical purposes only.

No generative AI is used in the production of this show. Keep the world human.

Ep. 27: Thunder Run

Sun, 03 Aug 2025 23:00:00 -0400

Buckle up for perhaps the wildest ride to ever hit the road out of Laughlin, Nevada! When shipments of military plutonium become the target of terrorists, there's obviously only one thing to do - hire a retired trucker, have his grandson and college friends build a bunch of makeshift weapons, and transport the plutonium across the desert in a proto-Fury-Road battle of automotive carnage.

We dive into this forgotten car chase classic, a film devised by special effects specialists, the sole purpose of which seems to be the film's central stunt - an 18-wheeler jumping over a train.

To be clear: an 18-wheeler jumps over a train in this movie. And. it's. AWESOME.

We also uncover stunning revelations when we discover an alternate ending to the film that clarifies tons of questions we had about what was going on the whole time. It's a strange mix of comedic family hi-jinx and high octane road war, a film with delightful Brady Bunch sensibilities and wacky pranks, but also a big rig that burns people alive with flamethrowers. If you come along for this ride with us you're going to learn all about critical ideas and concepts like rocket launching Volkswagens and laser tunnels.

Yes. Laser tunnels.

Thunder Run
Directed by Gary Hudson
1986, United States

Additional music credits

"The Saga" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

All excerpts from the films discussed are used for educational and critical purposes only.

No generative AI is used in the production of this show. Keep the world human.

Ep. 26: Urotsukidōji: Legend of the Overfiend

Mon, 02 Jun 2025 01:00:00 -0400

It might not get more incredibly strange than this one. A late entry into our first annual Ani-May, Legend of the Overfiend is the original animated video nasty, the first animated film to ever receive an NC-17 rating from the MPAA...and that was the American cut. On today's episode we're tackling the entire original uncut triple-OVA version of the film, a 2:26 tentacle hentai apocalyptic epic that features wall-to-wall horrors that cannot be unseen.

We're actually posting this one with a trigger warning - it's impossible to discuss Legend of the Overfiend without talking about its rampant sexual assault and rape, much of which is committed by tentacles.

But we're also trying our best to understand what makes this film and its entire subgenre tick. We'll discuss the origins of Japanese tentacle porn (it was created for perhaps the most ironic reason imaginable), and Ryan does his best to dig deep into what the tentacles could possibly mean on a thematic level and how the film occasionally channels great Italian neorealist filmmakers, while Cassie firmly disagrees that this is anything more than shock cinema at best. We're also joined by our friend, cinematographer Ryan Kroboth, who talks to us about what he thinks makes for great anime cinematography.

Every 3000 years, a demon god known as The Overfiend is awakened and judges the three realms - man, beast, and demon. If they are found to be beyond saving, The Overfiend destroys them and creates them anew. But before it can do that, it must incubate inside a human for a while, during which time the human becomes a sex maniac. This is, perhaps, the craziest movie any of us have ever seen.

Urotsukidōji: Legend of the Overfiend
Directed by Hideki Takayama
1989, Japan

Additional music credits
"In Your Dreams Tonight" by Rocket Cafe Music and "Disco Funk" by Creator's Toolbox

All excerpts from the films discussed are used for educational and critical purposes only.

No generative AI is used in the production of this show. Keep the world human.

Ep. 25: Redline

Sun, 25 May 2025 15:00:00 -0400

It's a new yearly tradition on Incredibly Strange Video - we're celebrating ANI-MAY! Which is when we take all of May to break down cult and unusual anime films! Today's film, Redline, falls into the former category. A major financial failure for its studio after a grueling 7-year-long production, this action/racing smorgasborg of adrenaline-fueled violence has since become a cult classic in the anime world.

And since this is the first anime we've ever covered on the show, in addition to breaking down the film, we'll be doing some learning ourselves along the way, asking questions like, "How is anime even made?" and "What does it mean to say an anime is 'well-directed'?" We'll also delve into common misconceptions about the art style, particularly why many think anime characters don't look Japanese.

Takeshi Koike's 2009 labor of love, Redline, is without a doubt one of the best looking anime films ever made, and yet it's woefully under-appreciated outside of hardcore anime enthusiasts. We're here to change that! If you'd like to check it out before listening to our breakdown, like apparently all films that exist, it's free to stream on Tubi. Otherwise strap in and get ready for the craziest and most dangerous race in the galaxy!

Redline
Directed by Takeshi Koike
2009, Japan

Also, if you've listened to the episode you've heard the huge news: someone has found and uploaded the long-lost song "My Darlin' Don't You Cry" from Bloody Birthday! Check it out here on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSwyougkNg4

All excerpts from the films discussed are used for educational and critical purposes only.

No generative AI is used in the production of this show. Keep the world human.

Ep. 24: Leprechaun

Wed, 12 Mar 2025 22:00:00 -0400

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

And what film pairs better with a pint of Guinness and some cottage pie than the cult classic, Leprechaun! Warwick Davis gives an iconic horror performance as the titular villain, terrorizing Jennifer Aniston (yes, THAT Jennifer Aniston, in her first feature film leading role) as he searches for his stolen pot of gold.

This horror comedy went on to become a surprise hit when it was released and spawned many sequels...and we intend to get to them all! For now, we're breaking down the original and its use of color to invoke the Celtic Otherworld, how the characters' names might relate to Irish mythology, and how the entire film might be a coded message from the Illuminati regarding the JFK assassination.

May your glass be ever full and your videos incredibly strange! Slàinte Mhaith!

Leprechaun
Directed by Mark Jones
1993, United States

All excerpts from the films discussed are used for educational and critical purposes only.

No generative AI is used in the production of this show. Keep the world human.

Ep. 23: Cinderella 2000

Sun, 02 Mar 2025 02:00:00 -0500

It's the final stop (for now) on our journey into the year 2000! Come along to the mythical fantasy realm of Detroit where in the year 2047 sex has been outlawed by an authoritarian government! That, of course, does not stop basically everyone from having sex anyway, for those who abstain are fraught with a horrible affliction: The Hornies!

Also, this is a retelling of Cinderella.

Also, it's a musical.

And...actually a really good one! Ryan and Cassie are both adamant that if this were to be adapted on Broadway, it would be a smash hit. It has a Fairy Godfather who frolicks through the wilderness with people wearing animal masks while singing about making love. It has a choreographed country western / disco funk number about a robot yearning to have sex with a computer and/or telephone. It has an incredible amount of nudity. Perhaps most importantly, it has a scene in which the Seven Dwarves gang bang Snow White.

Why is Snow White even in this? And what does Ryan think that sequence is trying to say with a historical analysis invoking the Enūma Elish and The Wedding of Peleus and Thetis? Furthermore, Cassie tackles perhaps the biggest question of them all: When Cinderella gives Big Brother a blow job so good he decides to un-ban sex, is that an empowering feminist moment for her character or not? Tap that play button and find out!

Cinderella 2000 is a bonafide hidden gem, even in the realm of already obscure cult films. Generally forgotten and not available to stream anywhere - except for free on Archive.org of all places! - it's a riotous affair that defies the imagination with new insanity emerging every few minutes. With brilliantly bright colors, a killer 70's score, and a mountain of gratuitous nudity and sex, this is an absolute must-watch for enthusiastic archeologists of incredibly strange cinema.

Cinderella 2000
Directed by Al Adamson
1977, United States

All excerpts from the films discussed are used for educational and critical purposes only.

No generative AI is used in the production of this show. Keep the world human.

Ep. 22: Cherry 2000

Sat, 22 Feb 2025 05:00:00 -0500

We continue our podcast journey into the year 2000!

Like a mission ripped right out of an Obsidian RPG, Melanie Griffith plays bounty hunter E. Johnson, who takes desperate lover Sam Treadwell on a fetch quest to post-apocalyptic Las Vegas to replace his sex robot, Cherry 2000. On their way, they run into a gang of Dads on permanent vacation who would love to get their hands on a Cherry 2000, as well.

It's a premise executed with seriously awesome stunt work (including a stunning sequence involving a 1965 Ford Mustang, a large magnet, and the Hoover Dam), off-beat humor that effectively lampoons modern romance, and more than a few unhinged performances. It's a little bit Mad Max, a little bit Firefly, a little Tank Girl and Blade Runner and a whole bunch of other things. It was a massive box office bomb, but suffice to say, we love this movie, but not as a man loves a woman...but perhaps as a man loves a sex robot?

We are joined on the show by husband and wife Ryan Kroboth and Connie Chen, who will throw their hats into the ring as we discuss the big question: is it morally ok for a human to love an artificial intelligence in the year 2025? Things get appropriately spicy as we dive into the realms of fictosexuality and the rising popularity of using AI to satisfy your romantic needs.

Cherry 2000
Directed by Steve De Jarnatt
1987, United States

All excerpts from the films discussed are used for educational and critical purposes only.

No generative AI is used in the production of this show. Keep the world human.

Ep. 21: Escape 2000 (Turkey Shoot)

Sat, 15 Feb 2025 17:00:00 -0500

In the first Ozploitation film we've featured on the show, Escape 2000 - aka Turkey Shoot - presents us with a dystopian future (or present?) where dissenters against a fascist government are sent to death camps with only one way out: participating in the turkey shoot. The turkey shoot, of course, is an event where a bunch of rich people bring a bunch of insane weapons into the Australian bush and hunt the prisoners for sport.

Will Olivia Hussey's character survive the ordeal? And will the real Olivia Hussey survive the truly harrowing experience of filming this in the Australian bush? On this episode Ryan and Cassie paint you a picture of how the actress slowly lost her mind while shooting this insane movie. Additionally, Cassie recounts the year she lived in Australia and applies that experience to discussions about Aussie culture clashes. Ryan, meanwhile, presents a crash course on just what precisely Ozploitation is, and how it's tied to the Australian New Wave, which was a filmmaking renaissance that took place in the mid-70's and 80's. He'll also spin a yarn about the one time the director set George Lazenby on fire.

Released in the US as Escape 2000, but now pretty much universally known as Turkey Shoot, this film fits nicely into our extended glance into the year 2000 through the visions of grindhouse filmmakers many decades prior. And hopefully you're ready to learn what a koala mating call sounds like because...yeah. This episode unravels some incredibly strange threads.

Escape 2000 / Turkey Shoot
Directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith
1982, Australia

Additional Music:

"Solara" by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio

All excerpts from the films discussed are used for educational and critical purposes only.

No generative AI is used in the production of this show. Keep the world human.

Ep. 20: Death Race 2000

Sat, 08 Feb 2025 20:00:00 -0500

In the year 2000 hit and run driving is no longer a felony. It's the national sport!

Roger Corman's incredible cult classic puts soon-to-be screen legends Sylvester Stallone and David Carradine behind the wheel of trans-American racing machines designed to do two things: go fast and kill pedestrians! Death Race 2000 is a hilarious and bloody satirical look at sports and media culture in America, that deftly trades barbs with the viewers, mocking their obsession with celebrity culture and their belief that the triumvirate of government, religion, and mass media ever has their best interest in mind.

No, Death Race 2000 instead laughs at that unholy trinity's bloodlust by turning a major sporting event controlled by those powerful entities into a literal massacre.

And the crowd goes wild for it!

In this episode we break down all of those themes, as well as discuss the controversial (ancient) arcade game that spun out of this film. Cassie raises interesting questions about the film's final scene. Ryan proposes an unconventional way to make modern sports more entertaining. They both explore the various atrocities that major sporting events sportswash across the globe. Plus, of course, with this being the first Roger Corman film we've covered on the show, they've got a crash course on cult cinema's most legendary producer for you!

Oh, and for reference, here are this year's scoring revisions:

Women: +10 points
Teenagers: +40 points
Toddlers: +70 points
Anyone over 75 years old: +100 points

Death Race 2000
Directed by Paul Bartel
1975, United States

All excerpts from the films discussed are used for educational and critical purposes only.

No generative AI is used in the production of this show. Keep the world human.

Ep. 19: Crackerjack 3

Thu, 30 Jan 2025 20:00:00 -0500

It's the thrilling conclusion to the Jack Wild trilogy! Except it's not about Jack Wild anymore! And doesn't appear to have any connection to the first two films! Or does it?...

Ryan thinks so. Cassie isn't so sure. In this third Crackerjack adventure, Jack is now an old man (played by Bo Svenson!) who runs a department in the CIA. After retiring he's roped back into the action by his analyst, Kelly (played by former WWE Diva Amy Weber) to stop some terrorists from detonating a neutron bomb at the G7 Summit. To get the job done he enlists the help of some old Cold War buddies and things get...well they get kinda torture-y.

Which opens up lots of rousing discussions about the CIA's "enhanced interrogation" program here on the podcast. It also kicks off theories about how this third entry IS in fact about the same Jack, as a further glimpse into his subconscious, which has been rattled by the trauma of his wife's death. How do the experimental films of Stan Brackhage come into play? What does this all have to do with the novel House of Leaves? Why is there so much circus music in the soundtrack? And could there be a deeper symbolism behind all the garden gnomes? We (try to) answer all these questions and more on this new, thrilling episode!

Crackerjack 3
Directed by Lloyd A. Simandl
2000, Canada

All excerpts from the films discussed are used for educational and critical purposes only.

No generative AI is used in the production of this show. Keep the world human.

Ep. 18: Musical Mutiny

Sun, 19 Jan 2025 15:00:00 -0500

Hey everybody! It's a mutiny!

And just what is a musical mutiny? Well...it's a free concert. Orchestrated by the ghost of a pirate. At Pirates World amusement park in Dania Beach, FL in 1970, featuring Iron Butterfly performing In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida. The whole song.

And this psychedelic musical journey is part of the Pirates World cinematic universe! If you recall from our last episode on Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny, we introduced you to Pirates World, a wildly ambitious amusement park in Florida that produced a bunch of low-budget films in the late 60's and early 70's. This film is directed by Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny's producer, Barry Mahon, and in this episode we're digging into his history as a flying ace in World War II, as well as taking this bizarre film and putting its commentary on hippie culture and capitalism under the microscope.

Cassie considers how the film may have been influenced by the Manson murders. Ryan provides a detailed history of pioneer log flumes and uses that to draw a critical connection between French aristocracy and this film's prescient commentary on musical conglomerates. During Thoughts From Letterboxd we consider what statement the climatic lemonade stand scene could be trying to make, and discuss solipsism and how it could be the key to true freedom.

So come travel back in time with us to groovy Dania Beach for the biggest mutiny in amusement park history! Probably. This bonkers concert film is a one-of-a-kind experience that you can find for free on YouTube! And, seriously, if you watch it, you better really like Iron Butterfly.

Musical Mutiny
Directed by Barry Mahon
1970, United States

All excerpts from the films discussed are used for educational and critical purposes only.

No generative AI is used in the production of this show. Keep the world human.

Ep. 17: Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny

Thu, 19 Dec 2024 06:00:00 -0500

It's one of the strangest films ever made, a delirious slice of incomprehensible Christmas cinema. In the beginning of the episode a new motto is proposed: "The podcast that tests the theory, there is no such thing as a bad movie." That sentiment is immediately put through the ringer as we analyze Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny.

Shot at the now defunct Pirates World amusement park in Dania, Florida, this film tells the tale of Santa Claus stuck in the sand, crash-landed on the beach with no reindeer around to help him out. Using telepathy, Santa summons some neighborhood children, as well as Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, who proceed to produce barnyard animals mysteriously on the beach to pull Santa's sleigh. When this doesn't work, Santa takes an unexpected detour: he sits them all down and tells them the story of Thumbelina, at which point an entire second feature film begins to play inside of this film. Finally, when that film concludes (yes, the entire film), the Ice Cream Bunny arrives on a firetruck and drives Santa off into the sunset.

What does it all mean? Well, it's easy to write this one off as just incoherent and "bad", but that's boring. So we're picking this one apart from every possible angle. Ryan connects the film to Alain Resnais' Last Year at Marienbad and Chantal Akerman's Hotel Monterey and identifies shared narrative and visual techniques that could help unlock the deeper meaning in Santa's plight. Is it possible that Thumbelia and, by extension, Santa's rescue by the Ice Cream Bunny stands as a metaphor for Marxism winning out over classic yellow socialism in pre-WWI France? The ISV crew thinks so, but there's more to it than that. Cassie takes a critical eye to Santa's complaint that the beach is so hot and uses that plot point to identify the moment in the film when Santa experiences ego death.

And furthermore, no discussion of Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny is complete without a historical review of Pirates World's bizarre history, including how the amusement park and this film tie into the Grateful Dead song "Truckin'".

Turns out this thing isn't bad at all. Turns out it's a surprising deconstruction of narrative cinema and - if you allow it - a vehicle for exploring your subconscious via its Lynchian dream state. It's a film unlike any other and perhaps one of the finest and richest Christmas films ever made. Let's dive in!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny
Directed by Richard Winer
1972, United States

Additional Music:
"Christmas Spirit" by Silverman Sound Studios
Creative Commons (BY 4.0) license
Music powered by BreakingCopyright

All excerpts from the films discussed are used for educational and critical purposes only.

No generative AI is used in the production of this show. Keep the world human.

Ep. 16: Dial Code Santa Claus

Sun, 15 Dec 2024 16:00:00 -0500

Did John Hughes and Christopher Columbus rip off this film when they made Home Alone? That's the million dollar question we seek to answer on this episode!

Because one year before Home Alone, France released its own home invasion Christmas film, complete with a boy genius fending off the intruder with makeshift traps and gadgets. Director René Manzor is absolutely convinced that Home Alone's filmmakers got the idea for their holiday hit after his film screened at Cannes in 1989...but we're not so sure. We're breaking down our reasoning over the course of our study of this incredibly fun and - until recently - nearly lost holiday horror flick.

Thanks to Shudder, Dial Code Santa Claus has been given new life and a new audience! It's streaming exclusively on Shudder, and if you're building a list of darker Christmas films to enjoy over the holidays, this one is a must-see. It's part of our current series of Incredibly Strange Christmas Films here on Incredibly Strange Video, and we've got a full house here to analyze it, including cinematographer Ryan Kroboth and, for the first time ever on ISV, his wife Connie Chen!

Will young Thomas defeat the sinister Père Noël? Will Papy awaken from his diabetic coma? And what does it all have to say about the loss of childhood innocence? Find out by pressing play now!

Dial Code Santa Claus
Directed by René Manzor
1989, France

Additional Music:
"Christmas Spirit" by Silverman Sound Studios
Creative Commons (BY 4.0) license
Music powered by BreakingCopyright

All excerpts from the films discussed are used for educational and critical purposes only.

No generative AI is used in the production of this show. Keep the world human.

Ep. 15: Black Christmas

Tue, 03 Dec 2024 23:00:00 -0500

O' come let us adore...the original slasher! And right now you can adore it on the big screen! Black Christmas is returning to theaters for its 50th Anniversary from December 7-22 in a wonderful new 4K restoration.

So as a primer for its return to theaters, we're here to celebrate the season by celebrating the film that started it all, the film woefully overshadowed by Halloween as the slasher progenitor. And that said, we're examining it with a very specific restriction: we won't be comparing it to Halloween at all. Because there's a thousand articles that already do that, and we feel it's a bit of disservice to Black Christmas to only look at it with respect to a completely different film. We're here to talk Black Christmas and Black Christmas only.

Because it's one of the best of the best. Maybe THE best slasher ever produced. It's genuinely scary, innovatively shot, and very feminist for a horror film produced in 1974. With a cast of unforgettable characters and chilling screenplay, Black Christmas is an essential film for any horror fan, not just because of its iconic status as an innovator, but simply because it's a masterfully crafted suspense film, period.

We also talk about the final girl trope (since this film, of course, has the first ever slasher final girl, Olivia Hussey's perfectly realized Jess) and whether or not the trope even really exists, plus we take a look at the Christmas-horror genre itself and try to figure out why there's so many of these movies! In the cheeriest time of the year, why do we still crave the grotesque?

As we mentioned in the episode, here's a list of all the places you can catch the film this month:

-Olympia Film Society in Olympia, WA
-Grand Illusion Cinema in Seattle, WA
-New Beverly Cinema and Vista Theater in Los Angeles, CA
-Brattle Theater in Boston, MA
-Rivoli Theatre in La Cross, WI
-AFS Cinema in Austin, TX
-Denver Film in Denver, CO
-Rubber Glove Studio in Denton, TX
-Cinema Moderne in Montreal, Quebec
-Hollywood Theatre in Portland, OR
-Frida Cinema in Santa Ana, CA
-Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline, MA
-Metro Cinema in Edmonton, Alberta

Black Christmas
Directed by Bob Clark
1974, Canada

Additional Music:
"Christmas Spirit" by Silverman Sound Studios
Creative Commons (BY 4.0) license
Music powered by BreakingCopyright

All excerpts from the films discussed are used for educational and critical purposes only.

No generative AI is used in the production of this show. Keep the world human.

Ep. 14: Deep Rising

Wed, 27 Nov 2024 00:00:00 -0500

Join us as Ryan presents one of his favorite movies of all time, Deep Rising! This movie holds a very special place in his heart, and he'll explain why on this first-ever 4-person episode!

We're joined by regular guest, cinematographer Ryan Kroboth, who walks us through the challenges of shooting an action film almost entirely around and underwater! And we're super excited to welcome new guest, director Brad Grimm! Brad has tons of industry experience, and lends his expertise to conversations about how difficult this movie would be to pitch and finance today, as well as how technically challenging the most infamous gross-out gore shot in this film truly was (it took ten painstaking weeks to finish just three shots!)

Deep Rising is a rare throwback to a brief period in the 90's when action/horror hybrids were getting pretty handsome budgets to play with. Deep Rising, unfortunately, bombed - it had stiff competition from another cruise-in-peril film named, uh, Titanic. But we're here to tell you this one is more than worth a revisit, as it's an incredibly fun ride from an up and coming director would soon deliver a smash hit with The Mummy.

Treat Williams and Famke Janssen battling a Kraken with Duke Nukem guns and like 1000 gallons of gore? C'mon, you know this movie is amazing...

Deep Rising
Directed by Stephen Sommers
1998, USA

All excerpts from the films discussed are used for educational and critical purposes only.

No generative AI is used in the production of this show. Keep the world human.

Ep. 13: Arabella Black Angel

Thu, 21 Nov 2024 00:00:00 -0500

"Is this giallo, or is this porn?" That's the critical question we seek to answer by the end of this new episode about a late-80's scissor-killing sleazefest!

Arabella is a nymphomaniac. Which is going just fine for her until every single guy she sleeps with starts to wind up dead, mutilated by a pair of scissors. All of this is captured in cinematography typical of the giallo genre, which is to say nearly every gorgeous shot could be framed a hung in a gallery. But in this one's case, a real kinky gallery for someone who might want to really analyze the lighting in locations like "the sex dungeon" and "The Freaky Boy's Town".

Which, of course, is precisely what we do! Ryan aims his analytical sights on the literary context of the film, likening its paradoxical plot to the Slothropian logic presented in Gravity's Rainbow, Cassie raises the question of whether or not the scissors themselves might be symbolic (they are!), and special guest, cinematographer Ryan Kroboth, takes us through the dazzling camerawork on display, in a film that thrives on dolly moves, zoom lenses, and enormous lights. And we'll even break down what giallo is for the uninitiated!

This is a film that's actually difficult to pick out more than a handful of scenes that don't contain either 1. Murder or 2. Full frontal nudity, so trust us, you're in for a wild and wacky time with this one. About 50 minutes in we make the stunning realization that, "We didn't even talk about the flaming penis yet!" So, yeah.

Stream it on Shudder or Tubi first if you want to avoid spoilers!

Arabella Black Angel
Directed by Stelvio Massi
Italy, 1989

All excerpts from the films discussed are used for educational and critical purposes only.

No generative AI is used in the production of this show. Keep the world human.

Ep. 12: The Hottie and the Nottie

Fri, 15 Nov 2024 02:00:00 -0500

Famously torpedoed as one of the worst films of all time, we're here to tell you...we kind of liked it! Consider this a redemption episode, as we submit ourselves to a film that critics have called "a film of monumental dreadfulness" as well as "excruciatingly, painfully, horribly, terribly awful" and come out the other side the better for it, with lots of soul searching to do, asking a wealth of questions about feminism, body image, mental health, maternal abuse, and farts.

Ryan's mantra throughout this show so far has been that "there are no bad movies, only bad audiences", implying that it's often necessary to adjust your expectations and open yourself up to new and unusual ideas to appreciate films that are wrongfully labeled "bad". That idea is truly put to the test with The Hottie & The Nottie, but alongside our special guests - visiting friends Evan and Rachel from San Francisco - we find a lot to love about this film. Not to mention Cassie makes a startling discovery that flips the entire narrative on its head and warrants a complete re-analysis of the film as a psychological horror.

If this film had been released under the Troma flag it would have surely found its people. Its only mistake was presenting itself as a mainstream comedy. But if you're willing to let this movie get really, really weird with you, through our exploration on this episode, hey, you just might change your tune on it, too!

The Hottie & The Nottie
Directed by Tom Putnam
2008, United States

All excerpts from the films discussed are used for educational and critical purposes only.

No generative AI is used in the production of this show. Keep the world human.

Ep. 11: Bloody Birthday

Mon, 11 Nov 2024 08:00:00 -0500

During a solar eclipse that obscures Saturn, three children are born, cursed without empathy, fated to be murderous psychopaths when their tenth birthdays arrive! This very early slasher swaps out monstrous masked killers with the villains you'd least suspect - three cute little kids with a craving for carnage.

Listen, this movie is absolutely insane and we're taking it on from all angles, from the emotional aspect of having to root against children (and just how effectively CREEPY those kids are), to placing it in a literary context by comparing its imagery to The Illiad and Dante's Divine Comedy. We also focus in on the core color-coded imagery signifying characters trapped by their fates, while chatting about our own personal views on fate (and also ghosts and aliens).

We also introduce a new segment called The Horror Is the Decor, in which we focus in on the hideous design choices of the 70's and 80's homes featured in so many of these classic films.

Finally, in the most rousing Thoughts From Letterboxd segment yet, we go deep down the rabbit hole to unravel the mystery of a rock song that plays during a strip tease sequence in this film. The big question: Just what is that song and who recorded it?

It's a good one! So let's go!

Bloody Birthday
Directed by Ed Hunt
1981, United States

All excerpts from the films discussed are used for educational and critical purposes only.

No generative AI is used in the production of this show. Keep the world human.

Ep. 10: The Chill Factor

Thu, 07 Nov 2024 08:00:00 -0500

You've likely seen slashers in many different settings, but have you ever seen one in the snowy wilderness of northern Wisconsin? Featuring multiple snowmobile action sequences? Well, if not, then boy are you in for a treat! Because The Chill Factor is an incredibly unique piece of regional horror that's a ton of fun to watch and dissect!

We'll fill you in on what regional horror even is (as it's...a whole thing) and then jump into a contentious analysis of the film's final minutes, which ends up necessitating a live rewatch and shot-by-shot breakdown to decipher what it all might mean. (Hint: it's probably all about incest and it's probably super gross.)

Plus, did we mention snowmobile action sequences?

The Chill Factor
Directed by Christopher Webster
1993, USA

All excerpts from the films discussed are used for educational and critical purposes only.

No generative AI is used in the production of this show. Keep the world human.

Ep. 9: Guinea Pig: Mermaid In a Manhole

Sat, 02 Nov 2024 08:00:00 -0400

On this episode we're trying our best to stomach a film that frequently appears on lists of the most disgusting films ever made! What happens in this movie that made Cassie leave the room at one point? Start streaming our discussion to find out!

Once again we're back at it with cinematographer Ryan Kroboth to analyze the visuals of this film - beyond just the incredibly, ridiculously graphic body mutilation and gore. Because Mermaid In a Manhole is a film with a surprising amount of important things to say about humanity and suffering and tackles those issues in a way that we can guarantee you've never seen them filmed before. It's a singularly unique cinematic vision with a lot to chew on...if you can push through it. No easy task!

This film is part of the notorious Guinea Pig video series from the 1980's, which Charlie Sheen infamously reported to the FBI, thinking they were real. There's probably no chance anyone would think this particular entry is real, but the emotions it speaks to are very real, and we invite you to reconsider this one beyond just its surface gorefest reputation and take it in as a thoughtful meditation on human nature.

Mermaid In a Manhole
Directed by Hideshi Hino
1988, Japan

All excerpts from the films discussed are used for educational and critical purposes only.

No generative AI is used in the production of this show. Keep the world human.

Ep. 8: Girls Nite Out

Tue, 29 Oct 2024 08:00:00 -0400

It's Halloween week so there's no better time to enjoy a "slashic" - and in our opinion, the more obscure the better! And this one certainly is! Criminally underseen when it was first released and only recently resurrected by Arrow Video, this forgotten gem features a surprisingly loveable cast of characters and one of the creepiest killers in slasher history!

We're picking this one apart from every angle. We propose a theory using Jungian psychology to better understand the symbolic meaning of the killer bear mascot, discuss how the radio DJ provides a clever (and banging) soundtrack of diagetic music that ties all the film's many spaces together, and of course fawn over the absolutely genius reveal at the end. (Don't worry, no spoilers!)

Before Freddy Fazbear, before Cocaine Bear, before the bear that ate Leo in The Revenant, there was BENSON, the killer bear with deadly claws that pre-date Freddie Kreuger's! Ryan likens this one to Dazed and Confused...but with a murder bear. So if that presses the right buttons for you, give this one a watch and dive in with us!

Girls Nite Out
Directed by Robert Deubel
1982, USA

All excerpts from the films discussed are used for educational and critical purposes only.

No generative AI is used in the production of this show. Keep the world human.

Ep. 7: Viy

Fri, 25 Oct 2024 09:00:00 -0400

Get ready for spooky season with this ancient Soviet haunted feature! The first horror film ever produced by the USSR is a folktale about a Ukrainian religious student who has his faith tested over the course of three crazy nights locked in a church with a vengeful witch! Featuring absolutely incredible practical special effects and a manic energy reminiscent of cult-fan-favorite House, Viy is a woefully overlooked symphony of horrors and visual splendor.

We welcome our friend, cinematographer Ryan Kroboth, back onto the podcast for this one to discuss this film's spectacular visuals, and pick apart its dense thematic layers.

Viy
Directed by Georgi Kropachyov & Konstantin Ershov
1967, USSR

All excerpts from the films discussed are used for educational and critical purposes only.

No generative AI is used in the production of this show. Keep the world human.

Ep. 6: Microwave Massacre

Mon, 21 Oct 2024 09:00:00 -0400

Often maligned as "the worst horror film ever made", we think that nothing could be further from the truth! We dig into how this ultra-low-budget horror comedy has a lot to say about dangerously unchecked masculine ideals, and has cinematography that effectively makes the viewer uncomfortable. By investigating the history of microwaves as a cultural artifact, we're able to view Microwave Massacre as a film with critical messages about understanding yourself and your own mental health.

We also celebrate a completely unhinged performance by lead actor Jackie Vernon, and challenge you the audience to figure out where you've heard his voice before. Because you have heard his voice before, and when you realize where it's from, it could potentially ruin a cherished piece of your childhood. Well, not potentially, it will ruin a cherished piece of your childhood.

So if you've always viewed this film as a b-movie stinker with no redeeming value, we're here to change your mind! We absolutely loved this movie and invite you all to dig into its surprisingly deep themes with us!

Microwave Massacre
Directed by Wayne Berwick
1979, United States

All excerpts from the films discussed are used for educational and critical purposes only.

No generative AI is used in the production of this show. Keep the world human.

Ep. 5: Crackerjack 2

Thu, 17 Oct 2024 09:00:00 -0400

We return to the Crackerverse for the mystifying sequel that changes up all of the actors and all of the lore from the first film. Why? Ryan posits that it's all the work of an uncredited editor who sought to create films that are expressions of Jack Wild's tortured subconscious. Meanwhile, Cassie finds joy in Kateřina Brožová's crazy terrorist outfit and the fact that Jack uses a floppy disk camera during his investigations. Together they parse out the details of potentially creating an imaginary bank on a satellite to launder money. And in the Thoughts From Letterboxd segment, we gush over a review that claims Judge Reinhold creates a "Jack for all" as he fills the shoes of Thomas Ian Griffith.

How does it all stack up against the original? Take a listen and find out!

Crackerjack 2
Directed by Robert Lee
1997, Canada

All excerpts from the films discussed are used for educational and critical purposes only.

No generative AI is used in the production of this show. Keep the world human.

Ep. 4: Crackerjack

Fri, 11 Oct 2024 11:00:00 -0400

Christopher Plummer as Hans Gruber has taken over a ski resort with his German mercenaries. The only hope for those held captive: the bad guy from Karate Kid III. This is Crackerjack, the incredibly entertaining direct-to-video Canadian action film that we're discussing on this episode!

Sure, it's a pretty blatant Die Hard rip off, but there's so much to love about this crazy little movie, from the completely unhinged performance of Thomas Ian Griffith in the titular lead role, to the legitimately great miniature work in the large scale action scenes, to the most hilarious "flashback to a wife exploding in a car" scene ever committed to film.

We love this movie and we're excited to share it with you!

Crackerjack
Directed by Michael Mazo
1994, Canada

All excerpts from the films discussed are used for educational and critical purposes only.

No generative AI is used in the production of this show. Keep the world human.

Ep. 3: Ninja Academy

Mon, 07 Oct 2024 10:00:00 -0400

On this episode we jump into the oddball comedy, Ninja Academy, part of the new-ish Nico Mastorakis collection on Arrow Player! Imagine Police Academy, but instead of police, it's ninja's. That's the long and short of the plot here, plus you've got super powered mimes, a member of Her Majesty's Secret Service, nude volleyball, and oh so much more!

In addition to celebrating the hilarity of this film, we also look at it through the lens of Buddhism to better understand its spiritual threads, we invoke the great American melting pot to study Ninja Academy as a poignant immigrant story, and furthermore we dissect the nude volleyball scene, which serves as a critical metaphor in the protagonist's transformation. Ninja Academy is a truly rich text so buckle up and get ready for a deep dive!

NOTE: Ignore the bits when we mistakenly say this was released in 1984. It was very obviously 1989 and we profusely apologize for this lapse in accuracy.

Ninja Academy
Directed by Nico Mastorakis
1989, United States

All excerpts from the films discussed are used for educational and critical purposes only.

No generative AI is used in the production of this show. Keep the world human.

Ep. 2: Flaming Ears

Thu, 03 Oct 2024 11:00:00 -0400

On our second episode we're shifting gears and trying to decipher the puzzling underground sci-fi film, Flaming Ears! This Austrian, lesbian arthouse mindbender is chock full of aliens eating armadillos, religious terrorists, vampires, cacti, and of course a whole lot of pee. Not to mention some wild stop motion animation and tons of elaborate miniature sequences. What does it all mean? Well...we're not really sure but we're gonna try our darndest to figure it all out anyway!

And to watch the film, look no further than Criterion Channel, where you can stream it with a subscription. And believe us, life is better with a Criterion Channel subscription.

Flaming Ears
Directed by Ursula Pürrer, A. Hans Scheirl, and Dietmar Schipek
1992, Austria

All excerpts from the films discussed are used for educational and critical purposes only.

No generative AI is used in the production of this show. Keep the world human.

Ep. 1: Brain Damage

Sun, 29 Sep 2024 17:00:00 -0400

In our very first episode, we are joined by cinematographer Ryan Kroboth to break down this woefully underrated 80's splatter flick! We take a deep dive into how the film serves as a metaphor for addiction and how the filmmakers' use of color and camera tricks take the film to the next level, making critical observations and statements about society's relationship with the darker side of humanity. We also explore the film's crazy production - from shooting some of its most iconic scenes guerrilla style without permission, to the reason why one of the main characters didn't want to appear in the credits.

Welcome aboard! We're glad you've joined us on this, well, incredibly strange podcast!

Brain Damage
Directed by Frank Henenlotter
1988, United States

All excerpts from the films discussed are used for educational and critical purposes only.

No generative AI is used in the production of this show. Keep the world human.