The last Weird Movie of the Week was actually a book (a surprisingly common feature in this series), but today we have a bona fide weird movie, courtesy of Brian Collins (aka the guy who did Horror Movie a Day for, like, 5 years), who recounts weird movies he’s watched on his birthday, including this gem:
2007: CALVAIRE (aka THE ORDEAL) (2004)
The one that started it all! Obviously I wasn’t “burnt out” yet, as this was only a few weeks into HMAD’s lifespan. It just so happened that I had the place to myself for a few hours and knew it was the kind of movie my wife would get upset by (i.e. it featured rape and/or torture), so I wanted to get it out of the way when I had the chance. And what a delight it was! Sure, the rapey stuff (male on male, for the record) is hardly fun, but any movie that features an entire bar’s worth of rednecks suddenly dancing around to a little polka ditty is definitely worth your time. A film that works best without any inkling as to what it’s about, though I will say it starts off like (too many) horror films – a car breaking down in a remote area. In the immortal words of Buzzfeed, what happened next will blow your mind.
So yes, it’s got some rapey stuff (that’s bad), but also redneck polka ditties (that’s fun!), so I guess I’m in. I have to admit that my record in terms of actually watching Weird Movies of the Week is actually rather appalling (though I have seen several), but given Collins’ note that the less you know about this movie going in, the better, I think this one might be a nice surprise.