Weird Movie of the Week

Weird Movie of the Week

Last time on Weird Movie of the Week, we looked at a horror movie featuring bunny suit wearing chainsaw murderer. This time, let’s examine a movie about elephants. And Nazis.

According to IMDB’s surprisingly informative user review, Elephant Fury has a rather interesting history:

Sensation director and actor Harry Piel made the film “Panik” in the period 1940-1943 that was banned by the Promi: the animals running loose from a zoo after a bombardment reminded in 1943 too much of the real bombardments and in Berlin indeed one day the animals from the zoo were running through the streets. The only copy of the film was later destroyed by a bombardment also, while after the war the negative was confiscated by the Russians. In 1951/2 Piel was able to reclaim the negative, shot some additional material and edited a new version under a new title.

By all accounts, it’s not particularly good, but the entire thing is available on YouTube (embedded above) and the short description is tantalizing: “Wild Animals Escape Zoo to attack Nazis”. Note that the animals do not escape the zoo and attack Nazis. They escape to attack Nazis. Motivation is important, even to animal actors.

Weird Movie of the Week

Last time on Weird Movie of the Week, we looked at a Hitchcockian tale of mustache disappearance. This time, we’ve got a bloody, gory and supremely weird movie trailer:

Wow, I’m not quite sure what to make of that. Of course, creepy bunny suits have a surprisingly deep cinematic history, but this one goes a few steps further than normal. Devin Faraci has the lowdown on the film:

It looks kind of hackneyed and silly but also nicely shot – at least much more nicely shot than a movie featuring a bunny suit wearing chainsaw murderer should be. I did some research and at first got excited that this film was about a truly bizarre urban legend from Fairfax County, Virginia that has also spread to Washington, DC. The legend is about a maniac in a bunny suit who attacks people with an axe at a railway overpass. Supposedly it’s based on fact.

Wow. Considering that the film was made in 2009 and was apparently never released, I’m betting we won’t even be able to watch this if we wanted. But according to the film’s offical Myspace page (Myspace? Yikes.) there’s a sequel in the works:

The little germ of a idea has sprouted into a full on 20 page treatment…. a full script is not that far behind. There seems to be a wealth of ideas as to how to continue the story with the characters of Bunnyman. What’s really positive about this, is after watching the film, everyone wants to see more. The character has sparked interest, and people want to know what happens next.

Wow.

Weird Movie Synopsis of the Week

There are weird movies, and they will often have a funny plot synopsis on IMDB or Netflix, because weird stories become even weirder when condensed. Then there’s La moustache. The synopsis from Netflix:

Marc (Vincent Lindon) has worn a mustache all his adult life. One day on a whim, he decides to shave it off. Certain his wife will comment on the drastic change in his appearance, Marc is baffled when neither she nor friends notice at all. Even more disturbing is that once he calls attention to it, everyone insists he’s never had a mustache.

It is, of course, a French film.

Greek philosopher Epictetus is often attributed with saying something to the effect of: “It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.” And so I ask you, gentle reader: when you read that plot synopsis, how did you react? I, of course, added the movie to my Netflix Watch Instantly queue at position #1. (hat tip to Boobs Radley, who is awesome. See also: this.)