Oddur B.T.Film Archive ⌕

Cult cinema, physical media, and strange films

Oddur B.T.
Film Archive

Notes from the darker side of the video shelf.

„Cult“ is where my comfort zone lies

I mostly enjoy writing about films that fit into the category „Cult“ in one way or another. It‘s, frankly, where my comfort zone lies. It would be easy to just focus on horror films, but the category also includes so many films that are truly un-classifiable.

Clear

Bubba Ho-Tep (2002)

Comedy, Horror, Mystery, Drama

At the Shady Rest nursing home in East Texas resides Elvis Presley, withering away as the days merge together. Still reeling from a broken hip from years before and with some grotesque puss on his genitals he fears may be cancer; the former King of rock and roll looks set to fade into the sunset with no fanfare. Known to the staff as Sebastian Haff, an Elvis impersonator, the King is a shell of a man who spends his days in bed reminiscing about the old days and how he messed things up and treate

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Buffy – “The Zeppo” and “A New Man”

Comedy, Mystery, Drama

I’m a huge fan of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (1997-2003). Although the show is highly regarded for a variety of reasons it is, and will be, pigeonholed in the teen supernatural/drama category with the likes of “Charmed” (1998-2006) and Kristen Stwewart’s “Twilight” film series (2008-2012) and be easily dismissed by many “serious” watchers. That’s a shame and in my twenties I was fairly obsessed with convincing others of the show’s genuine quality in just about every department and felt bummed th

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Deer Woman (2005)

Comedy, Mystery, Drama

Det. Dwight Faraday, who’s been relegated exclusively to animal attacks, gets the call and just can’t figure out how this happened. Upon examining the body he and spunky coroner Dana discover that the victim died in a state of arousal and the remains display a number of hoofprints.

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Radioland Murders (1994)

Comedy, Mystery, Drama

It’s the year 1939. A radio station, WBN, is going national and the roster is packed with entertainment. Station owner General Walt Whalen has a huge number of potential investors so nothing can go wrong…

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Death Becomes Her (1992)

Comedy, Horror, Drama, Fantasy

Fading stage and film star Madeline Ashton is struggling to draw a crowd in her latest musical. Old friend Helen, along with her fiancée Ernest, pays her a visit and introduces Madeline to her plastic surgeon soon-to-be. Madeline is smitten by Herman and swiftly steals him away from Helen. The scorn woman becomes an obese recluse and swears bloody vengeance on Madeline.

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Warning Sign (1985)

Sci-Fi, Horror, Thriller, Drama

A government run research facility called BioTek Agronomics deals, on the surface, with genetically engineered corn that will improve farming considerably. But what the government is really doing is sponsoring a germ-warfare program which be can activated should the Soviets launch an attack on the USA. At the end of a normal working day the biohazard alerts appear on the monitor and security guard Joanie follows protocol and effectively puts BioTek on lockdown.

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Alone in the Dark (1982)

Horror, Thriller, Drama, Slasher

Dr. Leo Bain runs a mental institute called The Haven. He believes in unorthodox treatments and refers to his patients as voyagers and maintains that they be treated as human beings. Most of the patients are considered relatively harmless apart from four individuals who are incarcerated on the third floor of the establishment and it’s the only floor with maximum security.

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Four Amicus portmanteau films

Horror, Drama, Fantasy

From way back I remember seeing the phrase; “A portmanteau film”. It was associated with a film made by Amicus Productions that I had on DVD. It was a double feature release that had “Tales From the Crypt” (1972) and “Vault of Horror” (1973). For years that word, portmanteau, stuck with me without me knowing at all what it meant. Turns out it’s just a fancy alternative for Anthology film. Amicus made seven portmanteau films in all and were active in the filmmaking business in the years 1962 to 1

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I, Madman (1989)

Horror, Drama, Fantasy

I remember when “I, Madman” was issued on Blu-ray in 2015 I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. It’s stylishly set up as the film’s villain is introduced in the fictional world of author Malcolm Brand’s pulpy horror novel that’s gotten hold of Virginia’s imagination. As the film progresses the villain, in a variety of icky incarnations, appears in both the real world Virigina inhabits and in the fictional world she’s smitten with.

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Two 90’s Hitchcockian thrillers; “Shattered” and “Final Analysis”

Mystery, Drama, Crime

There’s a word you can look up on Wikipedia; Hitchcockian. Meaning; “Hitchcockian films are those made by various filmmakers, with the styles and themes similar to those of Alfred Hitchcock”. The master of suspense’s influence cannot be underestimated, and I doubt many filmmakers had as great an effect on the film industry (this is of course debatable). His filmography is huge and filled with classics in the suspense genre. Not a calendar year goes by without me visiting at least a few of the ma

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