Different Year, Different Weirdness

The weirdness is back, bay-bee, and since my last go-round I’ve been dubbed the Queen of the Bad Movie by Michael of the wonderful Maniacs and Monsters blog, a title I wear proudly because Michael and his co-writer, Andrew are well-acquainted with weirdness themselves. So yeah, thank you, Michael. 🙂

Now, with the title comes certain responsibilities, of course, and also an interesting dilemma: Bad movies are often riddled with weirdness by design, not to mention plenty of other things, so how does one pick the weirdest from the worst?

It was a hard choice, but choices were made, as were deep cuts. I hope Ronyell brings this blogathon back again so those other movies can get their shout-out. Today, though, these are the films that made the list, and there are full reviews for all but one of them:

Birdemic: Shock and Terror (2010)

This one is probably a no-brainer for a lot of you who have read the blog for a while, but it’s honestly one of my favorite bad movies because it’s so ludicrously weird and hilarious. Among other belly laughs, there’s a scene when the two main characters, Rod and Natalie, who are on a date, by the way, awkwardly dance in an empty beer hall to a song about hanging out with the family. So romantic, and that’s before the angry birds show up. Read my review here.

Killer Piñata (2015)

After watching too many of his friends get hammered with baseball bats, a piñata decides to take the ultimate revenge. That’s pretty much the whole plot. While the idea for Killer Piñata is certainly unique, the film is undeniably trashy and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. Seriously, avoid this thing. The only things that made it a wee bit bearable are when the actors try to stifle laughter as the creature charges them and then the fake A-Team montage. Oh, and there’s a Breakfast At Tiffany’s poster that’s seen so often in the movie that the filmmakers should have been paying Audrey Hepburn’s estate royalties. Read more here.

Santa Jaws (2018)

Uh huh, this exists. If the idea of a shark wearing a Santa hat on its dorsal fin isn’t weird enough for you (and it is certainly hilarious), you should see the rest of it. Santa Jaws is not unlike Harold and the Purple Crayon only much, much crazier and bloodier, although it’s still pretty silly. Any movie that involves shooting cooked turkeys stuffed with gunpowder at a killer shark can’t help but be silly. FInd my review here.

Vibes (1988)

We’ve got Cyndi Lauper, Jeff Goldblum and Peter Faulk, we’ve got psychics, we’ve got hoodlums, and we’ve got a mysterious power vortex on a mountain in South America that either controls anyone who touches it or gives them superhuman powers and a Dr. Claw voice. Yep, that’s definitely weird. Unfortunately it’s also pretty forgettable. And no, Cyndi doesn’t get to sing. Read my review here.

Queen of Outer Space (1958)

The only movie out of this bunch I haven’t reviewed yet, Queen of Outer Space is the weirdly schlocky story of three astronauts and a highly respected scientist who are on their way out to Earth’s top space station when they get waylaid and somehow end up on the planet Venus, where they find, surprise, surprise, a whole lot of gorgeous women in very short skirts. Zsa Zsa Gabor is an especial highlight, and she looks fabulous, dahling. Look for a full review in the next couple of months.

Elvis From Outer Space (2020)

“I hate supercilious aliens from Alpha Centauri!” So speaks the President of the United States of the saucer-eyed beings who nursed a dying Elvis Presley back to life in 1977. He doesn’t look like Elvis anymore, but he’s still got Elvis’s performance chops and he’s spent the last few decades entertaining those kindly aliens. Well, Elvis has been feeling blue and looking sad-eyed, so the aliens send him back to Earth one last time, where he enters an Elvis lookalike contest and women fall in a dead faint at the sight of him. Oh, there’s more. Much more. Read my review if you dare.

Manos: The Hands of Fate (1966)

We begin and end with another no-brainer, and this no-budget wonder is a melee of hands, slaps, a satyr-ish guy named Torgo who was literally high on LSD all through filming, and a creepy cult leader wearing a cape with hands on it. Oh, and let’s not forget eight-year olds who sound forty and a couple who do nothing but make out and look at the camera. It sounds like I’m ruining the movie but it’s so much weirder than I can say. Read my review here.

---

Weirdness may be cringe-y but as we all know it also makes life fun, and that’s a good problem to have. Find more at Ronyell’s Surreal Movies and TV Blog. Thanks for bringing this blogathon back, Ronyell–it was fun. Thanks for reading, everyone, and I hope see you TOMORROW for the Seen on the Screen Blogathon…

---

Birdemic (Blu-ray and DVD), Santa Jaws (DVD and streaming), Killer Piñata (Blu-ray and DVD), Vibes (Blu-ray, DVD and streaming), Queen of Outer Space (Blu-ray and DVD), Elvis From Outer Space (DVD), and Manos: The Hands of Fate (Blu-ray, DVD and streaming) are available to own from Amazon.

~Purchases made via Amazon Affiliate links found on this site help support Taking Up Room at no extra cost to you.~

If you’re enjoying what you see on Taking Up Room, please look for additional content on Substack, where you’ll find both free and subscriber-only articles. I publish every Wednesday and Saturday.