Something Weird Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.0

Something Weird Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 24, 2016

Note: This film is available as part of The Herschell Gordon Lewis Feast.

Mention the initials “H.G.” to most people, and my hunch is virtually everyone will default to thinking about H.G. Wells, the legendary author whose science fiction masterpieces resulted in such memorable films as The Time Machine, The Invisible Man, The Island of Dr. Moreau and War of the Worlds. Certain fans who have a slightly different definition of what constitutes a memorable film might have a variant reaction to those same initials, however, positing one Herschell Gordon Lewis instead of Mr. Wells. Lewis has long been known by the sobriquet “Godfather of Gore,” and his early exploitation pictures were, for their day, amazingly overt in their depiction of what ultimately came to be called “splatter”. Lewis, who only just fairly recently died at the age of 90, had an interesting if not especially distinguished career, though it’s notable that Lewis maintained a more than abundant sense of humor about his films and his contributions to the supposed art of cinema. Lewis’ filmography (it’s a bit of a stretch to actually call it an oeuvre) hasn’t been especially well served in the Blu-ray era, though there have been at least a few releases of his work, including The Blood Trilogy, The Wizard of Gore / The Gore Gore Girls and The Lost Films of Herschell Gordon Lewis. Now, in what amounts to an elegy of sorts for Lewis, Arrow Video has assembled what will certainly go down in the annals of the Blu-ray era as one of the most lavish deluxe sets produced, at least within the confines of what can only be accurately described as “cult cinema”. Along with a collection of fourteen films (nine making their Blu-ray debut), Arrow also includes a glut of bonus content (some with Lewis’ involvement), as well as impressive packaging and non disc supplements.

It’s perhaps notable that one of the supplements on the disc containing Something Weird and Color Me Blood Red more or less “warns” even diehard Lewis fans that if they haven’t seen Something Weird, they’d best prepare for it in any way possible (I’m not quite sure what the subtext is, but it might be a hint that alcohol or illicit drugs might come in handy for the viewing experience). It’s also notable that this now infamous film provided the name for a label that prided itself in releasing not just Lewis’ films but a whole slew of cult items that would struggle at times to even make the ranks of so-called B movies. Something Weird is indeed one of the more gonzo outings in a filmography that is filled to the brim with various insanities.

Cronin Mitchell (Tony McCabe) attempts to rescue a guy who has been electrocuted on the roof of a building, but Cronin himself ends up getting badly burned, something that ends up hideously disfiguring the side of his face. The current passing through his body also evidently upped his psychic abilities, and he now has ESP along with horrifyingly scarred cheekbones. Already the prescient reader may be thinking, “Well, that’s a little strange,” but as a wise man once said, “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”

Cronin’s attempts to mash a nurse evidently get him kicked out of the hospital, despite the fact that he’s become an object of study for several psychic investigators. Things get even more bizarre when Cronin then finds work as a psychic, which is when a book of witchcraft magically appears on Cronin’s arm at exactly the same moment an actual witch (Mudite Arums) walks in to his parlor and makes him a Faustian bargain: she’ll fix his face if he’ll become her lover. The catch here is that Cronin’s psychic abilities allow him to see the witch in her “true” form, which frankly resembles a husky male cross dressing, while the uninitiated see her as a gorgeous young woman named Ellen (Elizabeth Lee). That might seem to be an odd plot element, but surprise of surprises, it actually plays into events once Cronin and Ellen set off to catch a serial killer in Jefferson, Wisconsin (the film’s patently bizarre particularity is one of its weirdly charming elements).

Without “spoiling” too much of what plays out, Alex (William Brooker), a karate expert who is also an investigator (I swear I’m not making any of this up), is sent to keep tabs on the pair in case Cronin turns out to be the real thing and therefore of use to the government, but Ellen’s blandishments start working their charms on Alex. Just to add a little more psychedelic atmosphere, actual honest to goodness LSD enters the plot contrivances and provides a red tinged hallucinatory sequence that some may feel makes more sense than the rest of the film combined.

Something Weird Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arrow has included some general verbiage about the transfers in this set:

All film materials sourced for restoration were scanned in 2K resolution on a pin registered 4K Lasergraphics Director Scanner at Deluxe Media, Burbank. Film grading and restoration was completed at Deluxe Restoration, London. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris and light scratches were removed through a combination of digital restoration tools. Overall image stability and density fluctuation was also improved when possible.

The original mono soundtracks were transferred from 35mm prints by Deluxe Audio Services, Los Angeles, and were conformed and restored at Deluxe Restoration, London.

Additional audio conform for How to Make a Doll and Just for the Hell of It by David Mackenzie.

Although the best existing elements were sourced for this project and every attempt was made to present the films in this collection in the highest quality possible, some of the films still exhibit varying degrees of damage that could not be digitally repaired to our satisfaction. The condition of the existing materials for Moonshine Mountain, The Gruesome Twosome, How to Make a Doll and This Stuff'll Kill Ya all contained extreme levels of dirt, scratches and debris as well as many instances of torn or missing frames. They all exhibited heavy degrees of colour fading as well. Likewise, the print sections sourced to complete A Taste of Blood were both faded and heavily scratched. Throughout the restoration workflow process, our priority was to retain the original photochemical look of the films rather than create unwanted digital artefacts by heavy handed picture cleanup. Therefore, many of the films in this collection exhibit "warts and all" appearance, in keeping with their distribution history and physical condition.

Restoration supervised by James White, Arrow Films.

Additionally, this film comes with the following disclaimer:

Something Weird has been exclusively restored for this release by Arrow Films. The film was restored in 2K resolution from a 35mm print, as the original negative has been lost. Because of the extensive damage to the materials, there remain numerous instances of scratches and dirt throughout this presentation. There is occasional loose audio synch but this is as per the original source materials.

Something Weird is presented on Blu-ray with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.33:1. This is another at least occasionally problematic looking transfer, one that is marred by sometimes long vertical scratches, often at the edges of the frame. Several times the image is almost overrun by a series of horizontal scratches (the first such moment is when Cronin is freaking out on his hospital bed). Colors have noticeably faded and the overall palette is pretty brown looking, though the red scenes are still surprisingly vivid looking and boast decent detail levels. As with several other of the color films in this set, grain can be on the coarse side. My score is 2.75.

Something Weird Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

As with the video element, Something Weird's LPCM mono track has noticeable issues, including damage during the opening and prevalent hiss. The bar scene has an odd high frequency hum, and there are also recurrent scuffs heard throughout certain sequences. Still, the hallucinatory music sounds decent if occasionally too bright, and dialogue is generally well rendered. My score is 2.75.

Something Weird Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Arrow has packaged this set a little unusually, with two films per disc and one set of supplements for both movies available from a main menu. While some of the supplements are obviously geared toward one individual film, others are a bit more general in nature, and so I'm listing the complete supplemental package for each particular disc rather than for each individual film. The supplements for Color Me Blood Red and Something Weird are:

• The Art of Madness (1080p; 5:35) is a visual essay about mad artists in film.


• Weirdsville (1080p; 10:31) features Jeffrey Sconce discussing Something Weird.


• H.G. Lewis on Jimmy, the Boy Wonder (1080p; 2:10) features Lewis discussing his 1966 children's musical. Yes, Lewis made a children's musical.


• A Hot Night at the Go Go Lounge (1080p; 10:07) is a 1966 short thought to have been directed by Lewis.


• Color Me Blood Red Outtakes (1080p; 9:36) are silent but are underscored here with music and dialogue snippets.


• Promo Gallery

  Color Me Blood Red Trailer (1080p; 1:26)

  Something Weird Trailer (1080p; 1:26)

  Jimmy, the Boy Wonder Trailer (1080p; 1:39)

Audio Commentaries

Color Me Blood Red Commentary features Herschell Gordon Lewis and David Friedman.

Something Weird Commentary features Herschell Gordon Lewis and David Friedman.

• Herschell Gordon Lewis Introduction to Color Me Blood Red (1080p; 1:17) is available under the play menu for that film.


• Herschell Gordon Lewis Introduction to Something Weird (1080p; 00:58) is available under the play menu for that film.

Something Weird Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Something Weird deserves a truth in advertising award for its title, though some might claim its a moniker of almost willful understatement. This is one of the most peculiar film's in Lewis' output, and really has to be seen to be believed (and maybe not even then). Technical merits have their issues, but the supplementary material is very enjoyable.