A Deep Dive into Weirdo Cinema [19] Quiz

Answer: Norway

Created as a mockumentary, "Trollhunter" followed a group of Norwegian students as they headed out into the wilds for a school project, chronicling the growing news stories pertaining to an illegal bear poacher. What they found, however, was a much more dire and ancient Norwegian foe to face, specifically in the form of the trolls of legend.

One of the earliest movies by director André Øvredal, "Trollhunter" was quite the well-received found-footage film, especially coming from Europe at the height of the subgenre's en vogue period in horror. It would allow Øvredal to pursue a number of different projects, signing him on to Guillermo del Toro's "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" in 2019 and the original work "The Autopsy of Jane Doe" (2016), and 2023's Dracula-adjacent adaptation of "The Last Voyage of the Demeter". "Trollhunter" is worth watching if not for its steady-handed approach to a shaky genre, then for the atmosphere it cultivates.

Answer: Shaquille O'Neal

For some reason, in the mid-1990s, Shaq took on a handful of big-ticket roles-- some comedic, some action-- and it may come as unsurprising that none of them were particularly well-received. "Kazaam" may have been the most famous of these, putting the basketball star into the role of a genie who could grant three wishes to a young boy in need of help. Although, at least on the surface, the problems of a young, teenage boy may seem paltry in the grand scheme, the film had, at least by the end, the boy's resurrection from death and the righting of his father's wrongs as a criminal (amongst other things).

But is this movie worth putting on? Kind of-- it has a camp mid-'90s appeal, especially when Kazaam becomes a rap star for seemingly no reason. And if you ever wanted to see a genie crumple a man into a ball and use his body like a basketball to dunk, then this movie really is the top (or only) choice for that.

Distributed by Disney, "Kazaam" failed to recoup its $20,000,000 USD in the box office. It would be "Running Man" director Paul Michael Glaser's final directed film.

Answer: The Minis

Described as "an inspiring, comical tale with no shortcomings", "The Minis" was just as questionable out of the box as you would expect, putting a cast of little people into a basketball film and having them persuade Dennis Rodman himself to come into the fold to help them compete.

You may also ask "hey, wouldn't an inspirational film about overcoming adversity be undermined by Rodman having to step in?" I would have no suitable argument to bring to the table for that question.

Things fell apart quickly by the third act as members of the team started to doubt their capabilities on the court, but when one of their son's college tuitions was on the line, you know there could be no choice but to rise to the occasion.

"The Minis" released in 2007 alongside, of all things, a fully-conceived video game and, in director/writer Valerio Zanoli's native Italy, the film was dubbed by Italian football stars. I couldn't tell you why.

Answer: Mandy

Cosmatos followed up his weird, moody, atmospheric sci-fi trip, "Beyond the Black Rainbow", with "Mandy" in 2018, creating a uniquely and darkly psychedelic trip into a hallucinatory hell-world for his protagonist, Red Miller (played by Nicolas Cage), who set out to avenge his girlfriend, Mandy's death at the hands of a local cult. What followed was a graphic and drug-induced rage trip in their quarry hideout culminating in what appeared to be a complete detachment from the real world.

Premiering at Sundance, "Mandy" was highly praised by critics and celebrated at genre awards ceremonies in 2018 despite failing to make much of a dent in the box office. While it didn't change much of the audience's impressions of Cage as an eclectic actor, it did help push Panos Cosmatos further into the sphere of known filmmakers; he would be picked up by Guillermo del Toro to direct an episode of "Cabinet of Curiosities" in the years to follow. "Mandy", meanwhile, would become a cult classic from the jump.

Answer: Nosferatu

John Malkovich and Willem Dafoe starred as fictional versions of F. W. Murnau and Max Schreck in this unique, dramatic take on the filming of the classic horror film, "Nosferatu" (1922). While the original movie, considered a classic of silent black-and-white cinema and one of the earliest horror classics, was an oddity to be sure, this E. Elias Merhige feature film, released nearly eighty years later, hypothesized that the events being film may have been real, and what was behind the camera could have been one of two things: the development of an obsession or the true filming of a vampire at large.

While Dafoe was nominated for an Oscar for his role as Max Schreck/Count Orlok, "Shadow of the Vampire" seemed to fall into obscurity after its release, becoming a bit more of a hidden gem at a time when vampire movies weren't particularly popular. Interestingly, the movie was produced and funded by Nicolas Cage.

Answer: Rememory

In the midst of all things "Game of Thrones", Peter Dinklage was making the rounds in the cinema world as well, occasionally finding leading roles in movies like this one, "Rememory", which saw limited release in 2017. Framed around a mystery involving a deadly car crash, the film followed Dinklage's character as he tried to untangle what really happened on the night his brother died with the use of a machine that allowed him to record memories and play them back. Unfortunately, as he discovered, this had the side effect of creating dangerous hallucinations.

Although quite interesting visually, "Rememory" failed to attract much viewership and fell between the cracks as a sci-fi mystery. Dinklage starred alongside Julia Ormond, Anton Yelchin, and "LOST's" Henry Ian Cusick.

Answer: Troll 2

In a world of bad movies, "Troll 2" is amongst the highest echelon. Released in 1990, "Troll 2", which is actually about goblins, told the story of a suburban family who swapped homes with a family of odd farmers to enjoy a vacation in the town of Nilbog (it's 'goblin spelled backwards'!). What the family found, however, was that the town was populated by goblins and a witch empowered by Stonehenge, and they had their sights set on transforming the visitors into plant food to eat them.

"Troll 2" is iconic in terms of its badness. Besides ill-conceived set-pieces and hammy, earnest acting, every scene contains quotable lines. Its cult following led it to receive a documentary, "Best Worst Movie", created by star Michael Stephenson, who played young Joshua Waits. It premiered at South by Southwest in 2009, nearly two decades after "Troll 2" was released.

Both are essential viewing.

Answer: Dialogue

I would be lying if I said you couldn't judge the quality of a movie by how highly-billed actor Robert Z'Dar is, and he's at the top of the poster for 1990's "Samurai Cop" without even being the lead. Instead, we follow former Sylvester Stallone bodyguard Mathew Karedas in this film as he plays a San Diego 'samurai cop' sent to LA to investigate a Japanese mafia group fuelling the city's cocaine problems. What resulted wasn't just an awkward B-movie, but a haphazard production.

For starters, the film had no dialogue, possibly a result of cutting back money on sound equipment on-set. Instead, the film was fully ADRed, and 80% of that dialogue came from the director, Amir Shervan, who took it upon himself to substitute the voices. The film also lacked an actor with capable martial arts training, meaning that all of the fight scenes for our samurai cop were planned moments before they were filmed.

Due to its cult status, "Samurai Cop" saw a sequel twenty-five years later-- "Samurai Cop 2: Deadly Vengeance". Funded through Kickstarter, it actually saw the return of the original star, Mathew Karedas, who was believed by many to be dead at the time.

Answer: Purple

There's something truly audacious about "The Amazing Bulk", a straight-to-DVD movie themed around the classic Marvel character, at least in concept, that appeared on store shelves for scrutiny's sake. Set in some urban environment or another, the film involved a scientist named Henry Howard (alliterative, naturally) who test-injected himself with a purple serum to prove its capabilities. What it did, really, was transform him into a... bulky... creature capable of fighting off foes of all sorts. Of course, this put him into the crosshairs of the military and prominent scientists.

Oh yeah, and the whole movie utilizes stock images for its settings, an intentional choice on the part of director Lewis Schoenbrun, who claimed he wanted it to look like a comic book. Instead, the film looks like a cheap clip art library, placing 'The Bulk' into CGI environments that would have looked out-of-date in computer-rendered clips from the 1990s. It's an almost frustrating watch, but it needs to be seen to be believed.

Answer: Snakes on a Plane

Samuel Jackson was a surprise early death in the shark action movie "Deep Blue Sea", but he managed to survive, with a lot of people in his protection, in the 2006 meme snake movie "Snakes on a Plane". Developed out of a silly idea perpetuated online, "Snakes on a Plane" featured Jackson as an FBI agent sent on a Hawaii-to-LA flight to protect a high-risk witness, but what no one knew was that a crime lord filled their plane's cargo hold with venomous snakes, allowing them to let loose and bite and kill most of the crew and numerous passengers.

Director David R. Ellis, who also directed some of the "Final Destination" films and the 2004 Chris Evans movie "Cellular", followed through on the ludicrous premise as set out on the internet-- Samuel L. Jackson fights snakes... on a plane-- and what resulted as an almost instant, self-serious cult classic that not only held up on its own, but as a meme. Though it wasn't screened for critics upon its release, it received quite modest reviews and managed to be a success in the box office.