ON THE VERGE
A macabre anthology from France’s Maurice Sandoz that pivots on madness
TV Flashback: TÉLÉCHAT
A show that spoofed TV newscasts via a surreal universe of animal newsreaders and sentient objects, warping an entire generation of French youngsters
TITANE
The major shock film of 2021 was this bizarre exercise in body horror from France’s Julia Ducournau
THE SWARM
Yet another so-so Netflix movie, although this one has some impressive things
MONSIEUR DE PHOCAS
A key text of the Decadent Movement of the late 19th Century
Books about the Grand Guignol
The fabled Grand Guignol Theatre in Paris was and continues to be a source of endless fascination
TV Flashback: LES DOCUMENTS INTERDITS
2019 marked the 20th anniversary of THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, but I say it’s time for a look back even further, to that film’s true progenitor: the French TV program LES DOCUMENTS INTERDITS
TWENTYNINE PALMS
The third feature by France’s Bruno Dumont was this ludicrous quasi-horror movie from 2003
THE SUNS OF EASTER ISLAND
This ambitious French science fiction drama from 1972 can be viewed as the little-known forerunner of CLOSE ENOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND
TV Flashback: THE NECESSARY MINUTE OF MONSIEUR CYCLOPEDE
Here we have what may well be the oddest TV show of all time: THE NECESSARY MINUTE OF MONSIEUR CYCLOPEDE