To celebrate 20 years of Something Weird bringing the world the very best in subversive, disreputable, and cult cinema, SWV made available four exceedingly rare, never-before-released jewels that will make any cinephile’s head light up and spin. Rosie (b&w) is a failed 19-minute pilot for a TV sitcom about a talking dog named Rosie. It is absolutely horrifying. Why? Because the dog is not played by a real canine (or a puppet or a cartoon) but by a large adult in a mangy dog suit with a creepy dog face, clumsily walking around on his hands and knees. The Weird World of Weird (1970, color) is a loony 47-minute never-aired TV special in which host RALPH STORY explores psychic phenomena, astrology, witchcraft and “all those mysterious secrets hidden in the mystical world of the occult.” with detours to a psychic “balloon reader” and a spook-filled séance at the Magic Castle. It's got a groovy, late-60s psychedelic feel to it all that makes it a wonderfully bizarre time capsule. Follow That Skirt (1964, color) is a nasty little 26-minute short that was probably intended to be America’s second gore film. Though not released until 1965 when, according to Dave Friedman, it played a single theater in San Francisco, there’s little doubt that Blood Feast was its influence. Based on the popularity of its trailer, The Smut Peddler (1965, b&w) is among a handful of currently “lost” films that Something Weird (as well as the rest of the world) has been actively searching for. So we were thrilled when we at least found this much in excellent condition. And, yeah, it’s good stuff. A crude oyster-eating publisher, a lesbian secretary, and a French photographer all love mauling and exploiting their lovely nude models while W.B. PARKER (Olga’s House of Shame) is shocked and appalled. - Frank Henenlotter

A French nudist (Patricia Conelle) must fight for custody of her daughter after her husband (Don Roberts) caves in to his mother's demands and files for divorce.

Newspaper headlines denounce a rash epidemic of barbiturate overdoses. Even more shocking is that the abusers are juveniles out for cheap kicks. Responding to the rising public outrage, a prominent female judge sends young detective Sergeant Dave Kerrigan to uncover the source of the dangerous contraband. His dogged search leads to a crooked weight-loss "gym" where overweight women, desperate to shed pounds in a hurry, are supplied with addictive diet pills by the corrupt proprietors. The case gets more complicated when the gym owners conspire to have the judge's underage daughter photographed naked at a pool-side pill party. Facing blackmail, the girl's mother must choose between resigning from the bench to protect her daughter from public humiliation or turning up the heat on the drug pushers. Starring Charlie Chaplin's ex-wife Lita Grey and featuring lingering locker room dialogues, wild parties and carnal excess, The Devil's Sleep is a reactionary exploitation film filled with perverse thrills and pious outrage.

A Western-musical classic featuring an all-Black cast in the story of a cowboy who comes to the aid of a grieving rancher after her father is killed.

Before he relocated to Spain and made the gender-bender shocker I Hate My Body and a handful of Paul Naschy movies (including Werewolf vs. The Vampire Woman), director LEON KLIMOVSKY shot this warped anti-pot thriller in his hometown of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Like earlier "warning" films which purported to tell the truth about marijuana abuse, Klimovsky's is naively wrong-headed wrongheaded from the get-go. However, viewers expecting a Reefer Madness-style camp classic will be sorely disappointed. Substitute heroin or crack fro the dreaded weed and the situations depicted in The Marihuana Story suddenly become no laughing matter.

Memorable music, an interracial romance, political reformers, and neighborhood racketeers embellish a rich and vibrant tale of 1930s Harlem.