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Terror Toons (2002)
Crank 2: High Voltage (2009)
The High Concept: A man whose heart has been stolen must keep his metal replacement working long enough to get the original back.
The Weird: Presumably deciding that the original film wasn’t far-fetched enough, directors Neveldine / Taylor thumb their noses at medical science once more by having Chev Chelios run around without a heart. Let the battery-licking commence!
How To Make It Weirder: At this rate, Crank 3 will simply star Statham’s disembodied head...
Scarecrows (1988)
The High Concept: A gang of thieves take on a horde of evil scarecrows
The Weird: It’s heist movie meets horror slasher, as five paramilitary mercenaries rob three million dollars from the vault at Camp Pendleton before hiding out in an old country shack. Unfortunately for them, this shack just happens to be stalked by a troop of zombie scarecrows. And as the tag-line wittily puts it, “they only want a brain…yours.”
How To Make It Weirder: Whilst the scarecrows are distracted, a flock of zombie crows sweep down and help themselves to the crops. The cheeky gits!
Outlander (2008)
The High Concept: Vikings take on aliens.
The Weird: Described by star Jim Caviezel as a cross between Braveheart and Highlander , Outlander charts the story of Kainan, an intergalactic warrior whose spacecraft crash-lands into a Norwegian lake in 709AD. When a violent alien stowaway makes a break for freedom, Kainan must team up with the local Vikings to put a stop to his bloodthirsty antics.
How To Make It Weirder: Transporting Vikings into outer space would probably be marginally more daft.
The Wig (2005)
The High Concept: A cancer patient appropriates a haunted wig.
The Weird: This Korean oddity tells the tale of a young woman who buys her leukaemia-suffering sister a wig to boost her self esteem. Unbeknownst to her, the wig was made from the hair of an evil corpse, and it isn’t long before her ailing sister begins acting rather strangely…didn’t they do this in a Halloween special of The Simpsons ?
How To Make It Weirder: By making the haunted hair take the form of a novelty moustache rather than a toupee.
Dead Heat (1988)
The High Concept: Two mismatched cops must work together, one of whom is a zombie…
The Weird: Treat Williams plays Roger Mortis (Geddit? Eh?), an LA cop who is killed whilst attempting to arrest some zombies. Brought back to life via the same technology that’s producing these undead crooks, Mortis joins forces with fellow cop Doug Bigelow as they try and find the master criminal behind it all...
How To Make It Weirder: By having Mortis munch through an enemy’s brain. We’re surprised this doesn’t actually happen…
Footloose (1984)
The High Concept: A rebellious teen collides with a town where music is banned.
The Weird: A town where music is banned…just think about that for a second or two. The idea that this would ever form the cornerstone of a Hollywood movie beggars belief, let alone the concept of a hero who will literally dance oppression out of town. Still, clearly the studio execs know more than us, because it ended up a massive hit. Kenny Loggins is grateful in any case…
How To Make It Weirder: By drafting an alternative ending in which the locals dont bend on their hard-line views, and Bacon is hanged in the town square.
Frankenhooker (1990)
The High Concept: A bereaved scientist murders his way through the local prostitute community in order to create a replacement wife.
The Weird: It’s surely another case of title being thought up before plot, as James Lorinz’s deranged scientist sets about knocking off various hookers and harvesting their body parts for his new-look wife. Sadly for him, his reanimated beau turns out to be a murderous slapper. Who would have guessed?
How To Make It Weirder: If instead of losing a wife, the doctor had lost a child…no, that doesn’t bear thinking about!
976-Evil (1988)
The High Concept: An evil phone number grants the dialler Satanic powers.
The Weird: When a young lad finds a calling card listing the number 976-Evil (extension 666) you just know he’s in for some trouble. Sure enough, his no-good cousin lays his hands on it, calls the number, and transforms into a powerful agent of Satan. Who comes up with this stuff? Robert Englund actually. He’s the director…
How To Make It Weirder: Our hero texts GOD to an alternative number and tools himself up with some righteous super-powers…
The Time Traveller's Wife (2009)
The High Concept: Time-travelling being falls in love with normal girl.
The Weird: Okay, so it might not be so outlandish as some of the other entries on this list, but the way in which Eric Bana’s character semi-grooms Rachel McAdams as a toddler always strikes us as a bit weird. Particularly when he keeps appearing naked around her…
How To Make It Weirder: By having Bana stalked by another time-travelling being. Maybe a zombie scarecrow made out of bits of old hookers. Or something…
