The Incredibly Strange Film Show

The Incredibly Strange Film Show is a series of documentaries presented by Jonathan Ross focusing on the world of "psychotronic" or B movies.

The Incredibly Strange Film Show
Title card of the Show
Created by	Channel X Productions
Starring	Jonathan Ross
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of series	2
No. of episodes	12
Production
Running time	40 minutes
Original release
Network	Channel 4
Release	5 August 1988 (1988-08-05) – 27 October 1989 (1989-10-27)

Each episode was focused on the lives of filmmakers like Herschell Gordon Lewis, Sam Raimi, Doris Wishman, Ed Wood Jr, Jackie Chan and many other notable filmmakers who had their own unique style of filmmaking and have made contributions to the world of cinema. Various movie genres, including such outré types as Mexican wrestling and Hong Kong horror films, were also examined.

The series' first episode featured interviews filmed at the Senator Theater,^[1] in Baltimore, during the premiere of Hairspray, including an interview with John Waters and one of the last recorded interviews with Divine.^[2]

The show was originally aired on 5 August 1988 on Channel 4.^[3] A second series, entitled Son of The Incredibly Strange Film Show, aired the following year.^[4] Both series aired in the US on the Discovery Channel in the early 1990s.^[3] The show was followed by Jonathan Ross Presents for One Week Only, which featured filmmakers including Alejandro Jodorowski and David Lynch.^[5]

Episodes

Season 1: The Incredibly Strange Film Show

Episode	Featured Filmmaker	Air Date
1	John Waters	5 August 1988
2	Ray Dennis Steckler	12 August 1988
3	Herschell Gordon Lewis	19 August 1988
4	Ted V. Mikels[6]	26 August 1988
5	Russ Meyer[7][8]	2 September 1988
6	Sam Raimi	9 September 1988

Season 2: Son of The Incredibly Strange Film Show

Episode	Featured Filmmaker	Air Date
1	Jackie Chan[9]	22 September 1989
2	Fred Olen Ray & Doris Wishman	29 September 1989
3	The Legend of El Santo	6 October 1989
4	Ed Wood Jr.	13 October 1989
5	Tsui Hark[10] & Stuart Gordon	20 October 1989
6	George A. Romero & Tom Savini	27 October 1989

Reception and legacy

Film studies academic Dean DeFino described the show as "highly regarded".^[7] The Baltimore Sun called it "strangely engaging".^[11]

Director Edgar Wright claimed that the episode on Sam Raimi inspired him to become a filmmaker.^[12]

Book

The Incredibly Strange Film Book,^[13] a spin-off written by Ross, was published in 1993.

References

1. "'Strange Film' series begins with apt subject: A John Waters interview". tribunedigital-baltimoresun. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
2. "Episode 36: Maverick Heart". www.soapboxoffice.com. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
3. "The Pulsing Cinema - The Incredibly Strange Film Show Episode Guide". pulsingcinema.com. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
4. SON OF INCREDIBLY STRANGE FILM SHOW|Channel X
5. JONATHAN ROSS PRESENTS FOR ONE WEEK ONLY|Channel X
6. Curry, Christopher Wayne (2007). Film Alchemy: The Independent Cinema of Ted V. Mikels. McFarland. ISBN 9781476603018.
7. DeFino, Dean (2014). Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!. Columbia UP.
8. Russ Meyer on "The Incredibly Strange Film Show" - The Criterion Channel
9. Son of the Incredibly Strange Film Show - The Criterion Channel
10. Morton, Lisa (2001). The Cinema of Tsui Hark. Macfarland. p. 222. ISBN 9780786409907.
11. McKerrow, Steve (2 February 1991). "'Strange Film' series begins with apt subject: A John Waters interview". Baltimore Sun.
12. Wright, Edgar (8 July 2013). "Hero Worship: Sam Raimi". The Skinny. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
13. Ross, Jonathan (1993). The incredibly strange film book. London: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0671712969.

External links

• The Incredibly Strange Film Show at IMDb
• The Incredibly Strange Film Show at channelx.co.uk
• Son of Incredibly Strange Film Show at channelx.co.uk
• The Incredibly Strange Film Show at thetvdb
• IndieWire article about David Lynch episode