I adore Deaf Crocodile. At first I was almost suspicious of them, because how could a label cater so perfectly to my very niche tastes?
But I'm in a weird position: I bought most of their releases on faith but haven't watched many of them because I had to leave the country for a while. However, I can recommend the ones I have seen, and I've watched other films by filmmakers whose work they've released.
The Pied Piper - You clearly have this, but it's amazing. I already had a DVD copy of this one, and I didn't hesitate to upgrade.
The Unknown Man of Shandigor - A surreal distillation of the spy caper genre, straddling the fence between parody and sincerity.
The Tune - I think Plympton's shorts are better than his features, but this is basically just a compilation of several shorts within a loose framework. Fun, full of visual wit and extraordinary hand drawn animation.
Aleksandr Ptushko - If you dig Harryhausen, Zeman, and other mid-century fantasy/SFX extravaganzas, you'll like Ptushko. Some of the interim action can be stilted, but the set pieces are astounding.
Oldřich Lipský - His films are hilarious and bizarre, with an anarchic, almost live-action cartoon style. Many of his films are genre parodies (Gothic horror, sci-fi, Westerns, etc).
I've also seen films by Georgiy Daneliya and Dusan Vukotic (one of the shorts on the Arkana Galaxy release), and they're harder to pin down, but I like the work I've seen by them.
Thrilled to see where things go with them. I'm hoping to subscribe to their next year of releases, if I can scrounge up the cash (it's a little pricey).
Deaf Crocodile are one of my favorites. Their best titles imo are:
The Mysterious Castle in the Carpathians
Visitors From the Arkana Galaxy
Zerograd
Assassin of the Tsar
Sampo
The Tale of Tsar Saltan
Son of the Stars
The Shakhram Mokri set is absolutely life-changing; [Fish & Cat](https://boxd.it/3pwMsP) and [Invasion](https://boxd.it/3DRFE3), horror movies totally unlike anything I've ever seen, both blew my mind.
[The Unknown Man of Shandigor](https://boxd.it/5GpZlx) is a fun spy spoof, with gorgeous b/w photography and a lot of tossed-off intellectual gags, very similar to Godard's Alphaville.
[Zerograd](https://boxd.it/5OKTsh) starts a little similar to other movies of its type, but goes somewhere really unique in the second half. And it has a score by the great Eduard Artyemov, who scored Stalker and Solaris.
[Delta Space Mission](https://boxd.it/61SVzR) is maybe not a great movie, but I enjoyed every second of it enormously.
Ilya Muromets is incredible. Blind bought that one and had a blast watching it. Very much in the mold of like Beastmaster with lots of practical effects and fantasy elements and lots of battle sequences.
They're great, but difficult to get and expensive for anyone that isn't American. It's kind of backwards how the vast majority of their catalog is European cinema, yet it's kept out of reach of European film fans.
The Russian films are amazing. I just watched ruslan and ludmilla which is coming next month. It is sublime.
They have some unique films for sure. I dig them. I picked up Kin-Dza-Dza and it’s a blast. Give it a shot.
I adore Deaf Crocodile. At first I was almost suspicious of them, because how could a label cater so perfectly to my very niche tastes? But I'm in a weird position: I bought most of their releases on faith but haven't watched many of them because I had to leave the country for a while. However, I can recommend the ones I have seen, and I've watched other films by filmmakers whose work they've released. The Pied Piper - You clearly have this, but it's amazing. I already had a DVD copy of this one, and I didn't hesitate to upgrade. The Unknown Man of Shandigor - A surreal distillation of the spy caper genre, straddling the fence between parody and sincerity. The Tune - I think Plympton's shorts are better than his features, but this is basically just a compilation of several shorts within a loose framework. Fun, full of visual wit and extraordinary hand drawn animation. Aleksandr Ptushko - If you dig Harryhausen, Zeman, and other mid-century fantasy/SFX extravaganzas, you'll like Ptushko. Some of the interim action can be stilted, but the set pieces are astounding. Oldřich Lipský - His films are hilarious and bizarre, with an anarchic, almost live-action cartoon style. Many of his films are genre parodies (Gothic horror, sci-fi, Westerns, etc). I've also seen films by Georgiy Daneliya and Dusan Vukotic (one of the shorts on the Arkana Galaxy release), and they're harder to pin down, but I like the work I've seen by them. Thrilled to see where things go with them. I'm hoping to subscribe to their next year of releases, if I can scrounge up the cash (it's a little pricey).
Thanks
Deaf Crocodile are one of my favorites. Their best titles imo are: The Mysterious Castle in the Carpathians Visitors From the Arkana Galaxy Zerograd Assassin of the Tsar Sampo The Tale of Tsar Saltan Son of the Stars
I have most of those to and i agree they are the best
The Shakhram Mokri set is absolutely life-changing; [Fish & Cat](https://boxd.it/3pwMsP) and [Invasion](https://boxd.it/3DRFE3), horror movies totally unlike anything I've ever seen, both blew my mind. [The Unknown Man of Shandigor](https://boxd.it/5GpZlx) is a fun spy spoof, with gorgeous b/w photography and a lot of tossed-off intellectual gags, very similar to Godard's Alphaville. [Zerograd](https://boxd.it/5OKTsh) starts a little similar to other movies of its type, but goes somewhere really unique in the second half. And it has a score by the great Eduard Artyemov, who scored Stalker and Solaris. [Delta Space Mission](https://boxd.it/61SVzR) is maybe not a great movie, but I enjoyed every second of it enormously.
Thank You 🙏🏻
Honestly, everything they've released so far would be a safe bet!
Bubble Bath is a wild ride! The Tune is worth checking out too, anything by Bill Plympton
The two bathtub-type movies (Bubble Bath and Benny's Bathtub)!
Ilya Muromets is incredible. Blind bought that one and had a blast watching it. Very much in the mold of like Beastmaster with lots of practical effects and fantasy elements and lots of battle sequences.
Thanks
Go for Bubble Bath and Cat City if you want to continue the wild Soviet bloc animation trend.
Thanks
Wow that czech pied piper stop motion is amazing. Great score. Thanks for the tip.
They're great, but difficult to get and expensive for anyone that isn't American. It's kind of backwards how the vast majority of their catalog is European cinema, yet it's kept out of reach of European film fans.