Like quirky ‘out there’ movies? The Ghastly Love of Johnny X, now on Netflix

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

I always wonder how certain weird/quirky looking movies can become hits or cult classics, while others just never find an audience or simply fall through the cracks. In the case of THE GHASTLY LOVE OF JOHNNY X, the film is likely a member of the latter club, although hopefully we can bring it a little attention with this article here. Most recently, the director of the film, Paul Bunnell, emailed me to ask if we would consider posting his film's trailer on our YouTube channel, as the movie was being released on Netflix this week. I watched the trailer and thought it was really cool-looking in that John Waters/Russ Meyer/Ed Wood kind of way. But part of the film's pitch, at this point at least, was that it was the "lowest grossing film of 2012", which is a true fact apparently (see it near the bottom of the BoxOfficeMojo.com 2012 list – #645). But don't let that fool you, as the film was actually only released in one theater (and in Kansas to boot!) and obviously didn't have the proper distribution behind it.

Oddly enough, the film is not filled with complete unknowns and features Reggie Bannister from the Phantasm movies, an Oscar-winning music man in Paul Williams, the man who starred in the original 1956 INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS Kevin McCarthy and even Creed from TV's "The Office" (aka Creed Bratton). I then watched this piece on the film and Mr. Bunnell on CBS SUNDAY MORNING and it opened my eyes (and my heart) to yet another filmmaker who really just wanted to make a cool movie with his own vision. And to think that halfway through the film's production, they ran out of money, had to mortgage their home, and wait another 6 years before finishing it…wow, what an adventure! Check out his story below:

My favorite part of that video is the director's description of his own film:

It's a juvenile delinquent outer space on Earth intergalactic dark horror sci-fi musical cacophony.

Nice! Anyway, if this film interests you in the least, check out the trailer below, and if that interests you, why not invest in a real filmmaker who is obviously not in this business for the "money-making" part of it, but the "love of movies" part of it? You can purchase the DVD right here or just stream the film on NETFLIX in the near future and let your friends know about it, if this is their type of movie. You can also visit their official site right here and below is the trailer!