14. A Croatian Horror Film

Here’s how Deaf Crocodile sold this: “Imagine if Troma Films had been hired to make a Sid & Marty Krofft Saturday morning kids’ show, and if you have some idea of the unspeakable strangeness of Visitors from the Arcana Galaxy, a truly gonzo Croatian sci-fi/fantasy about a struggling writer, Robert (Zarko Potocnjak), who dreams up a story of gold-skinned alien androids named Andra, Targo and Ulu from a distant planet.”

But is it a horror movie? Let’s allow Deaf Crocodile again to describe the Mumu Monster, which was created for the film by legendary Czech animator Jan Svankmajer: “A rubber-suited, multi-tentacled creation that destroys a wedding party, ripping off heads and spouting plumes of toxic green smoke while a blind accordion player blithely plays his squeezebox.”

Director Dusan Vukotic, while born in Yugoslavia, was one of the founding members of Zagreb Film, a Croatian film studio that often worked in animation. What emerges here is pure fantastic filmmaking — a movie where Robert has his head in the clouds, dreaming of being a science fiction writer. This is a goal that his girlfriend Biba (Lucié Žulova) and friend Tino (Ljubiša Samardžić) think is silly.

Somehow, that same imagination is able to bring robotic Andra (Ksenija Prohaska) and space children Targo (Rene Bitorajac) and Ulu (Jasminka Alic) to Earth. That’s because Robert has tellurgia, which allows him to think of things long enough for them to become real. For example, when he was hungry as a child, his father grew breasts to feed him.

A series of wild adventures emerges, including Robert falling in love with Andra, Andra leaving a Mumu monster in her purse that sprays her roommates with its deadly blood, and time travel that solves almost any mistake.

As Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia no longer exist, I guess this is a Croatian film. Whatever it is, it’s terrific —sheer lunacy caught on film —a movie that shows how a foreign culture would create a space adventure that has nothing to match what we expect.

You can watch this on Tubi or buy it from Deaf Crocodile or MVD. Extras on the physical release include a new scan with restoration by Craig Rogers for Deaf Crocodile, a new commentary track by film historian Samm Deighan, a new essay by film historian and professor Jennifer Lynde Barker and five rare short films by director Dusan Vukotic.