Population: 1

Rene Daalder, best known for the 1976 cult flick Massacre at Central High, helmed this wildly original (but barely released) 1986 musical. Tomata du Plenty of the San Francisco-based synthesizer-punk ensemble The Screamers, stars as a civil defense worker trapped in a fallout shelter while the world is destroyed during a nuclear war. Realizing he is the last surviving member of the human race, our hero sinks into an extended inner monologue examining his position within the 20th-century American experience, depicted in a series of wild musical numbers anchored in his deteriorating mind, where he is joined by punk diva Sheela Edwards as the pair present updated versions of classic songs (such as “Ten Cents a Dance”), along with raucous original compositions. Population: 1 is pure avant-garde, featuring bizarre visuals—especially when Du Plenty is shaved and groomed by a variety of hair-and-skin care tools that fly across the room and encircle him—and off-kilter performances by the two stars (also look for appearances by the legendary Vampira and a teenage Beck). Population: 1 doesn't go completely over-the-top, like Ken Russell's Tommy or Lisztomania, instead maintaining a deliberately warped equilibrium that never devolves into camp or winks at the audience. DVD extras on this double-disc set include 40 minutes of The Screamers in concert, an interview with Daalder, a spoof documentary featuring Daalder, a tribute to Du Plenty, a music video for Penelope Houston's “Girls,” and more. Highly recommended. [Note: Cult Epics is also releasing a double-disc edition of Daalder's critically-acclaimed documentary Here Is Always Somewhere Else on Dutch/Californian artist Bas Jan Ader.] (P. Hall)