Dan Scanlon – Spectacle Theater

EEK EEK ORK: A SHOWCASE OF INTERNATIONAL COSMIC ANIMATION

Posted on November 25, 2024December 2, 2024 by Dan Scanlon

CATHEDRAL OF NEW EMOTIONS
Dir. Helmut Herbst, 2006
Germany. 58 min.
In German with English subtitles.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3 – 7:30 PM
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7 – 10 PM
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12 – 10 PM
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20 – 10 PM

THE CATHEDRAL OF NEW EMOTIONS (DIE KATHEDRALE DER NEUEN GEFÜHLE) – 2006, Cinegrafik, 60 min. Dir. Helmut Herbst. On a shortlist with Eiichi Yamamoto’s BELLADONNA OF SADNESS and René Laloux’s FANTASTIC PLANET as one of the most surreal, psychedelic and truly cosmic animated features ever made, German director Helmut Herbst’s utterly insane THE CATHEDRAL OF NEW EMOTIONS follows a commune of Berlin stoners and intellectuals who get set adrift in space in 1972 in a packing container clutched in a giant flying hand. Various space flotsam smashes into the windshield – enormous insects, Mighty Mouse, a Bird Man from “Flash Gordon” – while hypnotic Krautrock drones in the background moaning “Where am I??”, and a naked man bounces up and down off a massive red pepper. So begins our descent down the psychotic rabbit hole of CATHEDRAL, a true hallucinogenic Space Freakout if there ever was one: imagine Ralph Bakshi animating an R-rated version of John Carpenter’s DARK STAR. The movie’s genesis is equally strange: apparently based on a 1974 film by Herbst called “Die phantastische Welt des Matthew Madson,” CATHEDRAL was eventually finished after a decades-long gestation in 2006. One of the rarest and most obscure tiles in world animation.

THE SON OF THE STARS
Dir. Mircea Toia & Călin Cazan, 1988
Romania. 78 min.
In Romanian with English subtitles.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4 – 7:30 PM
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7 – MIDNIGHT (with filmmaker Q&A)
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12 – 7:30 PM
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 21 – 10 PM

ADVANCE TICKETS

SPECIAL EVENT TICKETS (12/7)

From the Romanian animators behind DELTA SPACE MISSION, THE SON OF THE STARS is an even more wildly ambitious and surreal outer space adventure, a mid-1980s mash-up of THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, ALIEN and Edgar Rice Burroughs’s Tarzan. In the year 6470, a husband and wife team of explorers receive a mysterious distress signal from a female astronaut who disappeared decades earlier. They leave their son, Dan, on board their ship while they go searching for the missing woman — but fate intervenes, crash-landing the ship on a jungle-like planet populated by bulbous, telekinetic aliens and eerie stone gardens of frozen space creatures.

RAT SUMMER: VISIONS OF A RODENT APOCALYPSE

Posted on November 25, 2024December 2, 2024 by Dan Scanlon

Rats: Harmless memes you send to your high school friends to prove how New York you are or evil harbingers of doom that precipitate the inevitable downfall of the human race and destruction of our planet? Spectacle will finally put the question to rest with two wildly different visions of a not too distant apocalypse ushered in by our rodent overlords. Winter may be here, but RAT SUMMER is just heating up!

RATS: NIGHT OF TERROR
Dir. Bruno Mattei, 1984
Italy/France. 96 mins.
In Italian with English subtitles.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5 – 10 PM
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 8 – 7:30 PM
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 13 – 7:30 PM
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 18 – 10 PM
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20 – MIDNIGHT

ADVANCE TICKETS

In a post-apocalyptic wasteland, a group of bikers are trapped underground searching for any means of sustenance when they stumble upon a mysterious abandoned village. While finding food and shelter, the human wastoids also unearth more insidious company…hordes of mutated, bloodthirsty rats with a taste for human flesh intent on ripping them to shreds.

From Italian schlock master Bruno Mattei (ZOMBI 3, NIGHT KILLER), Rats Night of Terror brings a level of surprising deference to it’s unique Mad Max meets Phase IV by setup that many genre films from the era lack. Shot by Franco Delli Colli (camera assistant on THE LEOPARD!) and utilizing sets from Once Upon a Time in America, RNOT creates a dreamy, enveloping, and uniquely claustrophobic world that shares just as much DNA with Rod Serling as it does with Lucio Fulci, and features an ending that with leave you SCRATCHING your head in bewilderment.

RAT SCRATCH FEVER
Dir. Jeff Leroy, 2011
United States. 95 mins.
In English.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4 – 10 PM
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 10 – 7:30 PM
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 13 – 10 PM
MONDAY, DECEMBER 16 – 10 PM
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 21 – MIDNIGHT

ADVANCE TICKETS

On a volcanic planet, the lone survivor of a space mission is infected by giant mutant space rats. Returning to earth, she begins to wreak havoc and spread her rodent strain. Only the mysterious Dr. Steele and man of action Jake Walsh can team up to stop her, but is it too late?

Prodigious auteur of numerous low-budget genre classics, Jeff Leroy (CREEPIES, GIANTESS ATTACK) forms a unique hellscape blending practical effects, puppetry, and budget-conscious CGI along with some truly epic performances (Randal Malone channeling his best Dr. Moreau-era Brando) and creates a film that reads like a Vaporwave Prometheus with a healthy dose of giant rodents thrown in for good measure. Fresh off a successful one night engagement at Nitehawk, Spectacle is proud to host this limited run of a new cult classic, graciously provided by VISUAL VENGEANCE!

WEEKNIGHTS

Posted on November 25, 2024December 20, 2024 by Dan Scanlon

WEEKNIGHTS
Dir. Alfred Giancarli, 2023
United States. 68 min.
In English.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 16 – 7:30 PM (Q&A moderated by Will Bricca)
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 17 – 7:30 PM (Q&A moderated by Josafat Concepcion)
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 18 – 7:30 PM (Q&A moderated by Caroline Golum)
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19 – 7:30 PM (Q&A moderated by Ted Schaefer)
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20 – 7:30 PM (Q&A moderated by Joshua Bogatin)
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 21 – 7:30 PM (Q&A moderated by Anthony Versaci)
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 22 – 7:30 PM (Q&A moderated by Dan Scanlon)

(All screenings are $10)

ADVANCE TICKETS

This December, Spectacle is thrilled to present the premiere theatrical run of Alfred Giancarli’s WEEKNIGHTS. Following its premiere at the South Carolina Underground Film Festival in 2023 where it won the award for Best Feature Film, Giancarli now brings his potent mediation on urban isolation to our screen for a week-long engagement.

The film follows three individuals working various graveyard shifts around a deserted urban college campus as they try to make it through another long and lonely night on the job. Through a series of fixed shots, the viewer partakes in their nightly responsibilities and rituals, underscoring the feeling of solitude imparted by the lateness of the hour, lack of human interaction, and nature of the work itself– The type critical to the function of such a place yet that often goes entirely unseen or unappreciated by its daytime inhabitants.

Giancarli draws from a rich pedigree of avant-garde filmmakers, from Tsai Ming-Liang and Gus van Sant to James Benning to Larry Gottheim, whose work is grounded in the interplay between time and location. WEEKNIGHTS is a film shaped as much by the intangibilities and rhythms of the environment captured as by its own scripted elements; one that ascribes new meaning to the psychogeographic adage that one cannot truly know a place before knowing its ghosts via the more economically-minded framework of labor seen versus unseen.

Join us the week of December 16th to December 22nd for a week-long run of the film, featuring Q&As with the filmmaker following each screening.

“Through lingering shots, [WEEKNIGHTS] captures the quiet isolation of graveyard shifts, empty spaces, and mundane routines. The film meditates on loneliness and the surreal atmosphere that descends on familiar places after dark.
— Charlie Sanders, Festival Programming Director, Sidewalk Film Festival

“WEEKNIGHTS distinguishes itself through its sharp sense of place and by how it captures the distinct rhythms of its environment. The film’s overall melancholy resonates, but in its own way, it acts as a tribute to its (and my) Bronx neighborhood.”
— aversaci, Letterboxd

QUIT YOUR DAY JOB: THE WORLD OF JEFF KRULIK

Posted on July 20, 2024August 5, 2024 by Dan Scanlon

This August, Spectacle is thrilled to celebrate the illustrious career of independent filmmaker and our foremost archivist of eccentric Americana, Jeff Krulik.

Krulik got his start behind the camera as a volunteer for a local public access station in 1983, before being hired as a channel coordinator (and later producer/director) for MetroVision Public Access serving the D.C.-adjacent region of Southern Maryland. There he honed his skills as a filmmaker and programmer, his work often focusing on the humorously offbeat side of D.C.-metro area culture, while always maintaining an open, enthusiastic, and appreciative point-of-view towards even the most bizarre programming or personalities that made it to air.

Krulik developed an underground following throughout the 80s & 90s as one of the co-directors— alongside fellow documentarian and public TV cohort, John Heyn— of the seminal 1986 documentary short, HEAVY METAL PARKING LOT. Set around a Judas Priest concert in suburban Maryland, the film has been hailed as one of the all-time great rock documentaries despite not featuring a moment of footage from the actual concert. Instead Krulik & Heyn turned their lenses on the arena parking lot, capturing the unbridled spirit and style of its tailgating fans, in turn becoming the definitive cultural touchstone for the 80s heavy metal scene.

Krulik left public access in the late-80s and moved into independent producing and filmmaking, his fascination with the fringes of pop culture now spreading well beyond the D.C.-metro area. Over the next few decades, Krulik would produce and direct dozens of films documenting the lives and work of folks from all over the country— Academy Award-winning actors and professional wrestlers, outsider artists and traveling sideshow managers, local librarians and pinball repairmen— each work marked by Krulik’s wry observational style that found the humor, passion, and authenticity in every one of his subjects.

Join us this month for a look back at Krulik’s vast career, with the man himself joining us in-person for Q&As on Saturday, 8/17 and Sunday, 8/18.

Program 1: Adventures in Public Access
Dir. Jeff Krulik, et al., 1984-1990
United States. 109 min.
In English.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 2 – 7:30 PM
SATURDAY, AUGUST 17 – 5 PM w/ Q&A (This event is $10)
TUESDAY, AUGUST 27 – 7:30 PM

GENERAL ADMISSION TICKETS

SPECIAL EVENT (8/17) TICKETS

Our first program dives into Krulik’s early years with Storer Public Access and MetroVision Public Access television where he developed his eye behind the camera, setting him down a five year career path that nearly resulted in a nervous breakdown. Much of his public access work was made with a skeleton crew of only two or three individuals, characterized as much by the DIY spirit of his later work despite the professional resources at his disposal.

PUBLIC ACCESS GIBBERISH
Dir. Jeff Krulik, 1990
United States. 3 min.
In English.

A short compilation featuring some of the wilder moments, program hosts, and guests from Krulik’s tenure at MetroVision Public Access.

TWENTY-FIVE CENTS BEFORE NOON
Dir. Jeff Krulik, 1987
United States. 22 min.
In English.

A short documentary scrapbook about movie palaces and single-screen theaters in the Washington, D.C. area. According to Krulik, this was his most ambitious undertaking at the time the project was started in 1984, but due to his other obligations at the studio was not able to be completed until 1987. The short eventually aired on the D.C.-area PBS affiliate Weta well after MetroVision had shuttered.

COMIC BOOKS: A WORLD OF ILLUSTRATED ADVENTURE
Dir. Steve Canfield, 1984
United States. 19 min.
In English.

Krulik acted as camera operator, co-editor, and narrator of this documentary short made at the start of his public access years. Shot on location at Geppi’s comic world in Silver Spring, Maryland during a Stan Lee signing, and a comic convention in Northern Virginia, the film delves into the world of comic books and collector culture at the height of the medium’s resurgence in popularity among adults.

THE BUTCH WILLIS SHOW
Dir. Jeff Krulik, 1989
United States. 18 min.
In English.

For most of his public access years, Krulik moonlighted as manager, patron, and “true believer” for D.C.-based indie rock band, Butch Willis & The Rocks. Willis and his band had been a fixture of MetroVision public access in Krulik’s crusade to expose more people to their unique brand of outsider new wave and rockabilly. Krulik had ceased managing the band by 1989, but shortly afterwards crafted this compilation short of public access clips he’d produced featuring Willis.

THE HYPNOTIST
Dir. Jeff Krulik, 1986
United States. 37 min.
In English.

In what might be his public TV opus, Krulik sits down with professional hypnotist Robert Attila Bellus and his wife & assistant, Stella, for an unhinged look at the world of suggestion. Much of the special is centered around Bellus’s “trancing” of Stella to make her believe he’s no longer in the room (he is), but due to FCC regulations prohibiting the broadcasting of acts of hypnotism, we don’t see the actual process and instead jump right to Stella in her “trance”, leading to some inadvertently hilarious sight gags and plenty of off-camera breaking. Bellus proceeds to wax philosophical about everything from space travel, to astral projecting into Lyndon Johnson, to Nikita Khrushchev’s and Rasputin’s own nefarious backgrounds in hypnotism.

SHOW US YOUR BELLY
Dir. Jeff Krulik, 1988
United States. 10 min.
In English.

On January 31st, 1988, the Washington Redskins defeated John Elway and the Denver Broncos in a decisive 42-10 Super Bowl XXII victory. That same evening, Krulik, John Heyn, and Seth Morris hit the streets with a camcorder and microphone for a series of absurd first-person interviews with drunken fans. The short is much more intentionally comedic than Krulik’s other public access work, with interviewer Morris mostly dropping non sequitur questions to confused revelers (including his trademark, “What’s your favorite fish?”) and imploring the film’s subjects to perform the titular ritual for camera.

Program 2: Vox Parking Lots
Dir. Jeff Krulik & John Heyn, 1986-2010
United States. 107 min.
In English.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 3 – 7:30 PM
SATURDAY, AUGUST 17 – 7:30 PM w/ Q&A (This event is $10)
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 28 – 7:30 PM

GENERAL ADMISSION TICKETS

SPECIAL EVENT (8/17) TICKETS

Our second program features a collection of Jeff Krulik & John Heyn’s “man-on-the-street” style pieces that originated with HEAVY METAL PARKING LOT. Krulik & Heyn both came up in public access, giving them similar sensibilities behind the camera. Yet unlike your typical public access documentaries, their films contain very little exposition, adopting more of an observational presence that allows ample room for their subjects to— both literally and figuratively— speak for themselves.

HEAVY METAL PARKING LOT
Dir. Jeff Krulik & John Heyn, 1986
United States. 17 min.
In English.

In 1986, Krulik & Heyn took a camcorder and microphone to the Capital Centre parking lot in Landover, Maryland in the hours leading up to a Judas Priest concert. Their intention was not to make a traditional concert doc, but to capture the character and passion of the much-maligned youth culture surrounding heavy metal. The film demonstrated that, contrary to the “Satanic panic” media bluster of the 1980s, metalheads were not in fact murderous psychopaths and occultists intent on the destruction of Good Christian Values, and instead were mostly comprised of angsty teenagers, party-hardy twentysomethings, music lovers, and non-threatening weirdos of all stripes— All of whom found solace in this shared community; all of whom were just here to have a good time.

The film would become an underground hit within a few years, with bootleg VHS copies-of-copies-of-copies circulated at concerts, video stores, and record stores around the country, even reportedly becoming a favorite among Gen-X creative icons like Kurt Cobain and Sofia Coppola.

WE NEED A STAPLE GUN
Dir. John Heyn, 1988
United States. 5 min.
In English.

On July 4th weekend 1988, John Heyn & Seth Morris “borrowed” a camera and microphone from the public access studio Krulik was managing at the time to document that year’s installment of the Annual Fourth of July Yippie Smoke-In. The film follows a similar format as HMPL, with Heyn & Morris looking to capture first-person commentary from the event’s attendees and organizers. Needless to say, though, this was not the most organized event, the title stemming from one organizer’s on-stage pleas to the audience for a volunteer willing to head into town on a much-needed errand.

VOX POPS
Dir. Jeff Krulik, 1997-99
United States. 7 min.
In English.

In the late-90s, Krulik and Seth Morris tried their hand at television adaptation of the famous 1930s & 40s radio quiz show of the same name, featuring interviews posing a series of alternatingly profound and inane questions to random passersby. Right off the bat, the short opens with one of Krulik & Morris’s best visual gags, in which a low-angle shot of a man standing in front of a formidably erect Washington Monument is accompanied by the question, “Do you think there’s too much sexual imagery on TV?” Alas, the series never made it to air, but Krulik was still able to compile some of its finer moments into this short.

NEIL DIAMOND PARKING LOT
Dir. Jeff Krulik & John Heyn, 1998
United States. 12 min.
In English.

Same parking lot, completely different vibe. Krulik & Heyn’s second follow-up to HEAVY METAL PARKING LOT (after the unfinished MONSTER TRUCK PARKING LOT) flips the script on the original by delving into a fanbase that couldn’t have been more different from the one presented in HMPL: That of soft rock singer-songwriter Neil Diamond. The previous decade’s metalheads are supplanted by middle-aged suburbanites, as passionate towards Diamond as their younger forebears were towards Priest. The film exists in a sort of dialogue with HMPL, acting as a subtle commentary on aging, place, and the sustained love of rocking out.

HEAVY METAL PICNIC
Dir. Jeff Krulik, 2010
United States. 66 min.
In English.

Krulik’s feature-length spiritual successor to HMPL focuses on the 1985 Full Moon Jamboree: A weekend-long farm party, concert, and all around bacchanal taking place in Potomac, Maryland. Though Krulik himself wasn’t present, thankfully two attendees had the wise idea of recording the weekend’s events with a camcorder and stolen CBS News microphone. Twenty-five years later, Krulik revisited the scene with a few of the event’s organizers, attendees, and musicians, combining the original found footage with new for a work that tackles head-on the confrontation of past and present explored in the other PARKING LOTS entries.

Program 3: “Jeff’s People”
Dir. Jeff Krulik, et al., 1995-2000
United States. 103 min.
In English.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 4 – 7:30 PM
SUNDAY, AUGUST 18 – 5 PM w/ Q&A (This event is $10)
THURSDAY, AUGUST 29 – 7:30 PM

GENERAL ADMISSION TICKETS

SPECIAL EVENT (8/18) TICKETS

Our third and final program (at least for now…) features Krulik’s independent documentary work from the 90s & 2000s following a series of stints in television development. This era saw Krulik pursuing a number of projects that he’d begun but left to gather dust during his 9-to-5 rut. Most of these works were centered around individual personalities that had piqued his interest— As Krulik himself put it, “talented people who weren’t necessarily considered talented but that I always wanted to work with.” In other words, “Jeff’s People”.

MR. BLASSIE GOES TO WASHINGTON
Dir. Elliott Klayman, 1995
United States. 25 min.
In English.

In the Summer of 1994, Krulik and fellow filmmaker & celebrity enthusiast Brendan Conway accompanied former professional wrestler “Classy” Fred Blassie aka “The King of Men” on a royal visit to the nation’s capital. As Blassie tours the sights and scenes that D.C. has to offer, we see him interact with folks from all over the world from Midwestern tourists to Tunisian ambassadors to Vietnamese monks, offering his uninhibited opinions on those pencil-necked geeks in Congress, his friendship with Andy Kaufman, freedom of assembly, the size of watermelons in Arkansas, and his ideas for Blassie-themed replacements to the National Mall.

KING OF PORN
Dir. Jeff Krulik, 1996
United States. 6 min.
In English.

Meet Ralph Whittington: Devoted father, officer for the Library of Congress for over 30 years, and owner of one of the largest private pornography collections in the world. Krulik tours Whittington’s suburban D.C. home housing his collection of over 400 videos, thousands of magazines, and all variety of erotic ephemera.

ERNEST BORGNINE ON THE BUS
Dir. Jeff Krulik, 1997
United States. 50 min.
In English.

In 1996, Hollywood legend and certified Nice Guy Ernest Borgnine (you kids might know him best as Sgt. Fatso Judson in FROM HERE TO ETERNITY) purchased a forty-foot luxury coach bus dubbed “The Sunbum”. With Krulik and crew in tow, Borgnine and his son Cris traveled all across the Midwest for a first-person tour of America’s heartland. In 50 of the sweetest minutes ever put to video, we accompany Borgnine as he swaps stories with Illinois locals, tours Minnesota breweries, marches in Wisconsin parades, kisses Kansas babies, dines on the finest Italian cuisine Iowa has to offer, and regales us with tales from his decades-long career in Hollyweird.

I CREATED LANCELOT LINK
Dir. Jeff Krulik & Diane Bernard, 1999
United States. 15 min.
In English.

In 1997, Krulik filmed the reunion between TV comedy veterans Mike Marmer and Stan Burns, aka the masterminds behind the (Spectacle-approved) chimp-starring TV spy spoof LANCELOT LINK, SECRET CHIMP. Krulik juxtaposes highlights from the show with footage of the two sharing anecdotes from their time working on one of Saturday morning’s greatest triumphs.

KING OF PORN 2: THE RETIREMENT
Dir. Jeff Krulik, 2000
United States. 7 min.
In English.

Krulik catches up with Ralph “King of Porn” Whittington at his retirement after 40 years as an officer for the Library of Congress, while the Library’s public relations office breathes a sigh of relief.

$PECTACLE $ELLS OUT (SUPERHERO EDITION)

Posted on June 25, 2024July 10, 2024 by Dan Scanlon

Times are tough out there in the film industry. AI continues its encroach on creative human endeavor… Studios continue to consolidate into increasingly impenetrable, profit-driven cartels… While the very artform of “Cinema” falls under constant threat of replacement by that unholiest of C-words: “C*ntent”.

In an era when even some of the most iconic filmmakers in history must struggle for distribution, what is our meek little single-screen bodega to do?

Sell out, of course!

That’s right! This summer, Spectacle Theater finally decides to embrace the mainstream and give the people what they want: Non-stop superhero thrills! Though we here at the “S” weren’t satisfied just picking up our direct lines to Zaslav & Iger for a DC or Marvel hand-out, despite their constant pleading and 3am drunk texting. Instead, we’ve plumbed the depths of superhero cinema worldwide for cuts so deep even the Moloids haven’t seen ‘em. “Spider-verse”? Never heard of it! “MCU”? Feige-ddaboutit! “Joker”? I barely know ‘er! This is superhero cinema done Spectacle-style.

RAT PFINK A BOO BOO
Dir. Ray Dennis Steckler, 1966
United States. 72 min.
In English.

TUESDAY, JULY 9 – 7:30 PM
SATURDAY, JULY 13 – 10 PM
FRIDAY, JULY 19 – 5 PM
WEDNESDAY, JULY 31 – 7:30 PM

GET YOUR TICKETS!

Cee Bee Beaumont (Carolyn Brandt), the girlfriend of rock-n’-roll superstar Lonnie Lord (Ron Haydock), becomes the latest target of the notorious “Chain Gang”: A group of goons that spends their days stalking, tormenting, and murdering young women whose names they randomly pick out of the phone book. When Cee Bee is kidnapped by the Gang, Lonnie and his best friend Titus team up to save her in this gripping crime drama th— This looks like a job for Rat Pfink & Boo Boo! dedicated defenders of truth, justice, and freedom-loving people of the world!

If abrupt transitions are your thing, boy do we have one for you. B-movie maven and Spectacle mainstay Ray Dennis Steckler helms this dirt cheap, rockabilly-tinged homage to the campy tights-n’-fights fare of the 1960s. Originally intended as a straightforward stalker thriller— based in part on star (and Steckler’s ex-wife) Brandt’s own experiences as a victim of obscene phone calls— the story goes that Steckler got bored with the idea part way through filming and abruptly decided to turn it into a superhero comedy, parodying the stylized camp and tongue-in-cheek absurdity of William Dozier’s popular BATMAN television series.

The result is a mind-boggling jumble of ideas crammed into 72 minutes. Everything from silly superhero antics and beach party sing-a-longs to chilling home invasions and escaped ape fights, as only a talent like Steckler could envision.

ROBOT NINJA
Dir. J.R. Bookwalter, 1989
United States. 82 min.
In English.

SATURDAY, JULY 6 – MIDNIGHT
FRIDAY, JULY 12 – 10 PM
MONDAY, JULY 15 – 7:30 PM
FRIDAY, JULY 26 – 10 PM

GET YOUR TICKETS!

Leonard Miller (Michael Todd) is an aspiring comic book artist, resentful of his publisher for capitalizing on the runaway success of his Robot Ninja series. After witnessing the brutal rape and murder of a young couple at the hands of a ruthless gang, he turns to his friendly neighborhood mad scientist, Dr. Goodknight (Bogdan Pecic) to help bring his titular comic book creation to life, becoming the Robot Ninja on the hunt for bloody revenge.

This David Decoteau-produced feature by homespun horror legend J.R. Bookwalter (THE DEAD NEXT DOOR, OZONE) is a “comic book movie” in the truest sense of the term: A DIY splatterfest ripped from the pages of the brooding, hyperviolent brand of vigilantism popular in Reagan-era superhero comics. Supposedly made for just $15,000, the film oozes micro-budget charm, filled with lo-fi gore, flashy camera work, splashy neons, and scores of smoke machines that elevate this to a level of surreality beyond your average bargain bin video store fodder.

“ROBOT NINJA is the real deal: A charmingly lowbrow cult actioner that sits perfectly in that delicious liminal space between postmodernism and excessive 80s earnestness that all those turbo kids and hobos with shotguns are trying so hard to emulate.”
– Rocco Thompson, Rue Morgue

THE BLACK PANTHER WARRIORS
(黑豹天下)
Dir. Clarence Fok Yiu-leung, 1993
Hong Kong. 91 min.
In Cantonese and Mandarin with English subtitles.

TUESDAY, JULY 2 – 7:30 PM
FRIDAY, JULY 12 – MIDNIGHT
MONDAY, JULY 22 – 10 PM
SATURDAY, JULY 27 – 10 PM

GET YOUR TICKETS!

Black Cougar (Alan Tang) is a professional thief for hire whose skill level is unmatched. When a mysterious stranger offers a huge some of money to recover a top secret file from the local police headquarters, Cougar assembles a group of elite superpowered mercenaries— including the dart-throwing Madam Rose (Carrie Ng), sharpshooter Fai Mang-po (Tony Leung Ka-fai), gravity-defying gambler Black Jack Love (Simon Yam), computer genius Robert Parkinson (Dicky Cheung), and seductive swordswoman Ching-ching (Brigitte Lin)— to help pull off the ultimate heist, unaware that a double agent acts among them.

From Clarence Fok (NAKED KILLER, CHEAP KILLERS) comes this go-for-broke actioner in which all laws of physics and standards of good taste are thrown out the window. An orgy of wuxia wirework, gun fu, sparklers, and crude sex jokes, featuring a Suicide Squad-like gang of gimmicky rogues, and topped off with the violent energy of a Tex Avery cartoon. A film is so over-the-top and manically paced that it feels like flipping through a comic book made up entirely of splash pages. Borderline incomprehensible at times but a total blast throughout.

IRON FIST: THE GIANTS ARE COMING
(DEMIR YUMRUK: DEVLER GELIYOR)
Dir. Tunç Başaran, 1973
Turkey. 70 min.
In Turkish with English subtitles.

FRIDAY, JULY 5 – 5 PM
THURSDAY, JULY 18 – 7:30 PM
SATURDAY, JULY 20 – 10 PM
FRIDAY, JULY 26 – MIDNIGHT

GET YOUR TICKETS!

A stash of uranium is hidden away with the only clue being a dagger with a map to the location engraved on it. The diabolical, flamboyant villain Fu Manchu seeks out the cache to help him rule the world, but after murdering an archaeologist with a lead on the loot, the archaeologist’s son turns to the superhero Iron Fist to help bring the bad guys to justice.

No program of superhero oddities would be complete without a trip to 1970s Turkey, aka the Wild West of unlicensed superhero schlock. With a booming film industry but not enough written material to keep pace with demand, Turkish screenwriters and directors throughout the 60s & 70s turned to quick and cheap adaptations of popular Western characters, tailored to the tastes of local audiences. Despite the name or the “S” insignia, Iron Fist is more of a riff on the 60s Batman-type of vigilante that relies more on gadgets and cheesy one-liners than superpowers, making for a delightfully odd piece of Turkish pop cinema.

AN (UNLICENSED) EVENING WITH DAN POOLE
Dir. Dan Poole, et al., 1969-1992
United States. 125 min.
In English.

ONE NIGHT ONLY!

WEDNESDAY, JULY 17 – 7 PM w/Q&A (This event is $10.)

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This month, Spectacle is thrilled to host an evening of superhero “fan films” featuring a remote Q&A with death-defying DIY filmmaker Dan Poole.

From Andy Warhol’s BATMAN DRACULA, to the Turkish pop cinema of the 1960s and 70s, to this year’s own THE PEOPLE’S JOKER, unauthorized “fan films” of popular superhero IP have been a staple of the culture for as long as comic books and copyrights have coexisted. In 1992, upon hearing that James Cameron was writing a script for a big screen Spider-Man feature, Baltimore native Dan Poole gathered together $400, a committed group of friends, and an uncompromising vision to craft what many consider to be the greatest fan film ever made: A DIY adaptation of the iconic Spider-Man story arc “The Night Gwen Stacy Died”.

Eighteen months in the making, THE GREEN GOBLIN’S LAST STAND grew to be a cult sensation over the next decade through a combination of secret screenings, bootleg VHS copies circulated at comic conventions, and online auctions taking place out from under Marvel Comics’ watchful eye. Much of what set LAST STAND apart from other fan films was the sheer dedication of its director, producer, writer, creative editor, stunt performer, and star, Dan Poole, whose creative ethos of “getting the shot” above all else resulted in some of the most inventive and audacious DIY filmmaking ever captured, with Poole jumping off bridges, riding on top of cars, and swinging on ropes four stories off the ground with no safety net, all to bring his own vision of the character to life.

Three decades later, amidst a glut of generic CGI-driven superhero cinema, LAST STAND feels like a breath of fresh air. A comic book adaptation like no other, and a true testament to the spirit and passion of DIY filmmakers. Join us on July 17th for a program featuring Poole’s early fan films, presented alongside a sampling of (similarly unauthorized) fan-made shorts from the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, and followed by a virtual Q&A with Poole himself.

Total Runtime: 125 min.

Sentient.Art.Film Presents: ANHELL69 / RAW SESSION

Posted on May 20, 2024May 20, 2024 by Dan Scanlon

Sentient.Art.Film, an filmmaker-focused distribution model, presents a diptych of genre-defying independent films from South America: the New York premiere of Theo Montoya’s acclaimed ANHELL69, and the world premiere of As Talavistas and ela.ltda’s mini-DV opus RAW SESSION, previously screened at the 2022 IDFA in Amsterdam.

ANHELL69
Dir. Theo Montoya, 2022
Colombia, Romania, France, Germany.
In Spanish.

SATURDAY, JUNE 1 – 7:30 PM
SUNDAY, JUNE 9 – 5 PM
FRIDAY, JUNE 14 – MIDNIGHT
THURSDAY, JUNE 20 – 7:30 PM

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A funeral car cruises the streets of Medellín as a young director tells the story of his past and recalls the pre-production of his first film, a B-Movie with ghosts. As a docufiction “trans film”, in the words of the director, Anhell69 explores the dreams, doubts and fears of an annihilated generation.

SESSÃO BRUTA
(aka RAW SESSION)
Dir. As Talavistas and ela.ltda, 2022
Brazil.
In Portuguese.

SATURDAY, JUNE 1 – 10 PM
FRIDAY, JUNE 7 – 7:30 PM
TUESDAY, JUNE 11 – 10 PM
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 19 – 7:30 PM

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Synopsis: Shot with a Mini-DV camera without major preparations but with a great deal of sweat and beer, RAW SESSION presents itself as a succession of prologues of a film always yet to be made.

“A Brazilian collective of cross-dresser, transgender and non-binary friends filmed themselves in 2018 with a Mini DV camera, spontaneously and with little preparation. Four years later, the collective, As Talavistas & ela.ltda, edited the raw material to create a succession of prologues to a film that, as they say themselves, is continually in progress.

The result so far is a playful, personal, political and uncompromising self-portrait. The friends, all multiracial and thus doubly marginalized, talk frankly about themselves and the issues they struggle with, in a society that poses a constant danger to trans people. Brazil has the highest murder rate of transgender people in the world.”
– IDFA 2022

GAZA GHETTO: PORTRAIT OF A PALESTINIAN FAMILY

Posted on May 2, 2024May 2, 2024 by Dan Scanlon

GAZA GHETTO: PORTRAIT OF A PALESTINIAN FAMILY
Dir. Per-Åke Holmquist, Joan Mandell, & Pierre Björklund, 1985
Sweden. 82 min.
In Arabic and Hebrew with English subtitles.

ONE NIGHT ONLY 16mm PRESENTATION!

WEDNESDAY, MAY 15 – 7:30 PM

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Rousing and illuminating, GAZA GHETTO paints an intimate picture of a family’s day to day life in Palestine while they contend with the Israeli military occupation. Shown on a 16mm print, catch this vital documentary as it stops by at Spectacle Theater during its multi city national tour! All proceeds will go to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund.

Special thanks to Emily Apter and Maysles Documentary Center.

A NIGHT OF THAI POSTER BLISS

Posted on April 13, 2024April 30, 2024 by Dan Scanlon

SATURDAY, MAY 11 – 7 PM with seminar & film presentation led by Philip Jablon

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Everyone who loves movies knows that the most important part of all filmmaking is not the story, the production, the design, the actors, or even the director. It’s the poster!

Living colorfully within the triple cinematic crossroads of Hong Kong flair, Indian decadence, and American luster, no country in the world may understand the importance of eye-popping poster art better than Thailand. One look at any of your favorite titles will be all the proof you need.

After first being exposed to Asian Cinema as a preteen, Philadelphia born photographer and historian Philip Jablon had found his calling. Splitting his time between his American hometown and Chiang Mai, he has spent decades documenting Thailand’s old fashioned, single screen, stand-alone movie theaters. He soon expanded his scope to include those in neighboring Laos and Burma. Along the way, Philip was stricken with a crippling addiction to Thailand’s movie posters. Taking a break from all his globetrotting, Philip will be joining us at Spectacle on May 11th to educate us all on the blissful art, story, and life of Thai Cinema, based on his newest book THE AMAZING MOVIE POSTERS OF THAILAND.

Following the half-hour seminar there will be a secret presentation of one of Philip’s All-Time Favorite Thai Films!

XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX
Dir. XXXX XX XXXX, 1983.
Thailand. 102 min.
Dubbed in English.

WARNING! EXPLICIT CONTENT!

SEVEN BLOODSTAINED GIALLI: ANOTHER MURDER MYSTERY MARATHON

Posted on April 13, 2024April 16, 2024 by Dan Scanlon

SATURDAY, MAY 25 – 12 PM to 2 AM

$5 PER SHOW or $25 FULL DAY

DAY PASSES ON SALE NOW

It’s time to crack open the J&B again for the return of Spectacle Theater’s Giallo Marathon!

Join us for a fourteen-hour-long descent into the mad and macabre with seven hand-picked Gialli ranging from cult classics to unseen gems and unappreciated masterpieces.

The Giallo genre derived its name from the Italian pulp mystery novels ‘Il Giallo Mondadori’ and their recognisable yellow covers (the Italian word for yellow is giallo). The books were so popular that Giallo became synonymous with Italian mystery thrillers. By the 1960s, the genre made its way onto celluloid: hundreds of Giallo movies were produced in Italy between 1963 and 1978. Often featuring a violent murder-mystery plot, a heart-pounding soundtrack and eye-popping colours, Gialli are as stylish as they are mind-boggling.

Day passes are available online for $25. Single film tickets will be available at the door for $5 on a first-come, first-serve basis.

See below for estimated start times and programming hints.

NOON
XXXXX XXXXXXX X XXXX
dir. XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX, 1973.
Italy, 84 mins.
In Italian dubbed in English.The police are looking for a killer with a walking stick. 2 PM
XXXXX XX XXXX X XXXX
dir. XXXXXXX XXXX, 1977.
Italy, 96 mins.
In Italian with English Subtitles.

A killer stalks a woman after she witnesses a murder.

4 PM
XXXX XXX XXXXX XX XXX XXXXXX XX XXX XXXX
dir. XXXXX XXXXXXXXX, 1972.
Italy, 90 mins.
In Italian with English Subtitles.

A man discovers a tape recording in the grounds of an old villa.

6 PM
XXXXXXXXX
dir. XXXXX XXXXXXX, 2001.
Italy, 117 mins.
In English.The master returns to Giallo. 8 PM
XXX XXXXXXX XXXXXXX
dir. XXXXXXX XXXX, 1970.
Italy, 98 mins.
In English.

Giallo KNIVES OUT?

10 PM
XXXXX XXXXX XX XXXXX XXXXX
dir. XXXX XXXX, 1971.
Italy, 97 mins.
In Italian with English subtitles.

An immobilised man tries to remember how he got there.

MIDNIGHT
XXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX
dir. XXXXX XXXXXXX, 1985.
Italy, 93 mins.
In English.

A man is telekinetically linked to his sister in Milan.

PRIMATE VISION: MAN OR MONKEY?

Posted on April 12, 2024May 2, 2024 by Dan Scanlon

Spectacle Theater’s accompaniment to Roxy Cinema’s MONKEY OR MAN? film series continues to probe the relationship between man and primate by taking a close look at the phenomenon of humans de-evolving into apes. Having previously explored the missing links between both species, now we will focus on the contested territory between the “end of ape” and the “origin of man.”

William Beaudine’s THE APE MAN (1943) concerns a mad scientist who accidentally transforms himself into an ape; in turn, becoming a social pariah because of his new hairy look. René Cardona’s DOCTOR OF DOOM (1963) also involves a mad scientist, but he’s got more nefarious plans in mind. With his sidekick Gomar, the eponymous doctor terrorizes a small Mexican town while trying to create a new race of ape men. Cardona’s second take on the ape-man narrative is NIGHT OF THE BLOODY APES (1969), a gruesome film about a young man who transforms into a sex-crazed murderous ape, instilling fear among Mexico City’s citizens. All of this, and a special undisclosed shocker will be on view during this month of MONKEY MAY-HEM.

THE APE MAN
dir. William Beaudine, 1943
United States. 64 min.
In English.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 1 – 10 PM
FRIDAY, MAY 10 – MIDNIGHT
FRIDAY, MAY 24 – 10 PM
WEDNESDAY, MAY 29 – 7:30 PM

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Dr. James Brewster (Bela Lugosi) accidentally transforms himself into a half-ape-half-human hybrid in this production by the B-movie stalwart William Beaudine. The only way he can remedy his condition is with a special serum that he must extract from human spinal cords, which inevitably leads him on a killing spree with his sidekick gorilla. Covered in hair and relegated to the shadows, Lugosi’s Dr. Brewster inhabits a crippling sense of shame; in turn, reflecting human society’s denigration of our most animalistic instincts.

THE APE MAN flirts with multiple horror tropes, invoking ghosts and scientific mishaps within the same narrative. Dr. Brewster’s sister, Agatha (Minerva Urecal), is a seer and her supernatural powers are constantly pinned to her brother’s growing malice. Questions about the limits of human experience are central to the film, as ghosts’ afterlives and primate former-lives are deemed freakish throughout. Despite being a Poverty Row cheapie, THE APE MAN is riddled with insights about the distinction between man and ape—propriety and transgression.

LAS LUCHADORAS CONTRA EL MÉDICO ASESINO
(DOCTOR OF DOOM)
dir. René Cardona, 1963
Mexico. 80 min.
In English.

FRIDAY, MAY 3 – MIDNIGHT
WEDNESDAY, MAY 8 – 7:30 PM
FRIDAY, MAY 17 – 10 PM
WEDNESDAY, MAY 29 – 10 PM

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The luchador (wrestler) films are cornerstones of Mexican cinema, with such stars as El Santo and Blue Demon. But in this female wrestling horror film by veteran B-Movie director René Cardona (SANTA CLAUS, THE BAT WOMAN, SANTO IN THE TREASURE OF DRACULA), a small town is threatened by a mysterious serial killer who might just be part-Ape. The local police department’s attempts to uncover who is behind the crimes reveals a sinister conspiracy led by a mad scientist hellbent on creating the perfect human specimen.

The origins of primatology are deeply tied to studies in eugenics; DOCTOR OF DOOM’s mad scientist and his quest to improve the human race by reconfiguring the primate body evokes this dark chapter in scientific research. Early primatologists were never as blatantly sinister about their experiments as this film’s eponymous scientist, yet DOCTOR OF DOOM’s allegorical dimension is still ripe with examples about how the general populace imagined such scientists. Working in cahoots with the mafia from a series of nondescript industrial locales, Dr. Doom’s modus operandi is indicative of the perception surrounding the secretive ways in which scientists modeled human problems and human order in primatological studies.

LA HORRIPILANTE BESTIA HUMANA
(NIGHT OF THE BLOODY APES)
dir. René Cardona, 1969
Mexico. 81 min.
In English.

SATURDAY, MAY 4 – MIDNIGHT
FRIDAY, MAY 10 – 10 PM
WEDNESDAY, MAY 22 – 7:30 PM
TUESDAY, MAY 28 – 10 PM

This film includes scenes of sexual violence.

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“It’s as if H.G. Lewis made ALTERED STATES, but also RE-ANIMATOR and in Mexico.”
—Caroline Kopko

A surgeon, Dr. Krallman (José Elias Moreno), unleashes a monster on Mexico City after he transplants a gorilla’s heart into his son’s body in a last-ditch attempt to save him from Leukemia. Although it is a shame there is only one ape-man in NIGHT OF THE BLOODY APES, Cardona makes up for it by offering a grizzlier take on the premise that he had previously sketched out in DOCTOR OF DOOM. NIGHT OF THE BLOODY APES is a mean morality play, in which science and ethics are exploded to maximum dramatic effect.