Spectober 2023

COLLAGE HORREUR

Posted on September 6, 2023November 3, 2023 by Zach Fleming

As our dear bodega is serenaded in shrieks and showered in gore this SPECTOBER, we are excited to exhume COLLAGE HORREUR, an accompanying series of contemporary experimental horror films that reanimate, reuse, and remix found materials to summon novel sensations and dreadful meta-epiphanies from the genre.

In the case of Péter Lichter and Bori Máté’s THE PHILOSOPHY OF HORROR, celluloid itself becomes the object of both bodily and psychic slaughter as a pair of iconic horror film prints are brutalized into nightmarish abstraction. Aristotelis Maragkos’ THE TIMEKEEPERS OF ETERNITY takes a similarly hands-on approach through the volatile manipulation of a cosmic horror miniseries that has been entirely printed and re-edited on paper. Charlie Shackleton’s FEAR ITSELF sees the filmmaker’s grasp of the video essay form stitch together a daunting and diverse filmography to reflect upon the complications of horror film connoisseurship.

Preceding THE PHILOSOPHY OF HORROR will be two vampiric shorts by the Croatian collage animation maestro Dalibor Barić: the upbeat and bloodthirsty THE HORROR OF DRACULA and ALL CATACOMBS ARE GRAY, an interpretation of Sheridan Le Fanu’s sapphic 19th century novella CARMILLA. Barić’s sonic reworking of TWILIGHT ZONE clips paired with comic book cutouts, MY GAME OF LONGING, will also play before THE TIMEKEEPERS OF ETERNITY. For the non-Q&A screenings of FEAR ITSELF, audiences will have a chance to see Ben Rivers’ short film TERROR! as another complementary meditation on the joys of being afraid.

Alongside remote Q&As with many of these filmmakers, the local found sound DJ duo, Vampÿrates, will climb aboard the theater on Friday the 13th for a special one-night performance to sink their fangs into the willing eyes and ears of spectators through the wee hours.

THE PHILOSOPHY OF HORROR: A SYMPHONY OF FILM THEORY
dirs. Péter Lichter and Bori Máté, 2020
60 mins. Hungary.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4 – 10 PM
MONDAY, OCTOBER 9 – 10 PM
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18 – 7:30 PM
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 28 – 3 PM FEATURING REMOTE DIRECTOR Q&A / THIS EVENT IS $10

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GET TICKETS FOR DIRECTOR Q&A SCREENING HERE!

Deriving its name from Noël Carroll’s seminal book on the poetics of horror, Lichter and Máté use excerpts from the text as framing devices to move from scholarly taxonomy to visceral affect as a pair of film prints are cut, scratched, painted, overlapped, and recombined to a point of mesmerizing and indecipherable grisliness. The victims of choice? A certain 80’s classic concerning a vengeful monster that kills teenagers in their dreams, and its sequel.

Screening with:

THE HORROR OF DRACULA
dir. Dalibor Barić, 2010
5 mins. Croatia.

ALL CATACOMBS ARE GRAY
dir. Dalibor Barić, 2013
20 mins. Croatia.

THE TIMEKEEPERS OF ETERNITY
dir. Aristotelis Maragkos, 2021
64 mins. Greece.
In English.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 9 – 7:30 PM
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 21 – 3 PM FEATURING REMOTE DIRECTOR Q&A / THIS EVENT IS $10
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 26 – 10 PM

GET YOUR TICKETS!
GET TICKETS FOR DIRECTOR Q&A SCREENING HERE!

In a painstaking process that calls to mind the Library of Congress Paper Print Film Collection (an initiative that ended up giving many films an afterlife beyond their initial celluloid deaths), Maragkos printed each frame of a 3-hour 1995 miniseries adaptation of a novella by the world’s most famous horror writer onto black and white paper to then rephotograph them back into motion with many artistic liberties taken along the way. Visible crinkles, cuts, and tears inflicted on the paper images create both dramatic emphasis and nihilistic resonance as ten passengers aboard a night-time flight awaken to realize everyone aboard has vanished.

Screening with:

MY GAME OF LONGING
dir. Dalibor Barić, 2013
10 mins. Croatia.

FEAR ITSELF
dir. Charlie Shackleton, 2015
88 mins. United Kingdom.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 7 – 3 PM FEATURING REMOTE DIRECTOR Q&A / THIS EVENT IS $10
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 10 – 7:30 PM
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 17 – 7:30 PM
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27 – 5 PM

GET YOUR TICKETS!
GET TICKETS FOR DIRECTOR Q&A SCREENING HERE!

Recovering from the grief of a lost sibling, a woman in voice-over reflects on her paradoxical repulsion and fixation with viewing horror films in seclusion. Shackleton’s visual track takes us through a century-spanning tour of the genre, eclectically sampling hundreds of well-known and obscure gems from around the world. While its essayistic qualities are squared confidently in the foreground, FEAR ITSELF never lets intellectualizing overcome an ever-present sense of impending fright.

Screening with:

TERROR!
dir. Ben Rivers, 2007
24 mins. United Kingdom.

ONE NIGHT ONLY! FRIDAY, 10/13 AT MIDNIGHT

GET TICKETS HERE!

“Featuring, our music videos & video music, stolen treasures & unburied graves,
detournèd objects & cultural corpses, including:

BELA LUGOSI’S DEAD,
DAHLIA NOIR,
BIOMUTANTEN,
HEART OF (SHATTERED) GLASS,
VAMPYR/BLOOD,
ULTRAVIOLET CATASTROPHE,
& LES VAMPIRES (in inverse~reverse~negative).

With these (ab)original works by Vampÿrates, aka, Richard Sylvarnes & Bradley Eros.”

Special thanks to Mackenzie Lukenbill, Nate Dorr, the Vampÿrates, and Wouter Jansen.

COVENS, CULTS, AND CABALS

Posted on September 6, 2023September 14, 2023 by Zach Fleming

There’s something diabolically attractive about being in a cult. The acceptance, the belonging, the fun new name they give you. But there’s also something horribly distrustful about them. Their secrecy, their brainwashing, and what they must get up to behind closed doors. The horrors they must be perpetuating upon the good people of this planet. At least that’s what we assume, they wouldn’t let us join the fun. We can only expect (and showcase) the worst…

This Spectober, join us as we carve out a small selection of international films surrounding one our most beloved macabre subjects: the evil ritualistic conspiracy.

THE PYX
(aka THE HOOKER CULT MURDERS)
Dir. Harvey Hart, 1973
Canada. 107 min
In English

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 3 – 7:30 PM
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 20 – 5 PM
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 26 – 7:30 PM

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This October is the 50th Anniversary of Harvey Hart’s diabolical thriller THE PYX. In order to honor the occasion, we’ve decided to resurrect this Spectacle Classic, which originally screened in 2015 and subsequently streamed as part of SPECTOBER IN EXILE following the onset of the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Somewhere between ROSEMARY’S BABY and KLUTE, this Canadian supernatural mystery offers plenty to satisfy police procedural fans as Dr. Sgt. Jim Henderson (played by Christopher Plummer) investigates the murder of Elizabeth Lucy (Karen Black). As the film moves back and forth between Henderson’s investigation and Lucy’s last days we learn of her connection to a cult of devil worshipers.

While other films would try to drive up the tension, there’s a quiet, sullen feel to THE PYX, from the grubby rain-soaked streets of Montreal to Lucy’s manipulative madam to the minimal orchestral score, supplemented by Karen Black’s songs, all of which build a slow sense of inescapable dread. Lucy’s conflagration of sex, heroin and Catholicism drifts through the entire film, a counterpoint to the increasing paranoia and futility of the detectives seeking to understand what remains beyond them as both storylines mirror the downward spiral of the other.

EL MONTE DE LAS BRUJAS
(THE WITCHES MOUNTAIN)
Dir. Raúl Artigot, 1972
Spain. 86 min
In Spanish with English subtitles

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 3 – 10 PM
MONDAY, OCTOBER 16 – 10 PM
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 29 – 5 PM

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After an opening that a written description would only spoil, Carla shows up unannounced at the home of her (ex?)boyfriend, Mario, who wants little to do with her. To avoid Carla, Mario forgoes his vacation time and heads north to the mountains on assignment as a photojournalist. Arriving at a beach, Mario, and his godlike handlebar mustache, luridly comes across a young sunbather named Delia. Smitten, Delia decides to join Mario on his assignment and the two head deep into the mountains. What follows is a sequence of bizarre and unsettling events: strange cloaked men lingering outside the windows of a mountain inn, the theft of Mario’s car by an unknown entity, unexplainable photographic anomalies, and a nighttime funeral procession. What or who is behind these strange occurrences? What fate is in store for Mario? And what does it have to do with Carla?

What the film may lack in plot and coherence, it more than makes up for in its ethereal mood and striking atmosphere. The true star being the mountains of northern Spain, who’s ancient harsh landscape coated in lush vegetation already feels haunted in its appearance alone. Raúl Artigot’s career was more often spent in the role of cinematographer, having worked on such features as CANNIBAL MAN, THE GHOST GALLIEN, THE EROTIC RITES OF FRANKENSTEIN and many more. WITCHES MOUNTAIN would be his directorial debut, and only one of his 3 total features. Knowing this, the film’s tendency for style-over-story makes perfect sense (as well as Mario’s profession). If you enjoyed Spectacle’s summer screenings of LE ORME, and the vibes it exuded, WITCHES MOUNTAIN may be right for you.

Similar to LA PAPESSE, WITCHES MOUNTAIN was banned in its home country (fuck you Franco), and gained an undeserved reputation for being violent and misogynistic due to its censorship. However, it should be noted that the film only appeared in front of investigators/censors because some of the actors in the film felt they were being shortchanged on night shoots and in wanting fair compensation snitched to the review board. In light of the recent and ongoing SAG and writer’s union strikes, we must point out that this could be your film’s fate if you skimp on paying your workers. Languishing in obscurity for decades, and then having a short run at an ex-bodega in Brooklyn for $5 tickets. Chilling.

Special thanks to Mondo Macabre.

LA PAPESSE
(THE POPESS or THE HIGH PRIESTESS; aka A WOMAN POSSESSED)
Dir. Mario Mercier, 1975
France. 94 min
In French with English subtitles

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 7 – MIDNIGHT
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19 – 10 PM
MONDAY, OCTOBER 30 – 10 PM

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CONTENT WARNING: This film contains violence against animals and depictions of rape.

Laurent and Aline are newlyweds. Laurent is a self-described artist who pines for a life of hedonism amongst the local sex cult, and to learn the teachings of its Popess. Aline? Not so much. They squabble over the direction of their lives. To Laurent’s dismay, the cult isn’t interested in only him, they want his wife as well. In order to overcome Aline’s reluctance, the cult begins a process to break her down including, but not limited to: flogging, drugs, imprisonment, branding, the male gaze, animal sacrifice, and a poison challenge akin to THE PRINCESS BRIDE’s Battle of Wits. A tale of warning for those who seek acceptance from the right crowd to further their art careers.

The cult’s Popess, from whom Laurent seeks absolution, is a dark-haired woman named Géziale, played by—get this—a mysterious woman named Géziale. She has no other on-screen credits and is purported to be an actual occultist leader. Is she real? At what point does the film blur between fiction and documentary? Are we seeing a retelling of the occult dabblings of director Mario Mercier and his initiation into a magical sect lead by the very same Géziale? Or is this just BLAIR WITCH levels of marketing and promotion?

With a firm grasp of the ritual practices of esotericism and occult magic, LA PAPESSE finds itself sitting comfortably within the venn diagram of psychedelica and S&M/fetish/power and domination play. Featuring quite inventive lo-fi camera and editing work that may be the film’s most redeeming and inspiring qualities. Mercier achieves beautiful images and sequences, some of which bring fellow magician Kenneth Anger’s oeuvre to mind.

Despite some of its more extreme contents, LA PAPESSE is often unfairly derided as euro-sleaze trash. This assessment was fueled by the French government’s censorship of the film upon its release. Originally pulled in its first week and re-released with an X rating (or the French equivalent?) back into the pornography theater circuit where it was not well received. Not sleazy enough for the porn theaters, but too sleazy for the general public. This censorship process seemingly ended Mercier’s short filmmaking career, with him choosing to shift his focus back to writing, painting and practicing shamanism.

And is it just me, or does the film’s theme music bear a remarkable resemblance to Wendy Rene’s After Laughter?

Posted on September 6, 2023October 19, 2023 by Zach Fleming

CAMPFIRE TALES
dir. William Cooke, Paul Talbot, 1991
United States. 86 min.
In English.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6 – 5 PM
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 15 – 7:30 PM
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 25 – 7:30 PM

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Once Upon a Time…You’re Dead

A grizzled derelict tells a quartet of horror tales to a trio of young campers.

Not to be confused with the 1997 anthology film also titled CAMPFIRE TALES, this original edition stars the infamous Gunnar Hansen as the grizzled derelict in question telling scary stories to the three teens he finds gathered around a campfire.

Each tale is prompted by something one of the teens does – oh you have a knife? How about a hook-handed killer story? Is that weed you’re about to smoke? Get ready for the only body-horror anti-weed story you’ve ever heard – and while the pacing is a little wonky (as it frequently is in anthology movies), Gunnar’s presence and some ingenious practical effects are more than enough to make this worth any horror freaks while.

CRYPTIC PLASM
dir. Brian Paulin, 2015
United States. 80 min.
In English.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 10 – 10 PM
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 21 – 10 PM
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27 – MIDNIGHT

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Absorb the plasm…

The story is about David Gates, a cryptozoologist who is hired to film his investigations. One of them being a mysterious town where all of its inhabitants have vanished without a trace. David uncovers far more than he anticipated and puts his own life at risk. Afterwards David begins to feel the bizarre effects from the town within his own biology. Meanwhile he is sent by his investor to film an exorcism. Something that is completely outside of his expertise. Already suffering from unnatural symptoms, David, who is now reluctantly in the presence of pure evil, fears that multiple inhuman forces are tearing him apart from inside.

Cryptic Plasm takes the tired ‘ghost hunter reality show encounters actual ghost’ premise and turns it on its ear. When a cryptozoologist is hired by a sleazy TV producer to film his research into the paranormal, we’re treated to a series of escalating close encounters of the spooky kind, including a swamp monster, a ghost town, and one of the worst exorcisms this programmer has ever seen, all culminating in an otherworldly gore soaked climax that has to be seen to be believed.

Brian Paulin has been cranking out homemade bloody epics from the Massachusetts area since the mid 90s, and his love of the craft is evident in every frame. The effects work is truly fantastic, working with his limitations to create something truly nightmarish and memorable in a sea of shot-on-DV crud.

RICHARD LAYMON’S IN THE DARK
dir. Clifton Holmes, 2000
United States. 106 min.
In English.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6 – 10 PM
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 15 – 5 PM
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18 – 10 PM
MONDAY, OCTOBER 23 – 7:30 PM

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Play a game with only one rule … keep playing

*NEW YORK PREMIERE*

We are very excited to screen this never-officially-released adaptation of the never before-or-since adapted Richard Laymon novel, IN THE DARK.

The novel follows librarian Jane, who finds a note one day from the unseen and unheard ‘Master of Games’, daring her to complete increasingly more drastic challenges for money as she gets drawn further into the perverse world of the game.

Laymon’s writing typically leaned toward the extreme and the splatter, but Clifton’s adaptation focuses on the discomfort of what goes unseen, steeping us in Jane’s mundane world as she sinks deeper into the game, seemingly unable to stop herself, and brilliantly tapping into the human impulse to find out what happens if we go just a little further. IN THE DARK feels like an art-house slow burn SAW without the on screen torture.

Shot on mini-DV on a miniscule budget, what Clifton Holmes’ Chicago-set adaptation lacks in budget, it more than compensates for in pure mood and dread, entering the rare pantheon of films that manage to improve upon their source material.

Spectacle is proud to present this early oughts lost gem – you won’t regret catching this on the big screen!

THE LAKE
(บึง/กาฬ)
dir. Lee Thongkham, 2022
105 mins. Thailand.
In Thai with English subtitles.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5 – 10 PM
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12 – 7:30 PM
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 21 – 5 PM
MONDAY, OCTOBER 30 – 7:30 PM followed by remote Q+A with filmmaker Lee Thongkham!
(This event is $10.)

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As part of our annual Halloween programming, Spectacle is thrilled to offer a limited engagement of Lee Thongkham’s giant kaiju thriller THE LAKE (never before shown on the big screen in New York City.)

A young girl finds an egg near a lake in Bueng Kan (“black marsh”), near the northernmost part of Thailand facing the Mekong River. Not long after she’s brought the egg back to her home village, an amphibious monster over thirty feet tall emerges, terrorizing the town in search of its young. Designed by SFX maestro Jordu Schell (of NEMESIS, STARSHIP TROOPERS, Tim Burton’s PLANET OF THE APES, CLOVERFIELD and many many others), this monster is a triumph of combined practical and computer-generated effects, hulking and menacing like a shapeshifting mutant dinosaur. Cut off from the rest of the outside world, the residents of Bueng Kan must band together to stop the carnage before it’s too late.

Visceral, moody and drenched in darkness, THE LAKE foregoes the slow-burn exposition of more traditional monster movies. It’s a kaiju lover’s feast of a film, equally indebted to Godzilla and Gamera as to Spielberg’s original JURASSIC PARK. In an interview with PopHorror, director Lee Thongkham emphasized THE LAKE as a loving homage to the creature feature as well as “a story about religion, the human spirit, and science… But most importantly, it’s about finding one another through the chaos that one does not understand.”

LAURIN
(aka LAURIN: A JOURNEY INTO DEATH)
dir. Robert Sigl, 1989
83 mins. Germany.
In (dubbed) English.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13 – 5 PM
MONDAY, OCTOBER 16 – 7:30 PM
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 29 – 7:30 PM followed by remote Q+A with filmmaker Robert Sigl!
(This event is $10.)

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Robert Sigl’s debut feature LAURIN takes place in a small port town in Germany at the turn of the 20th century, where children have begun to go missing. After her pregnant mother is murdered, nine year old Laurin (Dóra Szinetár) must contend with visions both dreamlike and nightmarish – and laced with possible clues towards the mystery encircling the village.

Made when Sigl was just 25 years old, LAURIN is a gothic fairy tale of ethereal beauty, evenly evoking Fritz Lang’s M., Victor Erice’s SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE and Richard Blackburn’s LEMORA: A CHILD’S TALE OF THE SUPERNATURAL. Shot on location in Hungary and heavy on ambience (abetted greatly by the work of cinematographer Nyika Jancsó, son of Miklos), the film barely qualifies as horror; it’s more of a gothic fairy tale, ruminating on innocence lost, suppression of sexuality and the concentric nature of abuse handed down across generations.

THE MIDNIGHT HOUR
dir. Jack Bender. 1985.
United States. 94 mins.
In English.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 8 – 5 PM
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 20 – MIDNIGHT
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 31 – 7:30 PM

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It’s Halloween night in Pitchford Cove, Massachusetts. When five high school friends accidentally summon an undead army, the teens must rectify their mistake and save the town before the midnight hour.

An early effort by legendary TV producer and director Jack Bender (LOST, UNDER THE DOME, MR MERCEDES), THE MIDNIGHT HOUR is a bewitching comedy horror with incredible production value, by TV standards. Criminally underseen and effortlessly nostalgic, THE MIDNIGHT HOUR is the perfect movie for Halloween.

Although the film can be tonally cacophonous, switching between slapstick comedy and dramatic violence on a dime, Bender masterfully toes the line between absurdity and horror. THE MIDNIGHT HOUR will provide a healthy dose of Halloween nostalgia this October, featuring zombie dance numbers, vampire transformations to The Smiths, and even a GREASE (1978) callback.

PIN
dir. Sandor Stern. 1988.
Canada. 104 mins.
In English.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 2 – 10 PM
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 22 – 5 PM – FEATURING REMOTE Q&A WITH DIRECTOR SANDOR STERN AND AUTHOR ANDREW NEIDERMAN – THIS EVENT IS $10
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27 – 7:30 PM

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Leon, a troubled child, befriends his father’s lifesized medical dummy, Pin. Leon’s reality crumbles following the death of his parents, and his obsession with Pin takes a dangerous turn.

The best way to describe PIN is by its full title, ‘PIN: A PLASTIC NIGHTMARE.’ Although the film might seem like a classic killer doll movie, à la PUPPET MASTER (1989), the true terror of PIN comes from within. Pin explores themes of childhood trauma, authoritarian parenting and object attachment in this emotionally driven psychological horror.

Based on the novel by the author of THE DEVIL’S ADVOCATE, Andrew Neiderman, and directed by Sandor Stern, screenwriter of THE AMITYVILLE HORROR (1979). Together, they have reimagined the killer doll subgenre without the comfort of childhood nostalgia. The result is a harrowing film starring David Hewlett (STARGATE: ATLANTIS, CUBE) and Terry O’Quinn (LOST, THE STEPFATHER).

For one night only, join us on October 22nd for a remote Q&A with director Sandor Stern and author Andrew Neiderman!

PLAYROOM
dir. Manny Coto, 1990
United Kingdom. 90 min.
In English.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 11 – 7:30 PM
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 17 – 10 PM
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 22 – 7:30 PM

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“Where the terror is child’s play”

An archaeologist is haunted by a nightmare in which his family is murdered.

The debut feature of director Manny Coto (DR. GIGGLES, STAR KID), PLAYROOM follows the increasingly unhinged Chris (played by Christopher McDonald aka Shooter McGavin in a rare leading-man role) as he revisits the archaeology site in search of a mythological place his father was looking for before he was killed.

Is it his imagination, or is something supernatural at work?! Will unaddressed childhood trauma come to a happy conclusion?! Only one way to find out!

Also features niche 90’s child actor Aron Eisenberg (PUPPETMASTER III, HOUSE III, AMITYVILLE: THE EVIL ESCAPES) and the dinosaur pajamas from DON’T PANIC. Don’t miss this!

Sidenote: googling this title pulls up some late-movie moments that are best experienced ice cold, so avoid that if you can!

RED SPIRIT LAKE
dir. Charles Pinion, 1993
United States. 69 min.
In English.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6 – MIDNIGHT
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 25 – 10 PM
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 28 – MIDNIGHT

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After a vengeful sorceress is tortured and killed by a corrupt industrialist looking to harness the spectral powers of Red Spirit Lake, her niece arrives in snow covered Angel Falls to settle her aunt’s estate.

The sleazy crown jewel of this month’s Spectober is the SOV trashterpiece RED SPIRIT LAKE. Directed by Charles Pinion (Twisted Issues, We Await) and featuring a who’s-who grab bag of late 80s/early 90s underground NYC talent (including Spectacle favorite Tessa Hughes-Freeland in a blink and you’ll miss it cameo) Red Spirit Lake is the rare SOV flick that manages to transcend its scuzzy trappings into something more than the sum of its parts.

Not for the faint of heart (almost every content warning applies – no animals harmed though!) and borderline actively repellent, it’s a fever dream of a movie that lands somewhere between a snuff film and Picnic at Hanging Rock, featuring aliens, angels, witches, nymphs, 80s workouts, nude galavanting in the snow, Victorian flashbacks and a killer soundtrack featuring Cop Shoot Cop, Lydia Lunch, Clint Ruin and The Lunachicks.

Special thanks to Saturn’s Core Video

TALES FROM THE QUADEAD ZONE
dir. Chester Novell Turner, 1987
United States. 62 min.
In English.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 11 – 10 PM
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 21 – MIDNIGHT
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 28 – 11 PM

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3 Tales of Evil Beyond Belief

A woman reads two spooky tales to the ghost of her dead son, Bobby: the first, about a poor family who takes drastic measures to allot more food to their members; the second, about a pair of adversarial brothers and what happens when one of them dies and the other attempts to humiliate his corpse.

The follow up to Black Devil Doll from Hell, Chester Novell Turner’s Tales from the Quadead Zone has achieved a deserved cult status over the years as one of the more unsettling and esoteric horror anthologies ever assembled (some video stores refused to carry the tape because they were so uncomfortable with its lo-fi nightmare aesthetics).

Legends aside, the lean 62 minute run time packs in a breathtaking amount of creativity and ingenuity – including one of the best anthology theme songs this programmer has ever heard. The hand crafted effects and props, occasionally inaudible dialogue, warped tracking, and messy rotoscoping all combine to create a transportive, chaotic stew of SOV derangement that miraculously manages to pack an emotional punch as well.

TIME OF MOULTING
dir. Sabrina Mertens, 2020
Germany. 82 min.
In German with English subtitles.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4 – 7:30 PM
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19 – 7:30 PM
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24 – 10 PM

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In 1970s West Germany, young Stephanie (Zelda Espenschied) lives with her emotionally stunted parents, sequestered from life outside their cluttered home. Her father oscillates between ignoring and denigrating her, while her unstable mother’s cloying affection may actually be the most sinister thing happening within their walls. Discouraged from playing with the neighborhood children, Stephanie’s only friend is her own imagination, which absorbs every decrepit family “heirloom” in the house, from the grandfather’s old butcher’s tools to her grandmother’s dentures. Years later, the curious little girl has matured into a cold, frightening young woman (Miriam Schiweck) whose oppressive surroundings cultivated in her a disturbing erotic life. She is an animal growing up in captivity, unable to molt.

Described by director Sabrina Mertens as a “still life of a family in 57 pictures,” TIME OF MOULTING creates a Gothic portrait out of a series of vignettes, private moments from which we can construct a murky idea of what went wrong with Stephanie. Unable to crawl out from under the rubble of her parents’ repression, she also cannot escape the shadow of violence wrought by the country’s previous generation. Dark fantasies and isolation coalesce in one girl, building to an unforgettable conclusion. While the film lets the viewer in on plenty of secrets, the most disturbing parts of this family’s life are perhaps what we do not see.