Ongoing Series – Page 3 – Spectacle Theater

AUGUST MIDNIGHTS

Posted on July 29, 2015December 26, 2019 by spectacletheater

SATURDAY, AUGUST 1: AND GOD SAID TO CAIN

FRIDAY, AUGUST 7: TOXIC ZOMBIES
SATURDAY, AUGUST 8: TOXIC ZOMBIES

FRIDAY, AUGUST 14: THE EMBALMER
SATURDAY, AUGUST 15: THE EMBALMER

FRIDAY, AUGUST 21: LASER MISSION
SATURDAY, AUGUST 22: NINJA MISSION

FRIDAY, AUGUST 28: MY CHAUFFEUR
SATURDAY, AUGUST 29: THE HORROR OF PARTY BEACH

AND GOD SAID TO CAIN
Antonio Margheriti, 1970.
96 min. Italy/West Germany.
In German with English subtitles.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 1 – MIDNIGHT

In this macabre spaghetti western, the Duke of Delirium, Goth Kinski, gives a rare, heroic and unquestionably leading role as a man released after ten years of wrongful incarceration in a prison labor camp. Once sprung, he meanders his way back to town to get revenge on the men who framed him — one of whom has since become a wealthy and politically powerful land baron with dozens of hired guns on the payroll.

The plot may be traditional, but the movie is anything but: AND GOD SAID TO CAIN is notorious as of the darkest spaghettis ever made, and closer in tone to Italian horror films of the period than traditional westerns. It’s the most accomplished picture of underrated director Antonio Margheriti, best known for gothic horror films like CASTLE OF BLOOD and THE LONG HAIR OF DEATH. CAIN is an effortless synthesis of the two genres: in a largely wordless performance, Kinski assumes an almost phantasmagorical aura, and eerie shootouts take place under moonlight and in churches and candlelit quarters. The film’s baroque, blazing climax — think the of funhouse shootout of THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI restaged in Hell — validates the film’s German title, SATAN DER RACHE — “Satan of Revenge.”

Though AND GOD SAID TO CAIN frequently languishes in washed out transfers in YouTube and public domain purgatory, tonight we’ll show a pristine digital transfer with the German-language soundtrack that preserves Kinski’s original spoken dialog.

TOXIC ZOMBIES
aka Bloodeaters
Dir. Charles McCrann, 1980
USA, 89 min.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 7 – MIDNIGHT
SATURDAY, AUGUST 8 – MIDNIGHT

We return with the second examination of some of the lesser-know films to pop on on Mary Whitehouse’s list of “sadist videos”, criticized for their combination of sex. violence and cruelty. What the Nurse With Wound list was to experimental music weirdoes, the Video Nasty List became a must-see list for those lurking in dingy basement video stores. For contemporary viewers, it’s easy to think of such a list as silly and tame, but it’s worth keeping in mind this list wasn’t really about gutmunching gore effects — for most of these films, it’s the cavalier combination of giddy bloodshed and unrepentant deviancy sneaking into suburban homes any time little Janey and Johnny skipped down to the video rental store. Many of these films are now considered classics (POSSESSION, TENEBRAE, I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE, THE LAST HOUSE ON YOUR LEFT) while others will still turn even lifetime Fangoria readers green (ANTHROPOPHAHOUS, LOVE CAMP 7, CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST), but with the Video Nasty Project we’re taking a look at some of the lesser-known films to appear on the list. Do you dare to watch them all?

Deep in the forest, a group of pot farmers get into a Ruby Ridge situation with some corrupt US agents, who then spray the crops with some kinda psychedelic that turns the farmers into zombies. That’s the setup, but director/writer/actor Charles McCrann (in his only film) isn’t here to give you a ton of backstory: he’s here for zombies in the woods, Romero-style anti-establishment rhetoric and a general vibe that’d sit nicely with BURIAL GROUND or THE LIVING DEAD AT MANCHESTER MORGUE. With all the washed-out grungy deep woods darkness and flanging score you’d expect, we’re delighted to bring you TOXIC ZOMBIES!

THE EMBALMER
aka Il mostro di Venezia
Dir. Dino Tavella, 1965
Italy, 77 min.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 14 – MIDNIGHT
SATURDAY, AUGUST 15 – MIDNIGHT

“How lovely you are! Like alabaster goddesses. No living woman possesses your mysterious fascination or your sweet repose.”

Welcome to Venice! It is one of the most picturesque cities in the entire world with its beautiful architecture dotting the murky waters of the grand canal. Our story begins here with a series of disappearances. All of the disappearances have something in common, the missing are all young ladies who just happened to have disappeared close to a canal. The police suspect that the missing young ladies may have fallen into the water and drowned, but none of the bodies have been recovered. Meanwhile, a reporter from a local paper begins to suspect that the disappearances are the work of some fiend who is kidnapping young women and hiding their bodies deep in the Venetian canals. The city is in a state of panic! How many more girls can possibly disappear?! Well, about nine more because just around the corner is a group of lovely young ladies visiting from Rome and they are just dying to explore Venice. Which one of the girls will be the first victim of this fiend? Who is the mysterious fiend and what is this fiend doing to the bodies of these young ladies?

THE EMBALMER is an early Giallo film that reads like a travelogue film with a touch of gothic imagery. The city of Venice and its labyrinthian canals take the place of the ancient stately manor found in gothic tales. Macabre tinged scenes are scattered throughout the film like that of a pop musician emerging from a coffin to sing songs to an unsuspecting crowd and a crypt full of petrified monks a la Capuchin crypt. THE EMBALMER is a must see for all Giallo fans.

LASER MISSION
Dir. BJ Davis, 1989
USA, 84 min.
English.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 21 – MIDNIGHT

Before he was THE CROW (but definitely after his LEGACY OF RAGE), Brandon Lee was Michael Gold – a cocky, self-righteous asshole who upends his fully free agent status and chooses to accept a LASER MISSION on offer from the CIA (but, like, eschewing CASH MONEY USA in favor of action man SWAGGER ethics). There’s something about the WORLD’S LARGEST DIAMOND gone missing, along with some LASER expert (expertly lazied by ERNEST BORGNINE) being held in Angola (or somewhere) by the KGB (or Cuban military or some Austrian madman or something). All this adds up to is TROUBLE and the potential END of the WESTERN WORLD as we KNOW IT. When not donning gross disguises to fool bumbling cartoon humans, Gold is totes in NEGGING WAR III with terminal television episoder DEBI MONAHAN (who may or may not be portraying a daughter or a double agent or whatever).

Even if you HAVE seen LASER MISSION, you won’t want to MISS our special WIDESCREEN presentation, with all the EXPLOSIVE action (and sometimes admittedly great wide tracking shots) as NEVER BEFORE SEEN in domestic US BARGAIN BINS and FIFTY-FILM DVD collections.

If you HAVEN’T seen LASER MISSION, then grab your favorite brand of adult diapers and head the hell over here. Sounds appealing? Then make like an ORANGE and GET JUICED.

NINJA MISSION
Dir. Mats Helge Olsson, 1984
Sweden, 93 min.
In English.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 22 – MIDNIGHT

** Part of our “Lasers vs. Ninjas” Weekend Spectacular! **

MY CHAUFFEUR
Dir. David Beaird, 1986
USA, 97 min.
In English

FRIDAY, AUGUST 28 – MIDNIGHT

“You ever give an Alka-Seltzer to a dog?”

Endless Bummer heads from the 70s to the 80s with our final film, MY CHAUFFEUR. Starring Deborah Foreman, who was *everywhere* in the eighties (Valley Girl, Real Genius, Waxwork, April Fool’s Day), as Casey Meadows, a dishwasher who receives an invitation to work for the prestigious Brentwood chauffeur company directly from the company’s owner (none other than the great E.G. Marshall!). Disliked by the all-male staff and barely tolerated by her boss (Howard Hesseman of WKRP/Rubin and Ed fame), Casey takes on a series of insane jobs, from lugging drunken rock band Cat Fight around LA to dealing with a spoiled stalker’s heartbreak (if you suspect this may lead to love, you’re right) and none other than Penn and Teller playing an sheik and a con-man attempting to lure him out of his money. Despite all odds, Casey’s non-conformist streak leads her to triumph where the other stuffed-shirt drivers fail miserably. A staple of cable tv during the late eighties and one of the final Marimark Productions films, MY CHAUFFEUR hits all the rom-com notes while offering plenty of off-color comedy and topless hijinx for the midnight crowd. Drive off into the sun setting over the Pacific as Endless Bummer finishes up…FOR NOW!

THE HORROR OF PARTY BEACH
Dir. Del Tenney, 1964
United States, 78 min.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 29 – MIDNIGHT

“Weird Atomic Beasts Who Live Off Human BLOOD!”

Let’s go to the beach! What a wonderful place to get away with its sparkling blue water and radioactive monsters! Well, more like the radioactive living dead for you see radioactive waste is being dumped into the ocean and as a result the remains of the poor souls littering the ocean floor have been mutated into humanoid fish-like monsters! Monsters that have chosen to make their first appearance on the sunny shores of Connecticut! The monsters have decided to crash a happenin’ beach party that is being presided over by none other than surf rock legends The Del-Aires! All the girls and boys were too busy doing the zombie stomp to notice the monsters crawling up on land and feasting on the blood of bikini clad beauties! Can the blood thirsty rampage of these monsters be stopped?

THE HORROR OF PARTY BEACH is one of the first, if not the first horror beach party film. Think of it as BEACH BLANKET BINGO, but filled with blood thirsty monsters whose mouths look like they have been stuffed with a pack of hotdogs. It is a refreshing freudian slap in the face to those “wholesome” beach party films. The film is beautifully shot and features some fantastic sequences like the creation of the monsters. It’s funny, creepy, and the music of The Del-Aires will have you groovin’ all night long. What are you waiting for? Let’s go to the beach!

JULY MIDNIGHTS

Posted on June 30, 2015December 25, 2019 by spectacletheater

FRIDAY, JULY 3: AMERICAN HUNTER

FRIDAY, JULY 10: GURU THE MAD MONK
SATURDAY, JULY 11: HORROR EXPRESS

FRIDAY, JULY 17: DON’T ANSWER THE PHONE!
SATURDAY, JULY 18: NEON CITY

FRIDAY, JULY 24: MALIBU BEACH
SATURDAY, JULY 25: THE POM POM GIRLS

FRIDAY, JULY 31: INSEMINOID

LETHAL HUNTER aka AMERICAN HUNTER
Dir. Arizal, 1988.
Indonesia. 92 min.
Indonesian dubbed into English with Japanese subtitles.

FRIDAY, JULY 3 – MIDNIGHT

“With the information in this study, the wrong people could start a panic on Wall Street that would bring the Western World to its knees…”

In mononymous Indonesian action maestro Arizal’s star-spangled shoot-’em-up, Christopher Mitchum, former 2012 Republican candidate for California Congressional District 24’s United States House of Representatives seat, stars as Jake Carver, an “agent” whose self-described occupation is to “fight bad guys.” As the AMERICAN HUNTER, Carver battles a multifariously evil organization over a piece of microfilm to unspecified ends. Highlights include a jeep driving off the side of one skyscraper into the window of another, a three-way motorcycle/pick-up truck/train chase, a baby being run over by a car crashing through the side of a supermarket yet miraculously surviving, an eight minute helicopter chase, an awkwardly clothed shower sex scene, one house explosion, one castle explosion, dozens of car explosions, male bondage and electrocution, and a fist fight inside a dungeon full of what appears to be cardboard boxes overflowing with shredded paper. Bill “Super Foot” Wallace stars as the bad guy whose nefariousness is conveyed through his variously keeping pet falcons and monkeys on his shoulder, and RAMBU’s Peter O’Brien drops in for an unlikely turn as a hench villain who gets the shit kicked out of him then has his legs run over then crashes through a brick wall on the hood of a car. Approximately ten of the 92 action-packed minutes have been described.

GURU THE MAD MONK

FRIDAY, JULY 10 – MIDNIGHT

HORROR EXPRESS
Dir. Eugenio Martin, 1972.
90 min. Italy/UK.
In English

SATURDAY, JULY 11 – MIDNIGHT

In this essential Trans-Siberian classic, the great Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing are rival anthropologists aboard a train en route from China to Moscow housing a crate with an amazing discovery: a primitive humanoid creature. The problem is, the creature’s body itself is the vessel for a shapeless, ancient alien entity hopping from body to body as hosts suck the memory, knowledge and brains from their victims. Lee and Cushing must combine their scientific expertise to understand and conqueror the otherworldly, demonic menace. In the meantime, Telly Savalas shows up as a domineering Cossack officer, and Argentinian spaghetti western star Alberto de Mendoza plays a nefarious, mad monk who renounces his faith and pledges his devotion to the ancient evil. Like THE THING re-written by Paul Theroux aboard a bullet train to hell and featuring creepy, eye-bleeding make-up effects, freaky blazing-eyed zombies and top-notch performances by Lee and Cushing, HORROR EXPRESS is a total classic!

DON’T ANSWER THE PHONE!

FRIDAY, JULY 17 – MIDNIGHT

NEON CITY
Dir. Monte Markham, 1991
USA, 101 min.

SATURDAY, JULY 18 – MIDNIGHT

“Take a deep breath: it may be your last.”

As the dust settles from Mad Max: Fury Road, some of us here at Spectacle figured it was time to blow the dust off of Monte Markham’s high (but technically running-on-low) octane dystopian action disasterpiece NEON CITY, starring the one and only Michael Ironside. Tasked with transporting a gorgeous prisoner (Vanity – yes, that Vanity) across a frozen desert hellscape via overcrowded megabus, Ironside’s flinty-eyed and ponytailed bounty hunter Stark gets bumped into by it all: motorcycle gangs of mutants, cannibals, gearheads, a pissed-off ex-wife and a bus driver nicknamed “Bulk” – played by Oakland Raider Lyle Alzado, who died a year after reaching Neon City – who he personally sent to prison for five years. Spellbinding chase sequences as needless post-oxygen hijinks ensue long before the inevitable Wizard of Oz-xeroxing conclusion.

MALIBU BEACH

FRIDAY, JULY 24 – MIDNIGHT

THE POM POM GIRLS

SATURDAY, JULY 25 – MIDNIGHT

INSEMINOID
Dir. Norman Warren, 1981
UK, 93 min.
In English.

FRIDAY, JULY 31 – MIDNIGHT

Before we get into the whole gynonightmare of this film, there’s a few things you need to know about INSEMINOID. It was partially financed by Run Run Shaw (If you’ve EVER been to Fist Church you know Shaw Bros.), it was written by Nick Maley (a make-up artist who’d later work on Krull and Lifeforce) and Gloria Maley (who did a series of British tv shows under the name Gloria Walker), the only script either would ever write, and was directed by Norman J. Warren, who brought us Satan’s Slaves and Prey, all of whom try to put a twist on the tale told by Alien a few years earlier. There’s a really nice synth score, a slew of actors any Hammer fan would happily recognize (Stephanie Beacham, Victoria Tennant, Judy Geeson), and some genuinely nice twists on the Ridley Scott/Dan O’Bannon model. That being said, you should take that title seriously: there is alien-on-astronaut non-consensual sex, and while it’s not as freakish as Xtro it definitely makes this film a midnight special. But hold onto your Gender Studies textbooks, because our glowing mother, dewy in the radiance of the miracle of childbirth, has a hunger…FOR BLOOD! There’s a bit of a The Thing/Body Snatchers twist here as well, but perhaps I’ve said too much…Playing one night only, one of the strangest Video Nasties, and definitely a film you’ll be telling people about (if you dare), INSEMINOID is a film we’ve promised for a while and are proud to deliver midnight July 31!

JUNE MIDNIGHTS

Posted on May 28, 2015December 25, 2019 by spectacletheater

FRIDAY, JUNE 5: ENDLESS BUMMER: THE VAN
SATURDAY, JUNE 6: ENDLESS BUMMER: VAN NUYS BLVD.

FRIDAY, JUNE 12: LES EBRANLEES
SATURDAY, JUNE 13: DELIRIUM

FRIDAY, JUNE 20: ENDLESS BUMMER: THE VAN
SATURDAY, JUNE 21: LES EBRANLEES

FRIDAY, JUNE 27: ENDLESS BUMMER: VAN NUYS BLVD.
SATURDAY, JUNE 28: DELIRIUM

ENDLESS BUMMER

THE VAN
Dir. Sam Grossman, 1977
USA, 92 min.

Later retitled Chevy Van to make the most of the Sammy Johns song in the soundtrack (despite the fact that the van in the film is a Dodge), The Van was the second of the Marimark Pictures series (the first being last year’s Superchick) and absolutely the best place to start our Endless Bummer series. Stuart Goetz (who later went on to a long career in film music; he won a daytime Emmy for his work on ALF!) plays Bobby, a red-blooded red-headed Californian who wants nothing more than to graduate high school and invest his life savings in his brand-new custom van, the (ahem) Straight Arrow. Bobby’s desperate attempts to turn himself into a van guy and find decadent imbroglios by the moonlit Pacific are not as easy as he hoped; between his increasingly complicated nature of his relationship with Tina (Deborah White — both White and Goetz would go on to be in the brain-rot epic Record City), the bad advice of his best buddy Jack (Harry Moses) and his boss Andy (DANNY DEVITO!), not to mention the constant bullying from local thug Dugan (Steven Oliver, who we’ll meet again later in this series) — how the hell is Bobby supposed to do any FUN TRUCKIN’? Van expos, boneheaded pranks, drunk driving, tasteful plot-required nude scenes — no, this is not a hidden gem of west coast cinema verite’, it’s a drive-in movie about vans, and that’s all right with me.

VAN NUYS BLVD.
Dir. William Sachs
USA, 93 min.

William Sachs, probably best known for The Incredible Melting Man and Galaxina, here presents the story of a young man wanting to leave behind his boring life to make the cruising scene on Van Nuys Blvd, from the Santa Monica Mountains at the north through the San Fernando Valley to the Verdugo Mountains in the south. Half American Graffitti, half drive-in beach romp, it’s held together buy our lead, Bill Adler, who played Steve in The Van! He’s back as Bobby, who spends a crazy weekend meeting the locals: strippers, carhops, dopers and cops, but specifically old-school hot-rodder Chooch (David Hayward), who is sort of the grand master of Van Nuys. Did I mention ’74 Playmate of the Year Cynthia Wood plays Moon, and Melissa Prophet (who later had roles in Goodfellas and Casino) as Camille? PLUS go-karts, an adorable beach dog, hassling the man, all the LA cruising action you can handle and a badass disco-funk theme song! C’mon and meet us on the boulevard!

LES EBRANLEES
aka Vibrating Girls
Dir. Jess Franco (as Clifford Brown), 1972
France, 81 min.
In French with English subs.

“You wanted to go to the house of vice. Well, we’re going now.”
For Franco aficionados, LES EBRANLEES makes an interesting double feature with SINNER–THE SECRET DIARY OF A NYMPHOMANIAC: both released in 1973, both featuring stories of strippers lured into an underworld of crime and violence, both focused on a detective desperately searching for the truth. In the case of LES EBRANLEES, that detective is none other than Franco staple Howard Vernon as Al Pereira in search of the murderer of a prostitute. Definitely a film that lives up to the Eurosleaze tag, it’s long been one of the rarest of Franco’s 70s films.

DELIRIUM
aka Le foto di Gioia
Dir. Lamberto Bava, 1987
Italy, 94 min.
In English

Originally helmed by Dario Argento, who dropped out of production at an early date and was replaced by one of his proteges, Lamberto Bava (son of the great Mario Bava, assistant director on everything from Suspiria to A Bay Of Blood to Cannibal Holocaust), DELIRIUM shifts our understanding of what a giallo is from the seventies to the eighties without a hint of nostalgia. Starring the almighty Daria Nicolodi (whose tumultuous marriage to Argento ended in 1985) and the stunning Serena Grandi (who you scuzzballs probably know from Anthropophagus), DELIRIUM is a glossy, flashy mid-80s Italian Vogue spread streaked in crimson. Serena Grandi plays Gloria, one-time prostitute turned head of a men’s fashion magazine called Pussycat. She begins receiving photos of her models murdered, disfigured, and displayed with photos of Gloria in the background. While the magazine drastically increases its readership due to the notoriety surrounding the murders, the noose closes in on Serena With lots of demented POV (where the killer imagines his victims with grotesque masks over their heads), lots of extra-sleazy Dynasty-inspired wardrobes, and drum machines aplenty, it’s an excellent example of where the giallo was by the mid-eighties, happily delivering all the style, perversity and murder set pieces any fan could want in a style entirely different from (but obviously deeply informed by) the 70s classics we most often think of as giallo. More from Lamberto (and fellow Argento protegee Michele Soavi) hopefully coming soon later this year!

MILLIGAN MIDNIGHTS

Posted on April 28, 2015December 25, 2019 by spectacletheater

SATURDAY, MAY 2: SEEDS OF SIN
FRIDAY, MAY 15: SEEDS OF SIN
SATURDAY, MAY 16: THE BODY BENEATH
FRIDAY, MAY 29: THE BODY BENEATH
…

There is no director like Staten Island’s own Andy Milligan. Made under extreme conditions, with miniscule budgets, Milligan makes seemingly simple horror flicks into nightmarish melodramas seething with rage, lust and hatred. Do they look cheap? Does everything seem entirely real? No? PAY ATTENTION. Milligan’s camera moves in ways so deeply foreign to viewers, and develops storylines closer to his early work staging Lord Dunsany and Jean Genet plays, that it’s no wonder he’s got his fair share of detractors (Stephen King said of The Ghastly Ones “the work of morons with cameras”), but over the years a small but fanatical following has formed, willing to look deeper into these films. Assisted by the late, great Mike Vraney of Something Weird, a tireless collector of Milligan original prints, and given deeper personal context thanks to Jimmy McDonough’s heartbreaking book The Ghastly One: The Sex-Gore Netherworld of Filmmaker Andy Milligan, the time is long overdue for a reconsideration of his work (thankfully recently begun in the UK by BFI as assisted by Vraney and director Nicholas Winding Refn), and with our Milligan Midnights series, we hope to bring a series of his films to Spectacle Midnights in the hope that Milligan himself might crack a rare smile from his unmarked grave somewhere in LA.

“I don’t see how anyone can write off Andy Milligan as just an exceptionally strange exploitation hack when his films are full of these beautiful eerie moments contained in these compositions that can last for a minute + or just a second because his weird camera is always moving and twisting and making your eyes travel in ways you’d never have expected them to…I can’t think of anyone else who’d have filmed a scene in which a woman lets her vampire cult leader into the house to have his minions bite her husband this way!” –Zynab Hashim

SEEDS OF SIN
Dir. Andy Milligan, 1968
USA, 84 min.

SATURDAY, MAY 2 – MIDNIGHT
FRIDAY, MAY 15 – MIDNIGHT

“Sown in Incest! Harvested in Hate!”

Carol Manning takes the liberty to invite her siblings to a Christmas dinner at her familial home much to her mother’s displeasure. The members of the Manning family have not seen each other in years due to the resentment they have for each other. The only “love” that exists amongst them is limited to the incestuous affairs that they engaged in behind their mother’s back as children. The only tie between the siblings is the hatred they feel for their mother Claris. Claris is an aging widow who has survived many marriages and has amassed a large fortune as a result. She “dislikes” her children very much would rather not see any of them ever again. She feels that her children are like vultures flying overhead awaiting for the first sign of her death so they can swoop in and pick her pockets clean! Fortunately for the vultures, death is lurking just around the corner! For there is a murderer on the loose in the Manning estate! This shadowy figure is killing off members of the Manning family by orchestrating a series of “accidents”. Who could it be? Will Claris’s fortune survive? Who will reap THE SEEDS OF SIN?

SEEDS OF SIN has all of the trappings of a gothic tale. There is a stately familial home, dark secrets, incest, rape, murder and to top it all off there are beautiful roses featured throughout the entire film! Yet, unlike a “traditional” gothic tale, Seeds focuses on a Matriarchy instead of a Patriarchy. The story features several dominant female characters. These female characters greatly exert their power over the male characters in the film. It is a truly refreshing twist to the gothic “formula”. Think of it as a version of “Fall Of The House Of Usher”, but with more sex and violence and a lessened threat of being buried alive!

SEEDS is one of Andy Milligan’s greatest and most personal films. Andy is telling us the story of a broken family that is eerily similar to his own. He is breathing through his wounds in every frame. The overwhelmingly dominant female theme which is often explored in his work is presented here in full bloom in the form of Claris who is very similar to Andy’s mother. The character of Buster is like Milligan as a young man. The weak and down trodden paternal figure is a mirror image of Andy’s father. Seeds literally is Andy Milligan’s horrific family life scarred into celluloid. Sadly, SEEDS, like many other Milligan films has been tampered with badly by the greedy little hands of producers who wanted to make a buck selling sex. There are several “hardcore” scenes that have been edited into the film so that it would be more profitable. As a result certain scenes that were shot by Andy have been lost. Luckily, there is a trailer for the film that has pieces of some of the “lost” scenes from the film.

Always remember “Nothing can kill a bitch like momma!” Long Live Andy Milligan!

THE BODY BENEATH
Dir. Andy Milligan, 1970
UK, 82 min.

There is no director like Staten Island’s own Andy Milligan. Made under extreme conditions, with miniscule budgets, Milligan makes seemingly simple horror flicks into nightmarish melodramas seething with rage, lust and hatred. Do they look cheap? Does everything seem entirely real? No? PAY ATTENTION. Milligan’s camera moves in ways so deeply foreign to viewers, and develops storylines closer to his early work staging Lord Dunsany and Jean Genet plays, that it’s no wonder he’s got his fair share of detractors (Stephen King said of The Ghastly Ones “the work of morons with cameras”), but over the years a small but fanatical following has formed, willing to look deeper into these films. Assisted by the late, great Mike Vraney of Something Weird, a tireless collector of Milligan original prints, and given deeper personal context thanks to Jimmy McDonough’s heartbreaking book The Ghastly One: The Sex-Gore Netherworld of Filmmaker Andy Milligan, the time is long overdue for a reconsideration of his work (thankfully recently begun in the UK by BFI as assisted by Vraney and director Nicholas Winding Refn), and with our Milligan Midnights series, we hope to bring a series of his films to Spectacle Midnightd in the hope that Milligan himself might crack a rare smile from his unmarked grave somewhere in LA.

SATURDAY, MAY 16 – MIDNIGHT
FRIDAY, MAY 29 – MIDNIGHT

“Tonight is the yearly meeting. We must have the sacrifice.”

We begin with THE BODY BENEATH, a film Milligan made during his time in the UK. First-timers may find the film “talky” or “chatty” — that’s Milligan, and you’ll either get into it or you won’t. There’s a hypnotic slowness to Milligan’s films, which is one of the main reasons the “let’s see some boobs and blood” crowd never took to him, no matter how much green-faced nightgown action we get. And we get a LOT of it, with vampire lord Reverend Algernon Ford (played by Gavin Reed) realizing his pure bloodline was dying out after centuries of inbreeding. He seeks to find the non-vampire members of his bloodline and convert them, all of which sounds about right for a midnight, but it’s Milligan’s teeth-grinding misanthropy which brings us to a different level, so far from the laughable kitch it may at first seem. With one of Milligan’s best actors, Berwick Kaler, playing the hunchback Spool and a (comparably) larger budget than his earlier films, plus a jaw-dropping orgy of cannibalism that must be seen to be believed, It’s arguably one of the best entry points to his work. We have a slew of other Milligans coming up, so don’t sleep! Ever! MILLIGAN MIDNIGHTS SHALL NEVER DIE!

“Few filmmakers can boast of having a recognisable style, but when you see a Milligan movie, you are in no doubt whose film it is. He was sort of a Douglas Sirk figure – there’s so much subtext in his movies. And the more you get into them, the more you realise that they were made by someone who was very tormented, and very intelligent; a sensitive man who used film as an artform to express his views on life.” -Nicholas Winding Refn

MAY MIDNIGHTS

Posted on April 26, 2015December 25, 2019 by spectacletheater

FRIDAY, MAY 1: SATANIS
SATURDAY, MAY 2: SEEDS OF SIN
FRIDAY, MAY 8: REVOLT
SATURDAY, MAY 9: THE PYX
FRIDAY, MAY 15: SEEDS OF SIN
SATURDAY, MAY 16: THE BODY BENEATH
FRIDAY, MAY 22: THE DEVIL’S NIGHTMARE
SATURDAY, MAY 23: SATANIS
FRIDAY, MAY 29: THE BODY BENEATH
SATURDAY, MAY 30: THE DEVIL’S NIGHTMARE

SATANIS: THE DEVIL’S MASS
Dir. Ray Laurent, 1969
USA, 86 min.

FRIDAY, MAY 1 – MIDNIGHT
SATURDAY, MAY 23 – MIDNIGHT

“If you’re going to do something that is naughty, do it, and realize that you’re doing something naughty and enjoy it”

In 1969 Anton LaVey founded the Church of Satan and outlined the ideals of the Satanic church in a book he called “The Satanic Bible”. Anton LaVey borrowed rituals, ideology, and symbols from many religions and groups such as Voodoo, the Knights Templars, Norse mythology etc. He took up the image of the Devil because it signifies the antithesis of the restrictive behaviors imposed on society by various religions. The primary message of the Church of Satan is to live life to the fullest without the fear or guilt imposed by “traditional” religion.

The American public had a mixed reaction to the Church of Satan. To some the idea of a church that rejected the “traditional” moral code was a welcomed change of pace. To others, the very mention of the name Satan caused an instant dismissal of the ideas that LaVey was trying to convey and brought down immediate negative judgement. There were still others who saw the Church of Satan as a joke or a publicity stunt. Throughout the years the Church of Satan has become very well known around the world and has helped push Satanism into the mainstream. Unfortunately, a lot of the publicity that the church received throughout the years was in the form of sensationalist hype which for the sake of ratings avoided broadcasting the actual message of the Church of Satan (ex. Satanic Panic of the 1980s).

SATANIS is a documentary about the Church of Satan and its members. The film is comprised of a series of interviews with people both inside and outside of the Church of Satan. The film demystifies the image of the Church of Satan by portraying the organization as a group of individuals from various backgrounds and phases of life. Anton LaVey is interviewed at his home aka the Black House where he is both conducting rituals for the Church of Satan and trying to raise a family in 60s era San Francisco. One of the highlights of the documentary is that it captures a ritual that is performed by Anton LaVey in the Black House. The ritual scene is shot using absolutely fantastic colored lighting and is accompanied by organ music played by LaVey himself. SATANIS is a wonderful film because of all of the interesting viewpoints that it brings together. The members of the Church of Satan are inspiring and funny. The film is worth watching just to hear their stories.

SEEDS OF SIN
Dir. Andy Milligan, 1968
USA, 84 min.

SATURDAY, MAY 2 – MIDNIGHT
FRIDAY, MAY 15 – MIDNIGHT

*MILLIGAN MIDNIGHTS*

“Sown in Incest! Harvested in Hate!”

Always remember “Nothing can kill a bitch like momma!” Long Live Andy Milligan!

REVOLT
Dir. J. Shaybany, 1986
USA/Iran, 72 min.

FRIDAY, MAY 8 – MIDNIGHT

Written by the enigmatically named Shield, this US-Persian co-production features yet another cop-on-the-edge squaring off against yet another band of ruthless drug dealers, this time set against the racial tensions set off by the Iran hostage crisis. Shot without sound and weirdly overdubbed, Revolt is a schizophrenic mess of a movie (i.e. perfect for a Spectacle midnight) that can’t decide whether it’s a hard-hitting, socially conscious crime drama or a goofy, lighthearted action comedy. Fortunately, the filmmakers lacked the ability to appropriately orchestrate either, and the result is a near-hallucinatory mess of inscrutable plot developments and character flourishes. Whatever the intent, Revolt is one of the most consistently entertaining hidden gems of 1980s action cinema!

THE PYX
Dir. Harvey Hart, 1973
Canada, 108 min.

SATURDAY, MAY 9 – MIDNIGHT

“You know my name.”

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), and 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 this film, 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 slower 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. Concluding with a backwards-chanting black mass and Henderson’s showdown with cult leader Keerson (Jean-Louis Roux), it’s a film that perfectly showcases the late Karen Black’s singular presence.

THE BODY BENEATH
Dir. Andy Milligan, 1970
UK, 82 min.

SATURDAY, MAY 16 – MIDNIGHT
FRIDAY, MAY 29 – MIDNIGHT

*MILLIGAN MIDNIGHTS*

“Tonight is the yearly meeting. We must have the sacrifice.”

THE DEVIL’S NIGHTMARE
aka La Plus Longue Nuit du Diable
Dir. Jean Brismée, 1971
Belgium/Italy, 94 min.

FRIDAY, MAY 22 – MIDNIGHT
SATURDAY, MAY 30 – MIDNIGHT

“No use running away, Alvin. You will die like the others.”

Perhaps the only full-length feature directed by Jean Brismée, THE DEVIL’S NIGHTMARE combines the occult, Naziism, the seven capital vices, baby-stabbing and a gorgeous Belgian castle, not to mention Eurohorror icon Erika Blanc.

We begin in 1945, where SS general Baron von Rhoneberg slays his own daughter in order to prevent the generational curse by which each first-born daughter of the Rhoneberg bloodline shall become a succubus in trade for alchemical guidance from Satan. Some time later, a bus containing seven tourists ends up stranded at the Baron’s castle, each with a hidden sin, and while the Baron insists he had no daughter, a mysterious woman joins the party, a woman who may be more than she seems…The woman, of course, is Blanc (KILL BABY KILL, SO SWEET SO PERVERSE, THE RED HEADED CORPSE), and her cat-and-mouse games with the tourists, particularly seminarian Alvin Sorelle (Jacques Monseau), provides a frisson which elevates the film above “soon-to-be victims wandering around a castle” style gothic horror. Blanc modulates between sultry and scary, from seductress to slayer and back again while Alvin tries desperately to understand the nature of the curse, of the secret alchemical laboratory, of the strange man who led the tourists to the castle.

We urge any of you who see this film not to give away the total headfuck ending! A perfect fit for May’s Satanic supernatural shenanigans, THE DEVIL’S NIGHTMARE has thrills and chills aplenty for Midnight fanatics.

APRIL MIDNIGHTS

Posted on March 19, 2015December 25, 2019 by spectacletheater

FRIDAY, APRIL 3: ILSA, SHE WOLF OF THE SS
SATURDAY, APRIL 4: ILSA, HAREM KEEPER OF THE OIL SHEIKS
FRIDAY, APRIL 10:
SATURDAY, APRIL 11: 150th CIVIL WAR ANNIVERSARY SPECTACLE-ULAR:
HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS’S TWO THOUSAND MANIACS! ON 16MM
FRIDAY, APRIL 17: ILSA, HAREM KEEPER OF THE OIL SHEIKS
SATURDAY, APRIL 18: MILL OF THE STONE WOMEN
FRIDAY, APRIL 24: MILL OF THE STONE WOMEN
SATURDAY, APRIL 25: ILSA, THE WICKED WARDEN

MIDNIGHT SERIES: FEMME DOMME BABYLON, A TRIBUTE TO ILSA: THE KOMMANDANT, THE KADIN, AND THE WICKED WARDEN

The name Ilsa is synonymous with the image of a dominant female. Since her first appearance as the Kommandant of a “medical” camp in the controversial ILSA, SHE WOLF OF THE SS, Ilsa (Dyanne Thorne), has gained a major cult following as one of the most notorious characters of the nazi exploitation genre. Throughout the course of her “lifetime”, Ilsa has been everything from a harem keeper to a warden at a womens’ prison. Legions of her fans have plastered her image in everything from songs to S&M club flyers. The first film in the series was so popular that it won an AVN award and ushered in a series of sequels, one of which was directed by the legendary Jesus Franco. This midnight series brings together three of the greatest Ilsa films. All hail the Kommandant!

ILSA, SHE WOLF OF THE SS
Dir. Don Edmonds, 1975
USA, 96 min.

FRIDAY, APRIL 3 – MIDNIGHT
FRIDAY, APRIL 17 – MIDNIGHT

“You are strong, stronger than HE.”

The period between 1974-1978 was the golden age of Nazi exploitation. Films such as SALON KITTY, THE NIGHT PORTER, RED NIGHTS OF THE GESTAPO and more were very popular across Europe and North America. Nazi exploitation is a type of exploitation film that explores the subject of Nazi cruelty during WW2. These films were usually highly sexualized, highly fetishistic, and rampant with sadomasochistic themes. The majority of Nazi exploitation films were made in Italy, but some were made in France and the United States.

One of the most notorious Nazi exploitation films is ILSA, SHE WOLF OF THE SS. Whereas its other counterparts had story-lines that were considered to be more “historical accurate”, ILSA, SHE WOLF OF THE SS is considered to be rooted in pure fantasy. The film is said to be based on a combination of the life of Ilsa Koch, the wife of a concentration commander, and Stalag novels. Stalag novels were a popular type of pulp novel in Israel during the 50s and 60s that depicted sadomasochistic episodes between men and female members of the SS. Over the years the film has generated a lot of controversy due to its subject matter. Despite the controversy, the film has a huge cult following mainly due to the image of female dominance that Ilsa represents. To fetishist Ilsa is the ultimate goddess that they want to worship and worship they do in countless S&M clubs where Ilsa’s infamous uniform is popular attire with Dominatrixes. To feminists Ilsa is a symbol of a strong woman holding a typically male dominated role. Actually, the theme of “proving” herself to be just as good as any man at her job is a theme that is explored in several of the Ilsa films. Ilsa is a despicable villain to some, a hero to others, but one thing is for sure, she stands as a dominant, confident woman who is out to prove that not only can women easily hold typically male dominated roles, but they are in fact better than men. This is why the film is such a rarity in the Nazi exploitation genre and why some 40 years after its release it is still being talked about by such diverse groups of individuals.

Ilsa (Dyanne Thorne), is the Kommandant of Camp 9, a 3rd Reich “medical” camp tasked to sterilize women. During the day Ilsa works on various “experiments” to help with the German war effort. Her nights are spent with the company of male prisoners who she uses to try to satisfy her sexual desires. Ilsa seeks to advance her career and ranking in the 3rd Reich by working on a side “experiment”, an “experiment” that she believes will help Germany win the war. She wants to prove that “the carefully trained woman can withstand pain better than any man”. A theory which her male superiors take as a joke. All she needs is a subject to prove her theory, enter prisoner 332 aka Anna, the subject Ilsa has been looking for all along, a woman who does not fear pain. Will Ilsa break Anna? Will Anna prove Ilsa’s theory or will she bring about the downfall of the Kommandant?

ILSA, HAREM KEEPER OF THE OIL SHEIKS
Dir. Don Edmonds, 1976
United States, 87 min.

SATURDAY, APRIL 4 – MIDNIGHT

“Welcome to my company of eunuchs!”

Sheik El Sharif is a powerful man. What makes El Sharif so powerful you say? He owns land that is capable of producing millions of gallons of oil! Yet Sheik Sharif is only interested in extracting as little oil as he can. Enter Dr. Kaiser and Commander Adam Scott from the USA! They are looking to employ some “personal diplomacy” aka black mail to get El Sharif to produce more oil. What they didn’t count on was ILSA! After bidding farewell to the Fatherland, Ilsa fled to Arabia where she found a new job as a harem keeper and advisor aka Kadin to Sheik El Sharif. Ilsa along with her henchwomen Satin and Velvet, do everything from spying on foreign powers to training the women of the harem on how to use their tongues. What will Ilsa do to the Americans? Will she remain loyal to El Sharif or will she use this opportunity to usurp his kingdom?

ILSA, THE WICKED WARDEN
aka Greta, The Mad Butcher
Dir. Jesus Franco, 1977
United States, 90 min.

SATURDAY, APRIL 25 – MIDNIGHT

“You know her wound is like a kiss to her body.”

ILSA, THE WICKED WARDEN is the prodigal daughter of the Ilsa series. Originally, the film was not meant to be part of the series at all, but due to the popularity of the first three films, the producers took a film named GRETA, THE MAD BUTCHER and changed the title to ILSA, THE WICKED WARDEN. ILSA, THE WICKED WARDEN was directed by the legendary Jesus Franco and co-stars his wife and lifetime collaborator Lina Romay as Ilsa’s lover/informant/patient. WICKED WARDEN has a plot that is very similar to the other Ilsa films so it fits perfectly with the rest of the series. What makes it unique is that for the first time in the series Ilsa holds a position of absolute power. Ilsa’s “mental health clinic” is for women and run by a woman. Finally, Ilsa got the position she wanted and deserved.

Amy Phillips is desperately searching for answers in the death of her sister Rosa Phillips. Rosa was committed to Las Palomas, a clinic for the treatment of sexually deviant behavior in women, and died under mysterious circumstances. Amy enlists the help of her friend Dr. Arcos to get herself checked into the clinic under false pretenses so that she can investigate Rosa’s death. Unbeknownst to Amy the Las Palomas clinic is run by none other than Ilsa aka Dr. Greta! Dr. Greta is an expert at treating everything from sexual to political deviations. She uses a combination of electro-shock therapy, a leather whip, and the help of Juanna, her lover/patient, to keep her patients on the “right” path. Will Dr. Greta become wise to Amy’s plot? Will Amy ever find out what became of her sister?

TWO THOUSAND MANIACS!
Dir. Hershell Gordon Lewis, 1964
The Southern United States, 87 min.
16mm Print Courtesy of Brian Darwas

SATURDAY, APRIL 11 – MIDNIGHT

“This centennial is a centennial of blood vengeance!”

“YEEEEEEEEE-hooooo! / Oh the South’s gonna rise again!”

“There’s a story you should know from 100 years ago,” begins the infectious, self-penned title song to Herschell Gordon Lewis’s TWO THOUSAND MANIACS!—which turned 50 last year. In fact, this April 12 marks the exact 150th anniversary of the Confederate bombardment of Fort Sumter, which ignited one of the bloodiest chapters in American history: The Civil War.

So to that end, as the clock strikes midnight on Saturday, April 11, we’ll screen one of the bloodiest chapters in cinematic history: TWO THOUSAND MANIACS!, HGL’s outrageously bonkers and indescribably gory 1964 trashterpiece about bloodthirsty southern rednecks unleashing Hell on unsuspecting passersby during the centennial commemoration of their town’s destruction by Union forces. The Yankee tourists, while initially charmed by the kind hospitality of their hosts, soon find themselves maimed and dismembered one-by-one through a series of cartoonish grand guignol games including live barbecuing, drawn-and-quartering by horses, and nail-filled barrel rolls. Will any of them survive the nightmare?

Though unabashedly lurid, grotesque, irreverent, and exploitational, TWO THOUSAND MANIACS! is one of the most compelling historical revisionist fantasies about the Civil War ever filmed, acknowledging the deep wounds, cultural rift and racial tensions that still existed one hundred years after the fact—and persist to this day. Unlike recent films like DJANGO UNCHAINED or TWELVE YEARS A SLAVE, racial violence is not depicted, and yet the evil racial underpinning of the white-on-white violence is clearly understood. There is also the difference that this film’s resolution leaves little catharsis or reassurance that this evil has been in any way defeated.

In the spirit of conservative values, we’ll forgo high definition projection in favor of sterling 16mm, the people’s film format, based on photocehmical technology that dates to approximately the same time as the Civil War, the first major conflict to be extensively photographed. Rise again!

MILL OF THE STONE WOMEN
Dir. Giorgio Ferroni, 1960
Italy, 90 min.

SATURDAY, APRIL 18 – MIDNIGHT
FRIDAY, APRIL 24 – MIDNIGHT

“All I wanted to do was go on dreaming I wanted the dream to continue I never want it to end.”

The 60s brought about the resurrection of all things “Gothic” in Horror Cinema.

Whereas many films from the decade looked toward to the future, “Gothic” films reminisced about a torturous past. Gothic Horror is typified by old stately mansions, haunted corridors, torture devices straight out of the crusades, phantasmagoric dream sequences, and phantoms galore. The Gothic style was like a cinematic plague that spread throughout Europe and North America. In the UK, Hammer Studios and Christopher Lee brought us a new vision of Dracula. In the US, Roger Corman and Vincent Price were resurrecting the tales of Edgar Allan Poe to much fanfare. In Italy, Mario Bava and Barbara Steele were haunting every corridor with elaborate optical illusions and spiderwebs galore.

Which brings us to Italy’s own Giorgio Ferroni who directed the gorgeous film MILL OF THE STONE WOMEN. MILL OF THE STONE WOMEN centers around a young man named Hans who is tasked to assist in writing a piece about the centennial of a waxwork carousel that features statues based on murderesses, martyrs, and queens aka “The Stone Women”. Hans is sent to the studio of Professor Wahl, the grandson of the carousel’s creator, to gather information about the history of the carousel . In true “Gothic” fashion Professor Wahl’s studio just happens to be a labyrinthian windmill near a cemetery. While working at the studio Hans is distracted by the attentions Professor Wahl’s daughter Elfy, a statuesque young lady who suffers from a strange disease that keeps her from leaving the windmill. Also completing for Hans’s attentions is Lisa Lotter, Hans’s childhood friend who is a student of Professor Wahl. Strange things begin to happen as Hans starts hearing screams coming from basement of the windmill and some of his friends begin to disappear, including the lovely Lisa Lotter. Who is behind these disappearances? Has Elfy’s love for Hans turned into madness or is Professor Wahl hiding a dark secret in the windmill?

MILL OF THE STONE WOMEN is a beautiful film. One of the things that makes the film so alluring is its usage of color. The usage of the color red throughout the film is like a nod to the “gore” films of the era. The interior of the windmill is a dark foreboding red. The roses Elfy leaves for Hans are a rich bright blood red that appear as though any minute they would begin to drip. The reds are rivaled by the usage of sickly jaundice-like yellows that are scattered throughout the film in the form of flowers and gowns. This film is truly a feast for the eyes and essential viewing for fans of Gothic horror.

150th CIVIL WAR ANNIVERSARY SPECTACLE-ULAR: HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS’S TWO THOUSAND MANIACS! ON 16MM

Posted on March 5, 2015December 25, 2019 by spectacletheater

TWO THOUSAND MANIACS!
Dir. Hershell Gordon Lewis, 1964
The Southern United States, 87 min.
16mm Print Courtesy of Brian Darwas

SATURDAY, APRIL 11 – MIDNIGHT

“This centennial is a centennial of blood vengeance!”

“YEEEEEEEEE-hooooo! / Oh the South’s gonna rise again!”

In the spirit of conservative values, we’ll forgo high definition projection in favor of sterling 16mm, the people’s film format, based on photochemical technology that dates to approximately the same time as the Civil War, the first major conflict to be extensively photographed. Rise again!

FEMME DOMME BABYLON, A TRIBUTE TO ILSA: THE KOMMANDANT, THE KADIN, AND THE WICKED WARDEN

Posted on March 5, 2015December 25, 2019 by spectacletheater

The name Ilsa is synonymous with the image of a dominant female. Since her first appearance as the Kommandant of a “medical” camp in the controversial ILSA, SHE WOLF OF THE SS, Ilsa (Dyanne Thorne), has gained a major cult following as one of the most notorious characters of the nazi exploitation genre. Throughout the course of her “lifetime”, Ilsa has been everything from a harem keeper to a warden at a womens’ prison. Legions of her fans have plastered her image in everything from songs to S&M club flyers. The first film in the series was so popular that it won an AVN award and ushered in a series of sequels, one of which was directed by the legendary Jesus Franco. This midnight series brings together three of the greatest Ilsa films. All hail the Kommandant!

ILSA, SHE WOLF OF THE SS
Dir. Don Edmonds, 1975
USA, 96 min.

FRIDAY, APRIL 3 – MIDNIGHT
FRIDAY, APRIL 17 – MIDNIGHT

“You are strong, stronger than HE”

ILSA, HAREM KEEPER OF THE OIL SHEIKS
Dir. Don Edmonds, 1976
United States, 87 min.

SATURDAY, APRIL 4 – MIDNIGHT

“Welcome to my company of eunuchs!”

ILSA, THE WICKED WARDEN
aka Greta, The Mad Butcher
Dir. Jesus Franco, 1977
United States, 90 min.

SATURDAY, APRIL 25 – MIDNIGHT

“You know her wound is like a kiss to her body.”

MARCH MIDNIGHTS

Posted on February 6, 2015December 25, 2019 by spectacletheater

FRIDAY, MARCH 6: SHE SHOULDA SAID NO
SATURDAY, MARCH 7: THE MASTER TOUCH
FRIDAY, MARCH 13: WITCHCRAFT 70
SATURDAY, MARCH 14: GOLDEN TEMPLE AMAZONS
FRIDAY, MARCH 20: THE MASTER TOUCH
SATURDAY, MARCH 21: SHE SHOULDA SAID NO
FRIDAY, MARCH 27: GOLDEN TEMPLE AMAZONS
FRIDAY, MARCH 28: WITCHCRAFT 70

SHE SHOULDA SAID NO!
Dir. Sam Newfield, 1949
USA, 70 min.

FRIDAY, MARCH 6 – MIDNIGHT
SATURDAY, MARCH 21 – MIDNIGHT

How bad can a good girl get?

Dateline, August 1948: Actors Robert Mitchum and Lila Leeds busted for drug possession (Leeds had three joints and eight Benzedrine tablets — STARS BUSTED IN POT ORGY! read the tabloids — and while Mitchum was knocked down to conspiracy while Leeds spent two months in prison. Mitchum’s career may have been over were he not fast friends with Howard Hughes, but Leeds had only been working in Hollywood for a few years and no high-powered friends, so upon her release in ’49 the first job offered her: Wild Weed, a Reefer Madness-style shock film directed by Sam Newfield (just one of the 277 films he directed: MST3K fans know him from JUNGLE GODDESS and I ACCUSE MY PARENTS). The film went nowhere and was quickly snapped up by master roadshow producer and Forty Thieves member Kroger Babb, who changed the name to SHE SHOULDA SAID NO!, put a salty picture of Leeds undressing on the poster, Babb fabricating a story that the film was made with the assistance of the United States Treasury and ran the film as a midnight in as many theaters as he could book, promising the true story of Leeds’ licentious liaisons.

As always with roadshow films, the truth is a bit different than the promise: Leeds plays Anne Lester, struggling to pay for her brother’s college costs, when she meets Markey (Alan Baxter), a dope dealer who invites her to a “pot party”. As expected, things quickly go from bad to worse as Anne loses her inhibitions, starts selling drugs, becoming estranged from her brother and trying to steer clear of the law. With a small role by character actor Jack Elam, some excellent montages, all the stoned giggling you can handle and a total bummer ending, SHE SHOULDA SAID NO! will hopefully steer young people back onto the straight and narrow. As Babb himself would say, WHY STAY DUMB?

THE MASTER TOUCH
aka Un uomo da rispettare
Dir. Michele Lupo, 1972
Italy/West Germany, 112 min.

SATURDAY, MARCH 7 – MIDNIGHT
FRIDAY, MARCH 20 – MIDNIGHT

There’s a reason why standards are standards, just as there’s a reason there’s so many “one last job” heist films — it’s the perfect recipe for car chases, double crosses, showdowns and schemes, and THE MASTER TOUCH offers not only all of the above, but some big-time actors. Steve Wallace (Kirk Douglas) is our genius safecracker, home from prison after three years, who wants only to settle in with his wife Florinda Bolkan (who could blame him), but is immediately offered a job — a heist involving an alarm system so sensitive the slightest sound can set it off. Douglas and Giulino Gemma (The Leopard, Tenebre, A Pistol For Ringo) know they have all of Hamburg’s police watching them, so they devise a clever alibi before taking down the biggest score of their lives — but we wouldn’t want to give away too much now, would we? With one of Ennio Morricone’s most brooding scores, THE MASTER TOUCH is a film not to miss.

WITCHCRAFT 70
Dir. Luigi Scattini/Lee Frost, 1970
Italy/United States, 95 min.
Mostly in English with Italian in English subtitles (sometimes)

If you’ve read anything on the internet about this film not written by Tenebrous Kate, it’s wrong, wrong, wrong (Shame on you, IMDB hacks! SHAAAAAAME!) so let’s try to stick to the facts: In 1969 director Luigi Scattini released Angeli Bianchi Angeli Neri (White Angel, Black Angel), a documentary about various occult practices around the world. This film was recut into two versions for English speaking audiences: The Satanists UK (for the British set) and our feature presentation WITCHCRAFT 70 for American audiences. These three films are not simply different dubs, but nearly different films altogether,. each not only containing exclusive material but entirely different narration. Of the three, WITCHCRAFT 70 is certainly the most Mondo, and for that we have our old pal Lee Frost to thank. If Luigi Scattini’s original film brings a wiggy mod sensibility (and copious nudity) to Satanic weddings and grave robbing, and The Satanists UK brings a cynical bent to the proceedings, WITCHCRAFT 70 brings us material more in line with other Lee Frost films like Mondo Bizzaro, Mondo Freudo, and the US version of The Forbidden. Plenty of everything you’d expect — Anton Lavey makes an entirely-suspected appearance, various black masses, voodoo practices, Baal worship, hippie cults, witches of all stripes and and more, much much more. With narration by Edmund Purdom (Pieces, Don’t Open ‘Til Christmas) and a good chunk of the original Piero Umiliani score, WITCHCRAFT 70 combines its source material with a post-Manson California vibe and a real/staged/who even knows aesthetic sure to please anyone who ever binge-watched In Search Of… episodes while incapacitated on Quaaludes. Those of you looking for a fact-checked detailed overview of the supernatural get exactly what you deserve. Those of you in the know on the whole Spectacle Midnights scene, however, are in for a deeply weird, nudetastic freakout you’re not likely to soon forget.

GOLDEN TEMPLE AMAZONS
aka Les amazones du temple d’or
Dir. Jess Franco¹, 1986
France, 86 min.
Dubbed in English

SATURDAY, MARCH 14 – MIDNIGHT
FRIDAY, MARCH 27 – MIDNIGHT

For many fans, the truly great works of Jess Franco took place in the sixties and early seventies, and everything he did since then doesn’t measure up. Fuck those dudes. This isn’t so say a film like GOLDEN TEMPLE AMAZONS stands next to Venus In Furs, Nightmares Come at Night or Female Vampire — this is Franco at his jungle pulpiest, far more H. Rider Haggard than Bram Stoker. Thirty seconds into GOLDEN TEMPLE AMAZONS and it’s an army of topless women on horseback galloping in slow-motion to synth-pop, which should give you a good idea of what you’re in for. Said amazons keep a fortress deep in the jungle, sitting atop a huge gold mine. A family of explorers set out to investigate the mine and were slaughtered by the Amazons, leaving only young Liana (Analia Ivars) alive. The tribe raised her as one of their own, never telling her the fate of her parents. Time passes, and Liana, now fully grown, learns the truth, and in order to get revenge on the Amazon tribe joins forces Imagine a role-reversed Greystoke and you’re on the right path, but add a healthy dollop of Franco-style humor (think Robinson and his Wild Slavegirls — there’s even a hilarious monkey named Rocky!), all the questionable sadism you’d expect from late 80s Eurocine Franco, the drum machine wizardry of Norbert Verrone and a few truly problematic performances and it’s almost like a role-reversed Greystoke, only, well, *not*. Welcome to the return of The Franco Files!

¹ To what extent this film was directed by Jess Franco (who we guarantee wrote the screenplay) or Alain Payet (director of Nathalie: Escape From Hell among a ton of French porn) is a matter of some dispute. If there are any film scholars who wanna get into this, please let us know, but for everybody else: if it walks like a Franco, and talks like a Franco…

SHE POEMS: A SCREENING AND DISCUSSION WITH AÏDA COLMENERO DÏAZ

Posted on January 30, 2015December 24, 2019 by spectacletheater

PENTACLE’S KINETIC CINEMA PRESENTS A SCREENING AND DISCUSSION WITH AÏDA COLMENERO DÏAZ
Dir. Aïda Colmenero Dïaz, 2014
Spain, 90 min.

THURSDAY, MARCH 12 – 7:30 PM
ONE NIGHT ONLY!

Guest Artist and world citizen, Aïda Colmenero Dïaz will show an evening of videodance poems made in collaboration with dancers and choreographers from Nigeria, Senegal, and Tanzania.

SHE POEMS is a project created by Aïda to pay TRIBUTE TO AFRICAN WOMEN through poems written in Spanish.

They are “video poems” played by African women artists, They are audiovisual works of contemporary dance inspired by poems written in Spanish language.

SHE POEMS speak about IDENTITY of African women and it is a defense of the human rights of women.

The goal is to place African women in the role of CREATOR, these women will live a process of empowerment and they will be an example for their community,

SHE POEMS want to give a positive image of Africa, profiling strong African women.

SHE POEMS aims to build a Women -Poetry -Dance- African MAP.

Aïda Colmenero Dïaz started her career in Cristina Rota Drama School, after she received her title in Contemporary Dance in the Real Conservatorio Profesional of Dance “Mariemma” of Madrid. She has created a multidisciplinary approach using different body and dance techniques: Contemporary, theater, Yoga, Taichi, Capoeira, Classical dance, technique “Río Abierto”, Butoh, etc…

The only Spanish artist to obtain the diploma in Acogny technique by Germaine Acogny, at the École des Sables, Senegal, Aïda is co-directing LANLA a project to expand Acogny technique at an international level. In collaboration with Ecole Des Sables they have created THE MARCH, The First Open international Dance workshop around Germaine Acogny Technique, in Senegal. Aïda also created the CYCLE OF MODERN AFRICAN DANCE in Madrid.

Aïda has been based between Africa and Spain since 2009. She has developed her educational project “Africa Danza Training Program” in Morocco, Senegal, Nigeria, Ghana, Cape Verde Islands, Tanzania, Guinea Conakry, Madagascar, Gabon; for dancers, actors, circus people, children and women in special situations. Her choreographic work in Africa includes: “Café Toubab” with Alioune Diagne (2009), presented in the Festival Mundial des Arts Négres; and “Fudu” with Papa Sangoné Vièira (2012).

Aïda is touring with KM.O Project “Preludio” created by the Spanish choreographer Paloma Sánchez, co produced by La Nívola and Yakart, in collaboration with Espacio en Blanco of Madrid. She was invited to participate as a specialist lecturer in the map of contemporary dance in Africa in II Encuentro Coreográfico África-España, organized by Casa África and Mercats de les Flors, Barcelona 2011. She was invited as a choreographer by Arigato International to the Forth Forum Global Network of Religions for Children, Dar es Salaam 2012. She was invited as special guest in “Día da criança africana” organized by the United Nations in Praia 2010.

Aïda has been awarded twice by the Ministry of Culture of Spain and AECID (Agencia Española de Cooperación y Desarrollo)

This presentation is supported and produced by: Spanish Embassy in Abuja, Casa África, Goethe-Institut Senegal, Cultura Dakar, Spanish Embassy in Dakar, Spanish Embassy in Dar es Salaam, Acción Cultural Española, SUNU Street, Maison Aïssa Dione, Hotel Sokhamon, MUDA África, Nafasi Art Space, Asociación Yakart.

More info at www.aidacolmenerodiaz.com

ABOUT KINETIC CINEMA

Kinetic Cinema, is a regular screening series produced by Pentacle in conjunction with Spectacle Theater and curated by invited guest artists who create evenings of films and videos that have been influential to their own work as artists. When artists are asked to reflect upon how the use of movement in film and media arts has influenced their own art, a plethora of new ideas, material, and avenues of exploration emerge. From cutting edge motion capture animation to Michael Jackson music videos, from Gene Kelly musicals to Kenneth Anger films, Kinetic Cinema is dedicated to the recognition and appreciation for “moving” pictures. We have presented these evenings at Collective: Unconscious, Chez Bushwick, IRT, Launchpad, Green Space, Uniondocs, CRS, 3rd Ward, Fort Useless and The Tank in New York City, as well as at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia.

For more info on the current Kinetic Cinema season please visit Pentacle’s website.

KINETIC CINEMA is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.