As we reach the end of the year, the days shorter, the cold seeping into your bones, there is one comfort we can always turn to – and that is, of course, slasher films.
This December, join us for a trio of under-seen winter-bound slashers, featuring everything from glam rock to parapsychologists – and most importantly, snow!
BLOOD TRACKS
dir. Mats Helge, 1985
Sweden/UK. 81 minutes.
In English
MONDAY, DECEMBER 18 – 10 PM
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 23 – MIDNIGHT
Their beat and music knocked them dead!!
A film crew producing a rock music video decides to shoot at an abandoned factory above the snow line. When an avalanche strands them, a murderous family living in the factory attacks and kills many of them.
If you love a slasher with its own theme song – you’ve come to the right place! Sort of a brain damaged Glam Rock-ified Swedish THE HILLS HAVE EYES, BLOOD TRACKS doesn’t re-invent the wheel, but it is a bona fide good time at the movies.
FATAL EXAM
dir. Jack Snyder, 1990
United States. 112 minutes.
In English
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 2 – MIDNIGHT
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8 – 5 PM
A group of parapsychology students, as part of their final project, head to a secluded house where a man murdered his entire family. Soon, they discover the dark and terrible secrets that lie within.
We’d be lying if we said this wasn’t a little too long, but when there’s as much genuine sincerity and charm on display (not to mention eminently quotable and batshit dialogue) as there is in FATAL EXAM, who are we to complain?
Shot on 16mm in St Louis in 1985 but not finished til 1990 due to budget constraints, Spectacle is thrilled to present this unique supernatural slasher.
Screening from the new Vinegar Syndrome remaster, courtesy of American Genre Film Archives.
MOONSTALKER
dir. Michael S O’Rourke, 1989
United States. 92 minutes.
In English
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1 – MIDNIGHT
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15 – MIDNIGHT
Campfire stories can be deadly
During the winter season, a family camping in the woods, and a group of camp counselors training in the same forest both find themselves being killed one by one by an unhinged psycho.
Take the standard 80’s slasher formula, crank it up to 11, add a massive dose of regional low-budget charm, and you’ve got yourself a MOONSTALKER(shot under the name CAMPER STAMPER!). Shot in Reno, Nevada, it was reportedly a huge labor of love for all involved, featuring almost entirely first time actors (including future TV stars Blake Gibbons, Kelly Mullis and John Marzilli), as well as one of the higher body counts in the genre. A true winter horror classic.
Screening from the new Vinegar Syndrome remaster, courtesy of American Genre Film Archives.