SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19 – ONE DAY ONLY
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In numerology, the number 9 represents wisdom and responsibility and here at Spectacle we take our responsibilities very seriously. As such – this year, in our infinite wisdom, we are pleased as punch to offer up a trick-or-treat’s pillowcase lineup so chock full of goodies, so dense, so decadent – you’re bound to get a mouthful of cavities. Nine years of marathons culminate this year with seven screenings (plus featured shorts!), twelve(ish) hours, and zero survivors!
As always, tickets are $25 for the full day or $5 per film.
NOON: THE PHANTOM CARRIAGE (w/ score by Stephanie Neptune)
1:30: ALISON’S BIRTHDAY
3:00: PREMONITION
5:00: LUKAS’ CHILD
7:30: GRANDMOTHER’S HOUSE
10:00: NIGHTMARES IN A DAMAGED BRAIN
MIDNIGHT: VAMPIRE HOOKERS
THE PHANTOM CARRIAGE
dir. Victor Sjöström, 1921
107 mins. Sweden.
Silent w/ a new score by Stephanie Neptune.
On New Years Eve a dying Salvation Army Sister named Edit has one humble request, to speak to a man named David Holt for a final time. David, a graveyard drunkard, wiles away the hours telling stories he heard from his friend Georges, who had died the year before. David weaves a tale of a carriage helmed by the last person to die each year who is then tasked with roaming the countryside ferrying the souls of the departed for the following year until the torch is passed. When a colleague finds him and tries to take him to the dying woman a fight breaks out and David struck over the head just as the clock strikes 12. David arises to find the carriage in front of him driven by his deceased friend Georges who takes him on a tour of his life showing him those he hurt or abandoned.
A technological marvel in the early 20’s that still looks incredible almost 100 years later, THE PHANTOM CARRIAGE makes expert use effects wizardry by renowned cinematographer Julius Jaenzon. This years marathon festivities kick off with this classic film wrapped in an all new score from Stephanie Neptune (Sweat Equity).
ALISON’S BIRTHDAY
dir. Ian Coughlin. 1981.
97 min. Australia.
In Australian.
While fooling around with a Ouija board with some friends on her 16th birthday, Alison’s receives some cryptic advice. Speaking in Alison’s dead father’s voice, her possessed friend Crissy tells Alison she has to get away from “them” before her 19th birthday just before a bookcase falls on Crissy and kills her. Flash forward a few years later and Alison is about to turn 19 when her “aunt and uncle” invite her to their country home for birthday celebrations. In an effort to move the plot along, Alison agrees despite all signs pointing to this being exactly what the ghost of her father was talking about (RIP Crissy). Rounding out the mix of colorful characters that you can tell are “definitely not a cult” is Alison’s 104 year old great grandmother who wants to transfer her spirit from the withered husk where it currently resides to a fresh-faced youth. Alison’s friends manage to piece this together but can they get there in time to stop the ceremony??
A nod to Satanic Panic films (maybe a dingo ate Rosemary’s Baby) like THE OMEN with a tense atmosphere, ALISON’S BIRTHDAY is sure to get your cloven hooves stomping. Fans of ENTER THE DEVIL, BLACK CANDLES, and Inside No. 9’s show-stopping Series 1 finale “The Harrowing” take note – this one is for you, it’s all for you!
PREMONITION
(aka HEAD)
dir. Alan Rudolph. 1972.
83 min. United States.
In English.
A heady group of musicians set up camp outside of town in sunny California. There they smoke dope, play some jams, and experiment with a strange red flower they found growing on some nearby indigenous territory that causes strange hallucinations. These experiments lead to vivid nightmares where they foresee their own deaths and things get even weirder when these nightmares begin to bleed into reality.
Alan Rudolph’s first feature coming out of a stint as assistant director on a bunch of episodes of “The Brady Bunch.” This film (along with his follow up, 1974’s TERROR CIRCUS aka BARN OF THE NAKED DEAD) were the only horror entries in the directors long list of films. A gauzy slow burn about the perils of addiction with a soundtrack featuring flourishes from then little-known electronic artist Harold Budd, PREMONITION is the perfect chaser to 2019’s psilocybin-soaked full-sun freakout – MIDSOMMAR.
LUKAS’ CHILD
(aka NIGHT OF THE BEAST)
dir. Eric Louzil. 1993.
92 min. United States.
In English.
Special thanks to director Eric Louzil and Echelon Studios!
Lured by the limelights of Tinseltown (Hollywood) a cavalcade of wannabe starlets are kidnapped by a cult helmed by the nefarious Lukas Armand who want to sacrifice them to his “child.” After being baited with fake auditions the woman are locked in his makeshift prison and left to await their grisly fate. Luckily, detectives Steve Anderson and Susan Wesley are on the case. Can they penetrate the cults lair and get the babes out before the child must feed again?
The blood-sacrifices-and-cult-action train keeps on chugging along with a quick pitstop into Fredrick’s of Hollywood for our fourth film of the day. Day-glo undergarments and Satanic go-go dancing abound as Eric Louzil’s early-90’s sect-ual slasher ramp things up for the second half of our day.
GRANDMOTHER’S HOUSE
dir. Peter Rader. 1988.
90 min. United States.
In English.
Special thanks to producer Nico Mastorakis!
After the death of their beloved father, Lynn (Kim Valentine, Mr. Belvedere / Family Matters) and her younger brother David (Eric Foster, The Wonder Years / CRY WILDERNESS) are sent to live with their grandparents. At first everything seems quaint enough but soon after they arrive David begins having vivid and troubling dreams that his grandparents are up to no good. It seems this normal family may have some (literal) skeletons in the closet…
A tense, oddball thriller that feels like a made-for-TV-movie (in the best possible way), everything about GRANDMOTHER’S HOUSE is slightly askew. Great performances by Len Lesser as Grandather (best known as Uncle Leo in Seinfeld) and a surprise pop-up from Scream Queen Brinke Stevens (NIGHTMARE SISTERS) remind viewers that you can travel the wild world over but home is indeed where the heart is.
NIGHTMARES IN A DAMAGED BRAIN
(aka NIGHTMARE)
dir. Roberto Scavolini. 1981.
97 min. United States.
In English.
Special thanks to David Ginn & Jim Markovic at Films Around The World!
A mental patient named George Tatum (played by a turned-up-to-11 Baird Stafford) is on the loose and fueled by nightmares of his childhood trauma and an unstoppable bloodlust George leaves a trail bodies in his wake on a coastline rampage with his former doctor and investigators hot on his tail. Meanwhile down in Florida, single mom Susan Temper has her hands full with one of her brood. Young CJ is a menace – acting out, pulling pranks on his siblings, and generally causing his poor mother to tear her hair out. Susan gets a night out of the house for a date leaving her kids with a babysitter. Things go from bad to worse on the homefront as creepy phone calls escalate into a home invasion and a devastating ending that has to be seen to be believed.
A pitch-perfect, bloodcurdling hellscape – NIGHTMARES IN A DAMAGED BRAIN is nothing short of astonishing with wonderful camerawork and some incredible effects. Not to be missed!
VAMPIRE HOOKERS
dir. Cirio H. Santiago. 1978.
82 min. Philippines/United States.
In English.
Special thanks to Joe Rubin and the fine folks at AGFA.
Two horndog sailors (Bruce Fairbairn of “LA Law” and Trey Wilson of RAISING ARIZONA) are on shore leave in the Philippines and looking to bone down when they run into one Richmond Reed (John Carradine) and a bevy of bodacious bloodsuckers who take the duo out on the town. They go out for Bloody Mary’s, have a few laughs, and try to get everything other than their blood sucked.
Director Santiago (director of EBONY, IVORY AND JADE, and producer of last year’s marathon entry THE BLOOD DRINKERS) really lets this cast sink their teeth into this film. A phenomenal theme song, hambone antics, some unsurprisingly un-woke jokes, and plenty of farts slam the casket on another years festivities.
DON’T PANIC
