Can’t make it to the beach this summer? This July, Spectacle invites you to snorkle in the depths of madness with three chilling features set by the sea. With a splash of carnage and psychological horror, WAVES OF MUTILATION will leave you shivering on the balmiest of nights.
Surf’s up—and it looks like a red tide.
INTERRABANG
Dir. Giuliano Biagetti, 1969
Italy, 93 min.
In Italian with English subtitles.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 2 – 10 PM
THURSDAY, JULY 17 – 10 PM
TUESDAY, JULY 29 – 7:30 PM
“It’s a symbol made of a question mark plus an exclamation mark: it represents the uncertainties of our era”
Named after a punctuation mark that essentially translates to ‘WTF?’ in modern times, INTERRABANG is a proto-giallo thriller set on an island featuring cat-and-mouse murder games. Photographer Fabrizio sets sail with his wife, her sister, and a model to do some location shooting. When they have engine trouble leaving the island, Fabrizio hitches a ride on a passing boat and goes to seek help, leaving the women waiting… as word of an escaped killer comes in over the radio…
Playing like a low-key, b-side version of Polanski’s Knife In The Water, INTERRABANG mixes Antonioni’s sense of composition and ennui with some bizarre plot turns and double-crossings. If you’re the right amount of sun-drunk and vibing for some 60s Italian bombshells languidly discovering a murder plot, then you’ve struck gold. Bring a mojito while you’re at it.
THE WITCH WHO CAME FROM THE SEA
Dir. Matt Cimber, 1976
USA, 88 min.
MONDAY, JULY 7 – 7:30 PM
TUESDAY, JULY 15 – 10:00 PM
SATURDAY, JULY 26 – 10:00 PM
Molly is a good-natured but troubled barmaid in a seaside town, haunted by repressed memories of the sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of her father. Her trauma manifests in a drinking problem and a twisted obsession with men; she dotes on her adoring nephews, idolizes her deceased father’s memory, and moons over burly football players like a lovestruck teen—even as she fantasizes about castrating them. During a night of particularly heavy binge drinking, Molly loses a few hours, and her grisly desires begin to leave the realm of fantasy.
Despite the dubious distinction of making the UK’s infamous ‘video nasties’ list, THE WITCH WHO CAME FROM THE SEA isn’t quite an exploitation flick. Surprisingly complex, and elevated by a truly inspired performance from lead actress Millie Perkins, this little film is too weird, and too bold to be anything but art.
MARY, MARY, BLOODY MARY
Dir. Juan López Moctezuma, 1975
Mexico/USA, 101 min.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 2 – 7:30 PM
MONDAY, JULY 7 – 10 PM
SUNDAY, JULY 27 – 7:30 PM
Juan López Moctezuma (ALUCARDA, THE MANSION OF MADNESS) directs this Mexican-U.S. shocker about a bisexual seductress artist with an insatiable bloodlust. Eerie beaches and surreal flamboyance make this a uniquely tingling seaside chiller that straddles the line between arthouse and grindhouse.