Theresa is Rad: The Interview

We've never interviewed anyone over at Tape Freaks, so we recruited our silent partner Chris Grap for the task! We think he did pretty well, maybe we'll have to make him less silent more often...

When young Theresa took her first steps towards becoming a VHS kid, only one warning came from her mother: you can watch whatever movie you want, except Last House On the Left, Blue Velvet, or Pink Flamingos. So that weekend Theresa rented Last House On the Left, Blue Velvet, and Pink Flamingos, and a lifelong love of trash film was born!

Creative, witty, and relentless in her pursuit of the best movie and venue combos she can find, Theresa has curated the longest running roadshow of cinematic awesomeness in the Twin Cities. Her hopes for the community that's sprung up around her is for it to grow exponentially. As an only child, discovering oddities through USA's Up All Night or sweeping the video store shelves for the best VHS box art as a solo mission quickly made her realize watching these beauties alone wasn't nearly as fun as sharing them. The best part of spending two hours in the dark watching some under-appreciated, overlooked, really fun, or overblown movies, is doing so with the biggest group of people possible. So when Theresa screens a film, it doesn't matter if the movie's trash or if it's good, what matters most is finding like minded audience members to enjoy it with.

From grabbing a stack of VHS tapes and heading to a friends for movie-marathon sleepover to Trash Film Debauchery celebrating 14 years this October, the world is a better place because of Theres'a love of cinema and her undying urge to share it with everyone around her. Who knows where one of her screening will pop up next, but you can rest assured the next ragged gem is never too far away.

And now, for your reading entertainment, Theresa answers James Lipton's 10 questions:

What is your favorite word?
Really, it's "shit" 'cause I just say shit. It's just so good and means so many things!

What is your least favorite word?
Copacetic.

What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?
It's boring but, a good sense of humor. Being able to laugh at yourself more specifically.

What turns you off?
Know-it-alls.

What's your favorite curse word?
Shit.

What sound or noise do you love?
I love the sound of the inside of a bee hive. Which is a weird answer but, I'm a bee keeper and its one of the most beautiful noises when you take the cover off and hear the–makes a noise which I can only assume is the exact noise one hears when opening a bee hive–and it's also one of the most beautiful smells ever. If I could live in a room that had the heat, the smell, and the sound of a bee hive, there's nothing I can think of that would be more relaxing.

What sound or noise do you hate?
The sound of people eating. Specifically, the sound of people eating apples because it has that wet but like crunch and mouth open thing going on.

What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
I do want to win a demolition derby, I don't know if that's an occupation but I would love to be in a demolition derby. I would also like to drive a monster truck. That would be fucking awesome! I've had this plan for most of my life, because in Caledonia (Minnesota) demolition derbies were a big thing, I've always wanted to enter, and win, a demolition derby in a hearse. It's the perfect demolition derby vehicle! It's all back-ended, you could soup it up and then you're unbeatable! You just have to get one of the old, steel frame Munster's looking cars.

What profession would you not like to do?
I would never like to be a project manager at a digital marketing agency again. Fuck that! Anything "agency life" where you have to schmooze with assholes, fuck that.

If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?Gotcha!

Theresa is Rad: Patio Series

Speaking of movies we've missed and regretted, often the movies that screen at dusk around the Twin Cities are ones we have to miss. (Starting your workday at 2pm has it's benefits as well as drawbacks.) Here are some of Theresa's Traveling Patio Picture Show screenings that we very desperately wish we had caught.

Cool as Ice: A friend of mine who lives on the east coast had never contacted me about attend things in the Twin Cities on his behalf up until he saw Cool as Ice was playing in town. He's been trying to get me to watch this movie for years, so the second he saw it was playing he was trying to convince me to go. But it wasn't convincing we needed, if we had Tim and I been able to get out of work in time, we would have been there with bells on!



The Apple: When we watched Electric Boogaloo: The Wild Untold Story of Cannon Films, there were plenty of films we needed to see highlighted in the film, but this one particular stood out. The Apple looks to be Cannon's most disjointed venture we have yet to see, some kind of Jesus Christ Superstar affair about the biblical Adam and Eve, set in the American counter culture, as told by an Israeli immigrant... I can't even imagine the spectacle that springs from that well.




Dolemite: Last August (still months before I'd actually see Dolemite for the first time) Theresa screened this epic film as part of her summer patio series at Club Jagger. If you want to know more about how I feel about the film after finally seeing it, click here, but know that I was sorry I'd missed this screening at the time, and I'm REALLY sorry now that I know exactly what I missed out on.

Bloody Birthday: This was supposed to be our second ever Tape Freaks mystery movie, but getting run over by a pickup threw a wrench into that plan. We did still screen Bloody Birthday, but it was the second film in a double feature and frankly didn't have the attendance it deserved. So, when we saw Theresa was screening this in her Traveling Patio Picture Show last summer, we were pumped. This movie needs far more people need to see it. Though, it would have been nice to have seen it again, with a full crowd to enjoy it with!

The Burbs: There might not be a better place to watch this movie than on a patio filled with people half in the bag. This movie ramps up the asinine so hard by the end (with an incredible cast pulling the whole thing off) it's impossible not to have a good time while watching it, never mind while sitting outside in the best months of the year with a cold drink in your hand. We'll always be bummed that we missed this one.

Third Clue: May's Mystery Movie

Clue #3: The cinematographer on this months movie worked regularly for notorious B movie producers and directors like David DeCoteau, Fred Olen Ray and Charles Band.

Maybe you've noticed the influx of "bad" cinema screenings in the Twin Cities lately? Well you have the tenacious groundwork of Theresa and her Trash Film Debaucherying to thank for that hotbed of questionable cinema screenings! Theresa has been building the terrible, wonderful, sometimes unbearable movie watching scene in the Twin Cities for longer than any game in town, so this month we're dedicating our theme to all the Debauchery Theresa has treated us to over the last thirteen years!! 

Tape Freaks Presents: May's Mystery Movie at the Trylon microcinema, Wednesday, May 3rd@ 7:00pm, only $5!

****Purchase advance ticket here****

>>>If you're not following Trash Film Debauchery on Facebook  you should be!<<<

Theresa is Rad: Class of 1999 II: The Substitute

Sometimes we start watching movies to write up for a theme well before that theme starts (when I'm on my blogging game that is *cough-sofarbehind-cough*), but when we decided on a theme for our very first two Tape Freaks screening at our new Trylon home, we realized that we could write up a film that Theresa was screening later that spring in one of our themes! You can read what we were willing to give away at the time here (and there's some interesting behind the scenes tidbits in that post), but I did omit one pretty interesting thing about this flick in that write up...



Serious spoiler dead ahead: We watched this movie for our Machines Gone Haywire theme. In the original Class of 1999, android teachers are brought in to clean up the riffraff student body, and the sequel seemed to be basically the same premise. That is, up until the very end. The titular substitute in this film? He was never an android, he was the son of the creator of the original androids, suffering from severe PTSD from his military service days, and was just wearing some kind of super light weight bullet proof body armor that made him seem like an android the whole movie.





That little tidbit made the whole movie not fit our theme at all, but we still wanted to cross promote Trash Film. So we wrote it up anyway hoping no one spoiled it in a "well actually" comment, and lucky for us no one did. That is one twist ending that's so far out of left field, it's only good if you have no idea it's coming!

Theresa is Rad: The Soap Factory

Theresa has hosted film screenings in some pretty fun places besides the Trylon, and although her patio series is always on point, her haunted basement screenings at the Soap Factory were on another level! Sadly for the Tape Freaks household, October is always our busiest month so we regrettably didn't make it out to a single on of these, and it haunts us to this day... Here's the KILLER lineup we still kick ourselves for missing back in October of 2015:

Sleepaway Camp: If you've not seen this movie, there's a lot to unpack: it's filled with homophobia, there's a death by rape scene, and an incredibly problematic portrayal of gender identity issues. But, this film is also undeniably a classic 80s horror movie. It's (serious) problems aside, the execution of the horror effects, the production value, and a "twist" ending (that registers just above Scooby Doo on the there's-no-way-we-could-have-figured-that-out scale) makes this movie especially memorable. (And although I'm not super bummed to have missed this one, I bet the after-viewing conversations would have been very interesting to participate in.)











The Burning: A strange blend of an urban legend and Jason Voorhees' origin story, this film is truly under appreciated in the summer camp slasher genre. Some asinine kills, effects by Tom Savini, and appearances by very young Jason Alexander, Holly Hunter and Fisher Stevens make this a must see if you've not already.

Friday the 13th Part IV: The Friday the 13th franchise might be our favorite, and the fourth installment doesn't disappoint. A young Cory Feldman steals the show, but that's actually saying a lot considering that a young Crispin Glover gives him a run for his money in the few scenes he appears in. Combine that with a higher body count, effects by Tom Savini and one of the best "they brought him back from that?!?!" Jason death scenes, and you've got a pretty solid installment in a overall stellar series!

Motel Hell: This movie has it all, so much so that I'm always surprised by something I had forgotten on each viewing.  Cannibalism, torture, someone wearing a pig head as a mask, these things only scratch the surface of what this movie offers. It's also a horror-comedy that features some really strange (but also really good) cameos and stars some heavy weight actors that approach their slasher roles seriously, which makes the villainous stars that much more enjoyable to watch. Of all the films Theresa screened in that series, this was the one we REALLY regret missing. 

The Haunted Basement itself: Theresa wasn't just programing an epic film series for the Soap Factory, she was also helping the haunted basement experience behind the scenes! Seriously, is there anything she doesn't make cooler in the Twin Cities?