Horror for the Holidays withdrawal.

We're excited for our new monthly series to begin, but we're gonna miss Horror for the Holidays. With that in mind, we thought we'd share with you our vote for January's H4H would have been. There aren't many New Year's horror movies out there, but one that Horror for the Holidays didn't get to was Terror Train.

Jamie Lee Curtis stars in this low budget slasher that was specifically written to ride the success of John Carpenter's Halloween. (According to the filmmakers, the premise came to them when they asked themselves what would happen if Halloween took place on a train.) But for a rip-off movie, it doesn't borrow too heavily and there are some seriously amazing surprises like: a magic act by 24 year old David Copperfield, appearances from Hanz's future “white knight” and favorite B-movie Prince-protege Vanity, and John Alcott on cinematography!

“John Alcott,” you ask? Not only did he win an Oscar for Best Cinematography for Barry Lydon, he also shot most of Kubrick's iconic work. He shot Terror Train and The Shining in the same year. (Drink that in for a second. The man who shot one of the most atheistically important movies of the 80s shot Terror Train the same year. This is either a testament of how humble he was, or an incredible illustration of how little the film industry values cinematographers.) Make no mistake, his presence adds some interesting visual elements to this fairly straight forward slasher.

This forgotten classic is perfect for ringing in the new year: it's got a great cast, creepy masks, great visual effects, an appearances from a legendary magician before his prime, and a totally ripped off premise staring the same star as the movie it rips off, and takes place on New Year's Eve. (I mean really, that's the reason to watch it on New Years...)

Halloween III with Tom Atkins.

I am beyond excited for tomorrow. Not only do I get to see one of my favorite Halloween movies on the big screen but I get to do it in the presence of a true badass and MVP* of Horror for the Holidays this year, TOM ATKINS!! 

Ive never actually been able to see Halloween 3 in a theater before. Ive never even heard of anyone screening it around here, since most people seem to hate it. I on the other hand have always thought it got a bad wrap.

You throw together some H. P. Lovecraft/old world witchcraft and mix it with 80's telecommunications technology. Then add some commentary on consumerism and advertising. Put it together with fantastic cinematography by Dean Cundey, a great synth score by John Carpenter and Alan Howarth, and of course my favorite beer drinking leading man Tom Atkins. Im not sure whats not to like.

Get down to the Starbar in the Theaters starting at 6:30 to snag one of 50 limited edition posters I made for the event and if your there real early you will also get one of these sweet Halloween 3 button packs.

7:30 start time with a really great vintage trailer pack, Halloween 3 and then followed by a Q&A with Tom Atkins.

All for $5. At Theatres at Mall of America.

* We played My Bloody Valentine 3D, Night of the Creeps and Halloween 3 this year all starring Tom Atkins!

Night of the Creeps Tonight!

Tonight! 2 fantastic movies for $5. Night of the Creeps and a super secret mystery movie!

As usual get there early and grab a free button pack from us in the star bar (while they last).

Horror for the Holidays: The Return of the Living Dead Button packs!

If you are attending the Horror for the Holidays screening tomorrow night (Thursday July 3rd) at the Theatres at Mall of America. Arrive early and get one of these sweet button packs! Limited to the first 25 people.
Screening at 7:30, $5.

Dan O'Bannon

For someone with only eleven screen writing and two directing credits, Dan O'Bannon has an impressive cannon. He wrote the screenplays for Alien, Total Recall, Invaders from Mars, Lifeforce and directed the cult classic Return of the Living Dead.

O'Bannon career started by attended USC with John Carpenter, and working on Carpenter's Dark Star doing production design, supervising the special effects, editing, and even appearing as one of four actors on screen. His next gig was was overseeing the special effects on the unfortunately doomed Alejandro Jodorowsky's Dune. Luckily, the failure of that project left O'Bannon broke, homeless, and sleeping on the couch of Ronald Shusett, with whom he wrote the screenplay to Alien. While trying to get that screenplay into production, O'Bannon worked his last effects gig on Star Wars, before going on to write and direct other influential (though lesser known) films. He worked on Heavy Metal, wrote Toby Hooper's Lifeforce, directed the punk zombie classic Return of the Living Dead, and worked again with Ronald Shusett on adapting We Can Remember It For You Wholesale into Total Recall.


This 3rd of July, the dudes at Horror for the Holidays are screening Return of the Living Dead at the Theaters of MOA, the film itself takes place on July 3rd, and we can't think of a better day to see it again, or for the first time, on the big screen! (We've never been aware of any theater in town screening it, but if they have, we've never seen it in the theater.) Come down and appreciate the strange career of Dan O'Bannon with us, and get ready to quote this flick all weekend long!


Return of the Living Dead, Theatres at MOA, $5

The Zombie fad started for a reason...

These days zombies are co-opted more than bacon. But, there are zombie films out there that still hold their own, even in an exceptionally over-saturated market. Here are some of our favorite zombie movies in no particular order:

Dawn of the Dead – This is the movie that makes you wish you could live in a mall, while you slowly realize how hollow our materialistic lives truly are. Oh, and also there are tons of blue zombies!

The Beyond – For us, this is a pretty seminal Italian zombie movie. It takes place in 1970s New Orleans, it's 100% over dubbed, it never makes a lick of sense, the soundtrack is amazing, the story is strung together with more ambiance than substance, and it's chock full of amazing kills.

Fido – This moive takes place in the aftermath of a zombie apoclypse, an apocolyps that has apparently bathed survivors in the squeaky-clean glow of 1950s Americana. A heart warming boy-and-his-dog style entry to the zombie genre that hits its mark like you wouldn't expect.

Shaun of the Dead – This movie is the best example of genre-mixing: part buddy movie, part coming of age movie, part rom-com, and all zombie horror. (If you have never seen it in the theater, keep an eye on TrylonMicrocenama's upcoming flicks!)

Return of the Living Dead – Ever shuffled along moaning out for “braaaaains”? Well, you can thank this movie for that idea! Full of gems that have been nodded to in everything from The Simpsons to Mars Needs Moms. (Random fact: this movie takes place on July 3rd. The folks over at Horror for the Holidays are honoring that fact this year by screening it this July 3rd!)






Oh, and Undead and Dead Alive. And if you count Night of the Creeps and 28 Days later as zombie movies, then those as well! We could go on and on, but really, as annoying as some of the zombification-of-everything has gotten, it's important to remember that it all comes from a good place! Catch Return of the Living Dead on the big screen and get back to your roots!

Zombie Soundtrack Mix!

Once again we present a "mixtape", made from our ever expanding soundtrack collection! This time Tim has put together a Zombie movie mix in anticipation for next weeks Horror for the Holiday screening of Return of the Living Dead!
Enjoy!

The Shining everything!

Awhile back Mondo put out their Room 237 clothing line and fairly quickly sold every single item. Lucky for us, Mondo was never the only name in the clothing-designed-from-famous-carpets business! The internet offers us everything from ties, to tee shirts, to shorts, to sport coats, to chef coats, to pants, to skirts, to more shorts, to belt buckles, to socks, and so on forever!

Now you might be wondering where we found so many amazing Overlook carpet themed items. Most of them came from the best tumblr you'll ever find on the subject of The Shining: The Overlook Hotel. It's wonderfully curated with posts about the movie's actors, wardrobe, set design, behind the scenes, current fashion, locations, homages, you name it! Check them out (or go on a impulse shopping spree) and get yourself pumped for The Shining on the big screen!

TheShining @ MOA Theaters, June 15^th, 7:30pm, $5

Biker movie mixtape!

A new mix tape in anticipation of Fathers Day! This time the theme is biker movies in honor of my dad who, back in the 70's, was out in California building custom bikes, looking like he was straight out of easy rider.

One of the stars of Easy Rider happens to be Jack Nicholson, who also happens to be the star of a movie called The Shining, which just so happens to be the Fathers Day Horror for the Holidays movie at the MOA. (See what I did there? Boom.)

Check out the mix, make your own and share it here, and have a happy Father's day!

Horror for the Holidays movie: Breeders! at the MoA Tonight!

Tonight! Sunday May 11th at 7:30 will be the Mothers Day movie Breeders! It is this months Horror for the Holidays movie and to celebrate once again we will be giving away a limited number of button packs! Arrive early and grab one while they last! As always at these screenings there will be a vintage 35mm trailer pack before the show!

Foreign-body birthing movies.

Not familiar with the “foreign-body birth” genre? Well, I kinda coined the term to write this, but it refers to any movie where a woman (or theoretically a man, but it's Mother's day folks!) is forcibly or corrosively impregnated by an alien/robot/demon/were-kangaroo, carries the fetus to term, and births whatever creature results from the coupling.

Now that you're familiar with the genre, I'll tell you: Never, in the history of cinema, has there been a compelling reason to show a foreign-body birth on film. Never has anyone I know ever exclaimed: “Oh my god! The birthing scene though! So amazing right?!”

What's that? A “foreign-body” birth is necessary for your story? Well, go right a head and put that in there if it helps you tell your story. But for the love of everything not cringe-worthy; do not show it on screen.

No one want's to see them.

They're uncomfortable, they're 100% not needed to convey ideas, and they're usually written by men. Men don't have a natural fear of giving birth like women do, and I get the curiosity to explore things you'll never be able to tangibly experience. Toying with biology is common place in storytelling, but seriously, really, truly; we do not need to see a non-human creatures coming out of a vag.

And, while we're on this topic, we don't need rape in movies either.

Never,

never,

never,

ever.

So, how about we spend this Mother's Day examining how amazingly disrespectful it is to force things into or out of vaginas. It's degrading to not only to the women on screen, but the people involved at all points of the creative process. There are better ways to convey pure evil, helplessness, power recovery, inhumanity, et. al. without relying on these tropes, so let's keep them out of our pop-culture. Let's do it for our moms, sisters, wives, neighbors, co-workers, and audience members at large. Let's do it not just because it's the right thing, let's do it because there are far cleverer ways to convey these ideas.

Happy Mothers day! And if you don't celebrate greeting card holidays, happy birthday to everyone born in May, including my mom!

-Colette

The amazing art of the Tim Kincaid movies 1986-89

Tim Kincaid and the Kansas City Trilogy.

It's easy to write off artists who's work doesn't live up to the cultural standard of “good”. But, quite often, you find amazing things when you investigate those creating off the beaten path. Tim Kincaid does not disappoint in that arena.

If you're not sure who Tim Kincaid is, we completely understand. Most of his film career he wrote-directed porn films under the name Joe Gauge but, for a brief stint in the late 80s he made seven fantastically bad straight-to-video genera movies. Breeders, Robot Holocaust, and Mutant Hunt are some of his better know written-directed works, but he's also responsible for Necropolis and Enemy Territory (the only movie to star Ray Parker Jr.) as a result of his producing. His movies were shot with almost no budget, contain spectacularly awkward performances, have production levels impossible to recreate while trying, and perfectly incapsulate the singular time in history where most of the country was simultaneously frightened of and intrigued by New York City; and so far, we love them all!

Though, as bad as they are, all of these cult classics retain their popularity today regularly selling for $80 on VHS, when you can find them. But despite all this, Tim Kincaid's legacy does not lie outside his porn stint.

    

In the early 70s, when the longstanding gay male stereotype in porn (and the rest of cinema) was “effeminate” city-living men, Tim Kincaid made porn films about blue collar workers hooking up in working class settings. His portrayals of gay men as people from all walks of life, influenced a generation of people. As a result, the “Kansas City Trilogy" is Tim Kincaid's true legacy. He makes porn again today, and he discusses some of the modern “taboos” he's breaking in this great interview with BUTT magazine . He also talks about making the Kansas City Trilogy and leaving porn to do “mainstream” work while he and his wife raised their sons (one of whom now makes soundtracks for his porn flicks).

All these discoveries have made us extra excited to watch a Tim Kincaid classic on the big screen. Come see it with us this weekend after a lovely Mother's Day dinner!

Breeders, Sunday May 11^th (Mother's Day!!) @ Theaters at MOA $5, 7:30

CRITTERS 2 at the MOA tonight!

If you're in the Twin Cities tonight and have 5 bucks, you should be at the Theatres at the Mall of America!  

Why you ask?

7pm: Pre-party in the Starbar (inside the theater, next to the concessions) where we will be giving away Critters button packs to the first 20 people there!

7:30pm: Vintage 35mm trailers and then Critters 2! 

A brief intermission: Featuring a local made short film"Bad Egg" Directed by Ryan Schaddelee

And then: Super secret mystery movie (approximately 80 min)

We hope to see you there, we don't want to have a super fun evening without you!

Critters

We're so excited for the Theaters of MOA's screening of Critters 2, we had to re-watch the original! This movie is good fun from start to finish and it contains one of our all-time-favorite insult slinging dads. Seriously, his casual threat to his kid has inspired us to hurl some impressive insults around our circle of friends.

The plot unfolds something like this: One eventing the Brown family notices a strange light in the sky fall into their back yard. Unfortunately for them, it's Krites, a pack of furry aliens hell bent on eating everything in their path. Luckily, shapeshifting intergalactic bounty hunters are on the case, though they seem to be better at smashing up the town than actually hunting Krites. No matter, with the Browns taking out more Krites than our bounty hunters can shake a stick at, someone is likely to save the day!

Things to watch for: The biggest overreaction to the possibility of missing a bus ever uttered by a father to his son. Special effects by the Chiodo Brothers. The same house and yard used in Invaders From Mars. Zoolander's good friend Billy Zane! The flimsiest excuse to have a song written for, and several times preformed in, a movie.

What we learned: When in doubt, throw modified firecrackers at it.

What the filmmakers might have been thinking: I've never seen a horror movie where the heroes swoop in and destroy as much as the bad guys...

“Hey that's” moments with: Dee Wallace (The Howling, ET), Scott Grimes (ER, Party of Five) and M. Emmet Walsh (Blade Runner, Fletch, The Jerk and 206 other things).

Yep, that's: Billy Zane.

Specs (our copy):

Format: VHS

Previews: none

Tag line: none

Choice line from the synopsis: “It's an alien adventure, full of action and just crawling with CRITTERS!”

VHS release company: RCA

Running time: 86min

VHS release: 1986

Original release: 1986

Our rating: Better with a group.

Horror for the Holidays: Leprechaun

   Our friend over at MOA Theaters is programing some interesting stuff this year under the heading "Horror for the Holidays". The next holiday they're tackling is St. Patrick's day; the celebratory screening? Leprechaun! That's right, on March 14th you can see Leprechaun on the big screen for a measly 5 bucks! 
  
  There's nothing quite like watching a great horror movie in a room full with fans, especially when those fans have been plied with green beer from the theaters "Star Bar"!