| space junk / Fridays in November @ Midnight |
 We all love Space Junk--that's what you get when the exploitation market hitches its wagon to the stars! The "space opera" had been around for decades before Star Wars and Alien caught fire, but it was the success of those blockbusters that opened the floodgates for a veritable starfleet of inspired imitations. The post-Star Wars boom was a godsend for lovers of all things alien, laser and hyperdrive, but with a B-movie universe of extra-terrestrial T&A, a galaxy of gore, and a cosmos of Christmas light constellations and silver spray-painted solar systems. So buckle up and set your phasers on fun, because the Cinefamily is blasting off warp speed on a intergalactic tour of cheap thrills that'll knock your space boots off.
11/07 @ Midnight / SERIES: space junk
Star Crash
We screened this one back in January in 16mm, and folks went gaga over it, so we're excited to bring it back--this time in a newly found 35mm print! From the classic Star Wars rip-off era, only Kinji Fukasaku's Message From Space rivals the Italian sound and light show Star Crash for sheer panache, ambition and gorgeous incoherence. Amidst oversaturated acid-trip papier-maché sets, Hammer Studios starlet Caroline Munro stumbles through a sparkling array of gonzo intergalactic set pieces and cut-rate genre logic ("Scan it with our computer waves!"), wearing the skimpiest of future fashion while battling kung-fu cavemen and the dueling curly locks of her buddies David Hasselhoff and Marjoe Gortner. The art direction on display here is also a treat, with illuminated flooring, starships that resemble brains, and a Death Star knockoff shaped like a fist! Which clenches when attacked! Meant for kids but riotous for adults, Star Crash is loony good times.
Dir. Luigi Cozzi, 1979, 35mm, 94 min.
Tickets - $10
11/14 @ Midnight / SERIES: space junk
 Galaxy of Terror
Much more than "just an Alien rip-off with a worm rape it", Galaxy of Terror beautifully rides the line between heady, fractured space opera psychodrama and unrepentant grotesque sleaze. And did we mention the girl getting raped by a giant worm? An intergalactic salvage crew is called to a barren planet to check on the survivor of a previous mission (sound familiar?), but in the process, after they discover a forboding space pyramid, each crew member is picked off by a completely different monster, ranging from a space werewolf to a dude's own maggoty severed arm! The film takes the "monster from within" premise that's the backbone of both Forbidden Planet and Solaris (yep, you heard right), and tosses in some killer set design and one of the ultimate B-movie Casts Of The Damned (Sid Haig, Robert Enguland, Eddie Albert, Ray Walston, Joanie from TV's Happy Days--and Zalman King!). You will be pleased.
Dir. Bruce D. Clark, 1981, 35mm, 81 min.
Tickets - $10
11/21 @ Midnight / SERIES: space junk
Message From Space
Recorded in “Super Space Sound” with a “Special Flying Objects Technical Unit,” this stupefying Japanese imitation of Star Wars by way of Seven Samurai is one of the wackiest entries in the filmography of Kenji Fukasaku--better known for violent yakuza pictures and the exceptionally lurid Battle Royale than for family-friendly space operas. Martial arts badass Sonny Chiba expands his range (beyond breaking bones) and here appears in disco warlord drag and silver face paint as the evil Rocksaia XII, a fascistic ruler bent on persecuting the peaceful planet Jilucia. In desperation, the Jilucians send a bunch of mystical glowing walnuts into space as homing pigeons to retrieve the only ragtag group of outsiders who can save them, including a visibly intoxicated Vic Morrow as a furry-coated ex-pilot with an unquenchable thirst for scotch. This, coupled with an intergalactic disco, lost-at-sea American actors coping with an onslaught of dubbing, and a sassy, b! ack-talking little robot, and you've got George Lucas-ploitation at its richest.
Dir. Kinji Fukasaku, 1978, 35mm, 105 min.
Tickets - $10
11/28 @ Midnight / SERIES: space junk
Mutant (unreleased director's cut)
Mutant is the most joyfully exploitive Space Junk film of them all. It's got the ultimate Heavy Metal magazine aesthetic: a badass space cowboy joins a group of scientists, beds the Playboy Channel-esque babes (are those clear high heels and pink jumpsuit regulation?), and battles a man-made monster with super-powered saliva that reduces its prey to throbbing gristle while the soundtrack pumps great tunes. Longtime Corman editor Allan Holzman brought some tripped-out '70s rock n' roll editing and a healthy sense of humor to his directorial debut, only to have Corman cut over eight minutes of comedy when test audiences rightfully screeched with laughter, not just terror. We're showing it with every gory guffaw intact, and Holzman will be here to regale us with tales, so come enjoy every nudity-filled, slimy minute of the best Alien rip-off ever made!
Dir. Allan Holzman, 1982, 35mm, 90 min.
Tickets - $10
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