| |
|
  
       
 |
WELCOME TO RETROFANTASMA!
A monthly film series of double-features dedicated to bringing
classic horror movies back to the big screen in 35mm! Created
in 1998, RETROFANTASMA has developed a large dedicated audience
of horror movie enthusiasts whose desire to see their favorite
terror flicks is matched only by their willingness to cheer at
the screen.
From John Carpenter to Dario Argento to Lucio Fulci, this diverse
film series offers it's audience a joyful jolt of terror and nostalgia.
You'll likely find yourself screaming and applauding in the same
breath. Before long, you'll be joining the thousands of people
who have whispered in the dark to their friends, "Did you
ever see the one where....?" Much like the infamous midnight
screenings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, The RETROFANTASMA
Film Series is pure devilish fun for anyone who loves the mysterious.
|
 |
Upcoming
Retro Showings:
updated
on Tuesday, February 16, 2010
|
|
|
LIFEFORCE
(UK, R, 1985, 101 min.)
Friday, March 19th
7:00 p.m.
In the blink of an eye, the terror begins! Tobe Hooper (Poltergeist)
directs this thrilling sci-fi adventure about a mission to investigate
Halley's Comet that discovers an alien spacecraft! After a deadly
confrontation, the aliens travel to Earth, where their seductive
leader begins a terrifying campaign to drain the life force of everyone
she encounters.
• Link
to movie trailer
• http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089489/
|
KILLER KLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE
(US, R, 1988, 88 min.)
Friday, March 19th
9:30 p.m.
Finally the truth about clowns is out! A spaceship disguised as
a circus tent lands in a field near a small town, signaling the
attack of deviant, red-nosed, balloon-twisting psychos from another
world who plan to annihilate mankind by turning people into cotton
candy!
• Link
to movie trailer
• http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095444/
|
Did
you know…
Lifeforce was promoted and filmed under the title The Space Vampires
(the title of Colin Wilson's novel). Cannon Films reportedly spent
nearly $25 million in hopes of creating a full blown blockbuster.
In fact, the studio siphoned money that had originally been earmarked
for Superman IV: The Quest for Peace in order to pay for the pricey
special effects in Lifeforce. Prior to the film’s release,
Cannon decided that Space Vampires sounded too much like a typical
low-budget exploitation film. The title was changed and the film
was released in the United States in an edited version which brought
in less than half of its production cost. Patrick Stewart’s
role was originally cast with Sir John Gielgud, but he departed
the production because of a disagreement over his fee. Then Cannon
tried to get Anthony Hopkins and Terence Stamp to star, but they
also refused to participate. Early film notes also stated that Klaus
Kinski and Olivia Hussey were cast in the film, but neither had
committed to the project. Even Billy Idol was considered for the
role of one of the male vampires!
|
|
|
|
|
VIDEODROME
(Canada, R, 1983, 87 min.)
Friday, April 23rd
7:00 p.m.
Long live the new flesh! When Max Renn goes looking for edgy new
shows for his sleazy cable TV station, he stumbles across the pirate
broadcast of a hyper-violent torture show. As he unearths the origins
of the program, he journeys into a shadow world of right-wing conspiracies
and bodily transformation. Videodrome is regarded as one of the
most influential and mind-bending science fiction films of the 1980s.
• Link
to movie trailer
• http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086541/
|
TERRORVISION
(US, R, 1986, 83 min.)
Friday, April 23rd
9:30 p.m.
People of Earth, your planet is about to be destroyed...We're terribly
sorry for the inconvenience. When Stanley Putterman installs a
satellite dish in his backyard, his family ends up getting a lot
more
than ESPN. His satellite is a perfect receptor for extraterrestrial
garbage zapped into his backyard: a hideous, two-ton alien blob
with
eyes and a never-ending appetite.
• Link
to movie trailer
• http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092074/
|
Did
you know…
Director David Cronenberg recalled how, when he was a child, he
used to pick up pirate television signals from Buffalo, New York,
late at night after Canadian stations had gone off the air, and
how he used to worry that he might see something disturbing not
meant for public consumption. This formed the basis for the plot
of Videodrome. Canadian rumors of mind-controlling television from
right-wing extremists in the United States also inspired the story.
The concept of brain tumor-inducing television programs is an urban
legend dating to the 1940s, when people believed television signals
to cause brain tumors. Videodrome pioneered the flicker-eliminating
technology used to film a TV screen's images; before, film images
were superimposed onto blank television screens. At the time of
its theatrical release, Videodrome was supplemented in the marketplace
by a novelization. Though credited to "Jack Martin," the
novel was in fact the work of acclaimed horror novelist Dennis Etchison.
The story told by the novel differs from the final cut of the movie,
as Etchison's lead time required him to base his work on an earlier
draft of the screenplay. Alternate titles of Videodrome were Network
of Blood and Zonekiller. In 2009, it was announced that Universal
Pictures had obtained the rights to produce a remake.
|
|
|
|
|
THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2
(US, NR, 1986, 101 min.)
Friday, May 21st
7:00 p.m.
The buzz is back! From the director of the original Texas Chainsaw
Massacre, this ghastly and hilarious sequel descends into your deepest,
darkest fears as a wacked-out lawman (Dennis Hopper) goes after
human meat-cutters with his own high-octane chainsaws in a horrific
showdown with the legendary Leatherface and his entire cannibalistic
family.
• Link
to movie trailer
• http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092076/
|
SQUIRM
(US, R, 1976, 92 min.)
Friday, May 21st
9:30 p.m.
When a powerful storm knocks Fly Creek, Georgia's power lines down
onto wet soil, the resulting surge of electricity drives large,
bloodthirsty worms to the surface and then out of their soil-tilling
minds! Soon, the townspeople discover that their sleepy fishing
village is overrun with worms that burrow right into their skin!
• Link
to movie trailer
• http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075261/
|
Did
you know…
When originally submitted to the MPAA, Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2
received an "X" certificate. However, TV previews, theatrical
trailers, and even the movie posters had the written statement "Due
To The Nature of This Film, No One under 17 Will Be Admitted".
When initially released on home video in the late 80s, it still
had no rating. In the 1990s, when receiving a DVD release, it was
finally awarded an "R" rating by the MPAA. The film was
banned in Australia for 20 years. The original uncut version that
was issued on video to retailers throughout Australia was done so
illegally by a duplicating house. When word leaked amidst the video
industry, a number of retailers were raided for possessing infringing
copies. The duplicating house was similarly raided by Federal Customs.
The film was finally passed for official release in Australia on
November 30, 2006. Unlike its predecessor, TCM2 contains gore and
features effects from makeup maestro Tom Savini. The emphasis is
on black comedy, which director Tobe Hooper believed was not as
obvious in the first film.
|
|
|
|
|
IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE in 3-D
(US, NR, 1953, 81 min.)
Friday, June 18th
7:00 p.m.
Terror In 3-D... Reaching From The Screen To Seize You In Its Grasp!
This is director Jack Arnold's first science-fiction effort and
one of the earliest to use a desert setting. An astronomer and his
fiancé witness a meteor crash-landing that turns out to be
a spacecraft. No one believes them until townspeople start disappearing.
• Link
to movie trailer
• http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045920/
|
INVADERS FROM MARS
(US, PG, 1986, 99 min.)
Friday, June 18th
9:30 p.m.
There’s no place on Earth to hide! Face it: a movie in which
Louise Fletcher eats a bullfrog can't be all that bad. Tobe Hooper's
remake of the 1953 classic is a total hoot, remaining loyal to the
original while serving up a kaleidoscopic orgy of fang-toothed beasties,
dazzling pyrotechnics, and enough wretched dialogue to choke its
enthusiastic cast.
• Link
to movie trailer
• http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091276/
|
Did
you know…
Universal Studios’ make-up department submitted two designs
for the aliens in It Came from Outer Space to studio executives.
The rejected design was later used as the Mutant in Universal's
This Island Earth (1955). The special effects created for the spacecraft
consisted of a wire-mounted tennis ball, coated with incendiary
chemicals. The screenplay was by Harry Essex, with input by Jack
Arnold, and was derived from an original screen treatment by Ray
Bradbury. Unusual among sci-fi films of the day, the alien invaders
were portrayed as creatures without malicious intent. "I wanted
to treat the invaders as beings who were not dangerous, and that
was very unusual", Bradbury said. He offered two outlines to
the studio, one with malicious aliens, the other with benign aliens.
"The studio picked the right concept, and I stayed on."
Although credited to Harry Essex, most of the script, including
dialogue, is copied almost verbatim from Ray Bradbury's initial
film treatment. Barbara Rush won the Golden Globe award in 1954
as most promising female newcomer for her role.
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
