Sam Reeves previews the new season of Hyde Park Picture House’s Creatures of the Night Strand. And what a fantastic collection of the weird and wonderful it is too. Sam will be on hand throughout the series to let you know what’s coming up when.
If, like me, you see the daytime simply as an annoyance between nights, you need to get out your diary – go through your Saturday nights from the 14th of April to the 2nd of June and doodle. You are now busy at these times. Why? Creatures of the Night is returning to our beloved Hyde Park Picture House.
Last season’s foray into the twilight zone of cult films, oddball documentaries and forgotten masterpieces was a dip into the mysterious and wonderful. Experiences, including puckering bottoms and psychedelic dreams, were unforgettable (like, genuinely unforgettable in the case of some of the more indelible images from John Waters’ notorious bad-taste fest Pink Flamingos…). This time around the programme features – amongst a whole host of other weird and wonderful characters and settings – speed freaks, haunted houses and frustrated punks. It takes in everything from tripped out French animation and gore-filled horror comedy to mind-melting neo-noir science fiction.
With the fountain of mainstream cinema morphing into a tired special effects puddle littered with the flotsam and jetsam of films like John Carter, Creatures of the Night offers an alternative that will restore your faith in cinema. But it’s not just the selection of films that make Creatures of the Night an essential part of your cultural calendar, another thing that makes the showings so special is the atmosphere. As Creatures of the Night co-programmer Andy Moore (@andymoore_) puts it, “there’s something really amazing about seeing a film after dark in a cinema like the Picture House, with its gas lighting and old-fashioned red curtains that wouldn’t look out of place in an episode of Twin Peaks. It really is a true midnight movie experience.”
What better way could there be to spend a cheap Saturday night? What’s more, this time around hard core fans will be rewarded for their dedication as the Picture House are introducing a Creatures loyalty card – catch three Creatures of the Night showings and see a fourth for free.
Now that I’ve sold the season to you, I hope you’ll join me on a whirlwind tour of what will be on offer at 11PM every Saturday night at the Picture House as we move through spring into summer.
14 April: Fantastic Planet
La Planéte Sauvage, or the Fantastic Planet to you and me, is a French-Czech animation. The beautiful landscape plays stage to a tiny humanoid’s rebellion against evil alien overlords. This is a must for people who feel nostalgic about animation. Think Noggin the Nog meets Smurfs meets Godzilla. At times weird, at times beautiful, this will be a great start to the season.
21 April: Vanishing Point
Lots of films have car chases. Considerably fewer films have nothing but a car chase. Watching Vanishing Point is a comfortable way of understanding America: Big place, big personalities and fast cars, not to mention some superb hair.
28 April: House
Japan and horror go well together in this exercise in ‘du cinema WTF.’ Hilarious and disturbing, this is must for all creatures of the night. Blessed with 90% on the rotten tomatometer this film is directed by Berlin Film Award winner Nobuhiko Obayashi and sees a gaggle of Japanese girls on a sleepover in a haunted mansion. The plot was born out of a suggestion by film company Toho to ‘make a film like Jaws.’
05 May: Dark City
Bowler wearing creepoids arrive at a futuristic city and go for hero John Murdoch. This film, despite its not-quite-right dialogue, is a cornerstone in film thinking which brought about The Matrix. Collective consciousness, endangered extra-terrestrial parasites and a healthy dollop of false memory. What’s not to like?
12 May: Mulholland Drive
Set in Hollywood, this is meta-film of the best kind. Involving more car crashes and weird half memories than you can shake your ticket at, this is a beautifully elegant film. Director David Lynch gives you a series of images which you will find yourself working through days later.
19 May: Repo Man
It’s hard to define exactly what Repo Man is about, alien invasion, punk rock musical and send up of Regan era consumerism are all ingredients that make this one of the best cult films ever. Repo Man forms the core of Alex Cox’s film making achievements.
26 May: The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters
There’s a slight departure here, in that King of Kong is a documentary rather than a fiction film, but with characters as bizarre and hilarious as these you’d be forgiven for thinking the film was scripted by mockumentary mastermind Christopher Guest (This Is Spinal Tap, A Mighty Wind). The documentary follows two men as they compete to set the highest score ever recorded on the classic arcade game Donkey Kong, oddball doesn’t even begin to describe it.
02 June: The Evil Dead
The mother of them all. This is a true cult classic. A bunch of 20 somethings play a tape of incarnations, resulting in all kinds of hell. Cheesy lines and wooden acting add to the plethora of reasons to love this film. A grand conclusion to a series of films that will stay with you for a lifetime.
If this series interests you, then be sure to check out Minicine’s Mini-Bloodbath, screening of Evil Dead 2 this evening (Wed 4th Apr) at Glyde House in the centre of Bradford. Accompanied by Leeds produced short stop motion animation The Bride of Vernon – See the Facebook event page for details
About Sam: More cooing pigeon than Culture Vulture, I write a science fiction blog and am attempting to become a world famous journalist. In my spare time I do an English Literature and Theatre degree at Leeds University and pant my way around half marathons. I enjoy tutting at the news and listening to more-obscure-than-thou radio programs. For more of my stuff visit Android Electric Reviews
Mike McKenny is The Culture Vulture’s film editor. If you have any film related stories, articles, reviews with a twist, etc, contact him on mike.mckenny1983@gmail.com or find him on Twitter @DestroyApathy
First up it’s FANTASTIC PLANET – this Saturday at 11PM! Tickets are on sale now.
http://www.facebook.com/TheHydeParkPictureHouse#!/events/208742499238987/