Film Screenings / Programs / Series
THE DEVIL PROBABLY: A CENTURY OF SATANIC PANIC
October 30 – November 8
With so many treating Halloween as nothing more meaningful than an excuse to party till dawn in a half-assed superhero costume, it’s safe to say the holiday has drifted far from its historical roots. Nevertheless, by virtue of its relationship to various traditions honoring the dead – as well as to ancient festivals marking the onset of the “darker half” of the year, a transitional moment when the boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead were thought to become porous – Halloween also conjures up images of the underworld, and by association, notions of Satan, witchcraft, and other dark forces.
Inspiring a wealth of creative output, negative perceptions about Satanism and the occult have been perpetually harnessed by those in power to stoke alarmist fears about feminists, people of color, rebellious youths, communists, and many other groups and movements that have threatened the status quo. These perceptions have contributed to the rise of mass hysteria, conspiracy theories, and superstition, ultimately sparking questions about the socio-political impacts of historic and modern-day witch-hunts around the world. Taking this realm of inquiry as a point of departure, and in a spirit of autumnal celebration, we present a sneak-preview Halloween edition of an upcoming series showcasing the phenomenon of Satanic Panic as it’s been manifested cinematically throughout the history of the medium. Stay tuned for more in 2020!
Guest-curated by Genevieve HK.
Join us for a special reception on Thursday, October 31 at 7:30!
Special thanks to Diego Dassaev Rios Alarcón (Televisa); Chris Chouinard (Park Circus); Keith Crocker; Sebastian del Castillo (AGFA); Eric di Bernardo (Rialto Pictures); Sofía Arévalo Gallardo (Cineteca Nacional de Mexico); Harry Guerro; Alfredo Leone (Naor World Media Films); Kristie Nakamura (WB); and Daniel Birman Ripstein (Alameda Films).
Mario Bava
BLACK SUNDAY
1960, 87 min, 35mm
Bava’s directorial debut is a masterpiece of atmosphere and technique, showcasing a (for its time) scandalous, gruesome, and erotic approach to horror that inspired a generation of giallo filmmakers. Based very loosely on Nikolai Gogol’s short story “Viy,” BLACK SUNDAY (originally THE MASK OF SATAN, before its U.S. release by AIP) kicks off in 1630s Moldavia with an impressive scene of ritual execution as Asa Vajda and her lover are sentenced to death for witchcraft and sorcery, and picks up 200 years later when Asa returns from the dead to exact revenge. Barbara Steele carries twice her weight as both Asa and Katia, her innocent descendent.
Wed, Oct 30 at 7:15 and Sun, Nov 3 at 9:00.
George Miller
THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK
1987, 118 min, 35mm
A film that defies categorization as either light horror or feminist slapstick, George Miller’s THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK is a pleasantly campy (and less than faithful) adaptation of John Updike’s 1984 novel. The bewitching dream-team of Cher, Susan Sarandon, and Michelle Pfeiffer co-star as three sexually-frustrated New England women whose supernatural powers are awoken by the arrival of a devilishly misogynistic bachelor played with gusto by Jack Nicholson. The cat-fight-turned-battle-of-the-sexes-turned-sewing-circle that ensues is accompanied by a smorgasbord of special effects in what remains an indefinable example of comedic sorcery.
“George Miller’s first full-length departure from the MAD MAX franchise, THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK can be viewed as female empowerment manifesto or as a male gaze-y supernatural story that keeps women in their traditional place. Sometimes it manages to be both of those things in the same scene.” –Jen Chaney, VULTURE
Wed, Oct 30 at 9:15 and Sat, Nov 2 at 4:30.
Charles Martin Smith
TRICK OR TREAT
1986, 98 min, 35mm. Print courtesy of the American Genre Film Archive.
Conceived as a weapon against subliminal messaging, Tipper Gore and the Parents Music Resource Center’s “Filthy Fifteen” list helped fuel a sweeping campaign to demonize rock music and ultimately led to what may have been the greatest invention since the electric guitar: the “Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics” stamp. A satirical slap in the face to this special flavor of Satanic Panic, cult favorite TRICK OR TREAT stars Marc Price as an unwitting teen who conjures the evil spirit of his heavy metal hero after playing his new LP backwards. It’s graced with cameos from Ozzy Osbourne and Gene Simmons, and a fitting score composed by the band Fastway.
Thurs, Oct 31 at 8:00 and Thurs, Nov 7 at 7:00.
Roger Corman
THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH
1964, 89 min, 35mm. With Vincent Price and Jane Asher.
Roger Corman’s celebrated adaptation for American International Pictures’ cycle of Edgar Allan Poe-inspired films brings new life to this medieval tale of satanic terror and death. Among Corman’s bona fide masterpieces, it casts a truly terrifying spell, thanks in no small part to Nicholas Roeg’s keen eye and steady camera, and to Vincent Price’s theatrical but carefully controlled performance – one of his very greatest, arguably rivaled only by his work in WITCHFINDER GENERAL (see below).
“[A] work of consummate imaginative power and originality. In medieval Italy, the devil-worshipping Prince Prospero (Price) abducts an innocent village girl (Asher) and tries to interest her in his diabolical goings-on while the plague rages outside his castle. This is both beautiful and horrifying, with a fine sense of ambiguity and a wealth of subtleties.” –Don Druker, CHICAGO READER
Fri, Nov 1 at 7:15, Sun, Nov 3 at 4:45, and Thurs, Nov 7 at 9:30.
Michael Reeves
WITCHFINDER GENERAL
1968, 87 min, 35mm. With Vincent Price and Ian Ogilvy.
Featuring one of Vincent Price’s supreme performances, WITCHFINDER GENERAL is also the masterpiece of director Michael Reeves, a filmmaker whose career was cut sadly short when he died at age 25. Though WITCHFINDER, a UK/US co-production, was released during the height of the Hammer horror era, and co-produced by American International Pictures (who distributed it in America as THE CONQUEROR WORM, to tie in with their Poe cycle), its similarities to the Hammer/AIP constellation of films are superficial at best. Based on the life and times of 17th-century witch-hunter Matthew Hopkins, the film has nothing of the supernatural about it – but that doesn’t mean it’s not a horror film, and a truly soul-curdling one at that. Portraying the brutal and mercenary Hopkins as he wreaks murderous havoc throughout the English countryside, demanding a steep fee as he identifies innocent villagers as witches fit for torture and execution, Price dials down his usual (albeit sublime) hamminess, achieving a truly chilling and masterful portrait of moral corruption and vacuity.
“[WITCHFINDER] features any number of attractive young aspiring stars who seem to have been cast mainly for their ability to scream. Scream as though they were being slowly burned to death, or kicked, or poked, or stabbed – mainly about the eyes – with sticks, or shot through, or otherwise tortured, which, in fact, they are.” –Renata Adler, NEW YORK TIMES
Fri, Nov 1 at 9:30 and Sun, Nov 3 at 7:00.
Arturo Ripstein
LA TÍA ALEJANDRA
1979, 98 min, 35mm. In Spanish with projected English subtitles. Archival print courtesy of the Cineteca Nacional de Mexico.
A moody foray into black magic, Satanism, and familial drama by veteran director (and Buñuel protégé) Arturo Ripstein, LA TÍA ALEJANDRA is a subtle and nuanced classic of Mexican horror that refracts social issues (the fate of the elderly and the innocence of children) through a supernatural lens. Isabella Corona dominates the screen as the aging single aunt Alejandra, who moves in with her nephew’s middle-class family following the death of her mother. Despite a promise to solve their financial troubles, her strange demeanor and penchant for dark, candlelit rituals draw resentment and ridicule, fueling a firestorm of revenge.
Sat, Nov 2 at 7:15 and Fri, Nov 8 at 9:15.
Chano Urueta
THE WITCH’S MIRROR / EL ESPEJO DE LA BRUJA
1960, 75 min, 16mm
One of the very best of the Mexican horror films that proliferated throughout the 1950s and 60s – and a highlight from the career of ultra-prolific director Chano Urueta – THE WITCH’S MIRROR is a nightmarish, surreal concoction that channels Robert Wiene’s THE HANDS OF ORLAC (1924) and Georges Franju’s EYES WITHOUT A FACE (1960). The titular witch serves as housekeeper to a famous surgeon, and godmother to the surgeon’s young wife. When the surgeon poisons his bride, the witch uses her dark powers to avenge her goddaughter’s death. The torments she visits on both her employer and his new wife trigger a series of events that grow increasingly macabre, encompassing disfigurement, grave-robbing, and rebellious appendages. THE WITCH’S MIRROR was distributed in the U.S. by producer/impresario K. Gordon Murray, who specialized in importing and redubbing films from abroad. We’ll be showing a special 16mm print of the imported version, which includes a prologue that finds Murray himself expounding on the phenomenon of witchcraft.
“An exercise in pure cinema, in which countless allusions to previous movies and a virtual catalog of special effects techniques are used to illustrate a delirious tale of witchcraft vs. mad science.” –David Wilt
Sat, Nov 2 at 9:30 and Fri, Nov 8 at 7:15.
