<<< August 8 - 25,  2002 >>>

The Cinematheque’s 3^rd annual summer genre fest returns with an even more amazing line-up of demonically possessed cars, man-eating sharks, vengeance-obsessed female assassins and more!! The Festival leads off with a 20^th Anniversary screening of STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN, featuring in-person appearances by director Nicholas Meyer and actor George Takei. This year’s series includes L.A. premiere screenings of COWBOY BEBOP: THE MOVIE, based on the hit anime series; the sensual Japanese swordfest PRINCESS BLADE; the astounding British werewolf movie DOG SOLDIERS; insane yakuza/zombie action flick VERSUS; and USHER, the first new film from director Curtis Harrington (NIGHT TIDE, GAMES) in over 15 years!

Sponsored by A & E Home Video, a special highlight of the Festival will be an in-person tribute to British fantasy/sci-fi pioneer Gerry Anderson (born 1929), who used his delightful "SuperMarionation" process to create a rocket-fueled world of supercars, sinister aliens and ingenious scientists in classic TV series like "Thunderbirds," "Space: 1999," and "Captain Scarlet & The Mysterons." A true pop culture visionary, Anderson (and his then-wife Sylvia, who also provided voices for many of the characters) helped pave the way for later series like "Dr. Who" and "Star Trek."

Thursday, August 8 | 7:30 PM

20^th Anniversary Screening – George Takei, Walter Koenig and Nicholas Meyer In Person!

STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN, 1982, Paramount, 114 min. Dir. Nicholas Meyer. Widely hailed as the best of the STAR TREK films, THE WRATH OF KHAN is also one of the finest science-fiction films of the past twenty years, period. Beloved favorites William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelly, George Takei, Walter Koenig and the other crewmembers of the Starship Enterprise were never better, matched by the grand, ferocious energy of Ricardo Montalban as the vengeful Khan. Discussion following with director Nicholas Meyer and actors George Takei and Walter Koenig (schedules permitting).

Friday, August 9 | 7:00 PM

Screenwriter Carl Gottlieb In Person!!

JAWS, 1975, Universal, 124 min. Director Steven Spielberg rocketed to the front of the class with this terrific mixture of suspense, humor and modern Americana, based on the Peter Benchley best-seller. Roy Scheider is excellent as a New England sheriff confronting crowds of sunbathers, self-serving local politicians and – most importantly – a monstrous Great White Shark over a July 4^th weekend. With Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss. Discussion following with co-screenwriter Carl Gottlieb (schedule permitting).

Friday, August 9 – 9:45 PM

L.A. Premiere – Gonzo Japanese Female Sword Action!!

PRINCESS BLADE (SHURAYUKI-HIME), 2002, ADV Films, 92 min. Dir. Shinsuke Sato. An intense, coolly beautiful remake of the classic LADY SNOWBLOOD action films, PRINCESS BLADE combines spectacular swordfighting with a mournful meditation on the fleeting nature of happiness. Set in a futuristic, feudal society that’s equal parts THE MATRIX and THRONE OF BLOOD, the story revolves around a slender, 20-year-old assassin named Yuki (Yumiko Shaku) who wages a one-woman war against her own clan when she learns they were responsible for her mother’s death. (In Japanese with English subtitles.)

Saturday, August 10 | 5:00 PM

Director Curtis Harrington In-Person!

New 35 mm. Print! GAMES, 1967, Universal, 100 min. Dir. Curtis Harrington. Beautiful people James Caan and Katharine Ross live in a funhouse filled with Pop Art and pinball games – until mysterious charlatan Simone Signoret drops in, and the parlor games turn devilishly sinister. Followed by the U.S. Premiere of: USHER, 2002, 38 min. Curtis Harrington’s first new film in over 15 years is an eerie, highly personal adaptation of the classic Poe story, starring the director himself in the title role. Discussion following with director Curtis Harrington.

Saturday, August 10 – 8:30 PM

L.A. Theatrical Premiere!

DOG SOLDIERS, 2002, Kismet Entertainment, 90 min. A squad of football-obsessed, hilariously foulmouthed British soldiers on a training mission in the Scottish Highlands find themselves stalked by enormous werewolves, in writer/director Neil Marshall’s supercharged blend of ALIENS and THE HOWLING. After a disastrous encounter in the woods, the soldiers hole up in an abandoned farmhouse – and the fun really begins, as various members of the squad start to transform, an enigmatic local girl (Emma Cleasby) turns up, and our hero Cooper (Kevin McKidd, from TRAINSPOTTING) is forced to perform emergency surgery with Super Glue (don’t ask – just watch).

Saturday, August 10 – 10:30 PM

Late Night Coffin Joe Scream-Fest!!

AT MIDNIGHT I’LL STEAL YOUR SOUL, 1963, 92 min. Brazilian director/actor José Mojica Marins stars as egomaniacal undertaker "Coffin Joe", a kind of freakish, Latin American Lon Chaney on acid! Coffin Joe is obsessed with fathering the perfect child, but first he must dispatch his loyal but barren spouse with a poisonous spider. Along the way, Joe terrorizes his small village with his hypnotic stare and sacrilegious behavior like eating meat on a Friday. (In Portugese with English subtitles).

Sunday, August 11 - 3:00 PM

LE RAT, 2000, Les Films a Un Dollar, 61 min. ERASERHEAD meets HENRY - PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER in this creepy, unnerving directorial debut by Christophe Ali and Nicolas Bonilauri. A lonely, elderly man haunted by a recurrent vision of his mother’s death kills the women who cross his path in a haunted world of criminal silhouettes. The rat in the wall of his room is simultaneously his tormentor and only companion. Reality and phantasm, past and present, blur memorably in gloriously stark B&W images devoid of dialogue.

Sunday, August 11 | 5:00 PM

Special Sneak Preview – New Japanese Anime!!

COWBOY BEBOP: THE MOVIE (COWBOY BEBOP: TENGOKU NO TOBIRA), 2001, Sony Pictures, 120 min. Dir. Shinichiro Watanabe. A significant hit on Cartoon Network, "Cowboy Bebop" has inspired legions of fans with its sympathetic, beautifully-drawn characters, futuristic space action and funky, offbeat humor. Now, "Cowboy Bebop" has been expanded into a spectacularly animated feature film (soon to be released in the U.S. by Sony Pictures), continuing the adventures of hardluck bounty hunters Spike, Jet, Faye and Ed as they cruise the cosmos, looking for one big score … (In Japanese with English subtitles.)

Sunday, August 11 | 7:45 PM

FIVE MILLION YEARS TO EARTH (aka QUATERMASS AND THE PIT), 1967, 20^th Century Fox, 97 min. Dir. Roy Ward Baker. Brilliant fusion of apocalyptic sci-fi and supernatural mystery, based on writer Nigel Kneale’s original teleplay, as Professor Quatermass (Andrew Keir) excavates a centuries-old alien spacecraft in the London subway. Remember Hob’s Lane … With Barbara Shelley, James Donald.

Thursday, August 15 |– 7:00 PM

Brand-New 35 mm. Print!

BLOOD ON SATAN’S CLAW (aka SATAN’S SKIN), 1970, MGM/UA, 93 min. Dir. Piers Haggard. One of our most-requested titles is finally here, in the first new print in over 30 years! In 17^th century England, a farmer unearths a hideous, fur-covered claw in his field, unleashing a wave of superstition, hysteria and devil worship by the village youth. Ranks with Michael Reeves’ THE CONQUEROR WORM as one of the most chilling and evocative horror films of the late 1960’s. With Patrick Wymark, Linda Hayden.

Thursday, August 15 – 9:15 PM

Italian Exploitation Double-Feature!

LAST MAN ON EARTH , 1964, MGM/UA, 86 min. Dir. Sidney Salkow (co-dir. Ubaldo Ragona, uncredited). Terrifying, vastly underrated adaptation of Richard Matheson’s landmark sci-fi horror novel, I Am Legend (shot in Italy), with Vincent Price as the lone survivor of a vampire plague that has left the world population a shambling, nocturnal undead race, every one of them thirsty for Price’s blood.

PARANOIA, 1968, Paramount, 91 min. Dir. Umberto Lenzi. Superbly entertaining Euro-trash with love-starved widow Carroll Baker victimized by smart aleck playboy Lou Castel and his vixenish, bi-sexual "sister." A tremendously enjoyable mix of Hitchcockian suspense and VALLEY OF THE DOLLS-style histrionics, fueled by Baker’s literally bare-all performance. (Both films in English.)

Friday, August 16 – 7:00 PM

Actresses Nancy Allen and P.J. Soles In Person!!

CARRIE, 1976, MGM/UA, 97 min. Director Brian De Palma strikes exactly the right note between empathy and horror in this yarn of Carrie (Sissy Spacek), a teen misfit who becomes so unglued after being repeatedly victimized by sadistic classmates and religious zealot mom Piper Laurie that her latent telekinetic powers kick in, resulting in a blitz of gory, vengeful carnage. Enormously popular on its original release, CARRIE remains one of the best adaptations from a Stephen King novel. With John Travolta, Amy Irving, Nancy Allen, P.J. Soles. Discussion following with actresses Nancy Allen and P.J. Soles (schedules permitting).

Friday, August 16 – 9:45 PM

Japanese Anime Double-Header!!

GHOST IN THE SHELL (KOKAKU KIDOTAI), 1995, Manga Ent., 82 min. Director Mamoru Oshii’s anime masterpiece anticipates many of the themes from THE MATRIX. In the near future, a sentient computer program named Project 2501 tries to control the cyber and human worlds – standing in its way is kick-ass, super-sexy cyborg cop Major Motoko Kusanagi and her team at Section 9.

X, 1996, Manga Ent., 97 min. Dir. Taro Rin. Dark, phantasmagorical anime fantasy about a young swordsman named Kamui, who finds himself thrust into a cosmic battle between the Dragons of Earth and the Dragons of Heaven, to decide the fate of mankind. (Both films English dubbed.)

FOREVER HOLLYWOOD follows at 11:35 AM

Saturday, August 17 – 5:00 PM

Brand New 35 mm. Print!

THE CAR, 1977, Universal, 98 min. Dir. Elliott Silverstein. Wildly-deranged shocker about a mysterious black car given to mowing down anyone in it’s path. It soon dawns on desert town sheriff James Brolin that the homicidal car has no driver and may, in fact, be a satanic entity! One of our favorite guilty pleasures from the 1970’s. With John Marley, Ronny Cox, R.G. Armstrong.

Saturday, August 17 – 7:15 PM

Brand-New 35 mm. Print!!

SILENT RUNNING, 1971, Universal, 89 min. Haunting, metaphysical sci-fi film starring Bruce Dern as an astronaut charged with maintaining a huge terrarium/space station with the help of three marvelously human robots named Huey, Dewey and Louie. Directed by visual effects pioneer Douglas Trumbull (CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND), this showed pre-STAR WARS American sci-fi at its most thoughtful.

Saturday, August 17 – 9:30 PM

Psychotronic 50’s Sci-Fi/Horror!!

FIEND WITHOUT A FACE, 1957, Gordon Films Inc., 74 min. Dir. Arthur Crabtree. In the staggeringly weird FIEND WITHOUT A FACE, Marshall Thompson is sucked into a whirlpool of sabotage and death at a Canadian air force base, only to discover the guilty party is a legion of flying brains addicted to sucking out human cerebral matter from the back of the neck! With Kim Parker, Terence Kilburn.

THE CRAWLING EYE (aka THE TROLLENBERG TERROR), 1958, Wade Williams, 85 min. Dir. Quentin Lawrence. U.N. investigator Forrest Tucker travels to the Alps to check out a radioactive cloud and soon discovers a herd of one-eyed, octupus-like aliens using the cumulous mist to hide their presence! Also starring the haunting Janet Munro (mother of fantasy vamp Caroline) as a girl with psychic links to the invaders.

Sunday, August 18 – 1:00 PM

THE MATRIX, 1999, Warner Bros., 136 min. Before MATRIX RELOADED comes out, it’s worth taking another look the most influential mainstream sci-fi film since BLADE RUNNER. Directors Andy and Larry Wachowski create a liquid, dreamlike techno-future in which embattled humans fight for their minds and souls against computer-generated enforcers. Keanu Reeves stars as Neo, sole hope for the future of mankind, with help from leather-clad teammate Carrie-Anne Moss and enigmatic guru Laurence Fishburne.

Sunday, August 18 - 4:00 PM

Los Angeles Premiere!

BUNDY, 2002, Tartan Films/First Look Media, 98 min. The latest film from director Matthew Bright (FREEWAY) brilliantly depicts Ted Bundy, the first American sex predator to be labeled "serial killer", on his cross country killing spree. From Bundy's shoplifting - a surreal, comic scene - through the first murders and his sexually morbid obsessions to his death in the electric chair, Michael Reilly Burke gives a striking performance of a very sick but charming sociopath. With archival footage from Bundy's trial. Director Matthew Bright and Actor Michael Reilly Burke in person for discussion following the film. Read Variety Review!

Sunday, August 18 – 6:45 PM

Alexander Ptushko – Encore Double Feature!

SADKO, 1952, 79 min. If you missed last year’s tribute to Russian fantasy master Alexander Ptushko, we’ve brought back these beautiful restorations – leading off with a new print of SADKO! Filled with gemlike palaces and vast underwater caverns, SADKO follows the adventures of a brave, Sinbad-like sailor who travels to India and Egypt in search of a magic bird that will bring happiness to the peasants of Novgorod.

VIY, 1967, 78 min. Dirs. Konstantin Yershov & Giorgi Kropachyov. Supervising Director Alexander Ptushko. VIY tells the story of a bumbling, novice priest (Leonid Kuravlyov) who angers a demonic old hag – to take her revenge, the witch disguises herself as the beautiful corpse of a young woman, whose last wish is to have the priest pray over her for three nights. Once trapped inside the village church, the priest encounters an astoundingly-grotesque parade of gargoyles and demons, literally erupting from the walls! (Both films in Russian with English subtitles.)

Thursday, August 22 – 7:30 PM

Friday, August 23 – 7:00 PM

"SUPERCARS AND SPACE: 1999! – A TRIBUTE TO GERRY ANDERSON – Part I"

Blast off with an episode of the first SuperMarionation series, "SUPERCAR," (1960, A&E Home Video, approx. 26 min.), in which test pilot Mike Mercury battles evil in his ingenious air/land/sea vehicle. Next, the psychedelic "FIREBALL XL5," (1962, A&E Home Video, approx. 26 min.), where Steve Zodiac and his World Space Patrol team fight to keep Sector 25 free from alien invasion. Then, an episode from the classic "SPACE: 1999," (1975, A&E Home Video, approx. 52 min.) starring Martin Landau and Barbara Baines as astronauts hurled into the unknown when the moon breaks free of earth’s orbit. Tribute Program Sponsored by A&E Home Video. Discussion following with series creator/producer/writer Gerry Anderson.

Friday, August 23 – 10:15 PM

SPRIGGAN, 2000, ADV Films, 90 min. Directed by Hirotsuge Kawasaki, the lead animator on GHOST IN THE SHELL, and supervised by AKIRA’s Katsuhiro Otomo, SPRIGGAN is a visually-astounding anime adventure about the race to control Noah’s Ark. "Spriggans" are archaeologist/warriors sent to prevent the Ark from falling into the sinister hands of the U.S. military. "Features some of the most thoroughly ass-kicking action sequences I have EVER seen in anime, or anywhere else for that matter!" – Ain’t It Cool News. (In Japanese with English subtitles.)

Saturday, August 24 – 4:00 PM

"THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO! -- A TRIBUTE TO GERRY ANDERSON – Part II"

First, an episode of "STINGRAY," (1963, A&E Home Video, approx. 26 min.), in which Troy Tempest and members of WASP (World Aquanaut Security Patrol) guard the seas in their futuristic submarine. Followed by "CAPTAIN SCARLET & THE MYSTERONS," (1967, A&E Home Video, approx. 26 min.), where the alien Mysterons try to take over the earth by creating duplicates of their victims. Only Captain Scarlet and his color-coded Spectrum agents (Lt. Green! Captain Ochre! Captain Magenta!!) stand in their way. Finally, an episode of Anderson’s most beloved series, "THUNDERBIRDS" (1964, A&E Home Video, approx. 52 min.), where Jeff Tracy, ultra-stylish Lady Penelope, her loyal chauffeur Parker and the rest of International Rescue use an astounding gallery of special vehicles to respond to worldwide emergencies. Tribute Program Sponsored by A&E Home Video. Discussion following with series creator/producer/writer Gerry Anderson.

Saturday, August 24 – 7:15 PM

L.A. Premiere!

VERSUS, 2000, Media Blasters, 119 min. One of the most hotly-discussed films on the Internet recently, Japanese director Ryuhei Kitamura’s VERSUS is a high voltage zombie/yakuza action fest that plays like some unholy hybrid of THE EVIL DEAD and RESERVOIR DOGS. Tak Sakaguchi stars as a moody, pretty-boy convict who finds himself trapped with a nasty crew of gun-wielding hoodlums in an ancient, evil-infested forest where the dead come back to life. (In Japanese with English subtitles.)

Saturday, August 24 – 9:45 PM

Barbara Steele Double Header! Ultra-Rare 35 mm. Prints!!

THE GHOST (LO SPETTRO), 1963, 96 min. Gorgeous, funereal poem of amor fou as adulterous Barbara Steele and her lover are haunted by the spirit of her murdered spouse. Lushly romantic, THE GHOST was director Riccardo Freda’s follow up to his previous gothic masterpiece with Steele, THE HORRIBLE DR. HICHCOCK.

CASTLE OF BLOOD (LA DANZA MACABRA), 1964, 85 min. Alongside BLACK SUNDAY, this is Barbara Steele’s shining hour and director Antonio Margheriti’s masterpiece, a spine-tingling and perversely beautiful hymn to love from beyond the grave. A visiting American journalist (George Riviere) is challenged by Edgar Allan Poe and friend Lord Blackwood to stay overnight in the latter’s haunted castle. What he finds there is unrequited love for tragic ghost Elizabeth (Steele.) (Both films English dubbed prints.)

Sunday, August 25 – 4:00 PM

Brand-New 35 mm. Print! Producer Max Rosenberg In-Person!!

THE MIND OF MR. SOAMES, 1969, Columbia, 98 min. Dir. Alan Cooke. Robert Vaughn is the insightful doctor intent on making a smooth transition for newly-awakened-from-coma Mr. Soames (Terence Stamp). But scientist Nigel Davenport believes this baby in a man’s body needs to acquire three decades worth of learning and maturity as quickly as possible -- something that could have potentially tragic results in this psychological shocker from Amicus horror mavens Max Rosenberg and Milton Subotsky. Discussion following with producer Max Rosenberg.

Sunday, August 25 – 7:15 PM

Alexander Ptushko – Encore Double Feature!

THE NEW GULLIVER (NOVY GULLIVER), 1935, 68 min. Dir. Alexander Ptushko.

One of the first full-length animated films made anywhere in the world, THE NEW GULLIVER tells the story of Petya (Vladimir Konstantinov), a young Soviet pioneer who falls asleep reading Swift’s "Gulliver’s Travels" – and awakens in a surreal Lilliput, updated to include jazz bands, mechanized tractors and (in the best revolutionary spirit) a miniaturized workers’ proletariat, who rise up with the help of the giant Petya!

THE STONE FLOWER (KAMENNY TSVETOK), 1946, 83 min. Dir. Alexander Ptushko. Ptushko’s dreamlike fable follows a melancholy young stone-carver (Vladimir Druzhnikov) whose talents attract the attention of the mystical Queen of Copper Hill (Tamara Makarova); she seduces him into visiting her dazzling underground world, where the carver begins sculpting an enormous flower out of shimmering stone. (Both films in Russian with English subtitles.)