Warning: Images are not from the movies we’re showing. Trust us, you can’t imagine what we’re showing!
This Sunday on Fire delivers a two-fisted, high caliber exploitation flick from one of Hong Kong’s (and Hollywood’s) most famous filmmakers before he became famous. This director’s name has become an adjective, and here’s your chance to see him before he got polished up and put on a shelf, delivering a raw, uncompromising “men on a mission” movie that punches you in the face with dynamite fists.
Shot in Thailand, where the stunt crew used real bullets and real explosives in a lot of the action sequences, you’ll gasp when you learn that no one died during the making of this film, because they sure seem to come close. The grue strewn carnage nestles next to scenes of wakka-wakka comedy, but the end result is tougher than old leather and meaner than a junkyard dog. We’re not telling you the title of this one until it’s too late, so fasten your seatbelt, put on your flak jacket, and get ready to get fragged.
Starring: Steve Guttenberg, Jami Gertz, Shelley Long, Kyle MacLachlan, Mädchen Amick
Gus (Steve Guttenberg) is a live-action Ziggy who transforms into an overconfident, mulleted New Zealand biker named Lobo Marunga. In between, the Gutte is his usual charming self while his pesky sister (romance novelist Shelley Long) attempts to give him a Down Under makeover in this misguided romantic comedy starring a repurposed Mad Max costume.
Can Guttenberg pass as a legitimate Vegemite lover? Will the “Gusbuster” get his buster dusted by reluctant reporter Jami Gertz? All will be revealed at this pre- (possibly anti-) Valentine’s Day screening!
Starring: Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, Slim Pickens, Harvey Korman, Mel Brooks
In this satirical take on Westerns, crafty railroad worker Bart (Cleavon Little) becomes the first black sheriff of Rock Ridge, a frontier town about to be destroyed in order to make way for a new railroad. Initially, the people of Rock Ridge harbor a racial bias toward their new leader. However, they warm to him after realizing that Bart and his perpetually drunk gunfighter friend (Gene Wilder) are the only defense against a wave of thugs sent to rid the town of its population.
Starring: Yvette Yzon, Alvin Anson, Paul Holmes, James Gregory Paolleli, BB Johnson
An evil corporation sends a team of marines led by the sole survivor of a previous attack on a rescue mission to a remote Pacific Island following a zombie outbreak stemming from nefarious scientific experiments. It all goes bad really fast.
Plot sound familiar? It should, as this is the final film from legendary Italian horror director Bruno Mattei (Hell of the Living Dead, Zombie 3, Rats: Night of Terror) who made a career of high energy knock offs of Hollywood hits featuring his unique splatter signature.
In the final years of his career, Mattei made several shot-on-video movies for the international market, and this was one of the best of them – featuring the plot lifted from James Cameron’s Aliens, mixed with elements of his own 1980 knock off of Romero’s Dawn of the Dead. What follows is a third world acid trip from hell, with Grand Guignol gore, high-caliber weapons, mutated rugrats and goopy tentacles all colliding in a Calabrian casserole of spaghetti sauce-slathered greatness.
Starring: Kinder Hunt, Maegen, Jesse Lizarraga, Jeff Burr, Scott Pierce, Judith Montgomery
They are creatures created by the evils of men!
In this sick and slimy SOV monster anthology, a man’s mistress is trapped by his gun-wielding wife, who subjects her to two tales as a twisted form of revenge. In the first, a would-be brothel owner and crew face off against a puritanical mayor with a mysterious box housing an ancient creature he uses as punishment. In the second, a woman’s nightmares about her abusive husband slowly come to life as she tries to escape the real monster growing inside him.
From prolific indie producer David S. Sterling (Camp Blood, Demonicus, Witchcraft) and directed by Jay Woelfel (Beyond Dream’s Door), Dennis Devine (Fatal Images), and Eugene James (Dead Girls), Things spares no exploitation trope or gross-out practical effect in telling it’s tawdry and oozy tales of inhumanity in all its analog glory.
Starring: Toni Collette, Bill Hunter, Rachel Griffiths, Jeanie Drynan, Gennie Nevinson, Daniel Lapaine
Print courtesy of The Library of Congress
Socially awkward Muriel Heslop (Toni Collette) wants nothing more than to get married. Unfortunately, due to her oppressive politician father (Bill Hunter), Muriel has never even been on a date. Ostracized by her more socially adept friends, Muriel runs into fellow outcast Rhonda Epinstalk (Rachel Griffiths), and the two move from their small Australian town to the big city of Sydney, where Muriel changes her name and begins the arduous task of redesigning her life to match her fantasies.
Starring: Freddie Prinze Jr., Rachael Leigh Cook, Matthew Lillard, Paul Walker, Jodi Lyn O’Keefe, Kevin Pollak
High school hotshot Zach Siler (Freddie Prinze Jr.) is the envy of his peers. But his popularity declines sharply when his cheerleader girlfriend, Taylor (Jodi Lyn O’Keefe), leaves him for sleazy reality-television star Brock Hudson (Matthew Lillard). Desperate to revive his fading reputation, Siler agrees to a seemingly impossible challenge. He has six weeks to gain the trust of nerdy outcast Laney Boggs (Rachael Leigh Cook) — and help her to become the school’s next prom queen.
Starring: Julia Roberts, Dermot Mulroney, Cameron Diaz, Rupert Everett, Philip Bosco, M. Emmet Walsh
Childhood friends Julianne Potter (Julia Roberts) and Michael O’Neal (Dermot Mulroney) had a deal to marry each other if they were still single by age 28. Now, four days before her 28th birthday, O’Neil announces that he’s marrying a gorgeous 20-year-old named Kimberly (Cameron Diaz). Suddenly realizing that she’s actually in love with him, Julianne vows to stop the wedding at all costs. However, when she is appointed maid of honor, things get even more complex.
Starring: Hugh Grant, Andie MacDowell, Kristin Scott Thomas, Simon Callow, Rowan Atkinson, James Fleet
Lovable Englishman Charles (Hugh Grant) and his group of friends seem to be unlucky in love. When Charles meets a beautiful American named Carrie (Andie MacDowell) at a wedding, he thinks his luck may have changed. But, after one magical night, Carrie returns to the States, ending what might have been. As Charles and Carrie’s paths continue to cross — over a handful of nuptials and one funeral — he comes to believe they are meant to be together, even if their timing always seems to be off.
Starring: Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant, James Fleet, Harriet Walter
When Elinor Dashwood’s (Emma Thompson) father dies, her family’s finances are crippled. After the Dashwoods move to a cottage in Devonshire, Elinor’s sister Marianne (Kate Winslet) is torn between the handsome John Willoughby (Greg Wise) and the older Colonel Brandon (Alan Rickman). Meanwhile, Elinor’s romantic hopes with Edward Ferrars (Hugh Grant) are hindered due to his prior engagement. Both Elinor and Marianne strive for love while the circumstances in their lives constantly change.