Starring: Eric Lehning, Cody De Vos, Leah High, Brett Miller, Tia Shearer, Jordan Lehning, Josh Duensing
Make-Out with Violence is a genre-bending tale of a boy trying to fulfill his unrequited love for a girl who has risen from the dead. Set against the backdrop of a summer of cicadas and swimming pools, the film blends elements of up-beat teenage melodrama with the strange gravity of classic coming-of-age stories.
It tells the story of twin brothers Patrick and Carol Darling, newly graduated from high school and struggling to come to terms with the unexplained disappearance of their friend, the bright and beautiful Wendy Hearst. When a drive through the countryside surrounding their suburban community leads to the discovery of Wendy’s mysteriously animated corpse, the boys secretly transport the undead Wendy to an empty house in hopes of somehow bringing her back to life.
As the sweltering summer pushes on, they must maintain the appearance of normalcy for their friends and family as they search for ways to revive the Wendy they once knew, or, failing that, to satisfy their own quests for love amongst the living and the dead.
Starring: Rex Harrison, Constance Cummings, Kay Hammond, Margaret Rutherford
Skeptical novelist Charles Condomine (Rex Harrison) invites self-proclaimed medium Madame Arcati (Margaret Rutherford) to his home for a séance, hoping to gather material for a new book. When the hapless psychic accidentally summons the spirit of Condomine’s late wife, Elvira (Kay Hammond), his home and life are quickly turned into a shambles as his wife’s ghost torments both himself and his new bride, Ruth (Constance Cummings). David Lean directed this adaptation of Noel Coward’s hit play.
Starring: Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, Whoopi Goldberg
The 1990s kicked off with one of the decade’s most surprising—and enduring—hits. What began as a modest romantic fantasy, directed by the unlikely choice of Airplane! mastermind Jerry Zucker and starring hunky heartthrob Patrick Swayze, rising lead Demi Moore, and trailblazing comic force Whoopi Goldberg, became the ultimate “sleeper weeper.” Against all expectations, Ghost floated its way to box-office domination and Academy Award glory.
Swayze plays Sam Wheat, a banker deeply in love with artist Molly Jensen (Moore), until his life is cut short by betrayal. Murdered over a crooked business deal, Sam finds himself stuck between worlds—watching helplessly as danger still stalks the woman he loves. His only hope? Reluctantly teaming up with Oda Mae Brown (Goldberg), a psychic medium who suddenly discovers her powers are very real. What follows is a genre-blending marvel: part romance, part supernatural thriller, part New York City chase movie, and fully committed to big feelings.
Released at exactly the right cultural moment, Ghost struck a perfect balance between sincerity and spectacle—powered by aching performances, Goldberg’s scene-stealing (and Oscar-winning) turn, Maurice Jarre’s tear-soaked score, along with soon-to-be wedding song staple, “Unchained Melody,” and one pottery wheel that permanently altered pop culture. A high-water mark of Hollywood melodrama, Ghost remains proof that love stories—with a bit of paranormal help and sizzling leads—are Tinseltown gold.
Starring: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Emily Watson, Tracey Ullman, Paul Whitehouse, Joanna Lumley, Albert Finney, Richard E. Grant, Christopher Lee
Victor (Johnny Depp) and Victoria’s (Emily Watson) families have arranged their marriage. Though they like each other, Victor is nervous about the ceremony. While he’s in a forest practicing his lines for the wedding, a tree branch becomes a hand that drags him to the land of the dead. It belongs to Emily, who was murdered after eloping with her love and wants to marry Victor. Victor must get back aboveground before Victoria marries the villainous Barkis Bittern (Richard E. Grant).
Starring: J. Trevor Edmond, Mindy Clarke, Kent McCord, James T. Callahan, Sarah Douglas
A teen (J. Trevor Edmond) uses an Army chemical to revive his dead girlfriend (Mindy Clarke) after a motorcycle accident.
Starring: Gene Tierney, Rex Harrison, George Sanders
Defying her conventional in-laws, young widow Lucy Muir (Gene Tierney) leaves London with her young daughter and moves away for a quieter life in a secluded seaside cottage. Lucy discovers the ghost of the deceased former owner, sea captain Daniel Gregg (Rex Harrison), is haunting the house, but gathers the courage to stand up to him, and woman and ghost become friends. Faced with dwindling means of support, Lucy agrees to the Captain’s challenge to write his colorful life story.
Starring: Grace Glowicki, Ben Petrie, Leah Doz, Lowen Morrow
Includes “Stink-o-Vision” scratch-and-sniff cards!
Dead Lover is a hilarious, delirious, beautiful, horny, and wholly original Frankensteinian tale about the limits one Gravedigger will go to hold onto love.
A lonely Gravedigger reeks so strongly of corpses that she can’t attract a lover. She concocts fragrant perfumes in her workshop, but nothing can save her romantic prospects from her ghastly odor… Until one day, when Gravedigger meets Lover, an aristocratic dandy in town for his sister’s funeral. Lover is different: numb to the pampered palette of the aristocracy, his loins are downright aroused by Gravedigger’s morbid stank. Before long, Gravedigger and Lover begin a rapturous love affair, become engaged, and dream of starting a family. But suddenly, Gravedigger’s dreams are ripped away when Lover tragically drowns in a shipwreck – and all that is recovered is his severed finger, still wrapped in his engagement ring. Delirious with grief and enduring love, Gravedigger resolves to bring Lover back to life using only his ring finger.
Starring: Joe Lara, Nicole Hansen, John Saint Ryan, Yosef Shiloach, Uri Gavriel
Traversing a dangerous, post-apocalyptic South Carolina, America’s only mom must externally carry her fetus to catch a boat to Europe – the human race depends on it!
One of the last films to be released theatrically by the notorious Cannon Films, American Cyborg: Steel Warrior is one of many Terminator–style rip-offs, with leather jackets, glowing red eyes, and a cyborg who absolutely refuses to stop walking toward you. Set in a future where humanity is on the brink and machines have feelings about it, this delivers exactly what it promises: steel fists, dramatic slow-motion action, and dialogue that sounds like it was programmed by a very intense computer.
The existence of a 35mm print of this movie is rather miraculous – don’t miss the chance to see it!
Starring: Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Franchot Tone, May Robson, Winnie Lightner, Fred Astaire
Hosted by Caroline Golum and Cristina Cacioppo. Followed by an after party in Trees Lounge with a DJ set of pre-code era tunes from Owen Kline plus our signature cocktail special “Blonde in Hell.”
Dancing Lady (1933) is a sparkling pre-Code backstage musical that pairs brash modernity with classic MGM glamour. Joan Crawford stars as Janie Barlow, a fiercely independent chorus girl whose bold ambition and unapologetic sexuality land her in trouble with the law—and unexpectedly into the orbit of Broadway producer Tod Newton (Franchot Tone). When Tod bails Janie out of jail and installs her as the star of his new show, her meteoric rise exposes the ruthless economics of show business, the fragility of male ego, and the double standards faced by women who dare to want both success and autonomy.
Directed by Robert Z. Leonard, the film delights in its era’s loosened moral codes, offering frank sexual innuendo, open class tension, and a refreshingly unsentimental look at romance. Clark Gable appears as Patch Gallagher, a tough, working-class lover who challenges the polished producer’s claim on Janie’s heart, setting up a triangle that pits wealth and respectability against passion and loyalty. With Busby Berkeley-style spectacle, antics from The Three Stooges (back when they were Ted Healy and his Stooges), and Crawford at the height of her early stardom, Dancing Lady captures a moment in Hollywood when women’s desire, labor, and ambition could be portrayed with striking candor.
Starring: Jennifer Tilly, Brad Dourif, Alexis Arquette, John Ritter, Katherine Heigl, Nick Stabile
Sissy Fist Productions presents Nostalgia’s “Let’s Watch a Movie”—a campy collision of The Muppet Show, Elvira’s Movie Macabre, and Mystery Science Theater 3000! Hostess extraordinaire, Nostalgia, invites you to her Season 3 premiere screening of the 1998 cult classic, BRIDE OF CHUCKY. Expect killer drag performances, scream-inducing live commentary, drinking games, prizes to help you live happily ever after, and audience antics fit for a wedding reception that’ll make this a screening to die for!
After being cut apart by the police, killer doll Chucky is resurrected by Tiffany, an ex-girlfriend of the serial murderer whose soul is inside the toy. Following an argument, Chucky kills Tiffany and transfers her soul into a bride doll. To find the magical amulet that can restore them both to human form, Chucky and Tiffany arrange to be driven to New Jersey by Jesse and Jade, who are unaware that their cargo is alive.
CAST:
Nostalgia — (@nostalgiarama)
Reina NoBuena — (@reinanobuena)
Emi Grate — (@emigrate_drag)
Yvie Oddly — (@oddlyyvie)
