Exploitation pioneer Doris Wishman makes the move from nudies to slasher with A NIGHT TO DISMEMBER.

A mondo splatterfest from cult director Doris Wishman, A Night to Dismember chronicles a single bloody night in the life of the only remaining member of a cursed family. Production began for the film after Wishman witnessed the runaway success of Halloween and its imitators – smelling money in the air, the seasoned director hopped on the slasher bandwagon, casting porn actress Samantha Fox in the lead. Troubled from the get go, bankruptcy caused the project’s film lab to shut down and over half of the film ended up in the dumpster. Ever vigilant, Wishman finished her frankenfilm with reshoots and overdubs, amounting in a bizarro slasher mess for the ages.

Part of Nitehawk’s September SHE MADE IT brunch, midnite, and special event series.

Nitehawk and Nerd York City celebrate the 30th anniversary of cult horror anime VAMPIRE HUNTER D with a freshly remastered HD presentation from Sentai Filmworks and giveaways courtesy of Dark Horse Comics.

Humans have a rough run in the 10,000 year gap between our time and the blighted future of Vampire Hunter D. It’s the year 12,090 A.D., and humans live as serfs under the fierce rule of ancient aristocratic vampires and their personal cadre of ghouls, bandits and beasties. When one such lord falls for a young farm girl, she hires a wandering stranger as a bodyguard. Fortunately for her, this wandering loner is D, a legendary vampire hunter and the only person capable of standing up to the powerful vampire lord.

Directed by Toyoo Ashida of Fist of the North Star fame and based on a popular series of horror novels by Hideyuki Kikuchi, Vampire Hunter D is one of anime’s first blood-and-guts fantasies, blending elements of American westerns with classic European horror and cyber punk. The film garnered an international cult following thanks to the import-friendly home video market.

Part of Nitehawk’s September ANIME AFTER DARK midnite series.

Starring: Junko Iwao, Rica Matsumoto, Shinpachi Tsuji, Masaake Okura

4K restoration

A head-spinning thriller colored with shades of Alfred Hitchcock and David Lynch, Perfect Blue chronicles the downfall of a popular singer, Mima Kirigoe, whose carefully controlled life and image unravels after she abandons her singing career to take on a small role in a sleazy crime drama. As she tries to cope with a disappointed fanbase, Mima begins receiving threatening messages and discovers a popular blog written in her name that chronicles every detail of her life. Shaken by her stalker and objectified by sleazeball industry types, Mima starts hallucinating and loses track of reality, which proves problematic when her co-workers start turning up dead.|

A film festival favorite on its release, Perfect Blue kicked off Kon’s influential career as a director, who went on to helm several reality bending features like Paprika and Tokyo Godfathers before dying of cancer in 2010. Perfect Blue in particular proved to be a such an influence on Darren Aronofsky’s work that the director bought the rights to the film and lifted scenes wholesale for both Requiem for a Dream and Black Swan.

Starring: Kôichi Yamadera, Emi Shinohara, Takeshi Aono, Daisuke Gôri

A dark fantasy set in feudal Japan, Ninja Scroll spins a wild yarn about a wandering samurai, Jubei Kibagami, who’s hired to thwart a lesser lord’s plot to smuggle a boatload of gold from under the Shogun’s nose. Protecting the shipment are The Eight Devils of Kimon, a nasty gang of super-powered toughs with the likes of a blood-drinking golem, a blind swordsman, and an insect-controlling dwarf in their ranks, all led by a psychotic immortal from Jubei’s past.

An imaginative and lurid sex-and-violence action flick, Ninja Scroll has had more success in the U.S. market than it ever had in Japan. The movie helped usher in a wave of interest in Japanese animation in the 1990s when it became a video store staple alongside titles like Akira and Ghost in the Shell.

Starring: Koichi Yamadera, Unshō Ishizuka, Megumi Hayashibara, Aoi Tada

When a shady terror cell sets off a dirty bomb in the middle of a crowded highway, the Martian government offers up the largest bounty of all time to catch the perps. All that cash sets up the ears of the crew of The Bebop, a jazzy group of interstellar bounty hunters led by a kung-fu fighting, fast talking hipster named Spike Spiegel.

Based on the landmark television series, Cowboy Bebop: The Movie takes full advantage of its feature length budget, introducing a live-action feel to a medium known more for static set-ups than dynamic camera movement. The music by composer Yoko Kanno plays an equal role in the film’s easy coolness, blending elements of jazz, country-western, opera and Arabic music.

This August THE DEUCE turns up the dog-days-of-Summer heat when we take you to the The Harris Theatre for the high-tension thrill-ride – the acme of NYC actioners: NIGHT OF THE JUGGLER! Co-Presented by DEUCE-buddy and Times Square-centric archivist – Chris Poggiali from TEMPLE OF SCHLOCK!

Plus: Prizes and surprises, Bronx Brewery Pale Ale at the after-party, and music by DJ BONES! Hosted and presented by THE DEUCE JOCKEYS: Jeff, Andy, and Joe!

Ex-cop James Brolin goes ballistic and blows his top when a bonkers bozo from the bombed-out Bronx boondocks brazenly (and mistakenly) kidnaps his daughter… on her birthday! His blood a-boil – he’ll bust up every borough to get her back… Floozies and Fro-Yo… ex wives and ex cons… furious cab drivers and demented detectives… joggers and… jugglers?? He’ll tear it all apart! Just look at that poster – he’s tearing it apart!!!

Aka ‘New York Killer’ aka ‘Countdown In Manhattan’ aka ‘New York Connection’ aka ‘Pursued’ – NIGHT OF THE JUGGLER by any name is a bounty of bombastic fun – and a telling take on the politics of the City in its strapped-for-cash troubled times…

Part of Nitehawk’s THE DEUCE Signature Series.

The cat’s out of the bag! This September, THE DEUCE adds salt to the end-of-Summer wound with Sam Peckinpah’s searingly pessimistic 1974 epic of down-Mexico-way madness: BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA! Still playing at the Times Square Theatre circa 1980!

Plus: Prizes and surprises, Bronx Brewery Pale Ale at the after-party, and music by DJ BONES! Hosted and presented by THE DEUCE JOCKEYS: Jeff, Andy, and Joe!

Warren Oates’ acme acting achievement as ex-pat bar rat, Bennie, in his one last go-for-broke grab at the Golden Goose: by nabbing the much sought-after and fought-over million dollar worth titular prize! Both a road trip to redemption and a Shakespearean dead-end spiral to damnation – boozy, bleary-eyed, beautiful and morally blurry… with bikers, banditos, bad attitude G-Men…and more fun than a barrelfull of bullets! Dirty, dusty and lusty, a ballad of desperation and the depraved depths to which man will sink just to get ahead… or Aaaaaa head! Tienes muchas moscas!

Part of Nitehawk’s THE DEUCE Signature Series.

A killer’s on the loose at Nitehawk Cinema and he’s serving up a multi-course dinner of fresh meat from The Meat Hook for a special Film Feast presentation of FRIDAY THE 13TH.

Things don’t go so well for the reopening of Camp Crystal Lake as the new counsellors are stalked and slashed…but by whom? As the site for a young boy’s drowning many years earlier, someone or something is none-too-pleased that a new batch of sexually crazed young adults who will be the caretakers of young children. Stemming from tropes established in Italian giallo films like anonymous killer-point-of-view stabs and punishment for sexual activities, Friday the 13th produces one of the most iconic “Final Girls” in horror (Alice Hardy) and has enduringly made teenage activities a frightening cautionary tale.

For our October Film Feast, Nitehawk is teaming up with some folks with blood on their hands, the butchers at The Meat Hook, for a five course meal that’s been stabbed, sliced, and seared like a misbehaving camp counselor.

MENU

“Frank’s Delicatessen Pork Roll Sandwich”
blood pork roll sandwich
Drink pairing: Milk and Honey On The Other Side – milk washed rye whiskey and fresh lemon, orange blossom honey syrup

“Snake Three Ways”
The Meat Hook’s The Cougar, Long Dong Bud, and Lamb Gyro sausages
Drink pairing: Snake Bite and Black – Braven Black Pale Ale, dry English cider, Creme de Mure

“Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon”
bacon wrapped Thai shrimp, Devils on horseback, bacon rillette on crostini, The Meat Hook lamb bacon, tomato & bacon lettuce wrap, bacon jam on brioche
Drink pairing: Bloody Bacon – bacon infused Absolut Vodka, smoked house bloody mary mix

“Blackout”
butcher’s cut, roasted mushrooms, potato puree
Drink pairing: Blackout Punch – Bulldog Gin, basil and plum shrub, oleo saccharum, soda water

“Crystal Lake Granita”
coconut water and lime granita
Drink pairing: Water of Death – Death’s Door White Whiskey, Pear Eau de Vie, Lemon Juice, Blanc de Blanc

Click here for more information on The Meat Hook’s new sandwich shop in Brooklyn!

Menu items subject to change, no substitutions.

Nitehawk Cinema’s LOCAL COLOR and Tribeca Film Festival series highlighting New York filmmakers launches with a special presentation of YOUNG BODIES HEAL QUICKLY. Q&A after the screening with director Andrew T. Betzer!

At the age twenty, Older (Gabriel Croft, Fake It So Real)  escapes incarceration and seeks out his ten year old little brother, Younger. Clearly the bad influence, Older gets the boys mixed up in the “accidental” killing of a young girl and they are forced to go into hiding as they wait for their mother to rescue them. Thanks to their mother, the brothers now have a car and enough money to begin their bizarre road trip. Along the way, they encounter a host of people ranging from their unwelcoming sister (Kate Lyn Sheil, Sun Don’t Shine and House of Cards) to a troubled maid and her violent lover. Eventually, they wind up on the doorstep of their father’s compound, wherein the three of them are quickly reminded why they are estranged in the first place. Just as the walls are about to close in, their father packs up his brood and takes them on a road trip of his own. They join several militaria enthusiasts in a remote forest where they re-enact actual Vietnam War battles. Once in the “jungle,” the three of them revert to hostile tendencies building up to a final confrontation between father and sons, leaving the audience to decide what is real and what is make believe.

Part of Nitehawk’s LOCAL COLOR monthly series with the Tribeca Film Festival that features independent New York filmmakers.

Nitehawk Cinema’s LOCAL COLOR and Tribeca Film Festival’s series on New York filmmakers continues with a special screening of APPLESAUCE. Q&A after the screening with writer/director Onur Tukel!

What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done?

Every Tuesday night, radio talk show host Stevie Bricks invites his listeners to call in and share their stories.  And tonight, Ron Welz (writer/director Onur Tukel) is ready to share his.  But soon after he confesses on the air, Ron finds a severed foot in his laundry… then a cut off finger in his mail… then worse.  His life begins to unravel and his marriage begins to fall apart.  Someone is tormenting him.  Is it his insolent high school student?  Is it his best friend?  His wife?  In a city like New York, there are eight million suspects and each one could have a bone to pick with someone like Ron. 

Take dark comedy, mix it with noir, add a dash of horror and stir in some melodrama, and you have the recipe for one of the most original and unusual movies of the year.

Part of Nitehawk’s LOCAL COLOR monthly series with the Tribeca Film Festival that features independent New York filmmakers.