Dayton’s Drive Ins had one of it’s best weekends in the Mid 80’s when things turned into Zombiemania with flicks ranging from classic Romero (DAY OF THE DEAD) to jaw dropping and stupid while still worthy of being bowed down to (BURIAL GROUND, especially) with a couple of good Horror movies in between. Even if George Romero’s third Dead flick DAY OF THE DEAD was having problems in a movie scene getting scared to promote anything without a rating, there was no problem with the indoor Kon Tiki theater and the Sherwood Drive In who perfectly played it with NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and DAWN OF THE DEAD while the ozoner also had them with MOTHER’S DAY – the flick usually associated with Troma being at the time Distributed by United Film Distribution Company who also carried the DEAD films. Of course “But that’s not all!”
The Dixie, Captain Kidd, and the South Screen at the Sherwood had a fun night with BURIAL GROUND with the one and only Peter Bark, what seemed to be the final return of 1973’s HORROR HOSPITAL after years of appearing on the screens in a manner that DEVIL’S NIGHTMARE had through The 70’s-Early 80’s, Bruno Mattei’s HELL OF THE LIVING DEAD as NIGHT OF THE ZOMBIES, and CEMETERY GIRLS being what could be either COUNT DRACULA’S GREAT LOVE or THE VELVET VAMPIRE (I’m seriously hoping the first guess for a better Euro Shock fit). The Kon Tiki played the classic brain cell killer with the then-recent hit RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD. 80’s movie fans who were more into a lesser level of movie also could see RETURN with TEEN WOLF and JOY STICKS at the Southland 75.
8-30-85
Over in the New York City area, Dario Argento’s PHENOMENA with Jennifer Connelly released as CREEPERS by New Line in The US had a great opening on a great number of screens including the RKO Warner, the Nova (Manhattan), and the more Arthouse-centric Quad among the long list of theatres. It would go onto more success through The States in a year that was arguably the last of the classic “Grindhouse” days which saw movies move into a more MTV-centric (or neutered if you want to call it) style and genre fans moving to the Video Stores to get their visual kicks.
Add-on time: In the “I just came across this” news, RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD was also causing a scene in the New York City area including the Amboy Multiplex in Sayreville, NJ, the Quad, the Olympia Quad, and the Manhattan Movieland.
Looking through some of my recent New York ad captures brought me to the attention of the High School Drug Ring cult classic LOVELY BUT DEADLY in it’s proper R rated version playing with the Early 80’s Machete Horror feast JUST BEFORE DAWN playing in Early December 1983, both presented by Juniper Releasing in the Indie release rush during the first half of the decade before the letters V, H, and S caved into the budgets once the screens for these films were vanishing or turning totally Mainstream (there was also a PG version floating around, but The Scene usually focuses on the full monte.). Lucinda Dooling is the serious focus of the “A cheerleader finding out about her brother’s OD” flick which looked like it was very quickly made in the wake of FIRECRACKER with Jillian Kesner in the Femme Fighter with Kicks genre, and one has to be in that B-Seat frame of mind watching it especially as it also throws in a very annoying wanna-be rock star turned dealer, an ultra cheesy Bond-wanna be theme, some Urban Cowboy hats on a Discount Chain owner, a small food fight-catfight (had to liven up that second half!), tunes written by Robert O. Ragland of BABYSITTER music “fame” ready for the cut-out bin, and an air of an Indie produced not-ready-for-ABC afterschool special with some peek-a-boo moments that branded it the more preferable rating. In this capture, this mess played the Anco for justified reasons mainly as it was the lowest non-XXX screen in the Deuce Chain that would play anything it was offered before it’s dying days with Porn in 1984 although with a change in the co-feature with MPM’s release of THE DEVONSVILLE TERROR after a week with the advertised Horror non-hit promoted with a thrown-together “they’ll watch anything anyways” lack of logic.
Still wished Lucinda Dooling would have had a better career, but at least she picked up this flick’s pace.
In other words, it’s stupid, but our kind of dumb if you have the time.
With some solid strategic booking for a small and not too exciting flick that would possibly put Deuce viewers to sleep (which is what you did not want to do at the Anco, let alone anywhere else), the main double feature played a few RKO theatres including the Keith’s Triplex in Flushing/Queens (RIP, 1986), the Wayne (NJ) Twin, and Brooklyn’s Kenmore (RIP, 1999) as well as other screens like the Kent in Bronx. Manhattan movie hounds could also see it at the RKO Coliseum Twin and the Nova on Broadway.
11-25-83
Of course, the video on Vestron was quick to follow.
While seriously experienced Deuce viewers were usually at the Liberty to see MAKE THEM DIE SLOWLY (for who knows how many times…I can understand a couple, but), there were those who must have went three blocks North to Broadway and 45th to the Loew’s State (RIP, Feb. 1987) for the CHAINED HEAT/VIGILANTE double feature to once again check out Stella Stevens in uniform, Sybil Danning and Tamara Dobson fight it out, and the one and only Linda Blair play the “first time in the pen” girl as well as John Vernon’s sleazy performance (“Call me Fellini!”). The double feature also played the Rugby next to some Adults Only fare on the other screen.
First, I would love to thank everyone who has visited this Blog while I have been seriously focusing on the Facebook page as well as the Something Weird Video Fan Club where there has (and still will be) a lot of fun with the collection as well as a lot of conversation and information. Still, I feel that things need to be focused on the original Blog here where it all started. So while I’m getting things together, enjoy this classic New York City ad for WHEN TAEKWONDO STRIKES shown in 1981.
This was for it’s second week in the area with a Deuce appearance at the Cine 42, home to many a classic Exploitation flick through the 70’s and 80’s. Those who have followed The Scene over at Facebook will also note the Rugby in Brooklyn which form what I remember had two screens – at the time one focused on Martial Arts and Urban Action and the other Adults Only. Of course, the real appeal is of Angela Mao (DEEP THRUST and many other classic flicks), but film fanatics will also note of it being a Golden Harvest/Raymond Chow film picked up in The US by World Northal.
There had to be a serious reason to return after a long time without a post (again), and this time it’s to celebrate a couple of finds for showings of Meir Zarchi’s original I spit on Your Grave under it’s original title of Day of the Woman starring Camille Keaton. Released independently by Cinemagic – I’m sure no connection to any more recent companies by that name – the X-Rated film was unleashed in a time when it was very difficult to get any screen time for a serious Adults Only film that was not part of the Porno business due to a growing industry of family-friendly epics and hits flooding the scene and theaters no longer wanting to deal with the rating’s stigma and troubles with newspapers not wanting to advertise (hence many fake R ratings through the years). Thankfully, in Memphis there was room for both an ad in the papers and a well-respected screen at the Fare 4 to promote and play the infamous film on 3 Nov., 1978 – PS, if anyone reading has information about a showing in LA where the Times stopped promotion of any X or Unrated film please let me know (there was room for Art films on several occasions, but I don’t think this could have been an exception).
11-4-78, Memphis – The Full Ad
The Fare 4 was known for a long time to have room for X-Rated and Art films although in the Summer of ’82 it was decided to stop those showings under a new management.
10-22-78, Miami – Part of an article to be detailed later
The first showing of Day of the Woman can be traced to this Miami Film festival which was supposed to be the Stateside version of Cannes, as you can see form the listing. This will be featured and detailed in an future post, but this is to let you know of it’s existence. A couple of Deuce favorites can be seen in this first part of the listing. The show was from Nov. 10-19, 1878 when the Independent scene was quickly fading away form the mainstream, and I’m certain that without this the film would have been even a tougher sell.
11-20-78, Knoxville
11-24-78, Knoxville
A showing at the Chapman Hwy. Drive In showed that no matter how serious the film was, it was going to be thrown together with something like Young Secretaries. Rare film fans, take note of The Bandits playing at the River Breeze.
12-1-78, Knoxville
It played for a second week at the ozoner with very little controversy that would take Jerry Gross’ maniac promotional skills to give the film although some would say for the wrong reasons as I Spit on Your Grave. Sometimes you can get into a psychological analysis of these things, but being pressed for time deserves some break for thought…more later!
Through the last few years of research, I have raised many a chuckle at several Family Drive Ins featuring R-Rated entertainment this one located in Lexington across from the Circle 25 which played many a spicy film through The 70’s without changing it’s name – such was the business. While not as Adult as the one in Oak Grove, KY, this played many of the films that marked the decade as one that made ozoners the passion pits with more regularity. Those remembering these screens way back in the day might have decided to look elsewhere, but a number of regular customers kept these shows in business – in this first capture including the British flick I Am and Groupie.
7-12-74
Al Adamson’s Naughty Stewardesses teams up with Fly Me for night up in the air. Fly Me is one of The Scene’s favorite time wasters.
7-26-74
Mario Bava’s Twitch of the Death Nerve is joined with Armando de Ossorio’s Blind Dead for this Siler Dollar challenge.
4-25-80
Crown’s pretty good time waster Don’t Answer the Phone is connected with Terror and the Boxoffice international release of the Child (here presented by BIP offshoot Valiant International Pictures)
4-7-72
The School Girls and The Baby Maker play on one 70’s swinger’s show that would seriously not get made today in the way they were. The report films played everywhere through the Early-Mid 70’s before the novelty value wore off and possibly appeared a little creepy after a while. No matter how one views them, they are still a part of the Drive In scene and were of their time.
5-10-74
Winding it up with this uber-cheap double bill of Road of Death and Brad Gritner’s Devil Rider.
A recent research trip took The Scene to Memphis in the Early 80’s which resulted in a Bellevue Drive In’s final years occasionally playing quite a few final run showings like The Seven Brothers Meet Dracula put through the projector in November, 1982. Opening in 1950, the ozoner went through the usual history of many of these screens from popular hang out with stories of Elvis Presley being a regular audience member very believable to Exploitation/Small Company playing ground in the dying days of the business which is where this blog comes in. Reading that the US Distributor of Kung Fu Halloween, New American Films, also handled (possibly on a regional level) movies like The Gore Gore Girls (another Screen 13 search topic) and Axe, it’s time to seriously do a dive through of this theatre’s history.
10-9-82
Another showing of Jess Franco’s Barbed Wire Dolls played the Bellevue 10-9-82 with Memphis Cat House Blues co-starring Annette Haven and Lisa De Leeuw. Franco’s WIP flick was one of the many films that appeared here and there on the Drive In and Downtown theatre level before the film was a must rent for video playing fans of Sexploitation. The great thing about Franco’s flicks of that era was that they were in it’s own world never to become dated but also sleazy enough to have staying power to fill up the screens when such a film was needed – Screen 13 remembers renting BWD at a Video Connection in Toledo back possibly around 1989-90 when Erotokill was presented in it’s beautiful big box and took my movie viewing into this level.
10-29-82
In a show that was free to those under 11, the British erotica of Vampyres Daughters of Dracula showed with Ilsa Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks. With the ad misspelling of Ilsa invoking the name of the Frozen character Elsa, it’s understandable that thoughts of the amusing meme featuring the “Ice Queen of the SS” in Dyanne Throne’s uniform will pop into the mind.
8-19-83
Invasion of the Flesh Hunters starring John Saxon was not as big as any Fulci flick or even Burial Ground, but it found a showing at the Bellevue with the legend that is Night of the Living Dead plus Dario Argento’s Deep Red playing as The Hatchet Murders. Antonio Margheriti’s film was unleashed Stateside by Almi – who also Distributed Fulci’s House by the Cemetery! – and did OK before VHS called it to it’s real home by Vestron.
2-15-83
All of these films in this ad are a weekend planned, but the Bellevue’s show was clearly a case of getting a wanna-be Tarantino Experience with Enzo G. Castellari’s original Inglorious Bastards promoted in The US as Counterfeit Commandos with The Exterminator. The Summer and Southwest also had their share of little known pleasures, but the regular run of these films at the Bellevue was great.
3-18-83
Wrapping up this look into the Bellevue is this Andy Milligan feast of four. While the Summer and Southwest Drive Ins were showing Concrete Jungle and Mausoleum, a double feature worthy of anyone’s time, this was where you knew where you stood with these films as Milligan’s Horror movies were carried over into the world of VHS Big Box releases that only the most dedicated Psychotronic viewer would rent – The Scene remembers renting The Ghastly Ones in Toledo and getting the experience. Here, the two well-played double features in his 70’s history were featured including Torture Dungeon and Bloodthirsty Butchers.
The world of Dario Argento’s films in The US back in the day were cut, chopped, diced, sliced, and cubed enough to make the viewer wonder if The Swedish Chef was hired by The MPAA, but they were still must-see films to anyone who loved Horror. Deep Red might have been sliced from 127 m. to about 101 (or 98) for the US release (*The Export/English cut is 104, but it’s a good guess more had to be cut to get the R in The US), but it still captured some of the shock that the European audiences caught in full and had an effective ad which caught the eye that kept it in play for a long time. Some readers might remember it as the more mainstreamed The Hatchet Murders with the ad that misspelt Suspiria, but it’s history should also remember it’s very brief time in the LA area as Dripping Deep Red as it was promoted as back in May, 1977 almost a year after it’s initial NYC showings where Stateside Distributor Howard Mahler was located (with this movie, the company tried to get fancy as being Directors-Mahler in most ads!).
Looking at this LA ad – Those who follow the history of Quentin Tarantino might catch the name of the Carson Twin, closed in 1990 but forever a part of Exploitation movie history with those who lived on these films located in a shopping complex (possibly making the Northgate in Hazel Park a place for like minded movie maniacs). Mention should also be made of the South Gate Drive In which was known for having Spanish programs in it’s later years starting in ’79, the Los Altos Drive In that was demoed for shopping with K-Mart around for a while and now a Lowe’s, and the Hi-Way which saw closure just recently on Jan. 6 – respect and empathy to those reading who went there. The Downtown Tower is still intact, but sadly still not in use much if at all (reportedly an Apple store is there…).
I still wonder if this move was to make it not to be confused with Deep Throat…maybe we will never know. In Mid August, 1977, the LA Times stopped XXX and Unrated ads, but that’s only a hint that will lead nowhere until someone (hopefully someone reading) can tell us.
5-13-77, Bakersfield
The Buena Park was originally the Cine-Car and later the Lincoln before it’s final name which is the best remembered at The Scene. As in LA, From Beyond the Grave was the co-feature. Sadly, the ozoner shut down in 1995 and the area turned into yet another area where houses popped up very quickly.
6-24-77, Tallahassee
While the Campus is better remembered to 80’s audiences as an Adults Only screen and Late 60’s audiences as an “Art” house, there’s plenty of history to look back on dating to 1938. Here, Deep Red was no longer “Dripping” and playing with The Black Dragon with Ron Van Clief. In this slightly desperate sell proving that it might have been too much for some audiences even in edited form, it tries to imitate the legendary “It’s only a movie” line made 70’s famous by Last House on the Left with “I’m at the movies”…not at catchy!
5-13-77, Bakersfield
In Bakersfield, and I’m sure everywhere else outside of LA just had it simply promoted as Deep Red still with a striking ad to promote it. In this capture it’s at the Terrace – closed in 1988 with the land now as Jim’s Towing Service and JTS Truck Repair.
Now it’s time to check out the Arrow Blu Ray just brought into the collection – the 2 disc set!
A recent find sees Dr. Butcher MD play the Southland Drive In in Nicholasville, SW of Lexington, in a held over showing with Al Adamson’s Nurse Sherri plus the great screen filler Horror Hospital. Today, the Drive In’s area how hosts a Kroger, but the films live on in various formats although the Paragon Video of Butcher remains an 80’s fan favorite to remind us of how popular the tape was to rent and seen in it’s US cut released by Aquarius. The famous trailer may have been misleading, but it’s still a great view enough to bring in the audience about to see a re-edited version of what is Zombi Holocaust.
To be honest, I’m posting on a day that seriously had me in a very busy mode but I’m still in the mood to entertain you with some class-SICK ads from the US theatrical history of this great (at least to Screen 13 standards) flick which still drops jaws for a number of reasons.
5-7-82
If there’s a list of Top 10 NYC Psychotronic moments of The 80’s, the Butchermobile used to promote this show should be there. Playing the Lyric on 42’nd and other noted theaters of sleaze please including the Rugby in Brooklyn, this showing was led by the presence of the movie at the New Embassy on 49’th which was once the World of Deep Throat showing infamy,
5-5-82
San Bernardino has a West Coast showing around the same time at the NYC play including screens at the Rialto Twin and the Pacific Bel Air Drive In, the later with Adamson’s Nurse Sherri.
1-2-81, Detroit – The re-release/re-title/re-watch syndrome arrives again with The Co-Ed Murders and Twisted Throat and all was still well. Take note of the use of the image of Marylin Chambers from the ad for Rabid on the tight.
A recent addition to the small (but hopefully growing) Blu Ray collection is the Arrow release of The Giallo Essentials featuring Massimo Dallamano’s What Have They Done to Your Daughters which The Scene highly recommends for a great night of viewing that can put your mind in an imaginary soon-to-close once-legendary theatre in the Late 70’s with very low attendance and plenty of empty space for you to just enjoy the show. Originally distributed in The US through Peppercorn-Wormser who caused shock with it’s Stateside release of 491 but was headed to closure while releasing films like The House of Exorcism (a heavily re-edited version of Mario Bava’s classic Lisa and the Devil that has a sleazy charm in itself) and a bid for the urban grindhouse action with The Hitter (not to mention forming an umbrella company called Zebra for it’s unleashing of Pasolini’s Salo or The 120 Days of Sodom), this was offered to NMD Films of Teenage Tramp infamy around 1979 and was thrown into the re-release/re-title syndrome that was heavy around that time to The Co-Ed Murders. With the original title a small success, it was a given that a few viewers were already familiar with what they saw under a new name and campaign but more likely not complaining at all as it is one great sleazy ride that was expected of these films – most European schoolgirls in peril had a good mix of terror, tease, a dash of political intrigue, excellent music, solid acting, and great photography with the scenic surrounds giving them a perfect topping (I mean the locations, of course!).
In the Detroit area, the re-release playing with Twisted Throats (itself a re-title, this time of Hollywood 90028 – ALSO AKA as The Hollywood Hillside Strangler) appeared in January, 1981 playing at the Adams Downtown as well as the triple screen Northgate, located in Hazel Park at the Cambridge (strip) Mall next to the Time Zone arcade on 9 Mi. and John R, and the Mercury plus three ozoners including the Bel Air and the Downriver Ecorse and Holiday. In the time when anything was thrown at the screens at the start of the year in the time before the VHS invasion and the industry turned too programed, these shows were the norm for any business trying to keep the shows on. Of course, there may have been those who thought the film to have looked familiar seen only a few years before in the middle of Winter, 1978.
1-13-78, Detroit – Only at three Drive Ins
The distribution for the original title was not very strong and sadly par the course of the Late 70’s when the majors were stepping up their game with second runs of their hits – to be fair, the ozoner industry was trying to get a piece of the uptick in Hollywood’s more desired titles as AIP and other lesser companies were slowly losing their marquee power although there were some screens that still ran the Exploitation through their projectors. Only a few weeks before the infamous Blizzard of 1978, a few lucky (or you could say daring) viewers braved the bad weather in the Motor City area for this movie – West Side audiences had a chance to see it at the Algiers in Westland.
3-18-77, New York
With a 42’nd Street showing at the Selwyn among the screens playing in the NYC area, the film gains a small audience within the grindhouse regulars who wanted their films on the sordid side. Even with a small here and there distribution, it hits a few cities before fading away by the Detroit showing. In 1980, many areas including those that already played the original title had ad pages that shocked it to them with the alternative title.
11-28-80, New York
With a 42’nd Street showing at the Times Square with Invasion of the Blood Farmers carried over from the Liberty the week before, The Co-Ed Murders had a stronger pull. Out of these theaters, the RKO Proctors in Westchester was one that carried the original title.
The Scene of Screen 13 