Our fifth Bar Trash season at Genesis Cinema was TRASH PLANET 2, a swirling cesspit of eco-horror where man’s toxic stupidity is forcing Mother Nature to bite back. This all-new selection of 10 nightmare movies opened with a cold-blooded 1950s classic and featured a variety of angry animals. Our mystery title was only revealed on the night…
The original TRASH PLANET (Oct to Dec 2022) explored a decade of exploitation eco-horror films from the 1970s, starting with OCTAMAN (1971) and ending with indie box-office smash, GRIZZLY (1976). Given the consequences of climate change seem to be getting more aggressive, it seemed time to return to this most cautionary of sub-genres. Bursting out of the 1970s, TRASH PLANET 2 examined what happened before, during and after that pivotal decade of eco-awareness.
#056: CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON d. Jack Arnold (1954 / USA / 79mins)
Genesis Cinema 27 SEPTEMBER 2023 [full event info]
CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON was ideal for opening night as it’s got lots to say about man’s toxic stupidity. The film both firmly establishes the eco-horror blueprint and exposes dangers still lurking deep in the film industry…
The designer and painter of the classic Gill-Man was Milicent Patrick – also one of the first female animators at Disney – but her role was downplayed by make-up department supremo Bud Westmore. Author and filmmaker Mallory O’Meara wrote about Patrick in her brilliant book The Lady from the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick. Patrick’s work was the inspiration for the whole season, and O’Meara’s book our main prize giveaway.
#057: STING OF DEATH d. William Grefé (1966 / USA / 80mins)
Genesis Cinema 04 OCTOBER 2023 [full event info]
We stepped back into the Floridian swamplands to meet DIY filmmaker William ‘Wild Bill’ Grefé. Over four decades, Grefé created a series of lurid exploitation movies including THE NAKED ZOO (1970), William Shatner serial killer flick, IMPULSE (1974), and psychic shark movie, MAKO: THE JAWS OF DEATH (1976). STING OF DEATH – Grefé’s third film – was released on a double-bill with another delirious, students-in-peril title, DEATH CURSE OF TARTU (1966) and features a mutant were-jelleyfish man monster. Our busiest show of the season…
#058: GODMONSTER OF INDIAN FLATS d. C. Fredric Hobbs (1973 / USA / 89mins)
Genesis Cinema 11 OCTOBER 2023 [full event info]
What happens when an infamous visual artist and acclaimed arts educator – Fredric C. Hobbs – directs a monster movie about a mutant sheep terrorising a corrupt community in America’s ‘Old West’? Well, GODMONSTER OF INDIAN FLATS is probably not the answer you’d have in mind…
GODMONSTER OF INDIAN FLATS is the story of an eight-foot-tall toxic sheep monster that blows up petrol stations, smashes crooked politicians, and terrorises stoners. The fact that it’s also got something to say about race relations in America’s “Old West” makes it even more memorable…. and hands-down our most room-dividing film of the season!
#059: THE FOOD OF THE GODS d. Bert I. Gordon (1976 / USA / 88mins)
Genesis Cinema 18 OCTOBER 2023 [full event info]
In the year of Bert I. Gordon’s passing – at a super-sized 100 years of age! – this one was always going to be personal…
THE FOOD OF THE GODS is a partial adaptation of the prophetic sci-fi story by H.G. Wells, with a twist (and Ida Lupino!). Dubbed “Mr B.I.G.” by veteran editor/collector Forrest J. Ackerman, legendary B-movie writer, producer and director Bert I. Gordon (THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN, VILLAGE OF THE GIANTS, EMPIRE OF THE ANTS) earned his reputation by making everything larger than life in a distinctive run of low-budget feature films throughout the 1950s, 60s and 70s.
#060: THE BEES d. Alfredo Zacarías (1978 / Mexico & USA / 92mins)
Genesis Cinema 23 OCTOBER 2023 [full event info]
They arrived in a swarm in the 1970s, but most ‘killer bee’ films lack a certain buzz… THE SWARM (1978) is way too long, and not enough happens in woozy TV movies THE KILLER BEES (1974) and THE SAVAGE BEES (1976).
THE BEES (1978) is very different… Starring John Saxon (A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET) and a rather frail John Carradine (THE HOWLING), Alfredo Zacarías’ THE BEES is an epic disaster film and drive-in classic that’s chock-full of outrageous action and jaw-dropping plot twists. The finale offers a radical call to eco-activism unlike anything else in genre cinema.
#061: Mystery Film? UNINVITED d. Greydon Clark (1987 / USA / 92mins)
Genesis Cinema 01 NOVEMBER 2023 [full event info]
After last season’s THE BLOB debacle, Mystery Films have become a feature of my programming at Bar Trash. And this one was (probably…) chosen just so I could utter the immortal line “For everyone who thought Bar Trash needs more pussy…” before revealing the title. I’m not proud of myself…
UNINVITED – Greydon Clark’s 1987 ‘mutant cat on a cruise ship’ movie – played brilliantly and whilst low budget/self-funded films can’t keep their special effects front and centre for their entire runtime (well, maybe OCTAMAN…), the cat/bat/thing made enough appearances to keep us on our toes (punctuated with Liberace-esque flourishes on the piano every time the cat wonders through frame). The film’s ‘titanic’ ending received one of the most rapturous responses of any film we have shown so far. The cheers (screams?) of joy and wonder took the roof off.
#062: THE PLAGUE DOGS d. Martin Rosen (1982 / UK & USA / 103mins)
Genesis Cinema 15 NOV 2023 [full event info]
After the mayhem of UNINVITED – and a short break that was meant to fill the cinema with the release of DUNE: PART TWO – it was time for a dramatic change of tone. This was the one time when I feared I might kill the Bar Trash franchise…
Adapted from Richard Adams’ novel, THE PLAGUE DOGS was written, directed and produced by Martin Rosen, who also created the film version of WATERSHIP DOWN (1978). Heavily edited for its USA release, we screened the full UK theatrical version. You could hear the tears drop throughout… I think the film is a masterpiece and, from a smaller than average crowd, I think I found a few companions in the darkness who now agree. We will all remember the night we sat in silence and sobbed through this remarkable film (our first and possibly last animation…).
#063: RAZORBACK d. Russell Mulcahy (1984 / Australia / 91mins)
Genesis Cinema 22 NOVEMBER 2023 [full event info]
RAZORBACK (aka “JAWS on trotters”) tells its story with utter seriousness, giving everything you’d want from a film about a monster pig rampaging through the Australian outback.
Visually, this Ozploitation classic was one of the most remarkable films in the season, with stunning cinematography by Academy Award winner, Dean Semler (MAD MAX 2, DANCES WITH WOLVES). RAZORBACK was director Russell Mulcahy’s feature debut, drawing extensively from his skillset making music videos (Elton John, Duran Duran, Bonnie Tyler), and foreshadowing his cult smash, THE HIGHLANDER (1986). Which gave me a good excuse to play some 80s music videos.
#064: THE NEST d. Terence H. Winkless (1988 / USA / 87mins)
Genesis Cinema 29 NOVEMBER 2023 [full event info]
THE NEST is a lean and effective shockfest, that riffs just as heavily on David Cronenberg’s THE FLY (1986) and James Cameron’s ALIENS (1986) as it does on the many killer bug movies that came before it. As a result, it’s got some epic surprises up its sleeve…
This rarely-screened eco-horror is better-known for its shockingly exploitative “She’s just an appetiser” poster and VHS box art. Actor Lisa Langlois complained that her character is never in such a compromising position in the film (and the actual roaches remain a normal size…). The film played really well, welcomed as one of our goriest shows for a while.
#065: ANACONDA d. Luis Llosa (1997 / USA / 89mins)
Genesis Cinema 06 DECEMBER 2023 [full event info]
Washed away on a flood of negative reviews and liquid CGI, ANACONDA’s bawdy reputation belies significant box office success that led to four sequels. The trash gathered to end this season of ten eco-horror films, and savour what is widely regarded as one of “The 100 Most Enjoyably Bad Movies Ever Made” (John Wilson, The Official Razzie Movie Guide).
Seeing ANACONDA with a crowd reminded me of how well the film plays – it’s the perfect serving of 90s pulp cinema. It also delivered a Möbius loop right back to the start of TRASH PLANET 2, effectively repeating the plot of CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON (and its sequel REVENGE OF THE CREATURE) with a degree of commitment and seriousness that’s sadly lacking from more recent entries in the franchise…
