BAR TRASH celebrated 3 sensational years with our 10th and biggest season yet, WE ARE TRASH! This one was a pure celebration of our screening community, with the programme entirely propelled by suggestions from our audience review cards. WE ARE TRASH! revived fan favourites from the BAR TRASH archives alongside the most popular audience requests: more films from/featuring kick-ass women; more world cinema; more mystery film reveals; and LOTS more Vincent Price.
WE ARE TRASH! screened every Wednesday at Genesis Cinema, and on alternate Sundays at Beer Merchants Tap and Finsbury Park Picturehouse, from Wednesday 14 May to Wednesday 20 August 2025. For this season, we were lucky to receive National Lottery Funding through the BFI Film Audience Network, which paid for a number of special guests to bring their light to the darkness.
Special events included an opening night screening of Doris Wishman’s A NIGHT TO DISMEMBER with film expert Molly Miles, a special VHS double-feature fundraiser for Switchboard LGBTQIA+ Support Line which smashed our previous totals thanks to the very lovely team at Beer Merchants Tap, a third birthday silent cinema screening of THE UNKNOWN with a slapstick history of BAR TRASH and ‘state of the nation’ stapling monologue by Loose Willis, and a live improvised score by Maxim Melton (on piano AND accordion!), a VHS mystery tape reveal with the incredible tapehead, Gemma Gore, and our first ever Bollywood Horror title, BHOOT BUNGLA, programmed and introduced by Ranjit S. Ruprai (screened with free samosas and chai as our DIY tribute to 1980s Bollywood film clubs).
Staying true to our fan-given coda — “Keep it woke, keep it gay, keep it awesome” — WE ARE TRASH! was a cult film mixtape from the vibrant margins of cinema, and broke records as our biggest season so far. You can read more detailed writeups about each of these events – including audience comments from our ‘trash or treasure’ polling cards – over on LETTERBOXD (@tokenhomo).
#140: Opening Night — A NIGHT TO DISMEMBER dir Doris Wishman (1983/USA/69mins) with Molly Miles
Genesis Cinema 14 MAY 2025 [full event info]
A film as raw and hallucinatory as Doris Wishman’s A NIGHT TO DISMEMBER (1983) was a deliberately bold choice to launch the new season. It embodied everything Season 10: WE ARE TRASH! was stupidly proud to celebrate: fan-love of cult and chaotic cinema (with some of the chaos absolutely of our own making…) and a determination to show more exploitation films by/featuring kick-ass women. After I announced the season lineup, Molly Miles flexed their Wishman fandom to introduce our slasher. And we were most definitely back…
What did our audience make of this “charming and choppy” horror feature? Of the 37 available review cards, 25 voted ‘treasure’ (“Fantastic film!”), 6 ‘trash’ (“Has the director ever heard of the word ‘editing’!”), and 6 swung both ways (“I mean… what the actual shit??? I don’t understand what I just watched, but all I can say is… Family is complicated!” and “Fucking banger. Thank you!”).
#141: THE FLY dir Kurt Neumann (1958/USA/89mins)
Finsbury Park Picturehouse 18 MAY 2025 [full event info]
THE FLY (1958) opened our dedicated ‘Vincent Price Sidequest’ at Finsbury Park Picturehouse, a programme of classics, obscurities and a mystery title. Watching THE FLY (1958) is like having your favourite bisexual uncle pour you a glass of watered down red wine before dinner as a child… (a scene in the film!). It’s not the full-impact horror of harder-core titles, but it goes down a treat regardless. Every member of our small but perfectly transported audience filled in a review card, with 14 voting ‘treasure’ (“Bizarre but lovely and poetic”) and — like Vincent himself (😉) — 2 swinging both ways (“A true feminist film. Questions raised…”). No one voted ‘trash’, which teleported THE FLY to the top of this season’s charts (for a while…).
#142: VAMP dir Richard Wenk (1986/USA/93mins)
Genesis Cinema 21 MAY 2025 [full event info]
Amongst our splendidly full house only a couple of people had seen VAMP (1986) before, so it was a great pleasure to introduce the film complete with direct readings from Grace Jones’ own memoirs and some (contradictory…) anecdotes from her cast and crew mates. Summarising volumes of film lore about why Jones isn’t in much of VAMP (and why her lead vampire Katrina doesn’t say a word…), it’s alleged she was extravagantly late on set, effectively editing herself out of the film as the production carried on without her. Of the 28 available audience review cards, 25 voted ‘treasure’ (“Perfect + unique”), 2 ‘trash’ (“Last 20 minutes 10/10, the rest 2/10”), and 1 swung both ways (“Sexy formica-proof frat vampires”), which secures VAMP some ‘plush accommodations’ at De Psi Phi (with lashings of ‘continental cuisine’ one presumes…).
#143: JCVD VHS / Double Feature — CYBORG dir Albert Pyun (1989/USA/86mins) + TIMECOP dir Peter Hyams (1994/USA/98mins) fundraiser for Switchboard
Beer Merchants Tap 26 MAY 2025 [full event info]
We enjoyed our biggest ever crowd at Beer Merchants Tap for a Jean-Claude Van Damme double feature of CYBORG (1989) + TIMECOP (1994) from my vintage VHS tapes. The event was part of the venue’s Belgian Beer Fest and they kindly donated proceeds from sales of a special pilsner we called ‘The Muscles From Brussels’. With additional generosity from our audience buying raffle tickets, we made a brilliant amount for Switchboard LGBTQIA+ Support Line to ensure their 365 support is there for our trans, non-binary and gender non-conforming siblings as their rights are under threat.
CYBORG: Of the 19 available audience review cards for CYBORG, 10 voted ‘treasure’ (“A Cannon treasure!”), 6 ‘trash’ (“Criminal editing / Priceless acting”), and 3 swung both ways (“A trashy treasure!”). Which gives Albert Pyun’s film a finely balanced win. Is it a “BAD MAX” clone [can you see what they did there?] or is it “More western samurai than MAD MAX?”.
TIMECOP: TIMECOP was Van Damme’s most successful film at the box office and comes close to the end of the VHS format’s reign over the video rental and retail market. It also concludes with an epic blue-lit fight in the rain and benefits from a bigger budget and less studio/censor interference than CYBORG. So perhaps it’s not surprising that of our 12 available review cards, everyone voted ‘treasure’: “I was immersed and impressed!” and “Glorious 90s action slop”. Which looks like an emphatic KO for the first of Peter Hyams’ collabs with JCVD (the other was SUDDEN DEATH in 1995).
#144: OFFICE KILLER dir Cindy Sherman (1997/USA/82mins)
Genesis Cinema 29 MAY 2025 [full event info]
OFFICE KILLER (1997) sunk in-between the gaps of arthouse and genre cinema, and was hated by its studio, Miramax, which effectively served it notice and made it disappear from much movie history (which makes it a perfect title for BAR TRASH, served with a potted history of Cindy Sherman’s stellar art career…). Of the 22 available audience review cards, 18 voted ‘treasure’ (“Unhinged and delightful”), 1 voted ‘trash’ (“♥︎ Love the actors”), and 3 swung both ways (“They really tried ♥︎”). Yes, we did lose people at the intermission, but by the end — if the review cards are to be believed — OFFICE KILLER passed its audience appraisal, ready to head off and update its reputational CV.
#145: HOUSE OF WAX dir André De Toth (1953/USA/88m)
Finsbury Park Picturehouse 01 JUNE 2025 [full event info]
HOUSE OF WAX (1953) was the title that fully recognised Vincent Price’s leading man energy, broke box office records beyond the 3rd dimension, and established stereophonic sound as a thing (which was moaned about by contemporary critics who couldn’t abide another gimmick…). For us, it was also the perfect way to launch Pride Month with another dose of flamboyant revenging from everyone’s favourite bisexual uncle, Vincent Price. Of the 15 available audience review cards, everyone voted ‘treasure’, with one comment capturing Price’s bi-conic energy for the season: “Vincent Price always brings it!”.
#146: Mystery Film #1 — SURF NAZIS MUST DIE dir Peter George (1987/USA/83mins)
Genesis Cinema 04 JUNE 2025 [full event info]
First of this season’s 4 mystery films was SURF NAZIS MUST DIE (1987), a Troma title I programmed mainly for the righteous performance by Gail Neely as ‘Mama Washington’ (who isn’t in it nearly enough, I’ll agree…) and the climactic scene where she blows the head off a self-styled West Coast nazi after an ionic speedboat chase… It was, in many ways, my own weird — yet proudly anti-fascist — tribute to all those who defeated the nazis in WWII (including my beloved grandpa).
So what did our audience make of it? Of the 18 available audience review cards, 16 voted ‘treasure’ (“Mama Washington for the win!”), 2 swung both ways (“Reasonably hard to follow”), and nobody voted ‘trash’, which looks like a gnarly victory for one of the best exploitation film TITLES in the history of cinema.
#147: THE SWORD AND THE CLAW: 50TH ANNIVERSARY aka Lionman dir Natuk Baytan (1975/Turkey/97mins)
Beer Merchants Tap 08 JUNE 2025 [full event info]
One of the standout requests in our BAR TRASH suggestion box was more World Cinema. Whilst some might have thought that was an excuse to veer towards the arthouse, BAR TRASH treads a different path… The Turkish exploitation film industry is legendary for its lo-fi, low-budget, genre-mashing mayhem, and complete disregard for intellectual property rights, a cocktail of ingredients that gives rise to the sub-genre known as ‘Turksploitation’. Of the 9 available audience review cards, everyone voted ‘treasure’, which makes THE SWORD AND THE CLAW (1975) a total smash, it’s considerable energy and lo-fi bloodshed — not to mention an insane amount of trampolining — combining to make perfect Sunday evening cinema (you know, the kind where you can relax with a pint of small-batch ale from the well-stocked bar and a splendidly filthy burger from the streetfood stand, not worry a great deal, and casually find yourself having a brilliant time with strangers!).
#148: 3rd Birthday — THE UNKNOWN dir Todd Browning (1927/USA/63mins) with queer cabaret by Loose Willis + Maxim Melton
Genesis Cinema 11 JUNE 2025 [full event info]
We celebrated our third birthday (and 148th show!) in Bar Paragon at Genesis Cinema with a sold out screening of Tod Browning’s THE UNKNOWN (1927). The film was accompanied by cabaret performer, producer, and dungeon master, Maxim Melton, on piano and accordion. Maxim played with breathtaking subtly, underscoring the film’s quiet interludes, chilling revelations, and thunderous climaxes with equal grace and artistry. It’s fair to say, Maxim’s playing blew people away in our little bar, giving the night an invigorating intimacy and immediacy: “Masterpiece, perfected by Maxim’s incredible piano. Thank you ♥︎”.
Our presentation of THE UNKNOWN was further enhanced with two appearances by drag king, comedian, costumier, and longtime friend of BAR TRASH, Loose Willis, dressed in suitably monochromatic clown costume and makeup. Loose opened the night with an utterly beguiling silent slapstick routine re-telling the social history of BAR TRASH with intertitles, and audience participation. After an intermission where we served cake [thanks Tanya ♥︎], a complementary drink to say thank you to our amazing audience of 3 years [thanks Genesis!], and pulled the most epic of raffles [thanks everyone!], Loose stepped back onto the stage to deliver a ‘state-of-the-nation’ monologue that both pierced societal and cinematic misogyny and righteously defended women’s body autonomy. Stood on an empty stage whilst speaking, stripping and stapling BAR TRASH flyers to their own body, Loose reduced me to a reverential, quivering wreck by giving me the stapler for the final placement… [👅🃏]. The crowd went wild: “For a film about such horrific changes to one’s body, nobody could expect it to come second to other acts of the night”.
Of the 37 available audience review cards, 34 voted ‘treasure’ (“Two thumbs up from me!”), 1 swung both ways (“You should have got stapled bitch!”) [which we think was a compliment…], and no one voted ‘trash’, which makes THE UNKNOWN our standout title of the season!!!
#149: THE RAVEN dir Roger Corman (1963/USA/86mins)
Finsbury Park Picturehouse 15 JUNE 2025 [full event info]
How do you create a movie from an (almost) unfilmable gothic poem, and what does a few decades do to the possibly LCD-induced result? Of the 27 available audience review cards for THE RAVEN (1963), 23 voted ‘treasure’ (“What an adorable watch!”), 2 ‘trash’ (“Amazing magic duel”), and 2 swung both ways (“Very very silly”), which makes this goofball comedy an armchair-battling treasure! The aim of our WE ARE TRASH! season is to celebrate the BAR TRASH audience, and this one was picked by Freddie. Turns out it was a great choice: “I think we should all be grateful to Freddie. That was hilariously silly!”.
#150: SUGAR HILL dir Paul Maslansky (1974/USA/91mins)
Genesis Cinema 18 JUNE 2025 [full event info]
Mega-producer Paul Maslansky’s only directorial effort, SUGAR HILL (1974), is a moody cocktail of Mafia and Voodoo, with Marki Bey’s Diana aka ‘Sugar’ Hill selling her soul to seek revenge for the murder of her boyfriend. But what did our audience make of it? Of the 20 available audience review cards, everyone voted ‘treasure’ (“An absolute gem of a movie oozing charisma and zombies. More please!”) with not one single ‘trash’ or moment of indecision… which is the smashiest of smashes for this badly-behaved blaxploitation title!
#151: F-Rated Horror / Double Feature — PET SEMATARY dir Mary Lambert (1989/USA/103mins) & PET SEMATARY TWO dir Mary Lambert (1992/USA/100mins)
Beer Merchants Tap 22 JUNE 2025 [full event info]
As much as I love the OG, it was a huge thrill to push on through the Mi’kmaq burial grounds of Mary Lambert’s PET SEMATARY (1989) to revive her PET SEMATARY TWO (1992) from its projection death with a rare double feature. Yes, it changes the rules, and you can see why Stephen King wasn’t happy, BUT I love how the sequel mines its own sick and twisted family territory. It also features one of horror cinema’s greatest ever “death by potato” scenes [tell me of a better one!] , and takes insane joy in showing that the patriarchy is so fucked up you won’t even realise your stepdad is a zombie…
But what did our audience make of the two films? Here are the BAR TRASH scores: of the 9 review cards for PET SEMATARY alone, everyone voted ‘treasure’ (“Wonderfully terrifying”); of the 6 for PET SEMATARY TWO, 4 voted ‘treasure’ (“Truly wonderful!”) and 2 voted ‘trash’ (“Fun but so dumb”); and one person wrapped up both with a winning score of ‘treasure’ (“Death is better!”). Which pretty much revives the opening salvos in this ongoing / undead franchise as a hit!
#152: Teen Zombie / Double Feature — PATHOGEN dir Emily Hagens (2006/USA/66mins) + PLAGA ZOMBIE aka Zombie Plague dir Pablo Parés & Hernán Sáez (1997/Argentina/69mins)
Genesis Cinema 25 JUNE 2025 [full event info]
The beating heart of BAR TRASH is our DIY DNA that has continued right from our opening season back in 2022 to all the ridiculous extravagance we improvise for celebration screenings like HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL or THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (which gave us a rare chance to repeat our mayhem, but it was New Year’s Day, so everyone was fried…). This is probably why our shot-on-video (HALLUCINATIONS and THE MCPHERSON TAPE) or Super 8 (THE DEAD NEXT DOOR) screenings feel like time spent huddled on the sofa re-watching family home movies. And so it was with our double-bill of zombie apocalypse movies shot on video by teenagers: PATHOGEN (2006) and PLAGA ZOMBIE (1997).
What did our BAR TRASH audience make of them? Of the 17 available audience review cards, 16 voted ‘treasure’ (“Youthful zombie apocalypse cool”) and 1 voted ‘trash’ (“BUT, some of the best amateur SFX I’ve seen”). And given that we don’t believe in binaries, that looks like a smash from any ill-advised/dynamic camera angle.
#153: THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH dir Roger Corman (1964/USA/84mins)
Finsbury Park Picturehouse 29 JUNE 2025 [full event info]
Introducing your favourite films reminds me of the opening VO by Princess Irulan (Virginia Madsen) in David Lynch’s DUNE (1984): “A beginning is a very delicate time”. Do you tumble right out of the closet and admit you think the film is an absolute banger, or do you cower nearer Narnia in fear that your audience might reject the proposition entirely? So it was with THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH, but I think people really liked it. Of the 14 available ‘trash or treasure?’ audience review cards, 12 voted ‘treasure’ (“a majestic sexy masterpiece”), and 2 swung both ways (“camp, deranged”), which makes this plague-ridden party an extravagant success.
#154: Mystery Film #2 — BLOOD DINER from vintage VHS dir Jackie Kong (1987/USA/88mins) with Gemma Gore
Genesis Cinema 02 JULY 2025 [full event info]
My good friend, the incredible tapehead Gemma Gore, picked BLOOD DINER (1987) from her enviable collection of uncensored tapes. Jackie Kong’s film is a rare example of a female / global majority director being contracted to direct a project and then being left to make her own kind of music. In Kong’s own words, the original script for an intended sequel to Herschel Gordon Lewis’ pioneering 1963 splatter film BLOOD FEAST (shown previously in BAR TRASH at the launch of our BANNED! season of the ‘video nasties’) was “as serious as a heart attack” and so she took the project in an entirely different direction.
Of the 22 available audience review cards, 19 voted ‘treasure’ (“Jaw-droppingly awesome”), 1 ‘trash’ (which we think was meant in a good way…), and 2 swung both ways (“Bizarre, a bit awful, but fun!”). Which gives Jackie Kong’s ‘vegetarian’ tasting menu a five star / must eat rating.
#155: DON’T TORTURE A DUCKLING aka Non si sevizia un paperino dir Lucio Fulci (1972/Italy/105mins)
Beer Merchants Tap 07 SEPTEMBER 2025 [full event info]
[Date changed to end of season] // I hadn’t meant to end my WE ARE TRASH! season with a film as unremittingly toxic as DON’T TORTURE A DUCKLING, but I’m bloody glad we did. Moved initially because of low sales (the new date sold out!) and chaos on the home front (love you mum!), the only other time we had to shunt a film past closing night was the batshit craziness of ‘Pelham puppets attack’ movie ATTACK OF THE BEAST CREATURES which was probably more what people expect to imbibe on a BAR TRASH season finale…. Instead we got served misogyny and child murder in rural southern Italy… But what did our audience make of Lucio Fulci’s masterpiece?
Of the 20 available audience review cards, 19 voted ‘treasure’ (“Bellisima”) and 1 swung both ways (“Fantastic film showing, thoroughly enjoyed it!”) which gives DON’T TORTURE A DUCKLING some glowing reviews. For some, this was their first time, both of the movie — “So glad to finally watch this film” — and of me — “Absolutely incredible — my first BAR TRASH 5★”.
#156: SERIAL MOM dir John Waters (1994/USA/95mins)
Genesis Cinema 09 JULY 2025 [full event info]
It’s official, our (very) sold out BAR TRASH screening of SERIAL MOM (1994) at Genesis Cinema was our second biggest Bar Paragon show on modern record with a smashing 91 sales (not bad for a lil’ old bar show?!). Our only film to beat it was GODZILLA (1954), but the two nights couldn’t have been more different: pin-drop silence for Ishiro Honda’s masterpiece, bawdy joy for John Waters’. Thanks everyone for all of your support and passion for the ideal cocktail of Mr Waters and Kathleen Turner, an impeccable script and a fine supporting cast.
Of the 37 available audience review cards, everyone voted ‘treasure’ (“Fast paced hilarity with a side of murder. Buckle up or die!” and “The greatest guilty pleasure going”), which makes SERIAL MOM our biggest smash hit in some considerable time… (“Hoo-wee!”).
#157: Mystery Film #3 — THE LAST MAN ON EARTH dirs Ubaldo Ragona & Sidney Salkow (1964/USA/86mins)
Finsbury Park Picturehouse 13 JULY 2025 [full event info]
Our MYSTERY VINCENT PRICE FILM turned out to be… THE LAST MAN ON EARTH (1964). This is the first screen adaptation of Richard Matheson’s horror novel ‘I Am Legend’ (1954) that has subsequently been filmed as THE OMGA MAN (1971) and the slippery Will Smith CGI-fest, I AM LEGEND (2007). Of the 14 available audience review cards, 12 voted ‘treasure’ (“Vincent: Vampire Slayer! A lovely time!”), 1 voted ‘trash’ (“Great Vincent Price face & eyebrow acting”), and 1 swung both ways (“Slow start with explosive finish”). Which pretty much stakes long-running criticism of this title through the heart… For me, it’s one of those films that regularly keeps me company when I’m not doing much and it was a real treat to share with our BAR TRASH audience.
#158: SPOOKIES dir Eugenie Joseph (1986/USA/85mins)
Genesis Cinema 09 MARCH 2025 [full event info]
The film was started by one group of childhood/university friends — Brendan Faulkner, Frank M. Farel and Thomas Duran — who left the project during editing after disputes with producer Michael Lee (of VIPCO fame). Lee replaced them with former adult film actor and experienced editor/director Genie Joseph who both re-edited the film and directed entirely new material that follows a different plot with different actors after the remaining creatives opted out.
According to lore laid down through film festivals, documentaries and blu-ray extras that all focus on the original filmmakers, the boys were hard done by, their wonderfully fun/debut monster movie massacred by an overreaching producer who just didn’t get it (and ruined their material with fart jokes). According to Genie Joseph (quoted in Heidi Honeycutt’s brilliant book ‘I Spit On Your Celluloid: The History Of Women Directing Horror’), the rough cut was a sprawling mess and needed radical fixing (she feels sure the surviving boys hate her, which they, somewhat sneeringly, seem to…).
But what did our BAR TRASH audience make of it? Of the 28 available audience review cards, 15 voted ‘treasure’ (“Love the special effects!”), 8 ‘trash’ (both positive: “Pure chaos smashed together!!!” and negative: “A truly unfortunate film ♥︎”), and 5 swung both ways (“The kind of preposterous trash — complimentary — you watch at a friend’s aged 15”). Which, much like the film is somewhat split down the middle, but on the balance of votes, establishes SPOOKIES as a tarnished treasure [or is that value-adding patina?]!
#159: Live Action / Double Feature — TANK GIRL: 30TH ANNIVERSARY dir Rachel Talalaly (1995/USA/104mins) + MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE dir Gary Goddard (1987/USA/106mins)
Beer Merchants Tap 20 JULY 2025 [full event info]
Both TANK GIRL (1995) and MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE (1987) were subject to problematic shoots and budgeting shutdowns, so this really was the perfect live action pairing.
Of the 9 available audience review cards just for TANK GIRL (1995), 8 voted ‘treasure’ (“Tank Girl is my hero! I want a Kangaroo boyfriend…”) and 1 ‘trash’ (without comment…). Which looks like a smash… Comments focused on the film’s brilliant jukebox soundtrack (enabled by Courtney Love, credited as ‘Executive Music Co-ordinator’) — “From now on, all my dirt showers will be soundtracked by Portishead” — and its fast-talking, free-wheeling, irreverent feminist attitude: “Punk as Fuck!!!!”. Although, some people will just never be happy: “Not as much kangaroo romance as I thought” ;).
Of the 12 review cards for MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE (1987), 11 voted ‘treasure’ (“Better than I remember it ☺︎”), and 1 ‘trash’ (“All brawn, no brains”). Reflecting the realities of working with a star who was yet to be fluent in performance technique or English — Dolph Lundgren effectively dubbed himself in post-production — much of the talking time was given to professional scenery-chewer Frank Langella: “Skeletor got all the best lines!” and “I love how sassy Skeletor is, he’s so cunty!”. Ultimately, “the 80s cheese is strong but the fast pacing keeps things alive” resulting in a “deep + philosophical thirst trap” that, like Skeletor, longs “to smash you out of existence”.
#160: BHOOT BUNGLA: 60TH ANNIVERSARY dir Mahmood (1965/India/145mins) with Ranjit S. Ruprai
Genesis Cinema 23 JULY 2025 [full event info]
BHOOT BUNGLA (1965) was our first ever Bollywood movie night at BAR TRASH, and it’s fair to say, it totally stomped! Joined by my very special guest Ranjit S. Ruprai (founder of SUPAKINO and co-founder of THE CLOUD DOOR), we served samosas and chai — not forgetting themed drinks from the Bar Gods — across two intervals, celebrating this brilliantly eclectic, anarchic, comedy-horror-musical-thriller’s 60th Anniversary.
What did our audience make of it? Of the 36 available audience review cards, 34 voted ‘treasure’ (“Dancing skeletons, what more do you want?!”), 1 ‘trash’ (“I liked the 2 intervals and the musical numbers were brilliant for toilet breaks”), and 1 swung both ways (“Mind-spinning changes of tone & style. It gave me a headache, but I liked it”). Which looks like another smash!
#161: CITY UNDER THE SEA: 60TH ANNIVERSARY aka ‘War-Gods of the Deep’ dirs Jacques Tourneur & Ishirô Honda (1965/UK/84mins)
Finsbury Park Picturehouse 27 JULY 2025 [full event info]
Celebrating its 60th Anniversary with a rare public screening at Finsbury Park Picturehouse, Jacques Tourneur’s CITY UNDER THE SEA (1965) is about the discovery of a lost realm off the coast of Cornwall, but the addition of a random chicken — ‘Herbert’ — to the cast during rewrites to give a potentially stodgy story some light relief seems to have captured our audience’s hearts: “I mean… we all loved Herbert the chicken!”. Of the 22 available audience review cards, 18 voted ‘treasure’, 2 ‘trash’ (“But in a hilarious way!”), and 2 swung both ways (“I had a blast! We will definitely be back!”), which splashes out on the premium sandwich buffet AND the tower of profiteroles for this anniversary gathering!
#162: THE KEEP dir Michael Mann (1983/UK/96mins)
Genesis Cinema 30 JULY 2025 [full event info]
Although we sometimes get complaints, screening films with subtitles is a staple part of our BAR TRASH programme and there are many reasons for this, not least of which are greater opportunities for inclusion — for issues of hearing, language and neurodivergence, amongst others. Subtitles also help us grapple with underwhelming audio mixes on retro media and, in the case of Michael Mann’s sophomore film THE KEEP (1983), a problematic audio mix that wasn’t completed in the post-production mayhem ahead of the film’s original theatrical release. This has left several unintelligible sequences baked-in (even in the pristine 4K resto we were screening!). Of course, disappearing dialogue isn’t the only challenge in this dreamlike film… but what did our audience make of it? Of the 23 available audience review cards, 20 voted ‘treasure’ (“It’s a Keeper!”), 1 ‘trash’ (“not irredeemable but the indecision of Michael Mann is evident”), and 2 swung both ways (“THAT was a thing!”). Which looks like majority backing for this (deliberately?) baffling beauty!
#163: PULGASARI: 40TH ANNIVERSARY dir Shin Sang-ok (1985/North Korea/95mins)
Beer Merchants Tap 03 AUGUST 2025 [full event info]
It’s always great to show a cinematic outlier at BAR TRASH, and the North Korean kaiju epic PULGASARI (1985) is absolutely that. Made by director Shin Sang-ok whilst held under detention c/o the North Korean regime of supreme leader, Kim Il Sung, PULGASARI was an international co-production with Japan and China overseen by the dictator’s son and eventual heir, Kim Jong Il. It bears the creative hallmark of some of Japan’s very best suitmation and miniature effects artists, including Teruyoshi Nakano (GODZILLA VS MECHAGODZILLA). But what did our sold out audience make of it? Of the 15 available review cards, everyone voted ‘treasure’, which makes it an absolute smash hit on points alone (“Glory to the spirit of the Korean proletariat”).
#164: Mystery Film #4 — CRITTERS 3: YOU ARE WHAT THEY EAT dir Kristine Peterson (1991/USA/86mins)
Genesis Cinema 06 AUGUST 2025 [full event info]
I have never revealed a BAR TRASH mystery film as (relatively) mainstream as CRITTERS 3: YOU ARE WHAT THEY EAT (1991), but deep into our WE ARE TRASH! season I wanted to tell the story of women directors getting gigs deep into the film franchise (cf Anna Foerster on UNDERWORLD 5, Rachel Talalay on ELM STREET 6, and Hope Perello on HOWLING 6). Kristine Peterson’s diabolically funny [and much scarier than I’d realised, given the screams!] contribution to a series of films about visiting alien furbabies did just the job! Of the 29 available audience review cards, 24 voted ‘treasure’ (“Absolute delight!”), 3 ‘trash’ (“And I thought GREMLINS was chaotic!”), and 2 swung both ways (“Hard to be mad at such a silly romp”). Which gives a truly outer space response to this f-rated franchise entry.
#165: WITCHFINDER GENERAL dir Michael Reeves (1968/UK/86mins)
Finsbury Park Picturehouse 10 AUGUST 2025 [full event info]
When I planned our BAR TRASH Vincent Price sidequest at Finsbury Park Picturehouse, there was perhaps no other title competing for closing night than WITCHFINDER GENERAL, one of his finest and most troubling performances (the on set battles with director Michael Reeves alone are the stuff of cult cinema legend…).
Due to the refurbishment of our usual bar venue, our screening of WITCHFINDER GENERAL was moved to Screen 7 where the film’s horrors were fully amplified from a recent 4K restoration. Of the 19 available review cards, 18 voted ‘treasure’ (“Damn that was dark”), and 1 person resolutely declined to call it either ‘trash’ or ‘treasure’ (“NEITHER!”), making the film a smash hit, but one tainted in the darkness of the story’s misogyny and the film’s lingering misanthropy.
#166: LONE WOLF AND CUB: WHITE HEAVEN IN HELL dir Yoshiyuki Kuroda (1974/Japan/83mins)
Genesis Cinema 13 AUGUST 2025 [full event info]
We screened SHOGUN ASSASSIN (1980) in our BAR TRASH: BANNED! season showcasing the so-called ‘Video Nasties’. A grindhouse mashup of the first two films in the venerated LONE WOLF AND CUB franchise (1972-74), the film is given an almost mystical English language dub by queer director Robert Houston (re-working Kenji Misumi’s originals), and was a smash with audiences demanding more. But in a 6 film series, where do we go?
I went for the final film in the saga, in its original Japanese (obviously), knowing that the coming seasons of BAR TRASH would limit opportunities to showcase the whole series (maybe one day?!). But Yoshiyuki Kuroda’s LONE WOLF AND CUB: WHITE HEAVEN IN HELL (1974) somewhat jumps the shark by pursuing a more brooding, horror film vibe where some of the lurid arterial blood sprays of earlier episodes are replaced by scenes of threat and an almost silent mass attack on a river house [actually one of my favourite scenes in the film]. How did it go down?
Of the 21 available audience review cards, 19 voted ‘treasure’ (“Where did he buy that pram?”), 1 ‘trash’, and 1 person hedged their bets (“I’m not sure how to rate this, it was pretty boring and disjointed plot wise”). Which looks like a pram-load of success, although once you’ve heard the voice of baby Daigoro in SHOGUN ASSASSIN, it’s hard to escape: “ Would have been improved by the kid monologuing over the whole thing”. Ill-advisedly, I had attempted to impersonate Gibran Evans’ voice in my intro — to give people who hadn’t seen SHOGUN ASSASSIN a flavour of what mayhem they had missed — leading to its own slew of comments: “Left as speechless as little Daigoro. Was missing Token Homo’s dubbing!”.
#167: LOGAN’S RUN dir Michael Anderson (1976/USA/118mins)
Beer Merchants Tap 17 AUGUST 2025 [full event info]
1970s sci-fi epic LOGAN’S RUN (1976) was based on a novel by American writers William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson, published in 1967. There are a great many differences between the book and the film, not least of which is the increase in the pivotal “Last Day” that sees everyone reaching 30 on film dispatched in a carnivalesque display of public mass slaughter to control the population. In the novel, “Last Day” is 21 which interestingly prefigures much of the dystopian YA fiction of our recent decades. It’s fair to say that Michael Anderson’s movie adaptation received a critically divided response…
But what did our sold out BAR TRASH audience make of it? Of the 18 available audience review cards, 16 voted ‘treasure’ (“Deserving of classic status”), 1 swung both ways (“1st half” treasure / “2nd half” trash), and 1 was undecided (“Identify….”). Which puts LOGAN’S RUN ahead in our final sprint to the season finish line (just one more film to go!).
#168: Closing Night — TURBO KID: 10TH ANNIVERSARY dirs François Simard, Anouk Whissell & Yoann-Karl Whissell (2015/Canada/93mins)
Genesis Cinema 20 AUGUST 2025 [full event info]
We rarely get this contemporary with BAR TRASH titles, so what did our audience make of this “fun & silly apocalypse adventure” summed up brilliantly by Wired as “MAD MAX on a BMX”? Of the 28 available audience review cards, 26 voted ‘treasure’ (“Dreamy & bloody at the same time, absolute treasure ♥︎”), 1 ‘trash’, and 1 swung both ways (“Love some quality trash!”). Which closes the season on a joyous high note (just our postponed screening of the considerably more bleak DON’T TORTURE A DUCKLING to go…).
For many, TURBO KID was a “great film to end the season”, with some drawing fond connections with another title in our 10th series: “Apple is TANK GIRL if she was a manic pink haired anime girl”. And let’s wrap with a review that somehow seems to fit this “bloody adorable” film’s intentional avoidance of cool: “Everyone should watch this movie at least once” backed by a sentiment we can all get behind: “Make TURBO KID 2 happen!!”.