Celebrating two years of trash: My top ten BAR TRASH shows (so far!)

They say you shouldn’t have favourites, but after two years of BAR TRASH at Genesis Cinema (and occasionally at Rule Zero), there are some shows that stand out above and beyond all others. 

Here are ten of my favourite BAR TRASH shows, the nights that represent a coming together of our splendid totality: film + guests + gimmicks + audience + drinks. That’s followed by five nights that get a (dis)honourable mention for a multitude of car-crash reasons. Finally, I’ve listed five unicorn features that insist on making their own kind of music (I see them as something of a genetic code).

Before we get to the shows, my biggest tribute goes – as it does every week – to our audiences (the gathered trash!) and to the amazing venue teams. You have always had my back (through good times, sad times, fire alarms, and falling over), and many of you come way more often than you probably should.

There’s a phrase I attempt to say at the end of every show, after thanking everyone for coming: “I’ve been Token Homo, but you’ve been BAR TRASH!”. It brings a lump to my throat each and every time, and I simply can’t thank you enough.

MY TOP TEN BAR TRASH SHOWS  (A-Z)

#079: BOARDINGHOUSE d. John Wintergate (1982 / USA / 98mins)

Genesis Cinema 08 MAY 2024 [full event info]

This one was personal… John Wintergate’s shot-on-video ‘trashterpiece’ BOARDINGHOUSE finally opened Season 7, having previously been cancelled in Season 6 due to a power cut. Both screenings sold out. Sadly, my dear friend Lucy had passed away shortly before the encore screening, and I decided to stage the show in tribute to her, and to everyone we have loved and lost. The words were hard to get out, my voice broke, and I had to look at the floor to recover. But the audience’s unwavering round of applause ’to all our Lucys’ – as I stood before a projected picture of my friend – was long, loud, heartfelt, and utterly awesome.

There’s never enough time to talk to everyone about their challenges and concerns at a busy show like BAR TRASH. I talk about some of mine in an attempt to recognise everyone else’s. It’s part of making my audience feel safe and welcome. By being vulnerable and open myself, I hope to demonstrate, beyond any doubt, that gathering together to watch silly movies really does matter.

Afterwards, a friend commented: “you’ve built something beautiful here”. BOARDINGHOUSE showed just how.

#074: DOLLS d. Stuart Gordon (1986 / USA / 77mins)

Genesis Cinema 13 MARCH 2024 [full event info]

Putting together a programme of films involves a lot of complex and confounding choices about the titles you want to show, the titles you can show due to licensing, their running times (my Achilles heel!), and the extent to which they amplify the stories I’m trying to tell across a season. When it came to VHS USA, and a burning desire to show films from the Empire Pictures catalogue, I knew there would be demand for films by the late, great Stuart Gordon. Titles like RE-ANIMATOR (1985), FROM BEYOND (1986) and ROBOT JOX (1989) would have been wise commercial choices. However, I chose DOLLS out of stubborn gut instinct and I’m incredibly glad I did.

BAR TRASH isn’t a quiet place to watch movies. I actively encourage people to whoop, cheer, boo, or call out prejudice (“Shut up you sicko!”) – but this one was different. You don’t know how well a film is going to play until you’re into the meat of it, and DOLLS played brilliantly… The audience got completely behind the film, urging it along. It felt like we were all on an old dark ride in an amusement park, where every turn, drop and twist added to our enchantment. A total joy.

#066: THE EVIL DEAD from VHS d. Sam Raimi (1981 / USA / 85mins)

Genesis Cinema 17 JANUARY 2024 [full event info]

THE EVIL DEAD from VHS was our Season 6 opener and our fastest ever selling show (which is why we brought it back for an ENCORE!!!). All of my storytelling for our VHS USA season hung off this persecuted/prosecuted tape from Palace Video, the plasticine stop-motion scapegoat of the entire ‘Video Nasties’ scandal and a film I acquired in my wayward youth from a video library fire sale. But there was one problem…

We have never shown a film this extreme before, having built BAR TRASH’s reputation on showing “charming + deranged nonsense”. Whilst that description has only ever been partly true, THE EVIL DEAD was a major step into the realm of content warnings and potential harm. So as usual, I made it personal. My intro spoke about the horrors of being a young queer kid in Thatcher’s 80s Britain, finding my own private rebellion in obnoxious tapes as a way of sheltering from the backdrop of state-induced violence (AIDS, censorship, Section 28, strikes). My message being: these were dangerous tapes from dangerous times – proceed with caution.

Whilst I knew BAR TRASH would rise to Sam Raimi’s slapstick (which they did), how would a rowdy bar audience cope with sexual violence not just in the woods, but by the woods…? I needn’t have worried; we plunged from raucous laughter to stoney silence as the film dragged us all outside for its savage assault. I truly love watching films with you people.

#039: GODZILLA ゴジラ | Gojira d. Ishirō Honda (1954 / Japan / 96mins)

Genesis Cinema 31 MAY 2023 [full event info]

This one got some snark when we announced it (“G54 with cocktails”) as if we were pouring scorn on a revered veteran. Maybe our event title confuses people (I explain the name by saying “we’re in a bar, and you’re the trash!”), or the fact that we’re screening in a bar suggests we’re not serious about cinema? Don’t get me wrong, I love a night when we blow the roof off (see #10), but it’s equally important to me that we change the volume and tackle films from a different perspective.

GODZILLA opened Season 4, MONSTER MAYHEM!, and was one of our busiest ever night in BAR TRASH (we literally ran out of bar furniture to seat people on). After doing my best to explain the horrific consequences of nuclear testing, the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the firebombing of Tokyo, we watched GODZILLA in pin-drop silence (mostly… the ‘oxygen destroyer’ prompted a few chuckles…). It was a profound privilege and the start of another amazing season.

One audience member chose this show as their favourite BAR TRASH event in our first birthday poll: “Because everything has been leading to that moment”. Finally, BAR TRASH came of age…

#033: JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR Sing-Along d. Norman Jewison (1973 / USA / 106mins)

Genesis Cinema 15 MARCH 2023 [full event info]

In perfect contrast, my fifth entry shows I don’t want us to lose our sense of humour… JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR erupted into song during our TRASH OR TREASURE? third season. This was my attempted bit of radical counter-programming to the BFI’s pompous “100 greatest films of all time” playing simultaneously on the SouthBank (I don’t think anyone there noticed…).

Norman Jewison’s adaptation of the Weber/Rice rock musical was nominated in our season’s sourcebook, The Golden Turkey Awards (Harry & Michael Medved, 1980), for “The Worst Performance by an Actor as Jesus Christ”, giving us the perfect opportunity to stage our first sing-along. A transport strike crucified our audience figures, but our resident event manager and part-time musician/band member James Hayes was divine… He led us through a warm-up song before stepping back on stage with printed song lyrics for key numbers throughout the show. We never rehearse these things – and Genesis doesn’t appear to have a stapler – so James’ song sheets got out of order, prompting the audience to remind him that the lyrics were on screen in the subtitles… for each and every song!!! Of course, chaos is part of our DNA.

#032: KANSAS CITY BOMBER d. Jerrold Freedman (1972 / USA / 99mins) + #073: GLOW d. Brett Whitcomb (2012 / USA / 76mins) x FIST CLUB for International Women’s Day 2023 + 2024

Genesis Cinema 07 MARCH 2023 [full event info]

Genesis Cinema 06 MARCH 2024 [full event info]

I invited friend of the show, drag king Loose Willis to roast me on-stage before our BAR TRASH first birthday screening of THE MONOLITH MONSTERS (1957). Loose’s opening question was a powerful one: “Why does cult cinema need another cis white man?”. Simple truth is, it doesn’t. But here we are… 80+ shows in, it has always been my mission to shake things up as radically as we can, making sure everyone gets paid for their labour (too much cinema ‘work’ is expected for free or low wages, particularly when sharing expertise accumulated over decades). As well as special guests Becky Darke (for HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP, 1980) and the incredible tapehead Gemma Gore (for SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE I + II), my regular vehicle for mixing things up is our International Women’s Day shows (two down, more to come!).

Loose Willis and their partners in violence, queer wrestling collective Fist Club, took over two shows to discuss violent women on screen and their own careers as gender non-conforming women and non-binary folk. KANSAS CITY BOMBER (an unexpected tribute to Raquel Welch who sadly passed away just before the screening) and GLOW: THE STORY OF THE GORGEOUS LADIES OF WRESTLING rocked under their control. We also raised good money for women’s charities, WISH and Bloody Good Period.

Looking ahead, we’ll do more to share our BAR TRASH stage with women, gender non-conforming and non-binary guests, whilst also seeking to involve voices from the global majority and other under-represented groups in film production and exhibition. One audience member provided a manifesto in their feedback: “Keep it woke, keep it gay, keep it awesome!”.

#062: THE PLAGUE DOGS d. Martin Rosen (1982 / UK & USA / 103mins)

Genesis Cinema 15 NOVEMBER 2023 [full event info]

There’s a small group of people who will never forget the night we were collectively traumatised by this bleak masterpiece in a pin-drop quiet bar in London’s East End. There were plenty of tears. We probably should have shown ALL DOGS GO TO HEAVEN (1989)… but that wouldn’t have made this list of my most treasured nights amongst the gathered trash.

#052: Mystery Film? SPACE MONSTER WANGMAGWI d. Kwon Hyeok-jin (1967 / South Korea / 83mins)

Genesis Cinema 16 AUGUST 2023 [full event info]

The treadmills of running a regular film night don’t always run smoothly, and sometimes things that are entirely out of your hands go very wrong. A case in point… I had programmed Chuck Russell’s brilliant remake of THE BLOB (1988) in Season 4, as an amorphous companion piece to CALTIKI, THE IMMORTAL MONSTER (1959). The show was on sale, and there was lots of anticipation for it. And then the shit hit the fan…

Long story short, the UK distributor suddenly cancelled my contract due to a conflict with the studio, meaning we couldn’t screen THE BLOB. This was one week prior to the show…. Which we had to pull. Thanks to my great friends at Genesis, we hastily contacted ticket holders, offered them a full refund or an alternative ‘mystery film’ instead. Announcing it was going to be a mystery film boosted sales. The real mystery was, I didn’t have a film up my sleeve.

After hours of research, rewatching and discarding films that didn’t fit the bill, I stumbled across the rights to a little-known kaijū film. Late on the Friday night before the following Wednesday’s show, my rights to show SPACE MONSTER WANGMAGWI were cleared. The title reveal played brilliantly, and the once-lost South Korean film gave everyone who witnessed it another unique BAR TRASH anecdote, often framed as a question: “What was the name of that movie where a small boy pissed inside a kaiju’s skull?”. Kenneth Anger was right, cinemas truly are “sanctuaries of wonder”.

#028: THE TINGLER d. William Castle (1959 / USA / 82mins)

Genesis Cinema 15 FEBRUARY 2023 [full event info]

I want people to be more ‘cinema’ literate. The art form’s history and global cultural diversity is a noisy one, the industry driven forward by more than a century of gimmicks to boost audiences and profits. Showing films in a full service bar for £3 is a gimmick, as is charging inflated prices for so-called ‘quality’ arthouse cinema.

In the cinema histories I know most well, one iconic showman stands out: William Castle – writer, director, producer, actor, and exhibitor extraordinaire. Castle was (in)famous in the 1950s/60s for adding gimmicks to his films that often broke the fourth wall to engage the audience directly. His late 1950s schlocker THE TINGLER starring Vincent Price was screened with a seat buzzing system called PERCEPTO! installed under people’s cinema seats, and used to invoke their screams when the on-screen monster invades the auditorium. To amplify the effect – not everyone’s seat would buzz due to practical and financial limitations – stooges were planted in the auditorium to scream along with the screen.

After much experimentation (and considerable expense!), I found a way to buzz people in their seats in Bar Paragon, getting help from friends to play the stooges. I then had the time of my life assaulting our audience with various acts of mayhem throughout the TINGLER as it invaded our screening. We will definitely be doing (something like) this again…

#061: Mystery Film? UNINVITED d. Greydon Clark (1987 / USA / 92mins)

Genesis Cinema 01 NOVEMBER 2023 [full event info]

There’s a pseudo-science to choosing the right mystery title for BAR TRASH. In order to deserve such cloak and dagger treatment, the film has to be worth the audience’s trust in coming to see something that hasn’t been announced beforehand. In my head, it therefore has to follow four basic rules. A BAR TRASH mystery film has to be: unfamiliar (and deserve its unicorn/mystery status); have a great title for the reveal announcement (so people are instantly hooked); open with punch (so people know to hang around); and, give good energy throughout (so people feel they’ve had a treat even if they don’t love the movie).

Whilst Greydon Clark’s UNINVITED falls short on two of those (it does get shown at cult film nights and the lacklustre title needs boosting with a tagline: “the ‘killer cat on a cruise ship’ movie”), it totally delivers on the second two, resulting in one of our rowdiest shows ever. The film’s ‘Titanic’ climax almost blew the roof off, as our audience roared with the kind of “pure enjoyment and delight” only Incredibly Strange Films (Vale & Juno, 1986) can deliver. Which is the true meaning of BAR TRASH.

FIVE (DIS)HONOURABLE MENTIONS (A-Z)

#021: CHRISTMAS EVIL d. Lewis Jackson (1980 / USA / 100mins) was a BAR TRASH special at Rule Zero at the end of our first year. Just as I was winding up my introduction and pressing play, I tripped over some cabling, dragging the player and amp to the floor, and plunging the venue into silent darkness. I also flew across the stage, landing face down with indignity. All I can remember is speaking quietly into the mic: “I don’t want to get up… just all go, and we can pretend this never happened…”. Seeing Token Homo fly turned out to be its own kind of Christmas miracle, kick-starting a series of festive events I have continued with TOKYO GODFATHERS (2003), and an epic re-enactment of CHRISTMAS EVIL at Rio Cinema (without my flying…) as part of my Queer Horror Nights. 

Rule Zero 21 DECEMBER 2022 [full event info]

#050: THE CRATER LAKE MONSTER d. William R. Stromberg (1977 / USA / 85mins) is ‘fondly’ remembered for being the night when multiple malfunctioning fire alarms went off throughout the Genesis building. Whilst we didn’t need to evacuate, the lack of a comms system in the building resulted in lots of running around to check everything was ok (neither I nor the Genesis team have ever ended an evening so sweaty…). Whilst this was a far from perfect way to present a mostly quiet kaijū film, the audience still found the film’s (queer?) hillbilly bromance heart-warming, even if the tiny serving of stop-motion mayhem failed to drown-out the cacophony.

Genesis Cinema 02 AUGUST 2023 [full event info]

#034: EXORCIST II: THE HERETIC d. John Boorman (1977 / USA / 117mins) delivered another cocktail of calamity. For this event, we had relocated to one of the plush studio screens at Genesis under the tagline ‘BAR TRASH goes to the movies’. A tech breakdown delayed the screening, but worse was to come as almost everyone HATED the film (the bigger screen revealed a very awkward Richard Burton…). In hindsight, BAR TRASH should always be in a bar… the energy just wasn’t there in a screening room. You learn most from your toughest gigs.

Genesis Cinema 22 MARCH 2023 [full event info]

#015: NIGHT OF THE LEPUS d. William F. Claxton (1972 / USA / 88mins) came at the height of an outbreak of TikTok mayhem in our first year, when a viral video left us swamped with people who didn’t know what they were getting for their £1 ticket. Whilst I warmly regard this classic of pulp cinema as the most unusual Western ever made, the marauding bunnies triggered our biggest interval walk-out to date… I mean, what did people think we were serving?

Genesis Cinema 25 OCTOBER 2022 [full event info]

#018: PIRANHA d. Joe Dante (1978 / USA / 94mins) + PIRANHA II: THE SPAWNING d. James Cameron (1981 / USA / 94mins) goes down in infamy for being a rare BAR TRASH attempt at a double-bill. Not only does the second film play much less thrillingly than the first, but the heating went off in the building and the bar closed too soon (or maybe not soon enough?). Either way, attempting a survivor’s quiz after almost 6 hours of film chat, cult movies, and strong drinks was the hill I hadn’t anticipated I would die on. Never again! Although…

Genesis Cinema 26 NOVEMBER 2022 [full event info]

FIVE UNICORN FEATURES  (A-Z)

#009: THE CRAZIES d. George A. Romero (1973 / USA / 103mins)

… because horror is political.

Genesis Cinema 10 AUGUST 2022 [full event info]

#056 + #083: CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON d. Jack Arnold (1954 / USA / 79mins)

… so good we did it twice.

Genesis Cinema 27 SEPTEMBER 2023 [full event info] + 05 JUNE 2024 [full event info]

#011: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME d. J. Lee Thompson (1981 / USA / 111mins)

… because birthdays need Scooby-Doo endings. 

Genesis Cinema 24 AUG 2022 [full event info]

#004: MALATESTA’S CARNIVAL OF BLOOD d. Christopher Speeth (1973 / USA / 78mins)

… because I am obsessed. 

Genesis Cinema 06 JUL 2022 [full event info]

#027: MATILDA d. Daniel Mann (1978 / USA / 87mins)

… because every show needs a mascot.

Genesis Cinema 08 FEB 2023 [full event info]

What are your Top Ten BAR TRASH shows (rather than films)? Let me know on Letterboxd, X, or Instagram!!!

////// BAR TRASH is a weekly celebration of cult and curious cinema, hosted by queer film fanatic, @tokenhomo. Films served with themed drinks, introductions, intermissions, prize giveaways, and subtitles/captions (where possible). Tickets from £3. Adults 18+ only. //////