Season Launch + BLOOD FEAST (1963)

• Director: Herschell Gordon Lewis
• Cast: William Kerwin, Mal Arnold, Connie Mason, Lyn Bolton 
• 1963 | Film: 67mins | USA | Subtitles | Event: 20:45 – 23:10 [18+]

“NOTHING SO APPALLING IN THE ANALS OF HORROR!”

An Egyptian caterer in suburban Miami harvests human organs to revive the goddess Ishtar.

Cult film night BAR TRASH returns with BANNED, an uncensored season of the Video Nasties.

Back in the 1980s, uncertified horror videos were branded ‘Video Nasties’ by moral campaigners, seized by the police, and prosecuted for obscenity. While censorship has relaxed since then, many of these extreme films still have the capacity to shock. BANNED revisits 12 of the original ‘Nasties’ in fully restored and uncut editions. It will be the most extreme BAR TRASH season so far…

BANNED launches on Wednesday 25 September with an illustrated ‘Trash Talk’ about the history of the Video Nasties, followed by a screening of notorious exploitation shocker, BLOOD FEAST (1963).

BLOOD FEAST was shot on a tiny budget in Florida by former teacher and marketing guru, Herschell Gordon Lewis. Considered the ‘first American splatter film’, it features lashings of bright red blood and extravagant (but mostly inept…) gore effects. BLOOD FEAST was hugely successful at the American drive-in but was banned in the UK for nearly 40 years. The BBFC finally granted the film an 18 certificate with cuts in 2001 for a DVD release, before passing it without cuts in 2005.

“I’ve often referred to BLOOD FEAST as a Walt Whitman poem. It’s no good, but it was the first of its type.”

Herschell Gordon Lewis

Polite warning: BLOOD FEAST contains scenes of graphic violence and gory horror simulated with animal organs. You simply won’t believe that Mal Arnold (Fuad Ramses) is Egyptian, and we apologise in advance for any offence caused… We are showing BLOOD FEAST with subtitles from the best available digital source.

/// BAR TRASH is a celebration of cult and curious cinema, hosted by queer film fanatic, Token Homo. Films are served with themed drinks, introductions, intermissions, prize giveaways, and subtitles/captions where possible. Tickets from £3. Strictly adults 18+ only. Follow @tokenhomo on Instagram for news and updates. ///