The Overlook Theatre's Top 10 Horror Movies of 2018

Hail horror film fans! This is Lord Battle speaking, remember me? Despite my lack of contribution to this blog, writing is now natural. And I say blog because I have decided to finally embrace the fact that TheOverlookTheatre.com is just that. I realized while putting together this list exactly how few reviews I had completed this year and couldn't be more bummed about it. 2018 had a very large number of indie and studio releases that could easily grab a spot on any top 10 list and it's a shame that I let films like Upgrade, A Quiet Place, and Butterfly Kisses go without a proper Overlook Theatre review/discussion and all because I was playing around with Wix and Squarespace trying to legitimize our content by getting off of blogger... A serious waste of time and energy and, although I would like to add an interactive calendar for all local horror screenings, I'll be returning to driving content in 2019. Who knows maybe a wizard of websites will fall in my lap and offer to take on this now 3-year task of mine. We'll just have to wait and see.

Every year the creatures are summoned together for a screening of a Krampus film, gift exchange, and verbal battle that needs to end in agreement. Honestly, this year was the smoothest creation of a Top 10 horror list (with heavy participation) yet. Thankfully, Math Mage remembered his formula from last year and we were able to get a satisfactory list done in record time! Note that the number following the film title is to total points acquired by the film. I included this little detail to help show how close some of these films really were (especially #1 & 2).

10.) A Quiet Place (19)

No matter how big your 4K TV is you will not get a full experience unless you are immersed and intimidated by a sound system. Seriously, A Quiet Place is 2018's Don't Breathe using a deafening blanket of silence to choke an audience into a suspense submission hold. The kind that makes you conscious of how loudly you are chewing your popcorn. I don't think I've ever recommended a film with this idea in mind but, if Twilight Zone sci-fi narratives aren't your thing watch it for the on-screen chemistry between Emily Blunt and John Krasinski.

Even though A Quiet Place wasn't one of my personal favorites, it definitely came up a lot in conversations where I found myself defending the classic theatre experience over the new Netflix & fold clothes culture. 

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9.) Terrifier (20)

It's surprising how Terrifier ended up at #9 after all the excitement and celebration from the Overlook earlier this year and to only beat out A Quiet Place by 1 point seems insane to me. I really think the effect of hype in the horror community took a toll on Terrifier. It's kinda like how you want to keep some bands to yourself, but Damien Leone's creation could not be contained. Boasting a grindhouse aesthetic, unflinching gore, and that indie horror unpredictability Terrifier left horror audiences shook and excited. Art the Clown has since been solidified in horror history not necessarily the most popular clown but definitely the scariest.

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8.) Suspiria (24)

Nobody knew what to suspect when it was announced that Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name) would helm the remake of the king of complicated kills, Dario Argento's classic Suspiria. Add a soundtrack by Thom Yorke, an all-female cast (including male characters), and a 152 minute run-time, you are bound to receive polarizing reviews. We saw a preview screening of the film with a small group of creatures and couldn't have split the group more down the middle or further apart. Suspira was awarded 24 points by a few creatures that really felt impacted by the film and ends up being the split decision on the list.

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7.) Mandy (27)

The day Mandy came out we had a special VOD screening. Almost every creature in attendance had just left an 8 work day. Those who had seen Beyond the Black Rainbow were now drinking coffee in a wonderful haze of anticipation and fear as no one could fathom what exactly was in store. That night most of us apparently had our pretentious hats on as the crowd of 8-11 was completely silent. I personally remember mustering up all of my energy to intently focus and analyze the many layers of visual narrative. It wasn't until the middle of the 3rd act when The Impostor turned around and said "Is anyone awake!? I don't understand how ya'll so quiet!". At the time I remember being completely caught off guard by this comment but after a second viewing at the Alamo (which intro'd the film with clips of Nicholas Cage screaming) I understood just how much humor there was in Mandy. Honestly, I needed a quiet screening to happen first because I wouldn't have appreciated the overnight fandom at all.

Panos Cosmatos of Beyond the Black Rainbow fame (or infamy) comes off the top rope with Mandy. Half art house visual feast and half Nicholas Cage in the front seat of a rollercoaster of gore, Mandy turns the argument of Movie fun vs Art house film into Fun House Art...

Mandy is 1 of 2 (the other is coming up later) films that made the Overlook Theatre Top 10 Horror Movies list without actually screening on our Thursday review night, which basically means those who saw it REALLY liked it.

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6.) Low Life (34)

Ryan Prows' Low Life is the first ever film screened at the Overlook Theatre (which is a garage) with a member of the film crew present. This of course was exciting and incredibly nerve-wracking as none of us had seen the film prior and were all undoubtedly in fear of the film being terrible and the social situation that was bound to follow...

Thankfully Low Life was exactly what we look for, an unsung shinning example of genre film, exemplary in every category of what makes a film rated-R and filled with characters you'll hate, love, and hopefully understand. I personally loved Low Life and stress that you need to pay attention to Ryan Prows' future film career. It's going to be bright.

Ultimately those in attendance either LOVED or really liked Low Life and I can't help but wonder how well it would have done in a previous year of less talented horror/genre films... If you haven't seen it yet watch this one with your friends, they'll thank you for it. 

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5.) Hell Fest (37)

2018 was a return to slasher roots with major releases like The Strangers: Prey at Night budgeted at 5Mill earning 30Mill & Halloween (2018) with a budget of 10M earning 253M. And then there is our number 5 pick, beating Low Life by just 3 points comes what I would call the underdog of 2018 slashers, Hell Fest.

Subtly navigating genre tropes while hitting hard with gory kills, characters that defy genre stereotypes, and downplayed dark themes, Hell Fest is both a fun casual watch and a devastating think piece. Even though I voted The Strangers 2 as my favorite slasher this year, I think Hell Fest is more than deserving of this spot. Especially when you consider it cost 5.5M and earned 17.5M, which isn't bad, but I'd still call overlooked!

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4.) Butterfly Kisses (*)

Found Footage Horror has stigmatized audiences ever since people were fooled by The Blair Witch Project in 1999. Actually, fooled isn't the best way to put it. Fooled implies the film had malicious intent and was going to point and laugh at you when you found out it wasn't actually footage of three missing people going mad...

Butterfly Kisses is a faux documentary centered on found footage. Or is it? It actually gets a little confusing at times since the film takes possibly the hardest look at Found Footage Horror in the form of... itself? This is a brilliant example of an evolution of indie film in a world saturated by video media and a studio system with no middle ground. If none of this makes sense to you, just know this: when we screened Butterfly Kisses at the Unnamed Footage Festival (2018) it won the audience award by a landslide. When I asked people why this film worked for them 9 of 10 people answered: "There was a point where I couldn't tell if what I was watching was real or not". I've since learned that no matter what the subject, genre, run time, or medium, that is all people want from found footage horror and Butterfly Kisses delivers this blurred reality in spades. Blind buy this one and show your friends, you won't be disappointed!

The asterisk for a point total represents the fact that BK was inadvertently not included in our master recap list. A reviewer emailed in his top 10 with BK included and we had to hold an emergency vote post completing the Top 10 list to see how BK would place. Everyone had Butterfly Kisses high on their list so it may have actually won (after points were averaged and whatnot). If this had happened to any other film we would have just made an honorable mention section, but we LOVE Butterfly Kisses.

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3.) Terrified (40)

Terrified, did exactly that. I believe the Math Mage called the film "Fucking scary" while voting for his top 10 horror movies and verbally expressed his unease during our screening. Terrified manages to subvert every ghost story trope while playing off an audience's familiarity with them allowing the narrative to consistently catch you off guard. Far from the critical acclaim of an "Elevated Genre" feature, but perfect for keeping a crowd awake at night. Terrified made everyone's list who screened it for review.

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2.) Upgrade (41)

Argue whether Leigh Whannell's Upgrade belongs on a horror list all you want, just don't try to deny that this film was massively overlooked and terribly under-celebrated. Taking inspiration from rated-R sci-fi blockbusters like Terminator & RoboCop, Upgrade not only captured a near but far dystopian future but managed to infuse it with combat choreography that felt unique and exhilarating to watch. Upgrade is a Marvel movie without marketing. Do Mr. Whannell and your friends a favor and spread the good word.

I'd also like to point out that Upgrade beat Terrified by 1 point and lost to our #1 by 1 point. These top 3 were neck in neck and they earned it.

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1.) Hereditary (42)

Hereditary is one of those films that makes such an impact on its first round of audiences that the second wave usually reacts poorly. Hereditary is our #1 film of 2018 decided by a vote that went surprisingly smooth and when I asked if people had rewatched it before voting I was answered with a resounding "No". It was a strange thing to experience as the film had seemed to make a mark strong enough to demand recognition without many memories of enjoyment. Hereditary played as a sort of trauma piece reminding people not only how ugly death is, but how irrationally we react when confronted with it.

Again, I would like to point out that Hereditary only beat out Upgrade by 1 point which is truly a compliment to both and if you caught either film in the theatre, you know why.
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Individual Top 10 Lists for 2018:

The Impostor

1. Terrifier

2. Hereditary

3. Hell Fest

4. Terrified

5. Incident in a Ghost Land

6. A Quiet Place

7. Mandy

8. Upgrade

9. Halloween

10. Blood Fest

Huntress

1. Upgrade

2. Butterfly Kisses

3. Terrifier

4. A Quiet Place

5. Hell Fest

6. Hereditary

7. Mandy

8. Terrified

9. Border

10. Unfriended: Dark Web

Clark Little

1. Upgrade

2. Hereditary

3. Low Life

4. Terrified

5. Are We Not Cats

6. The Witch in the Window

7. Overlord

8. The Cleanse

9. The House That Jack Built

10. The Strangers: Prey at Night

Lord Battle

1. Low Life

2. Mandy

3. Suspiria

4.  Hereditary

5. Cam

6. Upgrade

7. The Night Eats the World

8. The House that Jack Built

9. The Strangers: Prey at Night

10. Are We Not Cats

Matte Black Cat

1. Hereditary

2. Sorry To Bother You

3. The House That Jack Built

4. Mandy

5. Eighth Grade

6. Black Panther

7. The Favourite

8. Halloween (2018)

9. Cam

10. The Strangers 2: Prey At Night

Greyranger (in order viewed)

*. The Commuter

*. Ama-san

*. How to Talk to Girls at Parties

*. Zama

*. A Beautiful Sun Inside (aka Let the Sunshine In)

*. First Reformed

*. Milford Graves Full Mantis

*. Blackkklansman

*. The Other Side of the Wind

*. The House That Jack Built

The Ascendant

1. Hereditary

2. First Reformed

3. Blindspotting

4. Suspiria 

5. Black Panther

6. Annihilation 

7. Butterfly Kisses

8. Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

9. The Night Comes For Us

10. Christopher Robin

Trash
1. First Reformed
2. The House That Jack Built
3. Blue My Mind
4. Cam
5. Possum
6. Mandy
7. The Witch In The Window
8. Damon Packard’s Fatal Pulse
9. Border
10. 2.0

Wandering Panda
1. A Quiet Place
2. Hereditary
3. Elliot
4. Upgrade
5. Low Life
6. Blood Fest
7. Hell Fest
8. Unfriended: Dark Web
9. Terrified
10. Incident in a Ghost Land

Eddie the Gamer Ghoul
1. The Night Eats the World
2. Terrified
3. Low Life
4. Hell Fest
5. Elliot
6. Upgrade
7. Halloween
8. Pyewacket
9. The Witch in the Window
10. Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich

Math Mage

1. Mandy
2. Terrified
3. Suspiria
4. Low Life
5. Cold Skin
6. Terrifier
7. Hereditary
8. Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich
9. Upgrade
10. Overlord

Bluray Tuesday Featuring: Hell Fest, Blind Date & Castle Rock

January 8th 2019

The second Bluray Tuesday of the year has arrived. This week has some great additions to our collections. First up is last year's haunt slasher film Hell Fest. This film was surprisingly great, entertaining and some cool kills. I highly recommend it. If you missed our review check it out here. Next up this week is Blind Date which is being released by Scorpion Releasing. This title is released for the first time on Bluray with a reversible cover and extras. Stephen King's and JJ Abrams series Castle Rock season one hits shelves today in both Bluray and 4K Bluray editions. This series I've been wanting to see and look forward to a day to binge watch. Rouding out the week is 8MM from Scream Factory, Let The Corpses Tan from Kino Lorber and Jonah Hill directed, coming of age drama Mid 90s. So what will you buy, rent or skip this week? Let us know in the comments. Until next week!

Hell Fest: Amazon - $19.99

4K: Amazon - $24.99

A masked serial killer turns a horror themed amusement park into his own personal playground, terrorizing a group of friends while the rest of the patrons believe that it is all part of the show.

 

 

Blind Date: Amazon - $19.99

A man goes blind when remembering his lost girlfriend, but the doctors can't find anything wrong with his eyes. They fit him with an experimental device which allows him to see with the aid of a computer interface and brain electrodes. Meanwhile, a taxi driver is taking young women up to their apartments, giving them gas, and performing a little fatal amateur surgery on them. Their paths inevitably converge, and the blind man must try to stop the psychopath.

 

Castle Rock (Season One): Amazon - $19.99

4K: Amazon - $33.99

The Stephen King multiverse is the setting for this psychological horror series that takes place in Castle Rock, Maine, which is a location familiar to fans of King's work. "Castle Rock" explores themes and worlds that unite King's canon, including the infamous Shawshank Prison. An anonymous phone call lures death-row attorney Henry Deaver back to Castle Rock. He is unsettled by his hometown, but he returns to help a sinister, mostly mute man being kept in a cage underneath Shawshank.

 

 

What Happened to Aunt Alice?: Amazon - $19.99

Mrs. Marrable (Geraldine Page) is a society matron who's had some shocking news. Her late husband left her only a stamp collection! Determined to maintain her extravagant lifestyle, she takes advantage of an unlikely new source of income - her housekeepers - by robbing them not only of their life savings but also their lives! The turnover rate for help speeds faster than a revolving door...until Mrs. Marrable's latest hire (Ruth Gordon) develops a drive to unearth the terrible secret buried in the front yard!

 

Nemesis: Amazon - $27.99

Los Angeles, 2027. Japan and America have merged, politically and economically. Man and machines have merged as well. But mankind is threatened when the Cyborgs decide they are better suited to rule the planet than humans. When police officer Alex Rain discovers the plot to replace world leaders with Cyborg clones, he embarks on a full-scale war to stop them.

 

Street Law: Amazon - $22.99

Carlo Antonelli, an engineer from Genoa, gets mugged and decides to take justice into his own hands. At first the muggers seem to get the upper hand, but then he's helped by Tommy, a young robber who takes his side.

 

Willie Dynamite: Amazon - $26.99

Willie Dynamite, the flashy and arrogant street pimp, ruthlessly tries to apply capitalist principles to his own prostitution ring. But Willie's grand plans are challenged by competing pimps and corrupt cops who work together to shut him down. As Willie's world begins to crumble, Cora, a determined woman from his past, returns to try and rescue his girls from a future on the streets. Now with pressure mounting and time running out, Cora forces Willie to look at his life and decide whether he wants to go out in a blaze of glory or try and turn his life around.

 

8MM: Amazon - $26.99

Private eye Tom Welles is hired by a wealthy widow to discover whether a "snuff film" found among her late husband's private belongings is authentic or not. He travels to Los Angeles to investigate and is aided by Max, an employee at an adult video store.

 

Mid 90s: Amazon - $14.99

Stevie, a kid in 1990s Los Angeles, escapes his turbulent home life with a new group of friends he meets at a local skate shop, plunging him into a world of fun, danger and excitement.

 

The House That Would Not Die: Amazon - $19.99

A tale of witchcraft, black magic and a haunted house in the Amish country.

 

Let The Corpses Tan: Amazon - $23.99

The Mediterranean summer: blue sea, blazing sun....and 250 kg of gold stolen by Rhino and his gang! They had found the perfect hideout: an abandoned and remote hamlet now taken over by a woman artist in search for inspiration. Unfortunately surprise guests and two cops compromise their plan: the heavenly place where wild happenings and orgies used to take place turns into a gruesome battlefield....Relentless and mindblowing.

 

The Purge (Season One): Amazon - $32.99

Set in an altered United States, several unrelated people discover how far they will go to survive a night where all crime is legal for 12 hours.

 

Monsters & Men: Amazon - $19.99

The aftermath of a police killing of a black man, told through the eyes of the bystander who filmed the act, an African-American police officer and a high-school baseball phenom inspired to take a stand.
 

 

All The Creatures Were Stirring: Amazon - $14.99

On the night before Christmas, encounters with monsters and misfortunes will have some people running for their lives and others landing on the "Naughty" list.

 

An Evening With Beverly Luff Linn: Amazon - $16.99

Lulu Danger's unsatisfying marriage takes a turn for the worse when a mysterious man from her past comes to town to perform an event called "An Evening With Beverly Luff Linn; For One Magical Night Only."

 

-The Impostor

Screenings in the Bay (Monday 7th to Sunday 13th): Beyond the Darkness, The Roast of Peaches Christ

We're at the top of a somewhat sparse week in San Francisco, but I'm happy to mention that the Alamo Drafthouse's Terror Tuesday and Weird Wednesday have both returned! And they both look good this week, with Beyond the Darkness screening Tuesday and Blue Vengeance the next day. With the Unnamed Footage Festival in the works, it's been a while since we've take two consecutive field trips but this week may be the comeback.

This Thursday the 18th Annual SF Sketchfest returns to the city and brings an crazy variety of shows. Opening week coincides with the bay area's horror loving drag queen Peaches Christ's birthday! The two have combined to make an event that I'm really looking forward to, The Roast of Peaches Christ, which will be this Sunday.

4 Star Theatre

The House That Jack Built (2018)

Thursday 10th @ 5:40pm (2hrs 32min)

Drama/ Horror/ Suspense (Rotten Tomatoes)

Boundary-pushing cinematic visionary Lars von Trier (Antichrist) returns with one of his most daring, masterfully provocative works yet. In five audacious episodes, failed architect and arch-sociopath Jack (Matt Dillon) recounts the elaborately orchestrated murders-each, as he views them, a towering work of art-that define his "career" as a serial killer. Mixing pitch black humor, transcendent surrealism, and renegade musings on everything from history to architecture to cinema, von Trier fashions a radical, blazingly personal inquiry into violence, art, and the twin acts of creation and destruction. With Uma Thurman, Riley Keough, and Bruno Ganz.

Alamo Drafthouse

Terror Tuesday

Beyond the Darkness (1979)

Tuesday 8th @ 10pm (1hr 34min)

Slasher/ Horror (Google)

Grief-struck after the death of his wife, a young man attempts to keep her with him forever - by gutting her, stuffing her and replacing her eyes with glass eyes, turning her into a doll. But his bouts of insanity are just beginning.

Weird Wednesday

Blue Vengeance (1989)

Wednesday 9th @ 10pm (1hr 30min)

Action/ Crime/ Horror (IMDB)

Considered too dangerous to be on the force, ex-cop Mickey McCardle is tormented by the brutal murder of his partner. When a serial killer begins to stalk the streets of New York, McCardle senses that the same man responsible for his partner's death is to blame. Obsessed by his suspicions, McCardle must rise from the shambles of his life and take up a trail of revenge.

Castro Theatre

Bowie's 70th Birthday Screening

Labyrinth (1986)

Tuesday 8th @ 7pm (1hr 41min)

Adventure/ Fantasy (IMDB)

A 16-year-old girl is given 13 hours to solve a labyrinth and rescue her baby brother when her wish for him to be taken away is granted by the Goblin King.

Sketch Fest Special Event

The Roast of Peaches Christ

Sunday 13th @ 8pm

Peaches Christ has been shocking and entertaining people from all over the world with her unique combination of Golden Age Hollywood and Slasher Horror humor for more than 20 years. The alter-ego of Joshua Grannell, who turns 45 this night, Peaches Christ is a San Francisco treasure, one of its deepest, darkest jewels that has had audiences rolling in the seats and aisles of both The Castro and the late-lamented Bridge, where her now legendary cult movie series, "Midnight Mass," was born back in the summer of 1998. We invite you to come to The Castro tonight for this celebration, destruction, and rebuilding-with-love of all things Peaches Christ as we roast this Bloody Queen of Queens within an inch of her life. Some of her nearest and dearest friends are here for this one-night-only experience, bound to keep us all laughing through the rest of the year with brilliant zingers and one-liners like only a roast of this magnitude can do. Confirmed roasters include Clea DuVall, Heklina, Heather Matarazzo, Jinkx Monsoon, Cassandra Peterson (aka Elvira, Mistress of the Dark), Sister Roma, Mink Stole, and Roast Mistress Coco Peru, and special surprise guests!

Landmark Clay Theatre

Midnight Madness

The Room (2003)

Friday 11th & Saturday 12th @ 11:55pm (1hr 39min)

Drama (IMDB)

This film centers on Johnny, a man who has it all; great friends, a good job, and a gorgeous fiancée named Lisa. But Lisa's innocent act masks the fact that she's looking to bring Johnny down, and her manipulations are tearing Johnny apart. As Lisa informs her cancer-ridden mother, Claudette, that Johnny hit her (and he did not hit her, that is bull$&*t, he did not!), Johnny's best friend, Mark, finds his resistance to Lisa's seductive charms weakening. Meanwhile, local orphan Denny looks up to Johnny, and needs the older man's help after the teen rips off a drug dealer. What kind of drugs? It doesn't matter. Then guys play football in tuxedos, because you can play football anywhere.

Roxie Theatre

Spoke Art &

Midnite 4 Maniacs Present

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)

Saturday 12th @ 8:45pm (1hr 58min)

Drama/ Cult Film (Google)

Journalist Raoul Duke and his lawyer Dr Gonzo drive from LA to Las Vegas on a drugs binge. They nominally cover news stories, including a convention on drug abuse, but also sink deeper into a frightening psychedelic otherworld. As Vietnam, Altamont and the Tate killings impinge from the world of TV news, Duke and Gonzo see casinos, reptiles and the American dream.

-Huntress

Bluray Tuesday Featuring: Bad Times at the El Royale, Night School & A.X.L

January 1st 2019

Happy New Year and happy first Bluray Tuesday of 2019! This week is light once again but has a few titles I'd like to eventually check out. Bad Times at the El Royale is first up and has gotten mixed reviews. The promo for this film with multiple different clips and teasers made me think it was a TV series.  Overall the film intrigues me and I will check it out soon. Next up is comedy film Night School starring Tiffany Haddish and Kevin hart. It seems like a perfect comedic duo on paper I'm hoping it's a good laugh. A.X.L is last up today and I know nothing about it but it seems to be about a robot dog and stars Becky G. Also Target this week is running a 15% off all movies discount with the cartwheel app so you can save a bit on these releases. Next week is back to a filled week and features the releases of Hell Fest, Castle Rock, The Purge TV series and more! So what are you going buy, rent or skip this week? Let us know in the comments. Until next week!

Bad Times at the El Royale: Amazon - $19.99

4K: Amazon - $23.99

The El Royale is run-down hotel that sits on the border between California and Nevada. It soon becomes a seedy battleground when seven strangers -- a cleric, a soul singer, a traveling salesman, two sisters, the manager and the mysterious Billy Lee -- converge on a fateful night for one last shot at redemption before everything goes wrong.

 

 

Night School: Amazon - $19.99

4K: Amazon - $24.99

Teddy Walker is a successful salesman whose life takes an unexpected turn when he accidentally blows up his place of employment. Forced to attend night school to get his GED, Teddy soon finds himself dealing with a group of misfit students, his former high school nemesis and a feisty teacher who doesn't think he's too bright.

 

 

A.X.L.: Amazon - $19.99

A.X.L. is a top-secret, robotic dog that has advanced artificial intelligence created by the military. After an experiment gone wrong, A.X.L. is discovered hiding in the desert by Alex, a kindhearted outsider who finds a way to connect with the robot. The two soon develop a special friendship based on trust, loyalty and compassion. Helping Miles gain confidence, A.X.L. goes to any length to protect his new companion, including facing off against the scientists who want their creation back.

 

  -The Impostor 

Screenings in the Bay (Monday 31st to Sunday 6th): Escape Room, Panic Room, Mandy

Here we are in the last day of 2018, about to start a whole new calendar. And as always, there's a lot to look forward to this month and in the months to come. But this first week of 2019 is a bit bare, with no Terror Tuesday or Weird Wednesday screenings. We are getting a new movie at the end of the week, and it looks pretty interesting despite being PG-13. 

If you're looking for a dark theatre to spend New Year's Eve in, the Clay Theatre has temporarily moved The Rocky Horror Picture Show to tonight, as opposed to screening Saturday at midnight, so you can sing and quote your way into the next year. However you spend it, I hope you enjoy the night! And Happy New Year!!

Opening This Week

Escape Room (2019)

Early Screenings Thursday 3rd (1hr 40min)

Opens Friday 4th

Action/ Horror/ Suspense (Rotten Tomatoes)

Escape Room is a psychological thriller about six strangers who find themselves in circumstances beyond their control and must use their wits to find the clues or die.

Castro Theatre

Double Feature

Rear Window (1954)

Sunday 6th @ 2:35pm & 7pm (1hr 52min)

Mystery/ Thriller (IMDB)

Laid up with a broken leg, photojournalist L.B. Jeffries (James Stewart) is confined to his tiny, sweltering courtyard apartment. To pass the time between visits from his nurse (Thelma Ritter) and his fashion model girlfriend Lisa (Grace Kelly), the binocular-wielding Jeffries stares through the rear window of his apartment at the goings-on in the other apartments around his courtyard. As he watches his neighbors, he assigns them such roles and character names as "Miss Torso" (Georgine Darcy), a professional dancer with a healthy social life or "Miss Lonelyhearts" (Judith Evelyn), a middle-aged woman who entertains nonexistent gentlemen callers. Of particular interest is seemingly mild-mannered travelling salesman Lars Thorwald (Raymond Burr), who is saddled with a nagging, invalid wife. One afternoon, Thorwald pulls down his window shade, and his wife's incessant bray comes to a sudden halt. Out of boredom, Jeffries casually concocts a scenario in which Thorwald has murdered his wife and disposed of the body in gruesome fashion. Trouble is, Jeffries' musings just might happen to be the truth.

-with-

Panic Room (2002)

Sunday 6th @ 4:45pm & 9:05pm (1hr 52min)

Crime/ Drama/ Thriller (IMDB)

After purchasing a brownstone in New York, a thirty-something divorced woman and her daughter are forced to take advantage of the hidden room - the "panic room" - when intruders break into their home.

Landmark Clay Theatre

Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

Monday 31st @ 11:55pm (1hr 41 min)

Comedy/ Scifi/ Horror/ Musical (Rotten Tomatoes)

This low-budget freak show/cult classic/cultural institution concerns the misadventures of Brad Majors (Barry Bostwick) and Janet Weiss (Susan Sarandon) inside a strange mansion that they come across on a rainy night. After the wholesome pair profess their love through an opening song, their car breaks down in the woods, and they seek refuge in a towering castle nearby. Greeting them at the door is a ghoulish butler named Riff Raff (Richard O'Brien), who introduces them to a bacchanalian collection of partygoers dressed in outfits from some sort of interplanetary thrift shop. The host of this gathering is a transvestite clad in lingerie, Dr. Frank N. Furter (Tim Curry), a mad scientist who claims to be from another planet.

Midnight Madness

Mandy (2018)

Friday 4th & Saturday 5th @ 11:55pm (2hrs)

Action/ Horror/ Thriller (IMDB)

Pacific Northwest. 1983 AD. Outsiders Red Miller and Mandy Bloom lead a loving and peaceful existence. When their pine-scented haven is savagely destroyed by a cult led by the sadistic Jeremiah Sand, Red is catapulted into a phantasmagoric journey filled with bloody vengeance and laced with fire.

Roxie Theatre

Border (2018)

Wednesday 2nd @ 9:15pm (1hr 50min)

Fantasy/ Romance/ Thriller (IMDB)

Customs officer Tina is known for her extraordinary sense of smell. It's almost as if she can sniff out the guilt on anyone hiding something. But when Vore, a suspicious-looking man, walks past her, her abilities are challenged for the first time ever. Tina can sense Vore is hiding something she can't identify. Even worse, she feels a strange attraction to him. As Tina develops a special bond with Vore and discovers his true identity, she also realizes the truth about herself. Tina, like Vore, does not belong to this world. Her entire existence has been one big lie and now she has to choose: keep living the lie or embrace Vore's terrifying revelations.

-Huntress

Bluray Tuesday Featuring White Boy RIck, A Cam Life & Strawberry Estates

December 25th 2018

Merry Christmas everyone! With this Bluray Tuesday landing on Christmas not much is released this week. There's one main film released today but officially available to grab at most retailers Wednesday 12/26 due to businesses being closed Christmas day. The main release today is based on a true story titled White Boy Rick. This coming of age drama looks interesting and something I'd definitely check out in the near future. SRS Cinema this week is releasing found footage horror film, Strawberry Estates in a extremely limited run of only 100 copies. This one has an interesting premise and I do love found footage horror so I'm looking to checking this one out. Rounding out  the week is documentary A Cam Life detailing the life of the performers, website and studios in the cam business. So what will you buy, rent or just skip this week? Let us know in the comments. This is probably the shortest Bluray Tuesday list I've ever seen but I really hope you all have a Merry Christmas! I really appreciate all who check out our site. Until next week!

White Boy Rick: Amazon - $19.99

The story of teenager Richard Wershe Jr., who became an undercover informant for the FBI during the 1980s and was ultimately arrested for drug-trafficking and sentenced to life in prison.

A Cam Life: Amazon - $12.99

An undaunted look into the cam business from the perspectives of performers, clients and website and studio owners.

 

Strawberry Estates: Amazon - $19.99

This tape is intended for F.B.I. officials only. Possession by non-authorized personnel is prohibited. Red File 66-095: Strawberry Estates For Authorized Eyes Only In Nov. of 1999, a parapsychology professor, his students and a disturbed psychic lock themselves in the haunted Smith Garrett Building – known as the “Strawberry Estates” – in the hopes of documenting supernatural occurrences. While there, the quartet discuss philosophy and the nature of existence before finally getting the proof that they were searching for. They were never seen again and this footage – appropriated by the F.B.I. for their “Red Files” archive – is all that remains of the expedition. 

 

  -The Impostor