BRING BACK THE GRINDHOUSE DOUBLE-FEATURES!

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BRING BACK THE GRINDHOUSE DOUBLE-FEATURES!

July 15th 2010 05:15

I miss the Valhalla in Leichhardt, Sydney. The cinema is still there, but the wonderful and wicked repertory programmes are long gone. The cinema closed its doors to the public back in 2005. Back in the day there used to be a calendar poster showcasing up to six months worth of movie programming. While I worked for a cinema in Wellington, NZ, called The Paramount, during the 90s they produced a similar calendar modeled directly from the Valhalla version. It was an impressive display which utilised a movie’s original artwork, taglines, and critics’ praise neatly compacted. The movies screened were a mix of contemporary arthouse releases and cult classics.

Wellington's majestic Majestic theatre a long time ago

When I was much younger going into my teens there was a plethora of cinemas around Wellington; Plaza, Majestic, Lido, Roxy, Kings, Cinerama, Embassy, St. James, Regent, Penthouse, Paramount, to name a few. Most of those are gone now. The Plaza used to play double-feature horror movies on the weekend, usually B-movies, but often gems, especially to budding horrorphiles like myself. I remember those screenings fondly, as for most of them I was underage (I was around 13 or 14 and the movies were R16s, and very occasionally R18), so the “adult” factor greatly enhanced the experience.

Some of the double-features I remember were; Dead & Buried (1981) with Blood Beach (1981), Galaxy of Terror (1981) with Inseminoid (1981), Hell Night (1981) with Superstition (1981), and Xtro (1982) with The Beast Within (1981). A wealth of schlocky, cheesy nightmare material, and I bet none of those prints exist anymore. What a shame. They’d be perfect for the recently opened Randwick Drive-In here in Sydney, but nope, the disappointing program is made-up almost entirely of current commercial attractions, and tedious ones at that! Boring!! Bring back the grindhouse experience, I say! Well, to Sydney, anyway. I’m sure there are plenty of grindhouse cinema experiences still happening regularly in the States and Europe. I’m green with envy.

Here’s my own thematically-linked grindhouse-style double-feature mini-festival.

A Taste for Blood
… cinema of darkness
A program of high art and deep trash nightmare movies

undead unleashed

Daughters of Darkness (1971)
followed by

Salem’s Lot (1979)

zombie apocalypse

Messiah of Evil (1973)
followed by

Let Sleeping Corpses Lie (1974)

sicko psycho

Torso (1973)
followed by

Deep Red (1975)

alien infiltration

Phantasm (1978)
followed by

Possession (1981)

urban madness

Bad Lieutenant (1992)
followed by

Man Bites Dog (1993)

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Posted By: Bryn - Category: set-pieces

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6 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by Mountain Fog

July 16th 2010 12:35

Didn't know there was a drive in set up in Randwick! And I agree, I miss the days when we could enjoy schlock horror double features, and also the Friday and Saturday night TV marathons, "Deadly Ernest" then "Elvira" with all those fab Jap Sci Fi and whatnot. Thanks to those money grubbing cable owners, we have lost all that, and the Golden Years of Hollywood.

You have stirred my memory and now feel motivated to do a post on the Manly Silver Screen, which had a special night reserved for "freaks and stoners" the first Friday of each month, when they ran a double bill of all those great old films... and I guess the DVD didn't turn up in your mail box...?

I will phone Oz Post on Monday to work out what I can do..

cheers

fog

Comment by Mountain Fog

July 16th 2010 12:46

Oh and forgot to say Bryn,
great post and a nice shot of the Wellington Majestic, I worked in many theatres over the years, and am especially saddened when one is knocked down or made into a McD's or a shoe store etc, as was the fate of all too many in Sydney, and in the provincial towns as well, where some of the more spectacular "cinema palaces" were to be found.

cheers

fog

Comment by JohnDoe

July 16th 2010 16:56

Film & TV on DVD

Great post and nice selections Bryn,

i think all us geeks yearn for the return of a Grindhouse double bill.

Comment by Someone

July 16th 2010 20:23

Evil Pleasures
Random Musings on Life, Love and Everything
Let's Get Down To Business

Having grown up in Indonesia, I have never had the joy (the privilege?) to see a grindhouse double... and I am pretty sure my life is that much duller for it

Comment by Andy Tope

July 17th 2010 00:15

Bagman's Gazette
Cinema Banana

Bryn,

Firstly - hear, hear!

Just wondering, there was a Valhalla in Leichhardt also? Excuse my ignorance, as being a Glebian (previously), I rarely visited that side of the tracks. I have fond memories of the Valhalla on Glebe Point Road in Glebe, and wondering if their was another Valhalla that was as cool as my old favourite.

Comment by Andy Tope

July 17th 2010 00:19

Bagman's Gazette
Cinema Banana

Oops, I meant there.

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