Messiah of Evil
dir. Willard Huyck, Gloria Katz, 1973
90 minutes, USA

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 3- 5:00PM

In anticipation of the season finale of Twin Peaks: The Return, Spectacle is proud to present this psychedelic 1973 horror film by the writers and directors of America Graffiti and Howard the Duck, featuring Mariana Hill and Joy Bang with classic character actor legends Royal Dano and Elisha Cook, Jr., plus- in a small role- future The Warriors filmmaker Walter Hill. The art direction if by Jack Fisk, who would go on to appear in David Lynch’s Eraserhead, direct episodes of Lynch’s short lived Twin Peaks follow up, On the Air, and provide production design for Lynch’s Straight Story (starring Fisk’s wife, Sissy Spacek) and Mulholland Drive. While Messiah of Evil is a more straightforward horror film than Lynch himself has ever attempted, there is what appears to be some influence on his work to be found in it, or at least some serendipitous similarities between the two, whether it’s the ominous, odd secondary characters along the periphery of the action, or the films reliance on mood and tone (both also ominous) over story. Whether Lynch was directly influenced by Messiah of Evil or not, fans of his films will certainly find something to sink their teeth into in it. We’ll be presenting this at 5:00pm, following our mystery horror matinee Blood Brunch at 3pm, leading up to the season finale of Twin Peaks: The Return.