This Spectober, Spectacle is thrilled to again work with local documentary filmmaker Curtis Whitear and the rest of the Childhood Delusion Film Festival crew to bring you one of the more obscure horror anthology series. This duology was the first foray into filmmaking for New York City’s own “Horror Himbo,” Joe Zaso— evoking another Spectacle classic HAWK JONES, SCREAMBOOK and SCREAMBOOK II: THE NEXT ISSUE are brazenly playful send-ups of Tales of the Crypt and similar series from our youth, all shot and acted predominantly by kids. Do you dare give in to your childhood delusions and open the SCREAMBOOK?
Q&A with director, writer and producer JOE ZASO moderated by Curtis Whitear and Phil Ginley October 26th 7:30 pm
All screenings will feature a sneak peek from the Childhood Delusion Film Festival team
SCREAMBOOK
Dir. Joe Zaso, 1984
United States, 78 min.
In English
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1 – 7:30PM
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10 – 10PM
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 14 – 7:30PM
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 26 – 5PM
IT WILL TEAR THE SCREAMS RIGHT FROM YOUR THROAT
Joe Zaso’s directorial debut at the age of 14, SCREAMBOOK is SOV horror meets high school public access TV experiment. Modeled after anthologies like CREEPSHOW, we’re treated to five spooky stories–“Family Reunion,” “Tommy,” “Secret of the Bottle,” “Ye Old Toy Shop,” and “Worms”– all lovingly introduced with construction paper and crude marker-drawn comic covers that match-cut into live action. Silly, glitchy, and charmingly creative, SCREAMBOOK is an essential piece of Long Island cinematic horror history, as well as a textbook example of young auteurs making art by any means necessary.
Screambook is a euphoric thunderclap of surrealism. It’s a voyage to other realms, where cooked spaghetti is a murder weapon and melted Play-Doh is a substitute for monsters.
–Joseph A. Ziemba, Bleeding Skull
SCREAMBOOK II: THE NEXT ISSUE
Dir. Joe Zaso, 1985
United States, 74 min.
In English
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1 – 10PM
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 14 – 10PM
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 26 – 7:30PM (Q&A)
FROM THE PEOPLE WHO GAVE YOU “SCREAMBOOK” COMES FOUR NEW HORRORS!
Like all great sequels, THE NEXT ISSUE is bigger and badder in every regard. We begin with a setting from a bygone era: the mom-and-pop video rental store. Unfortunately for the customers, the ghoul behind the counter (Jill Casey) is more concerned with telling scary stories than the latest tape release. The Cryptkeeper-like hostess with a cackling, manic no-wave jr. energy introduces four more fuzzy lo-fi tales of terror: “Till Death Do Us Part,” “Silversweets,” “Birthday Wishes,” and “A Grave Matter.” It’s DIY filmmaking as play, with all the howling and youthful tenacity from your school’s field day.
Don’t overanalyze it. Just bask in the kaleidoscopic confusion of lights, demented laughter and all the glorious mom perms. Gives you the warm fuzzies that you’ve come to expect when you blindly stumble upon an attic box full of clamshell nostalgia.
—13beersl8r, letterboxd
Special thanks to Joe Zaso and Curtis Whitear