THE JAR

CHARON / THE JAR
dir. Bruce Toscano, 1984
USA. 88 min.
In English.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1 – MIDNIGHT
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 6 – 10PM
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21 – 10PM
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25 – 10PM

TICKETS

THE JAR … it blows the lid off of terror!

A Motorist who comes upon an auto accident finds a bottle at the scene. The bottle contains a demon who proceeds to possess him.

For years only available in a terribly degraded and cropped pan-and-scan edit that made the visuals near indecipherable, THE JAR was regarded (if at all) as a complete failure, an artifact reserved for MST3K-riffing and not much else.

Thanks to a new remaster from TerrorVision, THE JAR can finally be seen for the unnerving art-house horror freakout it is, more than deserving of its own cult following. Despite its budgetary limitations, it manages to pull off a uniquely dreamlike and unsettling tone, falling somewhere between ERASERHEAD and JACOB’S LADDER.

NIGHT FEEDER

NIGHT FEEDER
dir. Jim Whiteaker, 1988
USA. 94 min.
In English.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8 – MIDNIGHT
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19 – 10PM
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23 – 10PM
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 26 – 10PM

TICKETS

Fear chokes the free-wheeling underbelly of San Francisco’s punk scene as a killer stalks the night to feed an unspeakable appetite. A writer probes the gruesome murders and the story hits close to home, as the web of death devours neighbors, friends, and lovers.

A scuzzy late 80’s SOV curio that clumsily teeters between police procedural, domestic melodrama, and splatter horror, NIGHT FEEDER exists on its own wavelength – and is absolutely worth seeing with a crowd. Do yourself a favor and go in as cold as possible (early VHS art gives away a lot more than the movie does).

SATAN KINGDOM BABYLON

SATAN KINGDOM BABYLON
Dirs. Marie Šprincl, Petr Šprincl. 2024.
Czech Republic. 77 min.
In English.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12– 7:30 PM w/ Q&A (this event is $10)
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20 – 7:30 PM
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 24 – 5 PM
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 30 – 10 PM

TICKETS

Q&A TICKETS

WARNING:

This motion picture contains disturbing passages and bright flashing lights that may trigger photosensitive epileptic seizures. Scenes of racial, religious and ideological hatred are graphically depicted. If the presentation of disgusting and repulsive material upsets you, please do not watch this film. All characters in this film are…

HYPERREAL.

Whether you react with deep allegiance or profound disgust, the word “AMERICA” conjures a spectrum of feelings as diverse as its populace. However, one undeniable facet of our nation is how Fear has shaped the story for many. That uncomfortable truth is what drove Czech artists Marie and Petr Šprincl (known for their creative partnership FLESH&BRAIN) to travel across The United States, seeking to turn over every rotten log they find in order to discover and document the role Satan, Hate, War, God, Faith, and the Apocalypse have played in forging the identity of 21st Century America.

A truly provocative fusion of multimedia animation, neo-noir pseudofiction, psychosexual 4chan brain rot, supernatural mythology, and grimy tape documentary – SATAN KINGDOM BABYLON establishes itself as a fearless exercise in religion, rot and retribution. Never too shy to ask the question: can the past be a new beginning?

All the way from Czechia, please welcome filmmakers Marie and Petr Šprincl to Spectacle on TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12 at 7:30 PM for the WORLD PREMIERE of their latest adventure into hyperrealism – SATAN KINGDOM BABYLON!

SPIRIT RISER

SPIRIT RISER
Dir. Dylan Mars Greenberg. 2024.
United States. 98 min.
In English.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8 – 7:30 PM
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 15– 7:30 PM w/ Q&A (this event is $10)
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21 – 7:30 PM
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25 – 7:30 PM

TICKETS

Q&A TICKETS

“A NEON FAIRY TALE BEYOND IMAGINATION!”

Flung to far corners of the nation by a dark and lonely entity, sisters Ingrid and Sydney find themselves forgetting. Forgetting their family, themselves, and their own power locked inside! As the two girls race against the odds to reunite, they are targeted and hunted down by sinister cosmic forces that will stop at nothing to see them destroyed. Can our heroes find peace in a world that wants them gone?

Quickly after its spring premiere at The Museum of the Moving Image, Dylan Mars Greenberg’s punk as fuck genre-busting horrorurreal kung-fantasy phantasmagoria known as SPIRIT RISER began taking the country by storm. This fall, the storm comes to us… GOD help us all. Join us as we Protect The S on November 15th at 7:30 PM for an extradimensional Q&A with director Dylan Mars Greenberg. Hosted by Philip Ginley!

Starring a wall-to-wall-who’s-who cast of cherished and unconventional art, music and film fixtures including: actress Lynn Lowry, sisters Kansas and Parker Love Bowling, musicians Cherie Currie and Dorian Electra – as well as appearances from directors Lloyd Kaufman, Ryan Trecartin, and Trent Harris. Narrated by Mr. Blonde himself Michael Madsen and featuring trans icon and writer Kate Bornstein as GOD.

“A surreal mindtrip with an ending that will haunt your dreams.” – James Rolfe, The Angry Video Game Nerd

“Frenzied, surreal and with wild abandon: Dylan Mars Greenberg’s fever dream, SPIRIT RISER is a banger.”  – James Merendino, director of SLC PUNK

SPIRIT RISER is utterly fabulously WILD! A Lynchian wild-ride through a queer dreamscape of beauty and horror that must be experienced as it’s practically impossible to describe.” – Peaches Christ

“9.5/10; SPIRIT RISER is a relentlessly exhilarating underground masterwork that will light up your synapses like a Christmas tree tornado.” – Michael Talbot-Haynes, Film Threat 

“A classic in the making”  – Mary Beth McAndrews, Dread Central 

“A multidimensional mind blower… Dylan Mars Greenberg’s vision is a breath of fresh air” – Jodi Wille, director of THE SOURCE FAMILY

SOV LEGENDS: DONALD FARMER

Beginning in the 1970s with a series of Super 8 films before moving to the more “profitable” videotape, Donald Farmer would find success in creating hypnotically engaging gorefests (which often held surprisingly sweet romantic cores) with eye catching VHS covers for the burgeoning and ever-insatiable home video market. Over the next five decades, Farmer would diligently work to carve his name into the stone of Cinema History, becoming a household name to those invested in horror, trash, and all things video.

This November at Spectacle, please join as we write Donald Farmer’s name down in the books as one of the greatest SOV LEGENDS ever known! Showcasing a hand-picked selection of Donald’s greatest video hits including – DEMON QUEENCANNIBAL HOOKERSRED LIPS, and the WORLD PREMIERE of his devilish new film WICKED WITCH on NOVEMBER 23!

demon

DEMON QUEEN
Dir. Donald Farmer. 1987.
United States. 54 min.
In English.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4 – 10 PM
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 15– 10 PM
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 30 – MIDNIGHT

TICKETS

WARNING: SHE WILL KILL YOU!

Lucinda the Nagelesque and totally bitchin’ Demon Queen (Mary Fanaro) goes around town killing johns, pimps, pushers, and everyone in between! Come for the psychotic droning synth score and neon candy video effects, stay for cocaine off the glass coffee tables, multiple trips to the video store, and all the cigarettes you can smoke in the mall!

Donald Farmer’s first feature film – which quickly cemented him as one of SOV Cinema’s greatest minds.

cannibal

CANNIBAL HOOKERS
(aka I WILL DANCE ON YOUR GRAVE)
Dir. Donald Farmer. 1987.
United States. 67 min.
In English.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11 – 10 PM
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23 – MIDNIGHT
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 29 – 10 PM

TICKETS

KILLER BIMBOS FROM HELL!

Secretly, Hilary and Dee Dee hope to pledge to the super popular and extra edgy, party-hard sorority Gamma Zeta Beta. For their first test, they’re made to beat the street … but everything goes from bad to worse when they’re forced to eat some human meat!

Donald’s second feature. Shows off his tonal versatility, thematic consistency, ever enjoyable shopping trips, and his love of Jan Haflin’s synthpop hit ANGELFIRE! Later remade by Donald and co-directed by artist and friend of Spectacle Caroline Kopko. A shotgun marriage of Jean Rollin style Euro-Trash and LA California Sleaze – cannibal style.

redlips

RED LIPS
Dir. Donald Farmer. 1995.
United States. 92 min.
In English.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 6 – 7:30 PM
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 15 – MIDNIGHT
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 18 – 7:30 PM
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 24 – 7:30 PM

TICKETS

SHE’S HOMELESS, SHE’S BROKE, SHE’S HUNGRY … REAL HUNGRY!

The ever charismatic Ghetty Chasun stars as Caroline, a broke New York City punk selling her blood for money. One fateful day, Caroline’s evil doctor injects her with a potent, experimental serum that turns her into a bloodsucking vampire from Hell! During her rampage, Caroline meets Lisa (played by the legendary Michelle Bauer). Torn between her lust for blood and her new lover, Caroline does everything in her power to make sure Lisa does not become her next victim.

RED LIPS is the perfect SOV romance! drenched in trance-inducing New York noise rock sets, artistic tributes to pregnant crack smokers, and lots of gothic Gen X vampire lesbian sex. This is Donald Farmer’s masterpiece – we guarantee it.

wicked

WICKED WITCH
(aka BLOOD BITCH BABY)
Dir. Donald Farmer. 2024.
United States. 68 min.
In English.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23 – 5 PM w/Q&A (this event is $10)

TICKETS

Down and out Jenny responds to a Help Wanted ad, hoping to end her financial woes. Unbeknownst to her, she’s about to begin working for one of the most notoriously bloodthirsty women to ever walk the earth… Countess Elizabeth Bathory herself! Can Jenny remove her curse before it’s too late? Or will she succumb to the dark spell of the WICKED WITCH?

Featuring a knockout cast of Donald Farmer’s regular players including Angel Nichole Bradford, Mel Heflin, and Jessa Flux as Elizabeth Bathory. Please join us on SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23 AT 5 PM as we virtually welcome Donald Farmer to Spectacle for the WORLD PREMIERE of his newest film! Featuring a BONUS, IN-PERSON appearance from actress Jessa Flux!

THREE WORKS OF HOMEMADE CINEMA BY COURTNEY BUSH

Join us for a one-night special event featuring 3 short documentaries by Courtney Bush, followed by a Q&A with poet Ari Lisner.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 22 – 7:30PM

TICKETS


PARIS J’I DON’T HATE YOU AS MUCH AS I DID WHEN I WAS 21
dir. Courtney Bush, 2024
USA. 54 min.
In English.

~One day, a woman crosses every bridge on the Seine with her best friend, Anne-Louise.~

As much a documentary as it is a video diary or a poetic essay, PARIS J’I DON’T HATE YOU AS MUCH AS I DID WHEN I WAS 21 finds the filmmaker-poet-comedienne traversing the titular city while examining her friendship and her own changing relationship with Paris through lenses of literature (Rilke’s The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge) and pop culture (The Sopranos) which deal in their own ways with the anxiety and emotion induced by the city and the overpowering aesthetic institution of “Paris.”

Screening with


HELL: A FILM ABOUT BILOXI, MISSISSIPPI
dir. Courtney Bush, 2024
USA. 18 min
In English.

In this darkly comic exploration of a small area of Biloxi, Mississippi, the filmmaker braids together local legend, a murder scandal from the 80s, and strange occurrences related to the BP oil spill and Hurricane Katrina (including a mysterious visit by the actor Kirsty Alley) as an attempt to approach her complex relationship to her hometown.

And


A DISORIENTING VIDEO OF SCOTTISH SHEEP
dir. Courtney Bush, 2024
USA. 5 min.

In English.

See title.


Courtney Bush is a poet and filmmaker from the Mississippi Gulf Coast. She is the author of the books Every Book Is About The Same Thing (Newest York Arts Press, 2022), I Love Information (Milkweed Editions, 2023), and the forthcoming A Movie (Lavender Ink, 2025). Once her homemade cinema pieces have been projected as light at least once, which symbolically completes the cycle and makes them “real movies,” they can be found on Youtube.

PETSCOP: ENCORE

PETSCOP
Dir. Tony Domenico. 2017-2019.
United States. 269 min.
In English.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16 2 PM – 8 PM

Q&A w/ Jordan Fish, Liz Ryerson, and David Stockdale

TICKETS

In March 2017, a YouTube channel began uploading footage of a strange, long-lost pet collector game for the Sony Playstation known only as PETSCOP. Initially created as a way to chronicle his discoveries and exploration within, the narrator Paul soon unearthed a mystery far deeper and more frightening than anyone could have ever imagined. What would unfold over the next two years would completely expand the possibilities of screenlife, video games, YouTube, and the Let’s Play format as vectors for astonishing art and captivating storytelling.

After our historic initial first run, the people have asked us for one more. This November, please join us at Spectacle as we present to you an encore of the first ever public screening of the groundbreaking psychological horror series PETSCOP in its entirety. Join us after the viewing for a seminar between filmmaker Jordan Fish, internet and video game culturalist Liz Ryerson, and PETSCOP historian and YouTuber David Stockdale as we discuss the theories, meanings, and legacy of this important artifact of post-web mythology.


Our programming block is broken into three distinct Pieces. A 10 minute intermission will follow each Piece, concluding in a seminar following the Epilogue. Each attendee will receive a playbill containing important text relevant to each episode.

PIECE ONE
Episodes 1-10
90 min.

PIECE TWO
Episodes 11-16
82 min.

PIECE THREE
Episodes 17-24 + Epilogue
97 min.

“Jordan Fish is a screenwriter, filmmaker, and interactive director who loves cinema in all its forms. He’s also interested in YouTube as a node of culture, and in films that feel almost like video games, defy categorization, or otherwise push the bounds of their format. Jordan’s work has been featured in Pitchfork, Vice, Buzzfeed, and The Guardian. He is currently prepping his first feature, a paranoid thriller, for principal photography in 2025.”

“Liz Ryerson is a writer, composer, podcaster, and game designer currently based in Brooklyn. Her writing about games has appeared in publications like Vice, the New Inquiry, and Jacobin. She also currently hosts the Experimental Game Workshop at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, and occasionally teaches at the NYU Game Center.”

“David Stockdale is a YouTuber who delves into obscure and unusual media, with a particular focus on analog horror and experimental storytelling. His channel, Nightmare Masterclass, has gained attention for its lengthy investigation of PETSCOP. He’s interested in the way online platforms are reshaping narrative and culture.”

Very special thanks to Tony Domenico, Steve Macfarlane, Liz Ryerson, Jordan Fish, Sylvie Shamlian, and David Stockdale.

SATELLITES OF CYNICISM: 2024 1992 ELECTION SPECIAL

SATELLITES OF CYNICISM: SPECTACLE 2024 ELECTION SPECIAL

By the time of these screenings you will most likely be fully fed up with the cacophony of noise that is the 2024 race for United States President. Tired of the incessant barrage of the 24 hour news cycle’s obsession with candidates Trump and Harris’ every move. Escape with us 32 years into the past to see all the lessons that were never learnt from two documentary films concerning the 1992 presidential election that pull back the curtain on the behind-the-scenes happenings and illuminate the full on charade that is US politics: Kevin Rafferty and James Ridgeway’s FEED (1992) and Brian Springer’s follow-up, SPIN (1995). Both films utilize pirated television satellite feeds obtained by Springer that show a side of the race and the personalities at play that were/are often unseen by the general public.

Spectacle is excited to share some of our favorite pieces of documentary exposé with you this Election Day (as well as a few days prior). Because if you’re like us, you will much prefer watching them instead of the mind-numbingly slow and drawn out parade of live exit polls and results from states across the country. Fuck the cable news channels, come hang with us as we completely ignore the 2024 election, and laugh at our bizarre past that was the 1992 election.


SPIN

SPIN
Dir. Brian Springer, 1995
United States. 57 min.
In English

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2 – 10 PM
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5 – 7:30 PM
, this event is $5, but it is $10 if you are wearing an “I Voted” sticker.*

[ TICKETS ]

During the year leading up to the 1992 Presidential election, artist Brian Springer spent his time tuning into satellite feeds used by the campaigns and the television networks that were not intended for public consumption, but were available to those with the know-how and the technological means to intercept them. The footage collected and Springer’s commentary shine a light on the manipulative practices of mass media. Pulling the mask back on the insidious system that silences public debate and shuns anyone outside the inner circle of those manufacturing the news; politicians, journalists, spin doctors, and televangelists. It is truly a must see for any paranoiac.

SPIN’s revelations highlight the fact that the job of President is really more about presentation, look, and likeability than it is policy. And that it is more in line with the job description of an actor, or television host/personality. Seeing the entertainment-ification of the presidential election which we now cannot escape from. In addition to the main characters of the election, George Bush Sr., Bill Clinton, and even Al Gore and Larry King, SPIN also looks at the events of the Los Angeles Rodney King riots and its racist portrayal by the news media as well as the unsuccessful presidential bid by Larry Agran, who was ignored and excluded by the media despite his polling numbers.

Brian Springer is an artist, educator, and documentarian, working primarily in video, sound and performance. Springer has exhibited internationally, and taught at a number of institutions across the States.

Special thanks to Video Data Bank.
VDB logo


FEED

FEED
Dirs. Kevin Rafferty, James Ridgeway, 1992.
United States. 76 min.
In English.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2 – 7:30 PM
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5 – 9 PM
, this event is $5, but it is $10 if you are wearing an “I Voted” sticker.*

[ TICKETS ]

A comedy about running for President

FEED is a collage of a documentary, presenting footage of the 1992 presidential election’s New Hampshire primaries and showcasing the candidates and their staff without commentary or narration. Using moments filmed on the campaign trail as well as pirated satellite feeds where the candidates are caught between segments in their more natural state. Released in October of 1992, just weeks before the general election, FEED features a cast of characters including Jerry Brown, Pat Buchanan, Bob Kerrey, Ross Perot, Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Bush Sr., Bill & Hillary Clinton, and many more.

The satellite footage was supplied to the film by SPIN’s creator, Brian Springer, and both documentaries feel like desperate pleas with the public for media literacy. An appeal which is represented in a scene in FEED where candidate Jerry Brown pleads with a classroom of college students about propaganda and if any of them have even so much as heard of Marshall Mcluhan. They had not. Unlike SPIN, which skewers media manufacturing, FEED takes aim at the personalities that are running for office and their buffoonish antics with a comedic tendency which invites the audience to laugh at them, not with them.


* This is a joke.

NYCFF – PROGRAM 1 & PROGRAM 2

Featuring films withdrawn from NYFF, Berlinale, & IDFA in solidarity with Palestine.

10$+ Suggested donations. Proceeds will go directly to the filmmakers & direct aid to Gazans.

TUESDAY OCTOBER 1 – 7:30PM – Program 1 – WITHDRAWN FROM IDFA  

ANIMALIA PARADOXA
Dir. Niles Atallah, 2024.
Chile. 80 min.
In Spanish with English subtitles.

A tale of metamorphisis of a post-apocalyptic being. In this eclectic fantasy of discarded dreams, echoes of an imaginary sea guide this amphibious creature towards a new dawn.

Prefaced by the NYC premiere of Palestinian filmmaker Rosalind Nashashibi’s NYFF film, THE INVISIBLE WORM.

THE INVISIBLE WORM
Dir. Rosalind Nashashibi, 2024.
United Kingdom, 17min.
In Arabic with English Subtitles

Benjamin Britten’s elegiac musical setting of William Blake’s “The Sick Rose” supplies the title of Rosalind Nashashibi’s video, which unfolds as an elliptical cross-media dialogue between the multimedia artist Elena Narbutaitė, the sculptures of Marie Lund, and Nashashibi’s own paintings and camera. What emerges is a set of funny and deep reflections on artist-types and the contexts and meanings of art-making—as a place to breathe and wonder, or a form of wasting time. “Don’t take it all too seriously.”

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 9 – 7:30PM – Program 2 – SHOVEL OR SPADE: WITHDRAWN SHORTS

MEHDI AMEL IN GAZA
Dir. Mary Jirmanus Saba, 2024.
Palestine. 14 min.
In Arabic with English subtitles.

THE SUN IS MISSING
Dir. Advik Beni, 2022.
South Africa. 8 min.

WHEN LIGHT IS DISPLACED
Dir. Zaina Bseiso, 2021.
Palestine. 7 min.
In Arabic with English subtitles.

LET’S GO TO THE MINES
Dir. Advik Beni, 2022.
South Africa. 3 min.

NEWSREEL 242 – SUNNY RAILWAYS
Dir. Nika Autor, 2024.
Slovenia. 31 min.
In Slovene with English subtitles.

RESIDENCY

RESIDENCY
dir. Winnie Cheung, 2023
75 min. United States.
In English.

screening with

MY BODY IS A CAR
dir. Lucy Rosa Blanca Gaehring, 2023
3 min. United States.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 27 – 5 PM followed by Q+A with filmmakers Winnie Cheung and Lucy Rosa Blanca Gaehring

ONE NIGHT ONLY!

TICKETS

Spectacle is thrilled to host a one-night-only pre-Halloween screening of New York City filmmaker and multidisciplinary artist Winnie Cheung’s RESIDENCY, paired with Lucy Rosa Blanca Gaehring’s short film MY BODY IS A CAR (2023).

RESIDENCY was filmed during an interdisciplinary artist residency hosted by The Locker Room, a Brooklyn based underground art space. Director/writer/cinematographer/editor Winnie Cheung taps into the ethos of DIY cinema, leveraging the gallery as the set and her cohort of artists as performers.

RESIDENCY boldly redefines the legacy of Kenneth Anger, the Cinema of Transgression and No Wave Cinema. The film is a love letter that taps into the frenzied emotional psychogeography of New York City where the narrative structure is deliberately fragmented, creating an immersive experience that mirrors the unattainable nature of memory. In Cheung’s own words: “What if Warhol made a horror film about life at The Factory?”

“RESIDENCY and MY BODY IS A CAR both distill New York City’s relentless, claustrophobic energy into personal vessels for inner peace and renewal.” – Winnie Cheung

“(RESIDENCY) resurrects the collective spirit that once defined New York City’s artistic ecosystem, yet the zombified venture spirals into derangement as the film shifts into the mode of funhouse horror.” – Artforum

“RESIDENCY is part of the North American new wave of indie micro-budget genre features.” – Variety

“A concise and concentrated evil diamond of a feature debut.” – Filmmaker Rebecca Falvey

WINNIE CHEUNG is a Hong Kong born, New York based filmmaker at the cross section of non-fiction, horror and arthouse cinema. She mixes fictionalized tales with half-truths for unsettling cinematic experiences. In 2019, Winnie’s morbid animated short Albatross Soup premiered at Sundance Hong Kong, won Vimeo Animation of the Year and Short of the Week’s “Short of the Year”. The following year, she co-produced and edited Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched, Kier-La Janisse’s epic feature length documentary on the history of folk horror which went on to win SXSW’s Midnighters Audience Award and Best Documentary at Fantasia International Film Festival. Residencyy is Winnie’s first feature film which she co-wrote, directed, shot and co-edited.

LUCY ROSA BLANCA GAEHRING is a trans-femme latin(e) interdisciplinary artist from Miami, based in New York, working primarily in performance with a practice that includes dance, poetry, and sound/video. As a trans Uruguayan-Mexican living in the United States, she questions the binaries of the colonial and patriarchal Western framework that we live under. She often channels feminist stories of melodramatic heartbreak into site-specific performance. It is important to her to continue blurring the line between art-making and community building. She is currently studying at the School of Visual Arts’ BFA ‘Visual & Critical Studies’ program.