This Thanksgiving season, Spectacle is proud to present three twisted and distinct visions of awful families. Werewolves, Southern Gothic intrigue, incest, beheadings – this series has it all! Special thanks to American Genre Film Archive.
THE RATS ARE COMING! THE WEREWOLVES ARE HERE!
dir. Andy Milligan, 1972
91 mins. United States.
In English.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12 – MIDNIGHT
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18 – 10 PM
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 27 – MIDNIGHT
“Crude and sleazy and distinctively Milligan.” – Paul Corupe, Canuxploitation
Conceived as a cash-in on WILLARD and Hammer horror films, THE RATS ARE COMING! THE WEREWOLVES ARE HERE! is a dreamy, alt-Earth version of Dark Shadows from legendary queer filmmaker Andy Milligan. The Mooney family are struggling with secrets. When daughter Diana returns to the family’s gothic estate with a new husband, all seems well . . . until the full moon rises. Filled with Milligan’s patented blend of DIY costumes, atmospheric locations, and schizophrenic photography, RATS is a great example of ingenuity, necessity, and a genuine seething hatred of mankind joining forces to birth a unique exploitation gem.
SPIDER BABY
dir. Jack Hill, 1967
81 mins. United States.
In English.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 6 – MIDNIGHT
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18 – 7:30 PM
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 27 – 10 PM
“Though superficially similar to some of Charles Addams’ drawings, SPIDER BABY truly resembles nothing else in film.” – Nathaniel Thompson, Mondo Digital
The first solo feature from exploitation legend Jack Hill (FOXY BROWN), SPIDER BABY remains one of the wildest and weirdest horror films of the 1960s. The credits dub this “the maddest story ever told,” a promise that’s well on the way to being fulfilled in the opening scene alone, when Virginia traps and kills a hapless deliveryman in her makeshift web. She’s one of three siblings, including exploitation wild man Sid Haig, who suffer from a unique genetic disorder that causes them to regress back to childhood while retaining the physical strength and sexual maturity of adults. Lon Chaney, Jr. (THE WOLF MAN) gives one of his most memorable late performances as Bruno, who manages to cover up the crimes of the “kids” until two distant relatives lay claim to their house. Blending elements of gothic horror and gallows humor, SPIDER BABY drops somewhere between THE ADDAMS FAMILY and THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE.
DEAR DEAD DELILAH
dir. John Farris, 1972
95 mins. United States.
In English.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 5 – MIDNIGHT
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 13 – MIDNIGHT
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 26 – MIDNIGHT
Back in 1943, Luddy (Patricia Carmichael, in a wonderfully, memorably nutty performance) viciously murdered her mother with an axe. Thirty years later and freshly released from the state mental hospital, deemed “cured” of her violent impulses, Luddy’s luck is turning around thanks to a chance encounter with the family of Delilah (Agnes Moorehead, Bewitched), the miserly matriarch of a large plantation estate.
She quickly finds herself hired as Delilah’s housekeeper, but no sooner than her arrival at the cavernous and secluded mansion, grisly murders begin to take place…