Last night, Kim and I willingly got attacked by killer B's. B-Movies, that is.
Showcase Cinemas in Revere (and in several other locales in the Boston area, and possibly throughout the country) has turned over one of it's smaller theaters to a new program running every Wednesday night for the next 6 weeks. "Attack Of The B Movies" is a great program where the cinema is running a double feature of bad B movies.
Last night, they kicked off the series with "The Wasp Woman" and "Monster From Green Hell". I had not seen either of these movies before, but Kim had seen "Wasp Woman" before and she was right - it was as bad as any movie Roger Corman directed and produced before or after it (and Corman even appears briefly as a doctor in the film).
The second flick, "Monster From Green Hell" was one neither of us had heard of before, but we were prepared for all kinds of Dallas jokes, since Jim "Jock Ewing" Davis" was the star. This one concerned a colony of giant wasps (see a pattern forming here?) who landed in the african outback after spending 44 days in space as part of an experiment run by Davis and his co-workers.
We had to come straight from work, and we were worried that the theater would be full before we got there, because who doesn't love bad b-movies?
When we entered the theater, there were...four other people there. We were surprised by the low number (but then again not really), and as a few more patrons and b-movie lovers trickled in, we began chatting with them about the movies and the idea. One lady who was there with three kids (the aforementioned four people who were there before us) who looked just shy of teens to mid-pre-teens, was worried they'd be too scary for her kids. We assured her there was nothing to be worried about, and when they left during intermission for a while, they were laughing. By the end of the evening there were between 12 and 20 in attendance. And everyone there had exactly the kind of goofy, silly fun we all expected...
This is an absolutely wonderful idea, but Showcase could have done a better job of publicizing it. A few quick tips, if I might:
1) Hire a host. Spend a few bucks by hiring a local film fan in each local market to provide some hosted entertainment before the first movie and during intermission. (um, Kim and I are free....heh heh heh...)
2) Speaking of intermission, have one - We were rather hoping they'd take a cue from the recent film Grindhouse and schedule some classic b-movie trailers between the films. Instead, we got a blue screen with "Sony DVD Player" on it for almost 45 minutes...because they completely forgot to start the second movie...until someone reminded them...several times...
3) Offer passes for the entire series - it's much easier to pop for a pass than to remember to buy tickets every week.
4) Offer some inexpensive specialty merchandise - tee shirts or buttons that said "I Survived The Attack Of The B's" with the Showcase logo or something like that would be cool and add to the whole community experience.
All in all, if you're a B movie fan, you should check out the Attack of The B's series at your local Showcase Cinema this summer. Here's the remaining schedule for the Revere shows (and they're the same at the other Showcase locations):
Attack of the B Movies is playing at Showcase Cinemas Lowell, Randolph, Revere, West Springfield and Warwick. Check your local listings for other areas around the country.
July 25
Giant Gila Monster - 1959 and Gamera, The Invincible - 1966
August 1
Brain That Wouldn't Die - 1963 and Screaming Skull - 1958
August 8
Attack Of The Giant Leeches - 1959 and Monster From A Prehistoric Planet - 1960
August 15
The Terror - 1963 (Jack Nicholson/Boris Karloff) and House On Haunted Hill - 1959
August 22
Last Man On Earth - 1964 and Devil Girl From Mars - 1954
So if you live in the Revere MA area, and would like to say "hi', we'll be attending every week EXCEPT the July 25 double feature (we have tickets to see Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova from Once in concert at the Brattle Theater in Cambridge that evening) and we love to meet PNR and Subject:CINEMA fans! Just look for the couple in the "Subject:CINEMA" tee shirts...we usually sit on the aisle near the main floor...
And "B" sure to tell your Boston-based friends about "Attack Of The B Movies" because we want to see that theater filled to capacity by the final week! We hope to see you all there!
On The Web: http://www.nationalamusements.com/programs/specialprograms.asp?page=10
