Remember weekend marquees like this? If so, or if not, find out more in MIDNIGHT MOVIES: FROM THE MARGIN TO THE MAINSTREAM.
Most startling is a cur- tailed, less satisfying German ending that stops the film cold, omitting the necessary Fitzgeraldian irony of the original coda (included here as a supplementary item, evi- dently ported from the FRF DVD). The film ends properly at 93:57 but continues with nearly two minutes of exit mu- sic. A trailer is included, as well as trailers for other E-M-S product.
MIDNIGHT MOVIES: FROM THE MARGIN TO THE MAINSTREAM
2005, Starz Home Entertainment, DD-2.0/16:9, $19.95, 85m 57s, DVD-1 By Bill Cooke
According to Ben Baren- holtz, manager of the Elgin The- ater in Los Angeles, filmmakers can’t intentionally create a cult film: “It’s the audience that creates the cult.” In this en- gaging documentary by Stuart
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Samuels (co-director of the su- perb celebration of cinematog- raphers, ANGELS OF LIGHT) we learn how six landmark films could only find success at the stroke of midnight in the smoke-filled venues of rowdy in- somniacs eager for a communal experience.
Interestingly, each of the six was unique in what it brought to the midnight crowd. Alejandro Jodorowsky’s EL TOPO (1970) was the surrealist Western—part freak show, part heady philoso- phy—sold to hippies as a trip; George A. Romero’s NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968) was the horror film that pushed boundaries of gory imagery while daring to be political; John Wa- ters’ PINK FLAMINGOS (1972) was made expressly to offend ev- eryone, but all in good fun; Perry Henzell’s THE HARDER THEY COME (1972) offered a rare look into contemporary Jamaican so- ciety and helped to popularize reggae; Richard O’Brien’s THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE
SHOW (1975) was the flop film of a foundering musical, hi- jacked by obsessive fans who turned it into the biggest au- dience-participation phenom- enon in film history; and David Lynch’s ERASERHEAD (1977) was the ultimate student art film, an unclassifiable but un- forgettable “dream of dark and troubling things.” Samuels makes liberal use of scenes from the films, as well as rare behind-the-scenes foot- age (Tod Browning’s FREAKS, a sideline attraction, is repre- sented by a horribly dupey trailer), and his doc benefits from the enthusiastic participa- tion of film critic Roger Ebert, Orson Welles Cinema manager Larry Jackson, New Line Cin- ema founder Bob Shaye and others—but most importantly, all of the film’s makers are on hand to discuss their defining work. Picture and sound are slickly presented, hailing from a high-definition master formatted for 16:9.
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