Basement Cinema

BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS and ANGEL, ANGEL DOWN WE GO

2007-01-25T00:06:00.000-06:00

Friday, February 2nd-- 8:00 PM -- UWM Campus, Mitchell Hall, Room B91

Like shadow fearing vermin Basement Cinema sprouts its ugly once again.

We're on a new night, but were back to double feature and to kick things off we've got this double dose of early 70's rock'n'roll excess.

8:00 PM
BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS
(dir. Russ Meyer, 1970, 11o mins.)

In many quarters, this is considered the ultimate rock & roll movie. Skin-flick auteur Russ Meyer and critic-turned-screenwriter Roger Ebert were hired by Fox to create a quickie, sexed-up sequel to the 1967 soaper VALLEY OF THE DOLLS. The devious duo cooked up a plot about a female rock trio being seduced by the evils of Hollywood and pumped it up with excess, melodrama, satire and free-form aesthetic anarchy to create a film that critics hated and audiences ate up. It also boasts a great kitsch-rock score by Stu Phillips and fast-cut editing that predates MTV by a decade. Over the years, its magic has been kept alive by a cult of fans that includes everyone from John Waters to the Sex Pistols. It rocks, it rolls, it’s gonna blow your mind.

10:00 PM
ANGEL, ANGEL DOWN WE GO
(dir. Robert Thom, 1969, 11o mins.)

Also known as CULT OF THE DAMNED, this movie just proves that there must have been something in Hollywood's water circa '69 and '70. What else could explain this wild combo of bitter Hollywood satire and post-Manson family hippies-gone-bad nastiness? It was produced by exploitation wizards at American International Pictures (one-time home of Roger Corman) and was dreamt up and directed by Robert Thom, the same acidic genius who gave us WILD IN THE STREETS. The plot features a rock-star seducing a debutante and her faded screen-goddess mother, which makes it possible for he and his rock group (which includes Roddy McDowell and Lou Rawls!) to indulge in mind-games that take on a vicious, lethal quality.

So there you have it...the big answer to "What's up with Basement Cinema?" Put the rumors to rest, we are back. Stay tuned for a new announcement about the next screenings(s).

SCREENING - Wednesday, December 13th - CHRISTMAS EVIL

2006-12-07T09:48:00.000-06:00

Wednesday, December 13th-- 9:30 PM -- UWM Campus, Mitchell Hall, Room B91

The Reason For The Season?
Jesus H. Christ! It's that time of the year. While zombie madness sweeps the shopping centers of America I'll be hunkered down in the bunker like screening room that graciously hosts Basement Cinema. You won't catch me within a mile of a shopping mall. No sir, not now, not never. Not while hordes of parents push past one another scouring for that Playstation 3, Nintendo Wii, or whatever toy it takes to make their children love them.

Is this really the reason for the season? Is this holiday just an excuse for parents to buy the love of their children with expensive gifts? I thought there was more to it than that.

I thought Christmas has something to do with jolly elves, magical snowmen, and reindeer with noses like Irishmen. I thought it was all about the smell of Batman, the eggs that Robin lays, and the Joker getting away. I though it was about balls of holly, chestnuts on an open fire another other lame sexual inneundo that gets school boys giggling. Hee, hee.

Christmas is not about further spoiling rottenly spoiled kids. What these little snots need is a good dose of a Johnny Cash Christmas album. Skip those traditional carols, that the man in black belts out. Instead, send these billion dollar babies straight to those tracks where Johnny sings about poor share-croppers spending cold Christmas nights in Arkansas. Get your kids listening to those dirt-poor tales and maybe they'll be happy they have heat and more than squirrel for Christmas dinner.

Kids really have to start learning to appreciate the finer things in life...The less expensive things in life...The shit that's free, like Basement Cinema.

THIS WEEK'S MOVIE

9:30 PM
CHRISTMAS EVIL
(dir. Lewis Jackson, 1980, 1oo mins.)

An early holiday present from Basement Cinema. An obsessed toy maker, in love with Christmas, but scarred by a childhood trauma enjoys playing Santa. When his work is met with cynicism he snaps and goes on a killing spree, deciding for himself who's been naughty or nice. Truly an all time holiday classic for those who love yuletide black comedies. John Water's cites it as his favorite Christmas film, now it can be your's too.

SCREENING - Wednesday, December 6th - THE KLANSMAN

2006-12-03T18:45:00.000-06:00

Wednesday, December 6th-- 9:30 PM -- UWM Campus, Mitchell Hall, Room B91

Will We Look Back and Laugh?
I know it is very easy to review the past, roll our eyes, and mutter, "What were they thinking?" Hind sight after all is 20/20 and the mistakes of the past seem so obvious in the present. When it comes to movies there are two modes of expression that are always ripe for regret - social commentary and comedy.

Right now, let's talk about the former. It's important we do so because of the film presented this week. For what we have to show this week is a film so pig-headedly wrong, hurtful, and stupid that you'd never guess it was produced by an African-American. Just how someone could be given five million dollars - at that time the largest sum ever granted to a black producer - and turn out this cringe inducing flick is impossible to understand. I guess the dude thought he had something crucial to say. That's how it usually is with these films and that's usually when the trouble begins.

I don't know what it is, but a lot of filmmakers feel the need to use celluloid as a soapbox. Most get up there and fall flat on their face. Doing so, they instantly become comedy. Hollywood shouldn't be tackling problems. Hollywood is the problem. Solving real problems with fantasy makes no sense. But, it makes for great humor, in hindsight. It's not the sort of safe laughter that you get from bodily humor - farts, prat falls, and the such. This is the kind of humor that makes you squirm in your seat. What you see on the screen isn't always funny, but the bone headed intent behind the hammer fisted storytelling cracks you up because you could never imagine anyone making a film so repulsive and so stupid and still hoping that it opened eyes and changed minds - for good.

But then again, that's the power of cinema.

THE MOVIE

9:30 PM
THE KLANSMAN
(dir. Terence Young, 1974, 112 mins.)

Straight from the "I Can't Believe Hollywood Made This" files comes The Klansman. A ruthless, tactless depiction of racism in the south. Check out this cast - Lee Marvin, Richard Butron, Cameron Mitchell, Lola Falana, Linda Evans and O.J. Simpson goes undercover and blows the KKK away! This film is stacked with action and overflowing with backwoods jargon. It's like Hee-Haw with race related hatred. No wonder Paramount pictures is too embarrassed to put this out on DVD.

I am sure that as I presently type this there is some socially conscious film being produced by some chucklehead hoping to enlighten minds, one so assbackwards that we'll wish it were pushed under the rug only to be discovered by basement cinema fanatics of the future.

We Got Pressed

2006-11-29T17:38:00.000-06:00

That's write, Basement Cinema made it into the press, the old fashion printed kind. You can check out the recent article about Basement Cinema online.

The Leader covers Basement Cinema

SCREENING - Wednesday, November 29th - DANCING OUTLAW

2006-11-27T20:10:00.000-06:00

Wednesday, November 29th-- 9:30 PM -- UWM Campus, Mitchell Hall, Room B91

FOR NO GOOD REASON

I almost decided to cancel this week's screening. I even thought about stopping the whole dang series. Basement Cinema was one foolish whim from being finished. So why the change of heart?

Well, for starters, someone just wrote a blurb in the school paper about the crazy films we show. So, perhaps out of guilt, Basement Cinema carries on. I sure know it's not for respect. The kind of movies we show garner little respect, especially in the halls of academia. It's okay to over analyize a film, even fluffy ones with little redeeming value. But, sitting back and just enjoying a film, that has no place in the halls of learning.

Of course, I'd argue that there is a lot of things you can learn at Basement Cinema - most of them being what not to do. Still, learning by watching other people's mistakes is better than making those mistakes yourself; is it not? So for no good reason, other than entertainment Basement Cinema pushes on.

THE MOVIE
9:30 PM
DANCING OUTLAW
(dir. Jacob Young, 1991, 60 mins.)

When he’s good he’s good. When he’s bad, he’s the Devil. He’s Jesco aka Jesse White aka Elvis. He’s the last of the mountain dancers. He’s the singing, dancing, Elvis impersonating, cultural high mark of Boone County West Virginia. When he’s not entertaining yokels he’s doing donuts in the front yard and threatin’ to kill his wife. He’s real and he’s scary. He’s real scary. He’s a dancing outlaw.

Also:

10:30 PM
DANCING OUTLAW 2
(dir. Jacob Young, 1999, 30 mins.)
Jesco travels to Hollywood to be on the Roseanne show. Will fame change Jesco?

That's right, we are keeping it real this week with not one, but two documentaries on the last of the mountain dancers. Never heard of mountain dancing? Well, now's your chance to get educated by the finest. All this, all in one night. This Wednesday, November 29th, at 9:30 PM in the basement of Mitchell Hall, room B91.

Blood Freak Trailer

2006-11-20T12:55:00.000-06:00

LEFTOVER CLASSICS - A PRE-THANKSGIVING DOUBLE FEATURE

2006-11-14T22:09:00.000-06:00

Tuesday, November 21st -- 8:30 PM -- UWM Campus, Mitchell Hall, Room B91

TRADITIONS
There are too many strange films out there that Basement Cinema has yet to show, so why are we digging back into deep storage and pulling out two films we've already show? It's a little thing call tradition.

What's Thanksgiving without turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, yams, green bean casserole, Cowboys, Lions, and the Macy's parade? Frankly, it's nothing without some bad movies to wash it all down.

Knowing that most the weirdos who come out to Basement Cinema are going to be out of town or out of commission come the real Turkey Day, we thought we'd get a jump start on the festivities, host a special Tuesday night screening, and serve up some classic leftover films. You'll think back fondly on these brain twisters when you are stuck at the family table listening to distant relatives ramble on endlessly while you wait for them to pass the gravy.

So here it is, your wishbone wish come true. A guaranteed gut-busting double feature that pairs together two of the wildest turkeys we've ever presented.

THE MOVIES
8:30 PM
BLOOD FREAK
(dir. Brad Grinter and Steve Hawkes, 1972, 86 mins.)

The only pro-Jesus, anti-drug, turkey monster gore film in existence! A biker comes upon a girl with a flat tire and offers her a ride home. He winds up at a drug party with the girl's sister, then follows her to a turkey farm owned by her father, a mad scientist. The father turns the biker into a giant blood thirsty turkey monster who goes after drug dealers. It's as bad as it sounds, but it's got a message...Don't do drugs. No wait, don't eat genetically modified meat. Or is it, don't make films this bad?

10:00 PM
TURKISH STAR WARS
(dir. Detin Inanc, 1982, 91 mins. aka Dunyayi Kurtaran Adam)

It doesn't get much lower or crazier. Turkish turkey is a post-apocalyptic action movie with a Islamic history lesson that involves horrible giant muppets, trampoline fueled kung-fu, and a lot of stolen material and cheap-ass explosions. Turkish Star Wars freely combines poorly shot original footage with clips straight out of George Lucas' original Star Wars. Not only that, but it also appropriates (aka steals) music from many other famous American films like Raiders of the Lost Ark, Moonraker, and Flash Gordon. Talk about re-mixing! Talk about ridiculous! Talk your friends into coming!

Indulge in a real cornucopia of crap and be thankful that you'll probably never make a film as bad as either of these two turkeys.

Also, don't miss a few turkey related short movies before and after the features.

SCREENING - Wednesday, November 15th - AMERICATHON

2006-11-06T22:29:00.000-06:00

Wednesday, November 15th
9:30 PM
UWM Campus, Mitchell Hall, Room B91

Stars For Oil

Election day has come and gone and so have some Republicans. The Democrats are surging back into power, but does it really matter? Right or left, red or blue, elephant or donkey doesn't it all really boil down to one thing - money?

And, what's a better way to make money than oil? It's the one thing most Americans can't live without, even more than McDonalds, Coke, or porn. Black gold, Texas Tea, whatever you call it, Americans depend on it and sadly it is one of the few things we can't manufacture on our own.

What we can make all on our own is movies, real good ones too. By good I mean money making ones, the kind people are willing to bootleg, pirate, steal, what will ya'. So, how come we don't charge more for our greatest exports? Every time OPEC jacks up the cost of oil or lowers their production Hollywood should do the same. And while we are at it, forget this war on terror. Let's start the war on piracy.

Sure, it is going to be hard to fight the pirates when we are cranking out swashbuckingly summer flicks that glorify the pirate's life. However, Johnny Deep is a pirate people will pay to see and to a lesser extent so is Orlando Bloom. No one's going to pay to see the people ripping bootlegs of the latest Disney film so it can be schleped on some New York street corner for a few bucks or transferred across the Internet for free.

If America wants to be great again it needs to stop worrying about proxy wars for oil and remember what made this country great. Hell, we should change the name of the place to the United States of Hollywood. We've already had one bad actor for a President and if we could just knock out that one little loophole in the constitution we could start grooming the Terminator for the Oval Office.

But enough about the future, lets talk about politics of the past.

The Movie

AMERICATHON
(dir. Neil Israel, 1978, 90mins.)

Have you ever seen an older film that feels as relevant today as the time it was originally released? That's Americathon. The year is 1998 and America is bankrupt. Too poor to afford gas people now live in their cars and walk to work. Everyone wears Nike brand clothing. The White House has been relocated to California and the president has been elected to office simply because he shares the same last name as two other former presidents. In the hopes of saving the country from being repossessed by wealthy Native Americans, President Roosevelt decides to stage a national telethon. The only problem is that the list of celebrities booked for the show has been sabotaged by one of the President's own men, who just happens to be in bed with some rich oil barons. Sound familiar?

Harvey Korman stars as the pill popping telethon host. Elvis Costello, Jay Leno, Zane Busby, and Meatloaf all make appearances. The Beach Boys, Elvis Costello, and Eddie Money were all on the soundtrack. George Carlin adds narration. Best of all, the late, great John Ritter plays the President of the United States of America. It's an amazingly funny film, that's been somewhat lost over time, perhaps because it feels so real to modern day troubles.

SCREENING - Wednesday, November 8th - INFRA-MAN

2006-11-03T13:21:00.000-06:00

Wednesday, November 8th
9:30 PM
UWM Campus, Mitchell Hall, Room B91

Wear Your Rubbers

I wanna talk a moment about CGI. That's right computer generated insanity. Oh, Hollywood would have you believe that the 'I' in C-G-I, stands for imagery, but I tell you they are wrong. Brain dead wrong.

Those fancy newfangled effects make people stupid. They play tricks with your brains. They got no place in the movies.

You see, the problem with these new special effects is that they just aren't fake enough. They play tricks with your mind. You know they are fake, but you want to believe they are real. It's like a lot of things in Hollywood. These new special effects are over-inflated and augmented. Flat out they are made from silicone. That wouldn't be a problem if they were passing themselves off as the real deal. If something is going to be fake, I want it to be obvious.

I don't want CGI. It's too confusing. Give me grown men in rubber suits kicking the crap out of each other any day. No mind games, please. Save CGI for video games. Give it to the Playstation babies and Gamecube geeks. They've been breast feed on fakery. They haven't left their parents house. They don't know reality. They need something virtual.

Me, I want something real, like the feeling of cardboard buildings being crushed beneath my foot as I stomp around a set in a Godzilla outfit. Even if I'm not there in the suit crushing Tokyo let me imagine that some lucky soul got to actually crunch model cars and tear down some tiny power lines. That shit's real! It's not some mouth breather sitting in front of a super computer crunching numbers. Sure, it doesn't look as real, but dammit it really is real. That set existed and some lucky bastard got the chance to tear it to pieces. How great is that?

It's really great. Who cares if something look real if it's fake to the core? That's CGI. It's wax fruit. Looks great, but it leaves you hungry. Thankfully, for those who crave something real, this week Basement Cinema has a buffet of rubber suited badness. Something you can really sink your teeth into. Something real for all you boobs.

The Movie

INFRA-MAN
(dir. Hua-Shan, 1975, 90mins.)

When the evil Princess Dragon Mom decides to take over the Earth she unleashes a wave of silly rubber suited monsters to cause chaos. It's up to the kung-fu kicking half-man, half-machine known as Infra-man to save the planet.

Before a single Power Ranger ever morphed there was Infra-Man. Created by science and powered by nuclear energy Infra-Man is the human race's only hope against such monsters as Beetle Man, Octopus Man, and many, many robots.

Infra-man was made by the famous Shaw Brothers as a Hong Kong answer to the wildly popular Japanese television show Ultra-Man. This film far surpasses its inspiration in all the right ways. Costumes decked out with cheesy skulls, wild rubber monsters, and psychedelic decor bedazzle the eyes and bewilder the mind. It's part action film, part martial arts film, part Japanese monster movie. It's everything you could ask for in a movie and then some. Don't bring any expectations. This film will crush them.

BASEMENT CINEMA screens obscure, offbeat and overlooked films as part of the Student Cinema Action Network (SCAN)., a student organization at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

SCREENING - Wednesday, November 1st - SKIDOO

2006-10-25T00:10:00.000-05:00

Wednesday, November 1st
9:30 PM
UWM Campus, Mitchell Hall, Room B91

Mistakes

We all make them. You, me, and the dog that keeps crapping on my carpet and chewing on my belongings. We are all fallible and that's what makes us so great. Nothing is more annoying than someone who skates through life with no struggles, no hardships, none of the usual bumps in the road that slow us all down. People that coast by piss the rest of us off.

Try as they might, celebrities do their best to hide their mistakes and their flaws. 90% of the time they've got air brush artists and public relation spin doctors covering their cracks and tracks. Deep down they are no different than the rest of, us. They get their hearts broken. They say stupid things when they are drunk. They just do everything on a grander scale. So, while we stand in the check-out line counting our pennies and making sure we have enough dough to buy the quart of ice cream, six-pack of beer, or carton of cigarettes that helps us forget about our shitty lives, it's always a nice to look over and see some rag pointing out the latest blunders of the rich and famous. Ain't it?

When the you fuck up who notices? If you say something stupid, if you wear something foolish, or you get pulled over for a DUI...So what? Who cares? Now try doing any of that as a celebrity. When you shit up in Hollywood everyone knows.

You can't just make a million dollar movie with a boat load of uncool celebrities fill it full of out-of-touch, counter culture jokes and drug references have it flop and expect no one to notice. That's not something you can't just sweep under the carpet or hide behind the couch. When you make a movie that stupid it's bound to get out. Why? Because we love to see celebrities acting the fool. That's what makes Skidoo so notorious and so appealing. That's why you should come out to Basement Cinema. Rejoice in the pain of others!

The Movie

SKIDOO
(dir. Otto Preminger, 1968, 90mins.)

Few films are as notorious as Skidoo. Made by a slew of prominent, well respected artists, this misguided attempt to capitalize on late 60's counter-culture attitudes is legendary for all the wrong reasons. Imagine your parents trying to be cool. Here, you've got Jackie Gleason (The Honeymooners) playing an ex-mobster, hired by his old boss to go to jail, find a rat, and kill him before he fingers the whole mob. While in the slammer Gleason gets hip to acid. Carol Channing, well into middle age, strips. Groucho Marx (Duck Soup) shows up as God. He also smokes pot. A whole slew of other actors and actresses (see above) who probably appealed to your parents or even grandparents make total fools of themselves in a desperate attempt to be hip. Last, but not least, the end credits don't just roll, they are sung. If the names don't attract you to this bungled mess then the rarity of this picture should. It's so bad and such a blunder that it will probably never see the light of day anytime soon.

It's one thing to see a bunch of no name Z grade actors pretending to be cool, or wigging out on acid. It's another to watch famous people past their prime desperately trying to stay hip. It's like watching one of your parents co-opt your clothes, your music, or your friends. It almost makes you want to find something else to be interested in. Perhaps, that was the secret goal of Skidoo. Co-opt coolness from the youth and force them to give up their free-love, pot-smoking ways? Make it uncool, and maybe all the hippies will want to be squares, just like their parents used to be. It's reverse psychology by way of poorly conceived filmmaking.

Sure, that has to be it. That has to be what makes this film so wonderfully awful to watch, like a car crash in slow motion. That is if the car was a VW bus painted in psychedelic colors and packed with out-dated actors. It will be groovy!

See you there.

BASEMENT CINEMA screens obscure, offbeat and overlooked films as part of the Student Cinema Action Network (SCAN)., a student organization at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

SCREENING- Halloween Movie Marathon - Oct. 31st 7:00 PM

2006-10-25T00:08:00.000-05:00

Don't Miss Halloween with Basement Cinema

It's Halloween, that time of year when well disguised, pint-sized goblins go door-to-door extorting candy from fearful home owners. The threat of a three A.M. egg pelting or a porch ablaze with dog poo terrorizes the suburbs. Those not smart enough to turn the lights off and draw the shades get gouged at the discount store, where they suddenly find themselves taking out a loan to buy overpriced and undersized sugar-laden payoffs. For the sake of your home and your families safety you get the candy. Don't even try to hand out granola bars, fruit snacks, or toothbrushes. That is unless you want a free lifetimes supply of toilet paper.

I for one am sick of it. Now, I ain't talking some crazy anti-Halloween jive like those religious wackos who want to ban the holiday because it's pagan and devilish. Hell, that's what's great about Halloween. But, this trick or treat nonsense, well that's just a little too close to terrorism for our tastes. How come homeland security ain't cracking down on these bag totting thugs? How many innocent pumpkins have to get smashed before somebody says, "Enough is enough?" Isn't it time we got tough on this minor mafia? Show me one homeowner who can't kick the snot out of a ten year old in a piss poor hobo costume pieced together his daddy's old rags and I'll show you a homeowner who deserves to be scrapping frozen egg off his aluminum siding come November 1st.

It's time we stood up to axis of evil. What sort of great nation kowtows to the threats of prepubescent ghouls? I know it's land of the free and all that jazz, but that don't make it right to go over to your neighbors house and shake them down for a few lousy pieces of chocolate. Further more, that candy ain't free. Not to those dishing it out. The candy companies - the evil corporations that got these plump little turds so addicted to sugar - are making out like war profiteers. Five dollars for a bag of candy is highway robbery. Especially when one day later that same bag is gonna sell for half that. Candy don't just expire overnight! If you jacked up prices like that during a natural disaster you'd have the state's attorney breathing down your neck, but at Halloween it's a damn tradition to get fleeced.

Yep, that's right there will be no treak or treating at my house this Halloween. If a kid comes to my door looking for treats, the trick's on them. This Halloween, I'm sitting down with three classic films and if anyone rings the doorbell, I'll probably tell myself, "Don't."

'Don't' could be a lot of things. It could be, 'don't answer the door' or it could be 'don't go Die Hard on the lil' costumed terrorists that keep pressin' my doorbell'. However, this Halloween 'don't' stands for three things - Don't Answer the Phone, Don't Go In The House, and Don't Go Near The Park. That's right, this Halloween Basement Cinema has a triple feature that's guaranteed to keep people out of their houses and out of their minds.

The Movies

Tuesday, October 31st - 7:00 PM
UWM Mitchell Hall Room B91

Don’t Answer The Phone - 7:00 PM
(dir. Robert Hammer, 1980, 94 mins.)
A Vietnam veteran/photographer terrorizes a female radio psychologist by calling in and bragging about the women he strangles. Inept police bungle their way to solving the crimes. Nicholas Worth turns in a most classic psycho performance. Terrorifying but laughable, the true cruelity of this picture comes not in the violence, but in the lack of effort the cops make in apprehending the criminal and the off-color jokes they make along the way.

Don’t Go In The House - 9:00 PM
(dir. Joseph Ellison, 1980, 82 mins.)
After years of being burnt by his sadistic mother Donald now finds inner peace by going to discos and doing the same to young girls. That is until his victims seek revenge. This terrifying movie about a damaged man (Dan Grimaldi of The Sopranos) out for revenge is also a seeringly gruesome potrait of a man struggling to end his pain. As the tagline says, "You have been warned."

Don’t Go Near The Park - 10:30 PM
(dir. Lawrence D. Foldes, 1979, 84 mins.)
Flat out this one is too twisted to sum up. No really, it is! Okay, I'll try to break it down. Thousands of years ago a curse was put on some cult members who abuse the secret of eternal youth. The secret to eternal youthfulness - eat your young! Damne to an eternity of old age they continue to eat human flesh to sty youthful looking. Cut ahead to 1980, Los Angeles, the banished cult members plan to kill a 16 year old runaway, whom they fail to realize is their own flesh and blood! Notoriously sick and completely f'd in the head. That's just how we love them in the basement.

There you have it folks, three sick reason to turn the lights off and turn your back on trick or treating. We've also got some killer trailers for before the pictures. Candy to rot your teeth and best of all, these films to rot your brain!

See you there.

BASEMENT CINEMA screens obscure, offbeat and overlooked films as part of the Student Cinema Action Network (SCAN)., a student organization at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

SCREENING - Wednesday, October 25th - NOCTURNA

2006-10-15T20:20:00.000-05:00

Wednesday, October 25th
9:30 PM
UWM Campus, Mitchell Hall, Room B91

Last week's screening of Wacko killed off a lot of brain cells. If you missed it, you'll want to start drinking now, because you won't want those extra brain cells if you decide to come out to Basement Cinema's next screening.

NOCTURNA
(dir. Harry "Tampa" Hurwitz, 1979, 85 mins.)

Holy crap on the dance floor, this film is blood curdlingly bad! Nocturna is the late 70's horror/musical/comedy that asks, "What if Dracula's granddaughter got disco fever?" Nai Bonet, a bad belly-dancer and even worse wanna-be-movie actress, stars in the title role. Unhappy with her vampire life Nocturna leaves Transylvania and follows her heart to New York. John Carradine stars as Dracula. Yvonne DeCarlo (aka Lily Munster) is a vampire known as 'Jugulia'. Cantankerous sit-down comic Brother Theodore almost steals the show. However, the real comedy comes from Nai Bonet's ultra-sucky performance. Be sure to check out a horror film that deserves to burn eternally in a disco inferno!

There's a theme song by disco diva Gloria Gaynor. Sy Richardson (Repo Man), plays a pimp/drug dealer vampire with a stable of vampire hookers. The whole shebang was funded by and ex-actor/embezzler William Callahan who was killed gang-land style in '81. His body was found in Kenosha with three bullets in his head. To this day the murder remains unsolved. Perhaps, it was someone who saw this film!

BASEMENT CINEMA screens obscure, offbeat and overlooked films as part of the Student Cinema Action Network (SCAN)., a student organization at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Wacko Opening

2006-10-14T19:57:00.000-05:00

Here's a little taste of Wacko

Just try to wash that out of your mind.

SCREENING - Wednesday, October 18th - WACKO

2006-10-08T15:25:00.000-05:00

Wacko
Wednesday, October 18th
9:30 PM
UWM Campus, Mitchell Hall, Room B91

Now, here is a horror film designed to make you laugh...or groan. It’s Wacko! A pre-Scream horror spoof that stars Joe Don Baker (Walking Tall). He is in drunken pursuit of the pumpkin headed Lawnmower Killer who’s first line is "Death to all teenagers who f*ck”. The film also features Stella Stevens, George Kennedy, Julia Duffy, Charles Napier, Scott McGinnis, and Andrew Clay, before he added ‘Dice’ to his name.

Down in the basement we have a few heroes and actor/director Greydon Clark must be one of the biggest. Excuse me for a moment while I fondly recall some of Greydon's past gems.

The Bad Bunch
One man (Greydon Clark) returns from Vietman and single handedly attempts to solve race relation issues in Los Angeles.

Skinheads: The Second Coming of Hate
Chuck 'The Rifleman' Conners helps two college kids escape a pack of skinheads that are chasing them through the California wilderness.

Black Shampoo
Mister Jonathan is the top hair dresser on Sunset Strip. When he's not 'doing' ladies right he's kick the crap out of honkey muthas.

Joysticks
Horny teenagers get their jollies by hanging out at the local arcade and playing with their joysticks. All of which makes local hothead, Joe Don Baker none too happy!

You see, Greydon Clark is a genius of genres and when he sets his mind to tackling a new genre he not only tackles it, he gouges his thumb in its eye. Wacko is no different. The jokes are no laughing matter, the horror is horrible, and the only heads that really roll are the ones in the audience.

Hope to hear you laughing this Wednesday.

BASEMENT CINEMA screens obscure, offbeat and overlooked films as part of the Student Cinema Action Network (SCAN)., a student organization at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

SCREENING - Wednesday, Oct. 11th - Galaxy of Terror

2006-10-05T18:50:00.000-05:00

GALAXY OF TERROR
Wednesday, October 11th
9:30 PM
UWM Campus, Mitchell Hall, Room B91

The Visitor was great. So was the turn out. And now, we've got more interstellar madness. We never meant for the first two films of the new Basement Cinema series to both be sci-fi horror films. That just happened, but since it happens to be October, the most horrifying of months, I don't think that's a problem. We've got plenty more horror films planned for the rest of the month. Or is it horrible films that we have planned?

Come on out to the UWM campus, Mitchell Hall, room B91 on Wednesday, October 11th at 9:30 PM and you be the judge.

GALAXY OF TERROR
(dir. Bruce D. Clark, 1981, 81 mins.)

A lost space crew stumbles upon a mysterious alien pyramid and soon find their worst nightmares coming to life. The cast includes Erin Moran (Joannie from Happy Days), Sid Haig (Spider Baby), Robert Englund (aka Freddie Krueger), and the recently departed B film star Edward Albert (The House Where Evil Dwells & Power Rangers). This Roger Corman produced sci-fi/horror gem also featured James Cameron as a Unit Director and Bill Paxton as a set decorator. Galaxy of Terror is strange, gory and long overdue for a re-launch.

BASEMENT CINEMA screens obscure, offbeat and overlooked films as part of the Student Cinema Action Network (SCAN)., a student organization at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

SCREENING - Tuesday, Oct. 10th - The House Where Evil Dwells

2006-10-05T17:15:00.000-05:00

THE HOUSE WHERE EVIL DWELLS
Tuesday October 10th,
5:00 PM
UWM Campus, Mitchell Hall, Room B91

There was a time when Basement Cinema meant double features commonly linked by a similar theme, director, actor, etc. We are bringing back that tradition, sort of...

Starting this coming Tuesday, October 10th, Basement Cinema will start showing occasional Tuesday evening screenings at 5pm in the basement of Mitchell Hall, room B91. These bi-weekly screenings will serve as an alternate chance to enjoy the weird and wild world of Basement Cinema. For those who can't make it on Wednesday nights or those who want an appetizer for what's to come, these early evening shows should be just what you are looking for.

We start things off this Tuesday with a bit of a tribute to a recently departed B-movie star Edward Albert. While certainly not a household name, Albert has been in his fair share of good and bad films. Come out Tuesday to see one of the better endeavors.

THE HOUSE WHERE EVIL DWELLS
(dir. Kevin Connor, 1982, 88 mins.)

When the Fletcher family movies to Japan they take residency in an old abandoned house. They quickly come to realize that they aren't the only ones living there and that the ghosts who haunt their new home are not about to leave any time soon. A rollicking fun haunted house film with a hint of Japanese horror, this early eighties frightfest sports a cast that includes, Edward Albert, Susan George (Straw Dogs), and Doug McClure - who's been in too many bad things to even pick one title. We should also mention the mutant crabs, yes mutant crabs!

If you aren't scared stupid, you can join us Wednesday night where we continue the celebration of Edward Albert with Galaxy of Terror.

BASEMENT CINEMA screens obscure, offbeat and overlooked films as part of the Student Cinema Action Network (SCAN)., a student organization at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Early Visitor

2006-09-29T16:10:00.000-05:00

Here's a quick peek at the opening minutes of The Visitor.

You're interested now, aren't 'cha?

It's Back - The Screenings Start Anew

2006-09-26T08:12:00.000-05:00

Mark your calendars, because on Wednesday, October 4th at 9:30 PM in the basement of Mitchell Hall, Room B91 on the campus of UW-Milwaukee BASEMENT CINEMA returns!

We've slightly modified the format and we'll only be showing one film, not two, but we promise that ever single film we pick will be a carefully selected piece of schlock.

We kick start the series with an all-time classic and all-time favorite piece of forgotten cinema:

The Visitor
(directed by Michael J. Paradise, 1979, 90 minutes)

Katy Collins is an extra ordinary eight year old endowed with the power of Sateen, an intergalactic force of immense magnitude. The only one that can stop her is a mysterious old man known as The Visitor. Starring Mel Ferrer (Eaten Alive), Shelly Winters (Lolita), Lance Henrikson(Aliens), and the recently departed Glenn Ford (Experiment in Terror) The Visitor also boasts the acting talents of famous film directors John Huston, as The Visitor, and Sam Peckinpah, as a spooky gynecologist. Add all of this together, mix in mind-melting special effects, choice lines of dialogue, a killer sound track, an army of skinheads in track suits, the greatest motorcycle stunt ever performed, and an ending so out of left-field that you’d have to be blessed with the power of Sateen to see it coming and you have one of the most truly warped films ever to be put to celluloid. Guaranteed!

This is just the beginning. We hope to have occasional double features, perhaps even a few midnight shows and other glorious surprises. Stay tuned to what is coming up by continuing to check out this blog.

BIG NEWS COMING SOON

2006-09-02T19:45:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to let you all know Basement Cinema is not dead. It was damn near flatline a few days ago, but now things are looking, up, up, up!

Stay tuned....

Previews of Death

2006-08-22T09:36:00.000-05:00

Here's some sneak peeks at tomorrow nights double feature

Death Curse of Tartu

Sting of Death

Now, why would you want to miss out on this sort of fun? Remeber, this is the last summer screening. Come so you can say you were there!

CoffeeHouse OutKast

2006-08-21T22:40:00.000-05:00

Screening Back On! - Wed. 8/23 - Terror From The Everglades

2006-08-20T19:25:00.000-05:00

This is it!

AGAIN!

The last Basement Cinema screening of the summer. We've got two sun soaked, South Florida horror films by William Grefe. There's Seminole witch doctors, party-hardy co-eds, and killer mutant jelly fish. Who could ask for more? We can can. So, how about adding singing legend Neil Sedaka to the mix? We've got him too. We also have two of the 'baddest' films to ever ooze out from the Everglades.

Someone at the last screening commented on the gratuitous sex and violence in Kiss of Death and The Sexy Killer. True, there were a lot of boobies getting flashed and balls getting busted, but I say that without that stuff you might as well be watching regular cinema. This is Basement Cinema. Everything about it is gratuitous!

The upcoming double feature is no exception. Death Curse of Tartu and The Sting of Death are neither sexy nor violent, but they've got enough gratuitous stupidity to fill a swamp. Calling these films amateur would be a compliment. They are far worse.

Death Curse of Tartu
(1966, 85 mins.)
8:00 p.m.
While on assignment in the Everglades partying archeology students literally dance on the grave of the ancient Seminole witch doctor Tartu. Taking the form of various swamp creatures, that look an awful lot like stock footage, Tartu rises from the grave and takes his revenge. Director William Grefe proves himself to be wholly uninspired, untalented, and unbelievably good at making bad movies.

Sting of Death
(1965, 80 mins.)
9:30 p.m.
More college students invade the Everglades. This time their party is invaded by a hideous half-man, half-jelly fish beast. The one girl's dad is a scientist, but there is nothing scientific about this mess. The jelly fish look like Zip-lock bags lost at sea. The monster is a man in wetsuit with an inflated garbage bag over his head. And, the high light of the film is when everyone stops to do "The Jellyfish" - a Neil Sedaka dance craze that sank into the swamp with this picture. You may have thought you'd seen bad movies before, but this here is bargain basement cinema at its most best/worst.

So there you have it a beachy end to a bitchin' summer. But, wait, there's more!

As an added bonus and a small apology for postponing this screening last week, I promise a very special bonus short film. I can't say too much, but I will say this, it is a 'first film'. There will also be some hints of what to expect in the fall.

What's coming this fall? More crazy movies, that's for sure, but Basement Cinema also has lots more in the works. Stay tuned!

BASEMENT CINEMA screens double features of obscure, oddball, and offbeat films every Wednesday night in Mitchell Hall, Room B91, on the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee campus.

More and More Mr. Mike

2006-08-15T06:48:00.000-05:00

To sooth the wounds of a postponed screening, here's more of Mr. Mike's Mondo Video. The segment with all the late 70's and early 80's female celebrities was just one of the reasons this show was never seen fit for broadcast on NBC.

Also, a mouse princess gets hit by two trains!

SCREENING POSTPONED

2006-08-14T22:34:00.000-05:00

Sorry all, I hate to do this again, but August is turning out to be a bad month for Basement Cinema. Due to an unforseen scheduling conflict we will not be able to have our double feature screening of DEATH CURSE OF TARTU and STING OF DEATH this Wednesday, August 16th.

We hope to screen these two wonderfully awful films next week on Wednesday, August 23rd. If and when we screen DEATH CURSE OF TARTU and STING OF DEATH - and it will happen soon - that will most likely be our last screening of the summer and perhaps our last screenin down in the basement of Mitchell Hall.

No, that does not mean Basement Cinema is going way. What it means is that big things are in the works and this fall there will be some major changes (all improvements) that will turn Basement Cinema into a larger force around town. Stay tuned for some great news and be patient for the DEATH CURSE OF TARTU and THE STING OF DEATH will come soon enough.

Mr. Yuk on Acid

2006-08-11T09:20:00.000-05:00

Duuuuuuuuuuuude! How many chemicals do you have to sniff, shoot, or swallow to come up with all the crazy animations and experimental backdrops that make up this Public Service Announcement?

Fozzi Manson

2006-08-11T09:13:00.000-05:00

Take the Muppet Babies and Charlie Manson and mash 'em up and you get something like this:

SCREENING - Wednesday, August 17th - Terror from the Everglades

2006-08-10T13:04:00.000-05:00

This is it! The last Basement Cinema screening of the summer. We've got two sun soaked, South Florida horror films by William Grefe. There's Seminole witch doctors, party-hardy co-eds, and killer mutant jelly fish. Who could ask for more? We can can. So, how about adding singing legend Neil Sedaka to the mix? We've got him too. We also have two of the 'baddest' films to ever ooze out from the Everglades.

Someone at the last screening commented on the gratuitous sex and violence in Kiss of Death and The Sexy Killer. True, there were a lot of boobies getting flashed and balls getting busted, but I say that without that stuff you might as well be watching regular cinema. This is Basement Cinema. Everything about it is gratuitous!

The upcoming double feature is no exception. Death Curse of Tartu and The Sting of Death are neither sexy nor violent, but they've got enough gratuitous stupidity to fill a swamp. Calling these films amateur would be a compliment. They are far worse.

Death Curse of Tartu
(1966, 85 mins.)
8:00 p.m.
While on assignment in the Everglades partying archeology students literally dance on the grave of the ancient Seminole witch doctor Tartu. Taking the form of various swamp creatures, that look an awful lot like stock footage, Tartu rises from the grave and takes his revenge. Director William Grefe proves himself to be wholly uninspired, untalented, and unbelievably good at making bad movies.

Sting of Death
(1965, 80 mins.)
9:30 p.m.
More college students invade the Everglades. This time their party is invaded by a hideous half-man, half-jelly fish beast. The one girl's dad is a scientist, but there is nothing scientific about this mess. The jelly fish look like Zip-lock bags lost at sea. The monster is a man in wetsuit with an inflated garbage bag over his head. And, the high light of the film is when everyone stops to do "The Jellyfish" - a Neil Sedaka dance craze that sank into the swamp with this picture. You may have thought you'd seen bad movies before, but this here is bargain basement cinema at its most best/worst.

So there you have it a beachy end to a bitchin' summer.

What's coming this fall? More crazy movies, that's for sure, but Basement Cinema also has lots more in the works. Stay tuned!

BASEMENT CINEMA screens double features of obscure, oddball, and offbeat films every Wednesday night in Mitchell Hall, Room B91, on the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee campus.

Once you learn how you never forget

2006-08-07T21:17:00.000-05:00

Young Frank Zappa playing a bicycle on The Steve Allen Show

Part 1 of 2

Part 2 of 2

OK, Impressed.

2006-08-06T20:25:00.000-05:00

OK Go's first video was crazy fun, but this new one on treadmills is dangerously wild.

SCREENING - Wednesday, August 9th - Ladies Night Redeux

2006-08-06T20:05:00.000-05:00

Sorry about having to postpone last week's screening. We shall try again this Wednesday. Come out and see Chen Ping meets Shaw Brothers in this female revenge themed double feature.

Kiss of Death
(Meng Hwa Ho, 1973, 90 mins.)
8:00 p.m.

A textile worker is brutally attacked while walking home from work. Infected with an incurable disease she decides to learn kung-fu and seek revenge on the men that ruined her life. It's not hard to see the influence this film had on Kill Bill as Chen Ping methodically tracks down her assailants.

The Sexy Killer
(Chung Sun, 1976, 90 mins.)
9:30 p.m.

Chen Ping turns from nurse to vigilante as she tracks down the drug dealers responsible who have shot her sister full of dope and left her for dead. The Sexy Killer mimics Jack Hill's Coffy blow-for-blow, but it's ten times wilder and sexier. The Shaw Brothers pump this one full of sleaze and shotguns.

If you are curious about these films and still haven't checked out the trailers, do so here.

Hopefully, there will be no more unexpected emergencies. See you there!

BASEMENT CINEMA screens double features of obscure, oddball, and offbeat films every Wednesday night in Mitchell Hall, Room B91, on the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee campus.

Even Bea Arthur is doin' it!

2006-08-05T17:33:00.000-05:00

Rock Hudson and one of the Golden Girls just say 'yes'.

Devilish Lyrics

2006-08-05T11:48:00.000-05:00

So that's what they were singing about! Really?

Dan Aykroyd's Webbed Feet and Cleavage

2006-08-04T22:01:00.000-05:00

All that and Gig Young's groceries. It's more from Mr. Mike's Mondo Video!

One of Our Own

2006-08-04T16:18:00.000-05:00

Look it's Basement Cinema's own Will Leighton! He's the one rockin' the Powerbook and the hoodie. His band A Scanner Darkly will blast out your speakers. You've been warned.

Some Velvet Morning

2006-08-04T16:12:00.000-05:00

Nancy and Lee and a shitload of gauze. A music video from the days when things didn't have to be edgy or cool. Instead, they looked like car or cigarettes ads from old Playboy magazines.

88 Days until Halloween

2006-08-04T15:43:00.000-05:00

Do you know who you are going as this year? How about going as Bollywood legend Mohammed Rafi?

Candy Pants

2006-08-04T15:17:00.000-05:00

This will make you run away from home with your mattress on your back.

Save The Videos

2006-08-03T06:43:00.000-05:00

Screw the whales, there are videos that need saving.

As we saw the other day with a certain smoking Public Service Announcement nothing on YouTube is permanent. A video you saw today could be gone tomorrow. Finding a rare video clip used to take years of trading and collecting. Now, even some of the rarest bits of arcane and inane video lie right at our finger tips. Things thought only to be legends or unique moments lost in time now turn up in abundance with a simple search tool. It's quite amazing, but being somewhat spoiled by this new technology we might take for grant it that the weird epherma on YouTube could be lost again.

That is unless you take the time to save the videos to your computer. That's right, you can do that. If you see something on YouTube that you want to own you can use two simply little tools to get yourself a copy of any video you find on YouTube.

First, you need to know something about YouTube videos. They are something known as .flv files. Basically, that's nerd speak for a Flash Video. So, in order to watch any of these videos on your computer you'll need a Flash Video Player. You can get one right here:

WIMPY Stand Alone FLV Player (Free)

Once you get the player, you'll need something to play. First find a YouTube video you want to copy. Let's say you really want that Biz Markie doll, or at least the commercial for it. Find the URL for the video clip. For clips on the Basement Cinema blog, you'll want to double click on the video and portal yourself over to YouTube. The URL is listed to the right of the video window.

Once you've copied the URL, you need to go to this nice little site known as YouTubeX.com

http://www.youtubex.com

Then you simply paste your copied URL into the box and then hit the download button. Now, you own the video or at least a copy of it. Often the file saves simply as "get file". If that's how it appears on your computer, simply rename the file to anything you like, but be sure to add the .flv suffix to your file.

Now launch that Wimpy FLV player you downloaded and use that to open and view your .flv files. Then pat yourself on the back for saving some videos. You can then load these videos on to your MySpace site or back on to YouTube or just save them on your computer for a rainy day. Sure, they may not be the highest quality videos around, but your new found cache of lost ephemera may one day help you win a pub argument. It might even help you save a whale of a video like this one:

Now don't say Basement Cinema never taught you nothin'.

Best music video ever?

2006-08-02T20:30:00.000-05:00

We don't care what you think. This is simply the smartest music video of all time.

Corky Fights The Power

2006-08-02T20:26:00.000-05:00

911 might be a joke, but this sure ain't! Watch Corky forget the words and his steps halfway through this moving renedition of a Public enemy classic.

Screening Postponed!

2006-08-02T16:38:00.000-05:00

Sorry, but we are not going to be able to do the screen meant for Wednesday, August 2nd.

A rather unexpected emergency popped up and we are going to have to push back tonight's double feature of Kiss of Death and The Sexy Killer.

We'll try to do the same two films next with, hopefully with better luck.

Jedi Lawyers

2006-08-02T07:52:00.000-05:00

The other day we linked to a very special message from the Star Wars universe. Now, it appears that Emperor Lucas and his stormtrooper lawyers have asked the kind citizen that put up the Star Wars anti-smoking PSA to remove it. The Star Wars PSA about drinking and driving still remains online. Perhaps, Grand Moff Lucas has thought twice about the image of R2-D2 with a cigarette in the same way he thought differently about the Star Wars Holiday Special after it was made. He does have a history of re-visionist history, doesn't he.

We here at Basement Cinema do not see the harm in a droid lighting up a cancer stick in the hopes of discouraging future smokers. One can only guess at how many lungs are pink and healthy thanks to that brave little droid. Plus, we want to remind Darth Lucas that if he doesn't let health concious fans put he's Star Wars themed anti-smoking PSA's on YouTube, fans will make their own:

MySpace is YourSpace

2006-08-01T08:35:00.000-05:00

We went and did it.

Basement Cinema is now on MySpace. So, here's your chance to make a new friend.

http://www.myspace.com/basementcinemamke

Show the love.

Sneak Peek at a Sexy Kiss

2006-08-01T08:08:00.000-05:00

Trailers for this week's double feature - Kiss of Death and The Sexy Killer. Sorry no subtitles on the trailers. There are subtitles during the film.

Everyone's favortie big brother

2006-07-31T18:46:00.000-05:00

Courtesy of Data What?

According to Barry Williams' autobiography, in this Brady Bunch scene
where the station wagon pulls up with the canoe on top, Greg is as high as a kite.

Zip ahead to about the 1:45 mark...man oh man, that's the funny.

Things to watch for:

1. Greg drops the bike pump and then trips over it, giving a shaggy wave at the same time.
2. The line "Uhhh...Hey, you didn't say anything about getting a boat" starts with "Uhhhh..."
3. The totally cotton-mouthy way he says "Far out."
4. The fact that when Cindy comes in from off scene, it takes him a minute to register what that noise is, then he totally looks the wrong way...almost like Jar Jar Binks.
5. When Cindy comes up and is standing right in front of him, he stares at her like she is a visitor from planet Krypton or something.

Wookies don't let wookies drive drunk.

2006-07-31T18:28:00.000-05:00

Another Star Wars PSA from 1979

R2-D2 is a Marlboro Droid

2006-07-31T18:24:00.000-05:00

1979 Anti-smoking PSA from everyone's favorite droid duo.

SCREENING - Wednesday, August 2nd - Ladies Night

2006-07-27T21:27:00.000-05:00

POSTPONED

Is it Shaw Brother's night or is it ladies night? Can't we have both?

Over a year into the series and we have our first Shaw Brothers films. How could we go a whole year without any Shaw Brothers movies? Good question. Hopefully we won't have to wait as long for the next Shaw Brothers double feature. This week for your viewing pleasure we have a pair of imports that center around one particular lady - Chen Ping.

We showed some rather messed up women at the last double feature. This week we've got women who get messed with, actually its one woman, in two different film. She's a nice girl who gets pushed too far. Before Uma decided that Bill needed to be killed there was Chen Ping. Here in two sizzling Shaw Brothers classics Chen Ping plays scorned dames out for revenge. With karate kicks and double barreled shotgun blasts she proves that she's one tough fortune cookie.

Kiss of Death
(Meng Hwa Ho, 1973, 90 mins.)
8:00 p.m.

A textile worker is brutally attacked while walking home from work. Infected with an incurable disease she decides to learn kung-fu and seek revenge on the men that ruined her life. It's not hard to see the influence this film had on Kill Bill as Chen Ping methodically tracks down her assailants.

The Sexy Killer
(Chung Sun, 1976, 90 mins.)
9:30 p.m.

Chen Ping turns from nurse to vigilante as she tracks down the drug dealers responsible who have shot her sister full of dope and left her for dead. The Sexy Killer mimics Jack Hill's Coffy blow-for-blow, but it's ten times wilder and sexier. The Shaw Brothers pump this one full of sleaze and shotguns.

BASEMENT CINEMA screens double features of obscure, oddball, and offbeat films every Wednesday night in Mitchell Hall, Room B91, on the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee campus.

Gimme Gimme Dictatorship

2006-07-27T18:56:00.000-05:00

One of the stranger, and that's saying a lot, "Gimme Gimmie Octopus" episodes. This 60's Japanese kid's show, known over there as "Kure Kure Takora", often features excessive violence and tripped out imagery. Here, the Octopus and his best friend, a Peanut, 'play' dictators.

Doesn't Look Safe To Me

2006-07-27T08:52:00.000-05:00

One can only hope this guy uses condoms. Others like him would be scary.

Why Not Just Say You Are Gay?

2006-07-27T08:35:00.000-05:00

A true friend breaks his buddy's leg to help him from going off to war.

It's What We Want For X-mas

2006-07-26T12:37:00.000-05:00

Who needs Santa when you have the Japanese? I'm being extra good this year and asking for one of these.

Old School

2006-07-25T22:22:00.000-05:00

A cheesy look at 80's kiddie entertainment magic. Worth at least 50 skee-ball coupons!

Pug Bowling!

2006-07-25T08:52:00.000-05:00

I knew these freakish pups had to be good for something.

She slices sausages down by the sea shore

2006-07-24T21:53:00.000-05:00

A little look at one of the the two films playing this Wednesday. Can you make any sense of this madness?

Black Death is Coming

2006-07-24T09:56:00.000-05:00

Hint of a Lady

2006-07-23T07:41:00.000-05:00

Not to be a tease, but here's the trailier for Lady Terminator.

SCREENING - Wednesday, July 26th - Nut Hatin' Water Nymphs

2006-07-21T18:32:00.000-05:00

While the rest of the world is out getting hoodwinked by M. Night Shamalamadingdong's newest piece of crap Basement Cinema will be saying farewell to one of our co-founders, Will Leighton. Will is leaving us for twins. Twin cities that is, and while I don't know if they have cinema as bad as what we show down in the basement I do hope Will keeps the spirit alive and spreads the word of Basement Cinema to Minneapolis/St. Paul.

In honor of our friend's departure, I've put together one hell of a one-two punch for this week's screening. Simply trying to out do Ironmaster and Yor is challenge enough, but finding the perfect double feature, one that will haunt Will for weeks, even months, to come was a real fete, but I think I've done it.

An old saying once warned men that you can play in the sea, but you can'tplay with her. The same can be said for the two wicked females we've got starring in this week's double feature. Personally, I think it's just amazing that we could find two films that both feature pseudo-mermaids with a hatred for male anatomy. That just speaks volumes about cinema!

Lady Terminator (1988, H. Tjut Djalil, 82 mins.) 8:00 p.m.

Also known as Pembalasan ratu pantai selatan, this Indonesian rip-off of The Terminator replaces the android Arnold with the spirit of an ancient queen. After taking possession of the body of a young anthropologist, the vengeful water spirit goes on a murderous rampage. This one's got everything. Sex, blood, violence, castration, AK47's and snakes. Lady Terminator also has one of the most hilariously dubbed dialog tracks.
Samples:
"We've seen more dead bodies than you've eaten hot dogs."

"I am not a lady. I am an anthropologist!"

The Witch Who Came From The Sea (1976, Matt Cimber, 88 mins.) 9:30 p.m.

Millie Perkins stars as Molly, a troubled girl who idolizes her deceased father, an alcoholic seamen with an abusive streak. Now, grown up, she is unable to express her sexual desires in a healthy fashion. Her obession with football players and the star of a shaving cream commercial leads to a trippy series of brutal slayings. Throughout the film Perkins delivers an ever growing, psychotic performance as the extent and cause of her sickness is slowly revealed. The Witch Who Came From The Sea delivers more castrations, creepy flashbacks, and enough 70's sleaze to make you head cave in. Directed by the gent who gave us The Candy Tangerine Man and written by the fellow who gave us Deathrace 2000, The Witch Who Came From The Sea is pure Basement Cinema!!!

Come down and help us say good by to a dear friend and say hello to two soon-to-be favorite films.

BASEMENT CINEMA screens double features of obscure, oddball, and offbeat films every Wednesday night in Mitchell Hall, Room B91, on the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee campus.

Look Who's Turned 40

2006-07-21T17:36:00.000-05:00

With our last screening of Ironmaster and Yor, The Hunter From The Future we celebrated our 40th screening. Here's a quick run down of all the past screening. I hope to soon post a small synopsis of each screening. For now, marvel that the past madness and don't fret, we aren't slowing down. There is plenty more too come and who knows we may one day revisit some of these gems. Classic Basement Cinema anyone?

5/20/05
Repo Man & Wild Zero*

6/1/05
Summer Camp Nightmare & Sleepaway Camp

6/8/05
Class of 1984 & The New Kids

6/15/05
Dolemite & Petey Wheatstraw: The Devil's So-in-Law

6/22/05
God Told Me To & The Visitor

6/29/05
Gas-s-s-s & Darktown Strutters

7/6/05
Nine Deaths of the Ninja & Ninja 3

7/13/05
Dungeonmaster & Night Train to Terror

7/20/05
Turkish Star Wars & Star Crash

7/26/05
Skinheads: The Second Coming of Hate & The Bad Bunch

8/10/05
The Decline of Western Civilization & The Decline of Western Civilization Part Two: The Metal Years

8/17/05
The Baby & Where's Poppa?

8/24/05
Freebie and The Bean & Night Patrol

8/31/05
The World's Greatest Sinner & The Executioner

9/7/05 Brain Damage & Blood Freak

9/15/05
Walking Tall & Rolling Thunder

9/22/05
Parents & The Reflecting Skin

9/29/05
The Beyond & Zombie

10/6/05
Flesh For Frankenstein & Blood For Dracula

10/13/05
The Candy Tangerine Man & Black Shampoo

10/20/05
Deafula & Dracula vs. Frankenstein

10/27/05
Fear No Evil & Evilspeak

10/31/05
Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2 & The Toolbox Murders & Nailgun Massacre &Driller Killer**

11/3/05
Joysticks & Surf II

11/10/05
Candysnatchers &Tarkan Versus The Vikings

2/2/06
Deathrace 2000 & Deathsport

2/9/06
The Manson Family & Deadbeat At Dawn

2/16/06
Reason To Live & Chafed Elbows & The Telephone Book***

2/23/06
Truck Turner & Across 110th Street

3/2/06
The Deathless Devil & Death Warrior

3/13/06
Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway & Malibu High

4/27/06
Twister & The Beaver Trilogy

6/7/06
Marjoe & When You Coming Back Red Ryder?

6/14/06
Scum of the Earth & Blood Feast

6/21/06
Supersonic Man & Superpup & Turkish Superman

6/28/06
The Born Losers & Billy Jack & The Trial of Billy Jack & Billy Jack Goes To Washington

7/5/06
Highway 61 & Frame-Up

7/12/06
Prelude to Happiness & Mr. No Legs

7/19/06
Ironmaster & Yor, The Hunter From The Future

What's coming next? Just wait and see.

* We actually did not show Wild Zero, due to poor turnout.
** A double, double feature in honor of Halloween.
*** A threesome for Valentine's Day

Wrong Watermelon

2006-07-17T22:47:00.000-05:00

All these years and I'd slicing it up like a damn serial killer! Thank god for Public Access TV to set me straight.

Love That Night Flight

2006-07-17T22:21:00.000-05:00

If you remember Night Flight then you remember "Love that Bob". If you don't know remember Night Flight then you make me feel old. FYI - Night Flight was something like this blog, a little of everyting, if everything is out of the ordinary.

A Taste of Iron

2006-07-16T14:34:00.000-05:00

Here's a little bit of Ironmaster to whet your appetite for Wednesday's screening.

Yor's World

2006-07-15T19:37:00.000-05:00

Learn it now, so you can sing along on Wednesday!

Thanks to 7 Black Notes

Swimming Lessons for Cats!

2006-07-15T11:33:00.000-05:00

Yumpin' Yimminy you're swimming!

Oh shit!

2006-07-13T23:43:00.000-05:00

The films we present often scare the shit out of people or make them laugh until they piss their pants. As a public service announcement we present this Japanese educational cartoon.

SCREENING - Wednesday, July 19th - Prehistoric Meatballs

2006-07-13T21:18:00.000-05:00

This week we’ve got two Italian imports and they both stink like bad garlic. Each one finds man at the dawn of civilization, but the filmmaking in each of these films is far more primiative than the loin cloth sporting musclemen that star this week’s double feature.

8:00 PM
IRONMASTER
(1983, Umberto Lenzi, 98 mins.)
Pecks galore and a moral too! Cave dudes, Ela and Vood both want to be appointed the new ruler of the tribe, but once the evil Vood learns how to forge iron he is able to craft weapons that allow him to walk away with a near unanimous vote. Only Ela objects and fins himself banished from the tribe. While away he learns to make bows and arrows and suddenly a prehistoric arms race is afoot. Are you starting to see the parable? If not, don’t fear. There is plenty of poorly dubbed philosophical mumbo-jumbo between fights to teach you about the violent ways of Man. Notoriously known as one of the worst films of all time. Vood…You’ve got to see this one!

9:45 PM
YOR, THE HUNTER FROM THE FUTURE
(1983, Antonio Margheriti, 88 mins.)
Yor doesn’t know where he is from. Can you guess where Yor is from? If the title doesn’t give it away, then I will. Reb Brown plays Yor, a blond, beefcake from the future now trapped in the past. While on a quest to discover just who he is and where/when he came from Yor helps a band of prehistoric cave dwellers. Yor battles dinosaurs, fire-worshippers, and blue-faced ape men. He says things like, “The blood of your enemies makes you stronger,” and he uses a dead pterodactyl for a hang-glider. Need more? Yor’s got it. He also has one of the most bitchin’ theme songs ever put on celluloid.

To check out Yor's futuristic soundtrack that sounds a lot like a 1980's Casio keyboard please check out 7 Black Notes, an amazing blog unearthing fantastic soundtracks for films like the one's we love down here at Basement Cinema.

BASEMENT CINEMA screens double features of obscure, oddball, and offbeat films every Wednesday night in Mitchell Hall, Room B91, on the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee campus.

Preview to a Prelude

2006-07-10T22:08:00.000-05:00

Here's a glimpse at what's to come on Wednesday

SCREENING - Wednesday, July 12th - Leg Night

2006-07-09T18:48:00.000-05:00

Do you have legs and do you know how to use them? If so, we at Basement Cinema invite you to walk on down to a very special screening this Wednesday night. Join us as we celebrate legs by watch two amazing films about people without legs.

8:00 PM
PRELUDE TO HAPPINESS (1974, 80 minutes)
When Sue loses her leg in an auto accident her fiancee dumps her. The the dashing young doctor who amputated her leg falls madly for Sue. However, Sue is too heartbroken to return his love. Then more tragedy strikes. It's Douglas Sirk melodrama on a drive-in budget. With more booms in shot than one could count on their fingers and toes, the low production quality mixes well with the overly serious direction for a real knee slapping experience...that is if you still have knees to slap. BTW- This movie is so rare I couldn't even find it on the IMDB!!!

9:30 PM
MR. NO LEGS a.k.a. THE AMAZING MR. NO LEGS (1981, 90 minutes)
Amazing or not, Lou has no legs, but that doesn't stop him from being a ruthless hitman for a heartless drug syndicate. Whether he's blasting scum with the shot guns strapped to his wheelchair or he's kicking people with his torso, Mr. No Legs is one hell of an anti-hero. This film was directed by the Creature From The Black Lagoon, actually Ricou Browning, the guy in the creature suit.

All those with two good legs should do their best to back it. Shake a leg and show up.

BASEMENT CINEMA screens double features of obscure, oddball, and offbeat films every Wednesday night in Mitchell Hall, Room B91, on the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee campus.

It doesn't take a professor...

2006-07-09T11:00:00.000-05:00

...to know this is genius

Classic

2006-07-09T10:59:00.000-05:00

What hath Superpup spawned?

2006-07-09T10:56:00.000-05:00

A midget waiter? Does he only take short orders?

Something For Everyone

2006-07-09T10:53:00.000-05:00

No posts as of late, been too busy making sense of this...

SCREENING - Wednesday, July 5th - Twisted Road Movies

2006-07-02T11:12:00.000-05:00

This week Basement Cinema looks to highlight a beloved genre of cinema - the road movie. Something magical happens when you mix a man, a woman, and a road, but of course, the two films we are showing are not your average road films. They are dark, twisted road movies that will have you peeling your brain off the pavement.

HIGHWAY 61 (Bruce McDonald, 1991) 8:00 PM

A Canadian barber with a love for American music finds a corpse in his backyard. A mysterious woman asks him to help her transport the body to New Orleans. A devilish man known as Mr. Skin is in hot pursuit and Jello Biafra makes a cameo as a patriotic border patrol guard. From the same fellow who directed HARD CORE LOGO.

FRAME-UP (1993, Jon Jost) 9:45 PM

Imagine a film where the characters spoke witty Tarantino like dialog, but they were more like the real life, loser criminals you see on COPS. That's FRAME-UP, shot in a matter of days, by a filmmaker who writes, directs, shoots, and edits a truly independent film that provides a rather ingenious take on the road movie that de-mystifies the glamour of lovers on the lam. You'll be quoting it for months, guaranteed.

As always, we'll be down in Mitchell Hall, Room B91, on the UWM campus enjoying these fine films. We'll also have some wild trailers playing before each film, so don't be late. The cost? Nothing but a few hours and a few braincells (aka free).

Play with your food.

2006-07-01T22:21:00.000-05:00

When you combine Mentos and Diet Coke you come up with this...

More Reason to Hope

2006-06-30T20:55:00.000-05:00

From the Junkyard to the Wild West

2006-06-29T16:26:00.000-05:00

Tonight is the last chance to catch the Nick Cave penned Western before it leaves Milwaukee. 7:00 Times Cinema, tonight!

Mad Monkey Kung-fu

2006-06-29T16:22:00.000-05:00

Back to Back to Back Billy Jack

2006-06-27T15:26:00.000-05:00

One day until the Billy Jack marathon!

I Am Different, Hear Me Roar!

2006-06-25T21:47:00.000-05:00

Roky all night!

2006-06-25T21:37:00.000-05:00

13th Floor Elevators performing "You're Gonna Miss Me"

SCREENING - Wednesday, June 28th - One Man, One Legend, Three Billy Jack Films!

2006-06-25T20:31:00.000-05:00

As the Fourth of July is almost upon us, it is time to celebrate a true American legend - Billy Jack (aka Tom Laughlin).

Billy Jack is a mysterious half-breed, blackbelt, Vietnam vet out to change the world. He is also a voice for director, writer, and star Tom Laughlin to channel all his anger and contempt towards his perceived ills of American society.

Starting with BORN LOSERS, moving onto BILLY JACK, and ending on the epic TRIAL OF BILLY JACK this one night crash course sets out to prove that BILLY JACK is the most American of all screen heroes and that Tom Laughlin is one of America's politically charged drive-in film directors.

BORN LOSERS (1967) starts at 5:00 PM
When a band of bikers invades a California town it is up to one man to rid the community of this menace. That man is, of course, Billy Jack, who fights tooth and nail to protect the only girl in town who will testify against the gang in court.

BILLY JACK (1971) starts at 7:00 PM
capitalizing on the success of Billy Jack's character in BORN LOSERS, Tom Laughlin and his co-star wife Delores Taylor set out to tell the story of this former green beret who spends most of his time kicking the crap out of close-minded, conservative tight-wads. Between freeing horses destined to be dog-food and protecting a hippie-dippie Indian school in the desert Billy Jack has his hands full.

THE TRIAL OF BILLY JACK (1974) starts at 9:00 PM
Set after the gripping conclusion of BILLY JACK, this picture finds released from prison, but still facing the hatred of conservative bullies who want to shut down the ultra-liberal Freedom School and push the Native Americans off their land. In the hopes of defeating the pale-face devils Billy Jack sets out on a unbelievable vision quest. In THE TRIAL OF BILLY JACK Tom Laughlin really spreads his creative wings and tackling just about every hot button issue under the early 70's sun. Compelled to weigh in on everything from Vietnam, to Kent State, to Christianity, to go-only-knows-what, Tom Laughlin uses the character of Billy Jack to speak his mind and oh boy, does he have a lot of crazy things to say!

Please note the early start time for this ultra-special screening, sure to blow fuses like on the best of the worst films can.

The marathon starts at 5 PM sharp on Wednesday, June 28th in the basement of Mitchell Hall, Room B91, on the UWM campus. As always, this insanity is free.

You'll wish you were deaf, dumb and blind

2006-06-22T13:31:00.000-05:00

His name is Yellow and he performs the Pinball Cha Cha

When Videos Were Fun

2006-06-22T11:34:00.000-05:00

All music videos should have the undead.

A Job For Superpup

2006-06-22T09:17:00.000-05:00

Can anyone explain this unholy evilness?

Because film is educational!

2006-06-20T22:18:00.000-05:00

"Boys Beware" - a very homophobic educational film. Who knew they were so dangerous?

If we had a house band...

2006-06-20T21:02:00.000-05:00

The Mummies!

SCREENING - Wednesday, June 21st - It's a turd, It's a pain!

2006-06-19T22:07:00.000-05:00

SCREENING FOR WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21st, 2006

It's a turd, It's a pain, It's an International look at Superman (with added bonus).

8:00 PM
SUPERSONIC MAN (1979, 85 minutes)
Meet Kronos, a flashier, sillier, Spanish super hero not too different from Superman. He comes from another planet. He wears a cape. He flies. He even steals scenes straight from the 1978 Superman film. Laugh as Kronos lifts particle board bulldozers, fights the evil Dr. Gulik (played by Cameron Mitchell of "Toolbox Murders") and tangles with some rather cheesy robots. (Spanish, dubbed into English)

9:30 PM
THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERPUP (1958, 25 minutes)
As promised, this week we have an added bonus. This TV pilot from the late 50's takes its cues from the George Reeves "Superman" television show, but instead of following the adventures of Clark Kent (aka Superman) here we follow the adventures of Bark Bent (aka Superpup). That's right. It's the Superman story,but with dogs. Well, they aren't real dogs, but rather midgets in dog costumes!!! How was this not an instant classic?

10:00PM
TURKISH SUPERMAN (aka Süpermen dönüyor, 1979, 90 minutes)
Coming from a planet that looks a lot like a Christmas ornament, the Turkish Superman is just like the American Superman only much, much, much cheaper and confusing. Continuing a long tradition of stolen plots lines, stolen music, and editing that defies the laws of physics, this is everything that one expects from Turkish cinema. Plus, there are NO subtitles. So it's anyone's guess as to what is really going on.

Wednesday, June, 21st in the basement of Mitchell Hall (rm B91), UWM campus. Show starts at 8:00 PM, and as always it is free.

Smoke of Ages

2006-06-19T17:04:00.000-05:00

Joe Camel wasn't the first cartoon character to push cancer sticks.

2006-06-19T16:53:00.000-05:00

I'm concerned because nothing is wrong. No, I'm out on love!

2006-06-19T16:47:00.000-05:00

F' the Blue Man Group. No one is original and this French disco-trash band proves it with an amazing cover that tears the lid off of Canned Heat.

2006-06-19T16:43:00.000-05:00

The Great White Hope(less).

2006-06-19T16:33:00.000-05:00

Dig this!

2006-06-19T15:43:00.000-05:00

We've got webspace!

Crawling out of the basement and onto the Internet, this blog is dedicated to keeping fans and attendees of the Basement Cinema (formerly Underground Cinema) weekly film series up to date. It is our hope that this site will keep those fans of offbeat and overlooked cinema informed about upcoming screenings. We also hope to add video clips that keep with the spirit of our weekly double features (i.e. crazy, forgotten, just-plain-weird). Now, you'll have the chance to get your mind blown more than once a week. Last, but certainly not least, we hope to use this space as a place to gather feedback and suggestions. Check back soon and be sure to bookmark this page now!