The Grand Illusion

50th anniversary! A parody that’s become as much of a classic as the movie that inspired it, YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN isn’t just one of the best horror-comedies of all time, it’s one of the best comedies, period. Gene Wilder gives a full-tilt performance as the mad doctor’s even madder grandson, alongside Marty Feldman as the doctor’s wacky assistant Igor (pronounced Eye-gor) and Peter Boyle as their tap-dancing creation. Add in Cloris Leachman and Teri Garr in delightfully silly supporting roles, and you’ve got a highly quotable screwball classic.

Part of our annual horror series All Monsters Attack!

“This black-and-white parody of the Karloff classic is the most cinematically assured, coherent and (relatively speaking) tasteful of Brooks’s films.” Paul D. Zimmerman, Newsweek

The singular chiller that rocked the religious nation of Indonesia, restored from the original camera negative! In 1980, exploitation studio Rapi Films and writer/director Sisworo Gautama Putra (PRIMITIVES, THE WARRIOR) transformed the country’s genre film industry with one of the most groundbreaking shockers in Asian horror history. While mourning the death of his mother, a troubled teen discovers a nightmare world of restless spirits, supernatural vengeance and occult terror.

In Indonesian with English subtitles.

Part of our annual horror series All Monsters Attack!

“Hugely influential to a generation of filmmakers.” Fantasia Film Festival

A found-footage horror movie 20 years in the making. Never to be released online. Can only be seen in theaters.

When two scary movie fanatics buy an abandoned duplex to shoot their next indie horror film in, they are delighted to find the dilapidated property is even creepier than it appears. Putting their years of horror filmmaking and amateur ghost hunting to use, they team up with an old friend to document the cult of random strangers who gather outside the building in a zombie-like trance. As the three friends gleefully chase their obsession with the supernatural, their investigation becomes an increasingly ecstatic quest to see just how scary their real-life horror movie can get.

Part of our annual horror series All Monsters Attack!

“An increasingly uncomfortable descent into the weird, guaranteed to have you leaving the theater chilled.” Matt Konopka, Dread Central

“From its first unflinching moments to the unanswered questions of its conclusion, [this] is the kind of horror that leaves you feeling immersed, unsafe, and afraid to be left in the dark.” Grace Detwiler, Rue Morgue

40th anniversary screening in anaglyph 3D! Glasses provided upon admission.

One of the few slashers produced during the early 1980s revival of 3D movies, SILENT MADNESS knows exactly what audiences want. And it delivers. A glitch in the computer system at an asylum for the criminally insane results in the release of the wrong patient - a homicidal maniac named Howard Johns. It’s up to Joan Gilmore (Belinda Montgomery, DYNASTY), one of the institute’s top doctors, to track him down as the killings begin. Utilizing dreamy gelled lighting, excellent 3-D photography from Gerald Feil (FRIDAY THE 13TH PART III), and over-the-top kills, SILENT MADNESS is a blast from beginning to end.

Part of our annual horror series All Monsters Attack!

“Synths are ravishing. Grit is ingrained. Photography complements the 3-D novelty, resulting in kill scenes that are much more creative than the ones in Friday the 13th 3-D.” Joseph A. Ziemba, Bleeding Skull!

Natalie, a vampire killed by Buffy (yes, that Buffy), calls to her sister Lorelei from beyond the undead grave and demands revenge. However, Lorelei has been trapped in a coffin for five years--how can she possibly get back at Buffy and all her sorority sisters? Luckily, lured by the promise of an abandoned porno stash, a bunch of kids pry open the coffin to release weakened vampire Lorelei...who is no longer strong enough to bite necks, so she must bite her victims in the posterior!

Part of our annual horror series All Monsters Attack!

“This movie feels less like a narrative movie and more like someone made a Dark Brothers or Rinse Dream adult movie mainstream, giving it constant blasts of words and images and a ghost man in a closet and vampires who can move through the timestream and random music video sequences where people are encouraged to ‘Bite Her In the Butt!'” BandSAboutMovies.com

Never released on DVD! Only on VHS! Only $3!

Come cozy up with us and settle in for some Halloween stories while scarfing down some pizza.

For this year's triple feature pizza party, we've got three terrifying tales revolving around All Hallows' Eve, featuring creepy castles, vengeful spirits, and spooky cemeteries. The titles are a secret though, so you won't find out what sinister stories will unfold before you until right before the lights go down.

Our regular concessions will be available for purchase at the beginning of the party and throughout the night. The main course will arrive following the first feature. And in addition to satiating the more carnivorous appetites, we'll have options for our vegetarian and vegan friends too.

Part of our annual horror series All Monsters Attack!

Please note: This event is exempt from our masked matinee policy. Though still encouraged, masks are not required for this event.

Hello, kiddies! The Crypt-Keeper made his jump to the big SCREAM with this ghoulish tale featuring an all-SCAR cast of character HACKtors in one of the most underrated horror films of the '90s, directed by Ernest R. Dickerson.

Ex-soldier Frank Brayker (William Sadler) is the guardian of an ancient key that can unlock tremendous evil; the sinister Collector (Billy Zane) is a demon who wants the key so he can initiate the apocalypse. On the run from wicked mercenaries for almost 90 years, Brayker finally stops in at a boarding house in New Mexico where — with the help of its residents — he plans to face off against the Collector and his band of ghouls, preventing them from ever seizing the key. Don't miss one of these rare 35mm screenings!

Part of our annual horror series All Monsters Attack!

“Between scenes of splattering gore in which severed heads literally roll across the floor, the movie has a good time spoofing itself and a gallery of mostly sleazy characters who confront a crew of blood-thirsty demons.” Stephen Holden, The New York Times

Ultra rare 35mm screenings of Clive Barker's classic tale of terror!

In the singular first feature directed by the one-of-a-kind horror/fantasy author Clive Barker, Frank (Sean Chapman) inadvertently opens a portal to hell when he tinkers with a box he bought while abroad. The act unleashes gruesome beings called Cenobites, who tear Frank's body apart. When his brother’s family moves into their ancestral home, they find themselves at the mercy of Frank’s reanimated corpse, demanding blood to create fresh flesh on his bones before he’s found by the Cenobites, including Doug Bradley’s infamous Pinhead. Brimming with perverse sexual tension and exquisitely gross practical effects, HELLRAISER creates a wholly unique world that viscerally lives and breathes, slowly oozing new life into the darkest corners of existence in every frame.

Part of our annual horror series All Monsters Attack!

“Horror is at its best when it’s relentless. Clive Barker knows this, and his debut feature as director is so gleefully vicious, so relentlessly grim that it’s going to be very hard for fans of the genre not to like it.” William Thomas, Empire Magazine

A secret triple bill of twisted pre-Code horror classics plus period shorts — all on 16mm and in less than four hours!

From the infernal depths of their secret film vault, The Sprocket Society has exhumed three of the most infamous horror movies of their time. Journey into a depraved nightmare of brutality, murder and perversion, early 1930s Hollywood style.

These short and sick tales of transgression were once censored in Seattle and, even after 90 years, still shock today. Witness the unspeakable cruelty of dangerous lunatics! A slum-dwelling mad scientist! An incestuous necrophiliac Satanist! A sadistic power-crazed genius and his sex-crazed offspring! Spooky shorts and cartoons from the same era will precede each feature.

You will be scarred forever, for there is no escape from…the Secret Vault of Terror!

Part of our annual horror series All Monsters Attack!

“A truly horrible and nauseating bit of extreme sadism.” Variety

“One of the most shocking instances of violence in early sound cinema.” Stephen Prince, Classical Film Violence

“Unbridled, salacious, subversive, and just plain bizarre.” Thomas Doherty, Pre-Code Hollywood

Winner of the US Dramatic Grand Jury Prize at Sundance 2024, IN THE SUMMERS is both an emotional capsule of growing up within a fragmented family and a love letter to the resilience needed to survive.

Siblings Violeta and Eva live in California with their mother, but every summer they travel to Las Cruces, New Mexico, to spend time with their loving but unpredictable father, Vicente (Puerto Rican rapper, singer/songwriter René “Residente” Pérez Joglar in an unforgettable debut acting performance). Over the course of four formative summers that span adolescence to early adulthood, Violeta and Eva learn to appreciate their father as a person, his flaws and limitations inseparable from his passion and tenderness. Lovers come and go, the backyard goes to seed, but the idea of home remains knotty and elusive. This powerful and deeply personal directorial debut from Alessandra Lacorazza offers a nuanced study of young people questioning their place within their families, their communities, and their identities.

“An exquisite film.” Tim Cogshell, FilmWeek (KPCC – NPR Los Angeles)

“[Director Lacorazza] has a finely tuned radar for emotional nuance, and In the Summers is an honest film about forgiveness, growth and acceptance of one’s limitations.” Adam Graham, Detroit News

Join gonzo Aussie filmmaker Andrew Leavold (THE SEARCH FOR WENG WENG) on his wildest adventure yet. FILM SAFARI GHANA explores Leavold’s obsession with the work of Ghanaian action movie sensation, Samuel “Ninja” Nkansah. Journeying to Kumasi to meet his hero, Andrew soon finds himself in the starring role of Ninja's slavery-themed action movie, WHITE DEVIL.

FILM SAFARI GHANA mixes film clips, interviews, and cinema-verite footage to create a vivid, vibrant and violent postcard from one of cinema’s final frontiers. It chronicles the history of Ninja and Ghana’s crazed DIY digital film scene, and the birth of a partnership between two of the world’s most outlandish and unconventional directors as they hatch a plan to reteam in Ghana to shoot Leavold’s dream project, a four-foot kung-fu remake of THE HARDER THEY COME.

Director Andrew Leavold will be in attendance for an intro and Q&A.

Ruth Reichl—trailblazing New York Times food critic, groundbreaking Gourmet Magazine editor, best-selling memoirist, and, for decades, one of the most influential figures shaping American food culture—grows concerned about the fate of small farmers, ranchers, and chefs as they wrestle with both immediate and systemic challenges as the pandemic takes hold.

In FOOD AND COUNTRY, Reichl reaches across political and social divides to discover innovators who are risking it all to survive on the front lines. As one person leads her to the next, she follows the unfolding stories of ranchers in Kansas and Georgia; farmers in Nebraska, Ohio, and the Bronx; a New England fisherman; and maverick chefs on both coasts. As she witnesses them navigate intractable circumstances, Reichl shares pieces of her own life, and, in doing so, begins to take stock of the path she has traveled and the ideals she left behind. Through her eyes, we get to know the humanity and struggle behind the food we eat. As Reichl says: “How we grow and make our food shows us our values– as a nation and as human beings.”

“An accessible look at the perilous future of food.” Justin Lowe, The Hollywood Reporter

“The only people who need to see this movie are people who eat.” Ty Burr, Ty Burr’s Watch List

Not everything is as it seems at the old Royal Fulton Hotel. Norman Forrester, played brilliantly in a career-defining performance by the iconic Corey Feldman, is finally going to meet his girlfriend’s family at her father’s lavish birthday party. But what was supposed to be an important step forward in their relationship doesn’t exactly go as planned; he’s not on the guest list, his girlfriend is ignoring him, and her father doesn’t like him at all. Rejected and heartbroken, Norman wanders away from the party, only to find something far more sinister than his girlfriend’s family lurking deep within the churning bowels of the ailing hotel: an ancient evil that threatens to bring about the end of the world.

Hailed a “cinematic marvel” by Jordan Peele, THE BIRTHDAY is the mischievously thrilling, darkly hilarious, and cult-celebrated first feature from visionary filmmaker Eugenio Mira, nearly lost after its world premiere at the 2004 Sitges International Film Festival and never viewed in theaters after its initial festival circuit tour… until now!

“A rare gift for lovers of unconventional cinema, The Birthday is a film that lingers in the mind long after viewing, inviting—perhaps even demanding—repeated viewings to unravel its many layers.” Stephanie Malone, Morbidly Beautiful

I'M FROM HOLLYWOOD is the unbelievable true story of comedy legend Andy Kaufman's career in professional wrestling. A lifelong fan of the sport, Kaufman spent most of 1982 feuding with Memphis legend Jerry "The King" Lawler. The film features hard-to-find footage of Kaufman in the ring, as well as interviews from his "Taxi" co-stars, Memphis announcer Lance Russell, and friend Robin Williams. A truly stranger-than-fiction story that needs to be seen to be believed.

This rare screening will feature a Q&A with the film’s director and Andy Kaufman’s partner, Lynne Margulies Osgood! The evening will be hosted by Jon Langmead, author of the new book Ballyhoo!: The Roughhousers, Con Artists, and Wildmen Who Invented Professional Wrestling.

Be sure to arrive early as, before the feature, we will be showing recently restored Super 8 footage shot in the PNW during the late ‘70s showcasing many of the legends from Don Owen’s Portland Wrestling. This recently discovered footage features Northwest wrestling luminaries such as Roddy Piper, “Playboy” Buddy Rose, Dutch Savage, Jimmy Snuka and countless others set to a synthesized soundtrack composed by Greg Meleney.

Limited copies of this footage will be available for purchase on VHS. Copies of Jon Langmead’s book will also be for sale.

Free screening in honor of Native American Heritage Month!

Winner of the best narrative feature at the 2023 Urbanworld Film Festival, FRYBREAD FACE AND ME follows two adolescent Navajo cousins from different worlds as they bond during a summer on their grandmother’s Arizona ranch, learning more about their family’s past and about themselves. Produced by Chad Burris and executive produced by Taika Waititi, the film stars Kier Tallman, Charley Hogan, Martin Sensmeier, Kahara Hodges and Sarah Natani. Written and directed by Native American filmmaker Billy Luther of the Navajo, Hopi and Laguna Pueblo tribes, whose other credits include the award-winning documentary MISS NAVAJO and the AMC series DARK WINDS. In English and Navajo with English subtitles.

Screenings are co-presented with Mother Nation and we ask that you support them with a donation this month. You can donate directly to them at their website or in-person at these screenings.

Free ticket reservations will begin one week prior to the film’s showtime.

Funding for this screening provided by 4Culture’s Sustained Support grant.

“Writer/director Billy Luther’s warm, tender, and funny debut Frybread Face and Me, which was executive produced by Taika Waititi, explores the humor and joy in finding your footing with family and the strength that comes from embracing your heritage.” Marya E. Gates, RogerEbert.com

Free screening in honor of Native American Heritage Month!

Mary Ellen Johnson-Davis disappeared over two years ago from the Tulalip Indian reservation. Because the investigation is at a standstill, her sisters and other tribal members set off to discover what happened to her. Their quest uncovers a harsh reality: indigenous women are murdered at an alarming rate. Most crimes go unsolved and are committed by non-natives in 2020. Her story exposes how hundreds of indigenous women continue to go missing in the USA, perpetuating trans-generational trauma on Indian reservations. From the filmmaker of THE STATE OF TEXAS VS MELISSA Sabrina Van Tassel. Executive produced by Deborah Parker, activist and the ex-Vice Chairwoman of the Tulalip Tribes. 

“Though viewers may walk away infuriated and angered by the continued cycle of destruction and injustice towards indigenous women, Missing From Fire Trail Road does a great job of explaining the problem. It also shows there will be no lasting solutions until laws and the people in control who perpetuate ongoing colonialism and all the trauma it brings, change. Through it all, however, every woman featured in the film is a force that will inspire, and might even move every member of the film’s audience to take action.” Leslie Combemale, Alliance of Women Film Journalists

Screenings are co-presented with Mother Nation and we ask that you support them with a donation this month. You can donate directly to them at their website or in-person at these screenings.

FYI, free ticket reservations will begin one week prior to the film’s showtime.

Funding for this screening provided by 4Culture’s Sustained Support grant.

In the heart of a bustling Times Square kitchen, dreams and desperation collide as the back-of-house staff each chase the elusive American dream. When money goes missing from the till, the spotlight falls on Pedro (Raúl Briones), a passionate dreamer entangled in a tumultuous love affair with Julia (Rooney Mara), a waitress grappling with her own commitments. As tensions rise and shocking revelations unfold, the relentless pace of the kitchen threatens to shatter the hopes and aspirations of those who keep it running. It's a high-stakes drama that explores the intersection of the personal ambition and systemic exploitation of undocumented immigrant workers within the pressure-cooker environment of a Times Square New York restaurant.

In English and Spanish (with English subtitles).

“A monumental work of righteous anger… a wonder to see, feel, and take in.” Robert Daniels, RogerEbert.com

“A chaotic symphony [that] mixes biting social critique with stylistic bravura… If the United States is a melting pot, this is the furnace.” Peter Debruge, Variety

PLAYLAND conjures a time-bending night in Boston’s oldest and most notorious gay bar. Featuring an eclectic ensemble of queer performers, including drag icon Lady Bunny and POSE’s Danielle Cooper, this transdisciplinary film sees music, dance, archival footage, tableaux, opera, and performance art layered into an ethereal piece subverting all boundaries. The work of queer fantasy and history takes place inside the empty husk of the Playland Café. Although the cafe shut down in the late ’90s, PLAYLAND stages one last bawdy night on the town for the ghosts of their LGBTQ+ ancestors.

“West’s film is a haunted house, a tribute to these ghosts and the living queers most deliciously possessed.” Drew Gregory, Autostraddle

An up-close cinematic walkabout through the life of Gary Young, the original (and highly unlikely) drummer of indie rock royalty Pavement. His booze and drugs-fueled antics (on-stage handstands, gifting vegetables to fans) and haphazard production methods (accidentally helping launch the lo-fi aesthetic) were both a driving force of the band's early rise and the cause of his eventual crash landing. Leaving a wake of joy and/or destruction at every turn, Gary teeters the thin line between free-form self-expression and chaotic self-destruction. Thirty years on with scoliosis, blood clots, and a shriveled liver, Gary continued drumming with no regrets.

Starring Gary Young and featuring Pavement members Stephen Malkmus, Scott Kannberg, Bob Nastanovich, and Mark Ibold.

“As unique and wide-ranging as its subject’s venerated drum skills.” Mike DeAngelo, The Playlist

“A must-watch film for any Pavement fan, especially those wanting to know more about the indie rockers’ formative days.” David Roy, The Irish News

“Not only a film about Pavement percussionist Gary Young, but also a shattering exploration of destiny, creativity, and existence.” Alyssa Miller, No Film School

Free screening in honor of Native American Heritage Month!

Buddy Red Bow (A Martinez) is struggling, in the face of greedy developers, to keep his nation on a Montana Cheyenne Reservation financially solvent and independent. Philbert (Gary Farmer), his easygoing friend, pursues Native wisdom and lore wherever he can find it—even on “Bonanza.” As the two set off on a journey to bail out Buddy’s imprisoned sister, Philbert’s gentle faith challenges Buddy’s hard-edged view of the world, and together they face the realities and dreams of being Cheyenne in the modern-day U.S. Native American spirituality abounds in this bittersweet portrait of two Cheyenne men on a journey through the American West and their own identities.

Screenings are co-presented with Mother Nation and we ask that you support them with a donation this month. You can donate directly to them at their website or in-person at these screenings.

Free ticket reservations will begin one week prior to the film’s showtime.

Funding for this screening provided by 4Culture’s Sustained Support grant.

“One of the reasons we go to movies is to meet people we have not met before. It will be a long time before I forget Farmer, who disappears into the Philbert role so completely we almost think he is this simple, openhearted man – until we learn he’s an actor and teacher from near Toronto. It’s one of the most wholly convincing performances I’ve seen.” Roger Ebert

These days, there’s a lot of talk about outsiders in politics, but very few people can claim outsider status like Joe Keithley, punk legend turned a dedicated environmentalist and city councilor. SOMETHING BETTER CHANGE follows Keithley’s absolutely fascinating life and career, showing us both his time as the front man of the formative hardcore punk band D.O.A., as well as his campaigns for city council as a Green Party candidate in his hometown of Burnaby, British Columbia. Featuring interviews with other punk luminaries like Jello Biafra and Ian MacKaye, as well as an appearance from Beto O’Rourke, whether you’re a hardcore punk fan or just a civically engaged citizen, Creem: America's Only Rock 'n' Roll Magazine director Scott Crawford’s latest film has a little something for everyone. – Daniel Abelow

Featuring an in-person Q&A with Joe Keithley, filmmaker Scott Crawford, and producer Duff McKagen!

10th anniversary director's cut! Q&A with filmmaker Scott Crawford.

SALAD DAYS examines the early DIY punk scene in the Nation's Capital. It was a decade when seminal bands like Bad Brains, Minor Threat, Government Issue, Scream, Void, Faith, Rites of Spring, Marginal Man, Fugazi, and others released their own records and booked their own shows - without major record label constraints or mainstream media scrutiny. Contextually, it was a cultural watershed that predated the alternative music explosion of the 1990s (and the industry's subsequent implosion). Thirty years later, DC's original DIY punk spirit serves as a reminder of the hopefulness of youth, the power of community and the strength of conviction.

This director’s cut will only be available in cinemas and not available on physical media or streaming (at least anytime soon).

30th anniversary! New 35mm print of Quentin Tarantino's groundbreaking crime classic!

Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) are hitmen with a penchant for philosophical discussions, whose story is interwoven with those of their boss, gangster Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames), his wife Mia (Uma Thurman), struggling boxer Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis), and a nervous pair of armed robbers, "Pumpkin" (Tim Roth) and "Honey Bunny" (Amanda Plummer).

Part of our 20th Anniversary Celebration Series!

“A spectacularly entertaining piece of pop culture.” Todd McCarthy, Variety

“It’s a film that still satisfies like a ‘quarter-pounder with cheese’ – then hits like a bullet to the gut.” Geoffrey Macnab, The Independent

THIS SEARCH FOR MEANING charts Placebo’s ongoing impact and legacy through a visual meditation on contemporary themes such as surveillance culture & scrutiny, sexuality & gender identity, addiction & trauma, as well as the climate crisis. These significant and weighty themes are explored in both an informal and personally authored manner through brand new interviews with band members Brian Molko and Stefan Olsdal.

The film’s overall narrative is structured around incredible and completely new performances of Placebo’s latest songs, captured at Britain’s legendary Twickenham Film Studios. The documentary also features rare archive interviews with David Bowie, along with exclusive interviews with Yungblud, Shirley Manson, Joe Talbot of Idles, Robbie Williams and others.

Free screening in honor of Native American Heritage Month!

Conceived by Navajo Nation Museum director Manuelito Wheeler and his wife Jennifer, this version of STAR WARS: EPISODE IV – A NEW HOPE is dubbed in the Navajo language and voiced by nearly 70 Navajo voice actors. It is the first major motion picture ever dubbed into a Native language. In Navajo with English subtitles (obviously!).

PLEASE NOTE: it is based on the "Special Edition" of STAR WARS with the added scenes and CGI.

Screenings are co-presented with Mother Nation and we ask that you support them with a donation this month. You can donate directly to them at their website or in-person at these screenings.

FYI, free ticket reservations will begin one week prior to the film’s showtime.

Funding for this screening provided by 4Culture’s Sustained Support grant.