Line up :-
double-bill:
TAKE AN EASY RIDE (18) 12.30pm
(running time 45 minutes)
GB, 1976
director: Kenneth Rowles
cast: Helen Bernat, Margaret Heald, Pauline Bates
This cautionary tale about the perils of hitch-hiking is a low-budget exploitation classic, which enjoyed a 48-week uninterrupted Soho run during the late 70s. Unseen since its Iver Film Services pre-cert video release. Screening introduced by director Kenneth Rowles.
...plus...
THE BRUTE (18) 1.15pm
(running time 90 minutes)
GB, 1977
director: Gerry O'Hara
cast: Sarah Douglas, Julian Glover, Roberta Gibbs
Julian Glover plays one of cinema's most disturbing villains in this powerful British film about domestic terrorism. The Brute has remained unreleased in the UK on any format since its pre-cert video debut on the Brent Walker label.
DEATH WEEKEND (18) 3.15pm
(running time 90 minutes)
Canada, 1976
director: William Fruet
cast: Brenda Vaccaro, Don Stroud, Chuck Shamata
This stunning home-invasion horror film from Canada, aka The House by the Lake, has been unseen in the UK since its pre-cert era video release on the Vampix label.
SATAN'S SLAVE (18) 5.25pm
(running time 90 minutes)
GB, 1976
director: Norman J. Warren
cast: Michael Gough, Martin Potter, Candace Glendenning
Director Norman J. Warren will introduce a very rare screening of the export version of his 1976 Satanic shocker, as originally released by early market-leaders Intervision at the dawn of the video era.
EQUINOX (18) 8.00pm
(running time 80 minutes)
USA, 1970
director: Jack Woods & Dennis Muren
cast: Edward Connell, Barbara Hewitt, Frank Bonner
Equinox is rumoured to have influenced classic video nasty The Evil Dead. This rarely screened horror movie has remained unseen in the UK since its two pre-cert video releases on the Mountain and KM labels.
BLACK DEVIL DOLL (18) 9.40pm
(running time 75 minutes)
USA, 2009
director: Jonathan Lewis
cast: Heather Murphy, Natasha Talonz, Christine Svendsen
UK premiere for the most talked-about exploitation film of the year, true to the spirit of the wild pre-cert video era. Chucky meets Dolemite as a jive-talking puppet goes on the rampage!
I can happily live my life without ever seeing BLACK DEVIL DOLL, although the odds are that I'll be completely mangled and back at the hotel by that point anyway.