AlamoDrafthouse

The Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, Texas is something of a Mecca for movie geeks. In addition to first-run theatrical fare, the Drafthouse regularly showcases cult, foreign, and classic films. For the last four years, Alamo programmer Zack Carlson has hosted a late-night horror movie celebration called Terror Tuesday and if you are a lover of horror, both esoterically brilliantly and obscurely awful, this night was invented just for you.

So I decided, since I am already a fixture at the Drafthouse, despite their best efforts to get rid of me, why not provide coverage for this weekly treat? The Terror Tuesday Report will dissect the movie shown as well as provide a barometer for the audience's reaction; as many of these films demand to be seen with an audience, this proves a vital component to the evening.

This week's film: The Beast Within.

The Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, Texas is something of a Mecca for movie geeks. In addition to first-run theatrical fare, the Drafthouse regularly showcases cult, foreign, and classic films. Not only that, but they bring you food and beer during the film; satiating each one of your senses. Every Tuesday for the last four years, Alamo programmer Zack Carlson has hosted a late-night horror movie celebration called Terror Tuesday. If you are a lover of horror, both esoterically brilliantly and obscurely awful, Terror Tuesday was invented just for you. So I decided, since I am already a fixture at the Drafthouse, despite their best efforts to get rid of me, why not provide coverage for this weekly treat? The Terror Tuesday Report will dissect the movie shown as well as provide a barometer for the audience reaction to the film; as many of these films demand to be seen with an audience, this proves a vital component to the evening. This week's film: Devil Fetus.

Greetings fellow ravenous horror fans. We've reached that seminal point in the workweek; the greatest of all previously-overlooked days. It's once again time to sink our teeth into the Terror Tuesday Report. Every week I attend the screening of a classic, or classically awful, horror film at the revered Alamo Drafthouse here in Austin surrounded by a cadre of like-minded horror freaks. The master of ceremonies is Zack Carlson who, in much the same fashion as the late-night horror hosts that thrived in the glory days of local television, muses hilariously about the quality or lacking of the films. For my part, I will provide a review of the film showcased as well as gage the audience reaction to the film; an integral component of these magical evenings. Tonight's film is a blaxploitation horror flick entitled; JD's Revenge.

Often overlooked in the maddening rush of the work week, Tuesday is rapidly toppling the more traditionally-anticipated days to stand as my favorite. This zeal is in no small part due to Austin's Alamo Drafthouse and its cult revival vehicle Terror Tuesday. Each week, this bastion of schlock and awe delivers some of the weirdest, rarest, most unbelievable horror films from all corners of the globe. Since I have the good fortune of living in Austin and regularly attend this weekly congregation of horror buffs, I thought it only appropriate that I cover both the film and the audience reaction for Horror Squad.

This week, we tear into Raw Force from 1982.

I was extremely jealous of all my Austinite colleagues last weekend when I saw the Tweets fly about the Monster Squad screenings at the Alamo Drafthouse. Stars Andrew Gower, Ryan Lambert and Jon Gries along with writer Shane Black and director Fred Dekker were all in attendance. To celebrate the occasion there was a limited edition poster previewed by artist Tyler Stout. I've been drooling over it since first sight.

You can purchase the poster on the Mondo Tees website and you better hurry because one of the editions is already sold out. Each poster is screen printed with bad ass metallic inks and hand numbered. This is a very limited edition of only 450. Stout's psychedelic-nouveau style immediately makes me recall another favorite poster of mine for the 1976 film Squirm. Visit Stout's website and enter a movie geek's wet dream.

Dekker himself claimed that Stout's poster was the best poster ever created for his film about a club of kids who set out to save the world from a horde of classic movie monsters. The director celebrated a highly anticipated DVD and Blu-ray release of Night of the Creeps this past October. I've been fantasizing that Stout might work his genius for a Creeps poster. A nifty glow in the dark event poster was created by John Smith for the Alamo Ritz Creeps reunion last summer.

Geez Austin, quit being so geeky and lovely already.

Every religion needs its place of worship, but most religions also subscribe to the idea of a holy land. The holy land is a place of immeasurable reverence where the God (or gods) of their people can be honored in a more communal, and more dedicated fashion. Jews go to synagogues, Christians to church, and Muslims to mosques ... and inconveniently all have their holy land in the same place. For horrorphiles like me, the holy land is Austin, TX and our temple is Terror Tuesday at the Alamo Drafthouse.

Every Tuesday night for the past several years, the Alamo Drafthouse has been witness to some of the greatest, the cheesiest, and the schlockiest horror films ever made. In this hallowed theater, these late night forays into madness find joyous purchase no matter what textbook definition of quality they may lack. The high priest of horror in this temple is one Zack Carlson who introduces each movie with the enthusiasm of a carnival barker and an unmatched encyclopedic knowledge. He warms up the crowd with wit and excitement to the point that the crowd can be quite frenzied by the time the reels start spinning. I feel entirely at home in this Mecca of genre love and I have decided to make it my charge to attend as many Terror Tuesdays this year as humanly possible.

Each week I will break down both the film featured and the subsequent audience reaction. For this, the first Terror Tuesday of the year, Zack has chosen Lucio Fulci's Gates of Hell

Originally posted on Cinematical, 9/23/09

Tim League founded the Alamo Drafthouse with his wife Karrie in Austin, Texas back in 1997, and since then it's become a mainstay for mainstream films with a brisk sideline business for film geeks who require a steady diet of sci-fi, horror, fantasy, Asian, cult and ... the plain weird flicks. They've become known for their offbeat programming as much as they are for the fact that you can get a cheeseburger and a pint of beer during the movie, and this week marks the start of their fifth annual Fantastic Fest film festival.

Besides being the owner of the Alamo Drafthouse, League founded the fest with Harry Knowles of Ain't It Cool News, Matt Dentler, Paul Alvarado-Dykstra, and Tim McCanlies. These days, League is usually busier than "an octopus with hives," as my uncle used to say, but we caught up with him during the relative calm before the hurricane of film geekery and all-day screenings begins. Read on after the break for the full interview, and of course stay tuned to Cinematical for all of your Fantastic Fest news.

So Peter got all excited for the first wave of announced titles for Fantastic Fest, despite having never been before. Then Scott brought the love when it came to the second announcement, having been time and time before. And now it's my turn to assure you that, after having only attended last year, I really, truly can't wait for this year's festivities to kick off, and the most recent reveal of what's on the slate certainly didn't hurt my interest.

The controversial Antichrist will make its U.S. premiere, as will [REC] 2 (hec yeah!). The director of Ninja Assassin will be there with his film, the stars of Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant will be there with theirs (read: John C. Reilly), and the very clever Hirsute bodes well for the shorts program to boot. And there'll even be a couple of secret screenings that we can only hope our fellow Twitter types will have the courtesy not to spoil prior.

Check out the rest after the jump. 17 more days!

Here's my typical blah-blah intro: Fantastic Fest rules. I love Austin in late September. Alamo Drafthouse has great employees and even better cheese fries. Movies yay nerd geek woo. OK, now let's move on. Here was Batch 1. Below is a portion of Batch 2. After the jump are the rest of Batch 2 and a LOT of groovy info on Zombieland (!), the Austin return of Mr. George Romero (!!), and a bunch of witty blather from our pal Tim League. Ready? Good.

Daybreakers U.S. Premiere (dir: The Spierig Brothers, 2009) In the year 2019, a plague has transformed most every human into vampires. Faced with a dwindling blood supply, the fractured dominant race plots their survival; meanwhile, a researcher works with a covert band of vamps on a way to save humankind.

Doghouse (dir. Jake West, 2009, UK) North American Premiere Kicked out of the house and recently served with divorce papers, Vince (Stephen Graham, THIS IS ENGLAND) is at a low point in his life. In an effort to rally their best mate's spirits, his crew rents a charter bus for a country retreat of heavy drinking and womanizing. The only problem is that the women in their idyllic country hideaway have been infested with the zombie plague, eaten every man in town and are now hungry for seconds.

Duress North American Premiere (dir. Jordan Barker, 2009, US) A cold-blooded killer has singled out a mild-mannered, recently widowed man and is forcing him, under threat of harm to his young daughter, to participate in his gruesome activities. The indecisive father sinks deeper and more helplessly into the clutches of the ruthless killer - a man most definitely on a mission.

Macabre World Premiere (dir. The Mo Brothers, 2009, Indonesia) After just embarking on a roadtrip, six friends stop to pick up a girl who has just been robbed and return her to her home at the end of an isolated forest. Their act of kindness ends up being repaid by a night of unspeakable horror and butchery.

Smash Cut U.S. Premiere (dir. Lee Demarbre, 2009, Canada) When his latest film is panned for its sub-par effects work, veteran grindhouse filmmaker Able Whitman (David Hess, LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, HOUSE ON THE EDGE OF THE PARK) is struck with inspiration: the most realistic gore effects will come from actual dismemberment and corpses!

Survival of the Dead U.S. Premiere (dir. George A. Romero, 2009, US/Canada) George Romero returns to the Alamo Drafthouse cinema for the U.S. premiere of his latest zombie opus. The action centers on two warring clans of Plum Island; one wants to kill every zombie on the island, the other tries to protect their undead family members until a cure for "zombieism" is found.

Van Diemen's Land U.S. Premiere (dir. Jonathan Auf Der Heide, 2009, Australia) When their guard is killed en route to prison in 19th-century Tasmania, eight prisoners escape through the dense rain forest. Their poorly-conceived escape plans crumble, food runs out and the gang of prisoners engages in power struggles, psychological games and cannibalism in order to survive. Based on the true-life story of Australian prisoner Alexander Pearce.

Yesterday Regional Premiere (Rob Grant, 2009, Canada) When a strange flulike virus starts killing people and turning them into flesh-eating zombies, an unlikely group of guys band together, grab an SUV and head for the woods to wait out the epidemic. Shot in 16mm on a micro-budget of $25,000, YESTERDAY transcends its resources, filling every scene with great practical effects, car crashes, ballistics and, most importantly, cracklingly sharp dramatic and comedic performances by every single principal cast member.

Zombieland (dir. Ruben Fleischer, 2009, US) Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) is a big wuss - but when you're afraid of being eaten by zombies, fear can keep you alive. Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) is an AK-totin', zombie-slayin' badass whose single determination is to get the last Twinkie on earth.