Midnight Madness

 

The midnight movie genre has long catered to an eclectic array of cult classic cinematic releases, creating an ideal venue for movies too subversive to succeed in mainstream culture. These are the types of movies poised to thrive in late-night settings better than they would anywhere else. For example, as a teenager, I remember my cousin’s friend recommending that we rent The Rocky Horror Picture Show. We acquiesced, only to be faced with the intense awkwardness of watching Tim Curry seduce Susan Sarandon down to her white negligee from the comfort of our sleeping bags and pajamas on my aunt’s cold basement floor. Films, such as The Rocky Horror Picture Show, are rare entities designed be enjoyed within the bounds of extenuating, late-night circumstances. These are films enhanced by audience participation and a theatrical setting that enables its subversive storyline to be enjoyed.

As such, classic midnight movies generally fall under the following categories:

Cult Classics

These subversive films often are too eccentric to please mainstream audiences, yet they have withstood the test of time to become beloved staples of counterculture. Popularized by such midnight movie mainstays as Eraserhead, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and Pink Flamingos, these are films commonly associated with midnight viewings. Some, like The Rocky Horror Picture Show, have amassed such a dedicated cult following that audience participation is vital to the viewing experience. Typically, these movies are either so terribly bad or so uncommonly themed that they can only exist with an aura of bewilderment surrounding them.

Common examples of Cult Classics: Los Angeles’ cult classic darling The Room; the 1936 horror film Freaks; any film from the epic Evil Dead Series; and Ed Wood’s classic cinematic blunder Plan 9 From Outer Space.

Nostalgic Theatrical Runs

This type of midnight movie allows viewers to experience films popularized during my generation’s childhood, such as Labyrinth. Of all the types of midnight movies, nostalgic films arguably tend to be the most tempting based on the connotations gleaned from younger, more naïve times. However, if my recent experience attempting to re-watch the 1980s fantasy film The Neverending Story is any indication, these films are better off retiring into the much more forgiving vault of childhood memory, where everything seems a little more rose-colored. Thus, I abandoned my initial excitement to re-watch a showing of Return to Oz at the Music Box Theater in Chicago. Upon further inspection, this Fairuza Balk vehicle might not be as enticing without being viewed from my childhood living room, or without the IQ of an eight year old.

Common examples of Nostalgic Theatrical Runs: The swash-buckling romance The Princess Bride; the sexually-charged cartoon Who Framed Roger Rabbit; and the star-studded childhood adventure The Goonies.

Relatively New Releases

These are films that have yet to be embraced by a cult following, but which show promise by virtue of their eccentric storylines and mass counterculture appeal. Since they have yet to be established, they are decidedly more difficult to get people to go see with you. However, science fiction and horror films- such as the 2007 creep-out thriller Teeth- are increasingly finding their ways into urban-area movie theaters.

Common examples or Relatively New Releases: The aforementioned horror film Teeth; the existential drama Donnie Darko; and Robert Rodriquez’s comic-book-inspired Sin City.

Second-run Mainstream Releases

Recently, I went to see Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner: The Final Cut at a late-night showing in a local theater. Second run releases of such films provide a viewing environment no longer applicable for outdated mainstream films. Generally, these films were nation-wide blockbusters at the time of release, and still manage to draw a crowd of fans who were perhaps too young to enjoy the film during its initial release. Among these films are the timeless 1980s classics Raiders of the Lost Ark and Back to the Future. Each of these movies have had late-night runs inside the darkened depths of midnight movie venues, and have deservedly drawn crowds from a generation finally able to watch Marty McFly break the space-time continuum from the seats of a theater, rather than that beat-up old video taped off of TBS on a particularly lazy Saturday afternoon.

Common examples of Second-run Mainstream Releases: John Hughes Brat Pack romantic comedies, such as Pretty in Pink and Sixteen Candles, as well as pretty much any movie made in the 1980s starring Harrison Ford.

Tags: Cult Classic, Evil Dead, Midnight Movie, Musci Box, Plan 9 From Outer Space, Rocky Horror Picture Show