Sacrilegious Cinema
Menagerie of Madness
TONIGHT – Sacrilegious Cinema: Menagerie of Madness dips deeper into the bowels of Samhain with the entirety of the feature oriented on Halloween for throughout the duration at Hot Wax shifting to the more sleazy and grindhouse renditions of the season. 
At 8PM, we step into the horrifying and haunted Hull House- because we’re invited to Angela’s Halloween Party for a very 80’s Night of the Demons (1988). Directed by Kevin S. Tenney of Witchboard success, this horror schlockfest borrows from predecessors like Evil Dead, endowing it with a twisted incarnation where a band of misfits indulge in a Samhain celebration like no other at the former funeral parlor turned hang out where a seance goes terribly awry. This tongue in cheek entry into the genre has an intriguing cast of vulgar characters not afraid to push the boundaries in its absurdities. With Amelia Kinkade as the unapologetic goth girl at the helm of the function, choreographing her own ritualistic dance sequence complete with Bauhaus’s Stigmata Martyr, Night of the Demons (1988) cements itself as a cult classic amongst its contemporaries, emerging as a significant player in alternative representation in film. And if that doesn’t entice viewers enough, iconic scream queen Linnea Quigley offers a dichotomous juxtaposition to her dark counterpart as the pink clad bimbo Suzanne, oozing in over the top taunting and flirtations, leading to one of the most famous scenes of the movie, involving lipstick and the female anatomy audiences must see to believe. With its ambitious spunk, this 1980s time capsule stands out amidst the sea of degeneracy. 
Then, at 10PM, we’re heading out to the backwoods of Texas for some 70’s inspired exploitation style fun- on our road trip we’ll make a pit stop at Captain Spaulding’s Museum of Monster and Madmen before stumbling upon the Firefly family in their eponymous House of 1,000 Corpses (2003). Heavy metal musician Rob Zombie (of White Zombie) makes a mark on horror cinema in his directorial debut, paying homage to the more raw, gritty splatter flicks of the past in a trashy albeit fervid return to the unadulterated grotesque in his most acclaimed work in his long career. Complete with horror legend Karen Black (Burnt Offerings, Trilogy of Terror) as the matriarch of the twisted Firefly family and character actor Sid Haig (Spider Baby) as the foul mouthed clown Captain Spaulding, House of 1,000 Corpses gains a reputation of credibility. To secure this status, Zombie recruits the unforgettable Bill Moseley, most revered for bringing Choptop to life in Tobe Hooper’s sequel to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Moseley creates a different kind of evil in the manifestation as an equally exalted role in Otis Driftwood. Merging elements of the fantastical and grime, House of 1,000 Corpses lies somewhere between an artistic music video and a snuff film, fusing the DNA of what would become Zombie’s signature approach to his later filmography formula, specializing in both these arenas to establish a name for himself in the horror community for years to come. 
FREE popcorn included with a mandatory purchase- no cover charge with a 1 drink (or snack) minimum from the bar. Remember to try our themed drinks for this week’s spooky double feature -grab them while you can.
(Movie nights offer psychological insight accompanied by behind the scenes information and observations by your horror hostess). 