Photos from the Downtown Independent event
Being a newbie to the great city of Los Angeles, I’m always on the hunt to partake in whatever horror related event or screening is happening in town. Thankfully, for this particular weekend, the fiends over at Brutal Cinema had us covered by putting together a special double feature screening of Lucio Fulci’s classic Zombie, paired up with the premiere of the new flick Isle Of The Damned.
New Bev projectionist Adam Trash kicked off the evening with a trailer reel that consisted of promo commercials for Street Trash, I Spit On Your Grave and The Beyond; titles that all definitely fit in with the overall aesthetic of the evening’s event. Immediately following the trailers, we were treated to a vintage 35mm print of Zombie, a personal favorite of mine that up until last night I’d never gotten the chance to experience on the big screen.
In between the two features was something a little unique. The metal band Rusty Eye performed a full set right at the front of the theater. Boasting one of the most bitchin’ female drummer’s I’ve seen in a metal outfit, the trio definitely rocked the place. (Check them out via their official website right here.)
The lovely host of the evening Alli Nekromistress, along with the Brutal Cinema crew held a raffle giving away various items from posters to DVD’s and more. (One fellow just wanted a hug from Nekromistress when he was called down as a winner. Can ya blame him?) Lastly, Isle Of The Damned director Mark Colegrove and composer Paul Joyce (both fellow East Coasters) came up to introduce the West Coast debut of their film. While the poster calls Isle a “long lost 80’s classic” and brags that it’s been banned in “492 countries” (?!), it’s a recent film that truly wears it’s love of Italian cannibal films firmly on it’s bloody sleeve. From the intentional film scratches to the late 70’s style score and the purposely bad dubbing, it comedically felt authentic to any one of the notorious “Cannibal ‘Blank'” movies.
Overall, a really fun and diverse evening of horror themed entertainment. If you like your horror dark, gritty and dirty, then the Brutal Cinema events are for you. You can keep tabs for upcoming screenings via their MySpace page right here.
Source: Robg.
