Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream (2006)

This documentary centers on six transgressive movies that defied the mainstream and achieved enduring cult status through midnight screenings at special revival theaters: "El Topo," "Night of the Living Dead," "Pink Flamingos," "The Harder They Fall," "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," and "Eraserhead." George Romero admits that "Night of the Living Dead" was made as an angry response to the failure of the revolution attempted by people in the 1960's, John Waters happily discusses making movies with his friends and the shooting of the poodle poop eating scene in "Pink Flamingos," Richard O'Brien points out that "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" was a box office flop when it was first released in theaters, and David Lynch reveals that "Eraserhead" was inspired by industrial Philadelphia. Moreover, producer Lou Adler notes that it's the audience instead of the director who make a movie a cult film. In addition, this documentary covers how the social upheavals of the 1960's and early 1970's influenced indie filmmakers to go against the grain and critique and/or satirize the status quo, the popularity of marijuana smoking with midnight movie audiences, and how the invention of the VCR killed the midnight movie phenomenon. Essential viewing for cult cinema fans.

While I have not watched EL TOPO (and probably never will due to its extreme violence), I have seen the five other films discussed in this documentary about so-called "midnight movies". While I have reviewed nearly 5000 movies and have an appreciation for all kinds of films, the ones shown in this documentary aren't ones I particularly like and that isn't super surprising, as the films definitely are counter-culture--films that appeal to a very select group. In spite of this, I still enjoyed this documentary and found it well worth seeing because of all the fascinating background information it gave. And, because I was not a fan of the films but the documentary made me appreciate them more, you know it must be a pretty good film. Think about it--creating excitement about a topic I normally would not care about--that's the sign of a good film.By the way, the films discussed were EL TOPO, PINK FLAMINGOS, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW, ERASERHEAD and THE HARDER THEY COME. I am a bit surprised they also didn't mention MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL, as it, too, made a killing at midnight showings and was a cheap independent film as well.

Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream (2005) *** 1/2 (out of 4) Highly entertaining documentary that traces the start and end of the midnight movie. El Topo, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Night of the Living Dead, Pink Flamingos and Eraserhead are discussed by critics, their filmmakers and those who made them famous. The documentary does a great job at showing the appeal of these films and why they've lived on for so many years after, for the most part, they couldn't even get into theaters early on. George Romeo, David Lynch, John Waters and even Roger Ebert are all interviewed as well as others.

Stuart Samuels brilliant documentary puts in its proper perspective how going to the films was changed forever with the arrival of the classic Alejandro Jodorowsky's film "El Topo" at the famous Elgin Theater in Chelsea. Mr. Samuels proves to have an insight into the counter culture that came into being in those golden days when people embraced a new expression in the movies, as championed by Mr. Jodorowsky and others of that era.The Elgin Theater was located in what we now know as the Joyce Theater, a mecca for the modern dance, on Eight Avenue, between 19th and 20th streets. Back then, the Elgin had a great programming and all kinds of films were shown, as it operated as a semi repertory cinema with its emphasis in the outrageous, which was presented at midnight. The place had seen better days by the time it became a refuge for the new film makers that wanted to change the way they made films.Alejandro Jodorowsky was perhaps the most influential one of that generation with his film "El Topo". It was the film that gave way to that trend to present unconventional films that wouldn't otherwise be shown a new venue for people looking for new things.John Waters was an admirer of what he encounter at the Elgin, and it gave him the push to go ahead with his outrageous films that wouldn't have a distribution, had the Elgin not welcomed him. George Romero is also part of that generation as is David Lynch, who is much younger, but one can see the influence of those outrageous films he saw early in his youth.The comments by Roger Ebert, J. Hoberman, Jonathan Rosenbaum and others in the documentary put things in the right perspective for us, as we learn the history of this phenomenon. Stuart Samuels has to be congratulated for putting things in their right place in order for everyone to understand how the change began.