Special guests in person!

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Dark Romances is a 1990 SOV anthology filmed at EZTV and conceived by director/producer Patricia Miller and (the late) Mark Shepard. It was originally shot as an episodic TV series for PLAYBOY, but was turned down due to it being deemed too violent & gory for their network. So, Mark and Patricia decided to distribute the 3-hour, 28-minute edited stories directly to video. Film Threat originally released these as a two-volume set. The set features scream queen BRINKE STEVENS in most of the stories and has a very EC / Tales from the Crypt vibe, with distincitve lighting and set design that truly sets this anthology apart from other shot-on-video films. 5 different auteurs who all worked at or frequented EZTV (PATRICIA MILLER, MARK SHEPARD, SAMUEL OLDHAM, JOHN STRYSIK, BRYAN MOORE and RODD MATSUI) created a genuine piece of analog you have to see.  Many collaborators on this film also worked on the SOV film, CARDS OF DEATH which has a similar vibe and aesthetic.

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VOL 1.
"The Black Veil"  is a Grand Guignol-inspired gothic story set in 1988 where a psychiatrist's widow visits a college friend performing in a theatre that enacts mutilations. It is one of the longer stories in this set, running just about an hour. "Listen to Midnight" is a film noir style story about a photographer and a woman with a dragonfly tattoo who mates with and then lures men to their death.

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VOL 2
"She's Bad, She's Blonde, She's Lunch" starts off with a bang, literally, and is my favorite of the bunch. A couple robs a store, leaving a trail of bloodshed, and then takes a trip to lover's lane where they meet a man, and his monster. In "Cardinal Sin," a young man is tempted by his dreams of Hustler star Elle Rio while dealing with his overbearing religious mom. "Pet Shop of Death": A submissive husband who wants to leave his wife for his neighbor (Brinke Stevens) goes to a specialty pet shop to find something to help free him from matrimony. "Last Love" is about a psychiatrist who, depressed over the loss of her husband, ends up having an affair with his ghost! Lastly, in "What Goes Around," a composer uninspired to create music after losing his wife and child finds new inspiration with a woman who is not what she seems.

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dirs. Patricia Miller, Mark Shepard, John Strysik, Bryan Moore, Rodd Matsui, Samuel Oldham, 1990
United States, digital projection
208 min

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FRIDAY, 10/9
*note earlier than usual start time*
6:30 DOORS
7:00 SCREENING

Brinke Stevens, producer/dir. Patricia Miller, dir. John Strysik in person!

There will be a 15 minute intermission between Vol. 1 & Vol. 2.

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$10 general admission.

Basic & Microcinephile members, please log-in to your account at checkout for your discounts to apply. Don't have a membership? Get one here.

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Culture Shock Releasing is a Las Vegas based preservation company that releases films shot on both video and film, focusing mostly on titles from the '80s and '90s with some contemporary films mixed in.

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‍Whammy! is located at 1200 N Alvarado St, near the intersection of Sunset & Alvarado and in between Tierra Mia Coffee and Manly & Sons Barbershop. Street parking only, please do not park in the library parking lot, as your vehicle will get locked in when the library closes. The corner of Sunset & Alvarado is served by 3 major bus lines, the 2, the 4, and the 93.