April 30th is
Walpurgisnacht
- the portentous “Witches’ Night” of
European folklore, when it is believed that chthonic nightside currents
surge with diabolical potential - and Wyrd War is summoning all the
witches to dance! Join us for an intimate screening of director Matt
Cimber's 1976 cult masterpiece THE WITCH WHO CAME FROM THE SEA and meet
local practicing witches who will be displaying their wares in the
upstairs lobby bazaar before the film.
More widely known for his
blaxploitation films, THE WITCH WHO CAME FROM THE SEA is Cimber’s
shimmering foray into taboo-smashing psychological horror. Fortunately
for us, he brought a young cinematographer named Dean Cundey along for
the ride to steal your eyeballs at every turn. Cundey would go on to
shoot Halloween, Halloween II, Halloween III: Season of the Witch,
Escape From New York, The Thing, Big Trouble in Little China, The Fog,
Back to the Future, Rock 'N' Roll High School, the best of the Ilsa
films (Ilsa: Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks, naturally) and the obscure
proto-Predator gem Without Warning - among many, many more - and all of
his dazzling brilliance is on display in this film. This tale of a
neurotic young woman’s horrible self-discovery and inexorable descent
into madness and murder, told through beautiful mythological allegory,
is strangely charming and humane even as it disturbs and ultimately
devastates. A hallucinatory and truly spellbinding journey into
transgressive symbol and psychosexual tension best experienced in the
dark…with someone you trust!
Witches' Bazaar at 9:00pm. Film at 9:30pm.