After Joanna Angel’s zombie strip tease was shut down at last weekend’s Shock Stock, the dinos decided to take action. Especially after hearing London’s bylaw officer suggest that he does his job based on class. If you’re upset too, contact the mayor or municipal law enforcement services to complain about the double standard by which London, Ontario enforces its laws.
Our booth at Shock Stock, presented by Vagrancy Films and Grimbrothers Entertainment. The weekend was a blast, full of good friends and monsters, including my favourite, Toxie Terry! We got so much free stuff from our fellow vendors; Guam spent the better part of the weekend bragging about her buttons from Joanna Angel.
One of my first B movies ever was Toxic Avenger, so of course I had to fawn all over Troma.
The Vagrancy Kids Kickin’ the Burger… and some shoes.
More Burger Kickin’ and various reactions.
There were constant costume changes via Scary Larry and much megaphone abuse provided by James, the master of ceremonies.
And finally the Stay Puft guy gave us the finger, so Guam tried her best to eat him.
It was a pretty good time. Don’t miss 2013!
Meet Guam in person! Great deals on books, toys, buttons, and cards!
Canada’s newest and best horror convention, SHOCK STOCK.
Last night Vagrancy Films hosted their 6th year show at Rainbow Cinemas, screening Duke Mitchell’s long-lost classic “Gone with the Pope” and featuring over 20 minutes of mind-altering trailers. One of the best shows I’ve ever attended: a crowded theatre (we need these shows packed, people!); lots of Vagrancy Virgins (call James a “scumbag” and you get in half-price); an early broken reel (o the joys of real film!); trailers that push the limits of black, child, and whale exploitation; heckling from the usual vagrants and Big Poppa Dump himself; plus a fresh print of a fucking fantastic movie (great music and editing, hilarious one-liners, one after the other, all the exaggerated racism and misogyny you’d expect from true 1970′s Grindhouse, and surprisingly sensitive slower-paced scenes–adding a real sense of holiness to the film). What an exceptionally profound religious experience (and I’m not just saying that because I won an Ilsa press sheet).
The next Vagrancy event is Lucio Fulci’s HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY – FULL UNCUT 35mm 30th Anniversary, playing Saturday, October 22 at 11:30 pm, Rainbow Cinemas, London, Ontario. Don’t be a snobby fool; show up and support local grindhouse.
This past weekend Vagrancy Films and Grimbrothers Entertainment hosted Shock Stock, a celebration of horror and exploitation subculture. Guests included Dyanne Thorne and Howard Mauer; Betsy Baker, Ellen Sandweiss, Theresa Tilly, and Hal Delrich from The Evil Dead; Linnea Quigley; Thor; Molly Dunsworth and Nick Bateman from Hobo With a Shotgun; and Robert Skipper, as well as a variety of vendors: Troma, Twisted T’s, The Butcher Shop, AAH! Altered Arte & Handicrafts, City Lights Bookshop, Suspect Video, and many more.
Sunflower Skins and Sweater Eyes made their collaborative public debut with great success, sending off Catopuses and Bulimic Belugas into the world and being, without a doubt, the most adorable table at the convention.
Thanks to James Bialkowski, Jake Grimbrother, Dr. Duke, and Sonny Baker for a fantastic time; special thanks to Scotty for buying the very first comic book; and extraordinary love to my cohorts and family for pulling it off. This is only the beginning.
I first hear about Vagrancy Films through my old roommate, who says, “They’re weird. Like you.” And so, my partner Thom and I attend our first show:
Andy Warhol’s Flesh for Frankenstein. January 18, 2008.
Not know there’s going to be costume contest that night, my zombie outfit fits right in. A strange man with flaming orange hair and pop-bottle glasses dances a hobo jig in the aisle. Someone yells, “VHS Trade!” and several guys start handing out old movies to random people. A slide show of vintage advertisements play on the screen while a crowd of 80 files into Rainbow Cinema’s biggest theatre.
James Bialkowski, head honcho at Vagrancy Films, is not what you’d expect. A giant man with crazy eyes and cartoon skeleton-patterned shoes, his deep voice welcomes the crowd through a megaphone and starts gathering contestants for best costume; first prize is $51. Cash. His creepy sidekicks, the Grim Brothers, begin verbally abusing us for not being rambunctious enough, and thus the heckling begins:
Watching a movie at Vagrancy is not simply about watching a movie. It’s about making fun of, reacting loudly to, and partaking in the experience as fully as possible. Throwing back to the golden age of Grindhouse, Vagrancy allows audience members to dress like Neon Maniacs, repeatedly yell “Fuck her in the spleen!”, or, as one man so chose, announce “All of you are sick, this is disgusting,” and storm out of the theatre. At Vagrancy there is something to offend everybody and that is why it’s so engaging.
I love James’s trailer reels; for me they’re the highlight of each show. Splicing old commercials, ads, and cartoons amongst original 35mm trailers, the ten-fifteen minute pre-show is unpredictably and creatively cut together. In the 
past year and a half, D and I have seen such previews as Sonny and Jed, They Call Her One Eye, The Black Cat, Telephon, Black Frankenstein, Tom Thumb, and Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS. During Flesh for Frankenstein, set in the charming countryside of old England, a subway train rips through the screen in a trailer for Der New York Ripper. My favourite promo, though, is The Exorcist seizure teaser trailer which premiered at Vagrancy’s Dirty Bird Pt. I in May 2007. One minute and forty seconds long, it consists of a demon’s face flashing in the darkness and is so terrifying that it was originally banned in some theatres.
Some pre-shows screen short films made by the Vagrants—promotional videos where they hunt for porn in the late Cinema City, a 3-year anniversary music video featuring Mr. Karaoke, and introductions to the feature presentation. After each trailer reel and before the main film, the ‘Restricted’ Vagrancy Cat runs across the screen; an old, animated ratings warning which portrays a blue cougar prancing through the vicious jungle, this is the Vagrancy mascot. He marks all merchandise, such as rare films and t-shirts, which are available during ticket sales.
James and his gang regularly hand out free posters and movies for answering film trivia, for being a newcomer to Vagrancy, or for no particular reason at all. They love introducing people to interesting and bizarre films from the horror, giallo, and exploitation genres. Upcoming shows include Wicked Wicked, Savage Streets, and the 4-year anniversary show in September.
Mädchen im Nachtverkehr (1976)
A.K.A. Girls in the Night Traffic, Wilde Lust, Wild Desire
Dir. Jess Franco; Starring Kali Hansa, Diotta Fatou, Pilar Coll
Keeping in true Grindhouse tradition, Vagrancy Films offers a double feature from sexploitation master Jess Franco: Mädchen im Nachtverkehr, an X-Rated subtitled cut running just over an hour, and Wilde Lust, the 25-minute longer XXX German version. Mädchen im Nachtverkehr has better picture quality, but Wilde Lust definitely shows more, so Vagrancy kindly offers both in one package, courteously catering to their viewers. When the box art alone shows a bed full of naked ladies and some very sensual banana-eating, you know you’ve got a good deal.
We begin with said ladies who are actually high-class hookers, only it appears they have worn themselves out and are now resting; Franco opens with some bizarre music while the girls massage each other and discuss their clients. Using flashbacks amidst the slumber party, Franco wastes no time getting down to business; the women are beautiful, bushy pros who give their Johns exactly what they want, whether it’s plain ol’ missionary, role-playing as a corpse, or theatrical sex shows.
But when an erotic photographer turns out to be a kidnapping pimp, hijinks ensue. One of the hookers is taken to a Turkish brothel, where the workers appear far less interested in their jobs than the Swiss girls. Soon all of the friends are kidnapped and bored in the brothel, plotting revenge on their captor.
For the XXX cut, some die-hard fans might feel the need to brush up on their German, although the English subs are hilarious with such gems as “Willie is terrific” and “You have a plump bust.” Our opinion, however, is that the dialogue isn’t so important because Franco’s imagery is more than satisfactory for story-telling. The cinematography is very flowing and slow, giving the impression that we’re watching from a distance; though the actual cuts in the reel are sometimes jumpy, the lack of abrupt camera movement adds serenity to the experience.
Franco pumped out several exploitation and horror films a year and was already a veteran filmmaker by the time he made Mädchen im Nachtverkehr. With over 200 directorial credits to his name, the Franco legacy holds its own again the waxed and tanned hardcores of today; for a 1970’s porno, the women are actually real hotties. Music includes saloon-style ragtime, honky-tonk ditties, and horn-blowing.
No, really, there’s a saxaphone.
For sale from Vagrancy Films, $10.
Jess Franco at Grindhouse Database
Dir. Ken Russell; Starring Vanessa Redgrave, Oliver Reed, Dudley Sutton
Using Aldous Huxley’s The Devils of Loudun as his point of departure, Ken Russell gives a vivid and unsettling portrait of renaissance history: religious intolerance, repression, and corruption are at the heart of The Devils, an exotic film about the adulterous priest Urbain Grandier and his supposed possession of a local convent. Amidst the political turmoil of 17th century France and Cardinal Richelieu’s desire for absolute power, Sister Jeanne of the Angels has become sexually obsessed with Grandier, and her sisters follow suit with mass hysteria; Grandier is charged with witchcraft and the nuns must be exorcized.
Forget Sean Penn. Forget Mickey Rourke. This is Ollie Reed in his greatest role, sweating and seducing and praying—and evoking the audience’s simultaneous empathy and disgust. His intensity never lets up for a moment, but then again, neither does Russell. Sister Jeanne’s wild dreams about Grandier are loaded with colour, biblical transgressions, and unsettling sexual imagery. Vanessa Redgrave’s Mother Superior will, in short, terrify and haunt you as few nuns can: be wary of her giggling piety.
Some may disagree with me, but I particularly like this depiction of the Loudun Possessions because Russell does not go over the top. Yes, the film is image upon image upon image, but he never decisively tells the audience how to feel about Grandier; Russell offers several options—admiration, sympathy, condemnation—yet leaves it to the viewer to decide. We are swayed from believing the heretical accusations to sensing it was a political ploy set up by Richelieu in order to desecrate Grandier’s reputation. After several screenings I still do not know, which is perhaps critical to the film’s beauty.
I have on good film-snob authority that Mark Kermode’s 2002 documentary Hell on Earth is “bloody brilliant.” Additionally, be sure that you see the uncensored print of The Devils with the infamous “Rape of Christ” scene. Controversy led to the film being re-rated, re-cut, and banned outright in many countries, and it is through Kermode’s perseverance that the deleted scene was recovered, although official copies of the film remain without it. But guess what, kids? Do you think Vagrancy would sell a censored version of one of the greatest films ever made? Certainly not.
Russell’s absurd portrayal of Louis XIII as a flaming homosexual provides some much-needed and well-placed comedy in an otherwise terrifying film about sexual and religious perversion. Although Russell has obviously taken some artistic liberties, the creepiest thing about The Devils is that it actually happened. Don’t heckle this one, you beer-guzzling buffoons; sit back in awe. One of the most disturbing films I have ever seen, my first viewing left me curled in a foetal position, horrified.
For sale from Vagrancy Films, $10.
Those of you who were able to drag your drunken carcasses to “Dirty Bird 2” know that $10 is a steal. Last night Vagrancy upped the ante to a whole new level; this is the only place you are going to get over 65 splices of 35mm exploitation goodness, including but not limited to educational footage of incestuous Swedish siblings, cherry-popping of young wirgins, and “Jesus in some hairy guy’s taint” (if I’m quoting correctly).
The night started with two short films, “Blood Shed” (2008) and “The Dirty Bird” (2009). The first comes from the east coast and skilfully combines horror and comedy with its “nudity, profanity, graphic violence, drug use, mutilation, and fishing.” Jason Shipley’s 15-minute gore fest is both hilarious and disgusting, a sure sign it will go over well with vagrants. Well paced, clearly shot, and impressively edited, “Blood Shed” makes a sucker out of anyone who misses it.
As for the second short, I might be a bit biased, but it’s the new favourite in my house. Jake Grimbrother nods his twisted little head at Jess Franco with “The Dirty Bird,” meeting with screams of delight (mostly from Jerry) and excessive applause. Mix Hansel Hartleib’s startling score with Karate Pete’s killer moves, and you’ve got a great prequel to the infamous “Pussy Pound.”
Then the movie started. Or should I say, movies. Bilo’s selections for the night were seamlessly cut together by the Rainbow’s excellent projectionist. Beginning with mondo film “Sweden Heaven and Hell” (1968), it wasn’t long before the boobies were bouncing across the screen in Technicolor. I, for one, learned a heckuva lot about what to do if I’m a Swedish broad with urges of the dirty kind. Exploiting sex, alcohol, drugs, and children, we were then treated to parts of “The Sidewalk Cowboy” (1968).
Bilo’s trailers are rarely a let-down (I’m blocking out creepy Russ Tamblyn as Tom Thumb). On April 4th Vagrancy heads to Cleveland to screen “Anita: Swedish Nymphet” (1973) complete with Christina Lindberg in the flesh, so last night’s trailer reel included “They Call Her One Eye” (aka “Hookers Revenge” [1974]), “The Depraved” (1971), and “Maid in Sweden” (1971). We also got “The Photographer’s Models” (1974) and “Dagmar’s Hot Pants” (1971), plus some weird German soft-core. However, in my opinion, one of the best parts of the evening was the cartoon short: it featured Chilly Willy, who, by the way, is far cooler than that annoying woodpecker, though do not think for a second that I’m slandering the immortal and untouchable Woody. I love the juxtaposition of exploitation films with silly cartoons from my childhood. Delightfully inappropriate.
Finally, along with a special ladies night discount, we were able to purchase half-price pre-sale tickets for Vagrancy’s April 17th showing of “The Exorcist” (1973). Don’t miss the chance to see it, screening in the theatre for the first time in nearly ten years. And this is the uncut original, not the sissy version you’ll find on DVD. Advanced tickets go on sale March 24th at City Lights Books, Neon Crab Tattoo, and Grooves.
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