BRINGING THE WEIRD, WILD WORLD OF CINEMA TO KANSAS CITY SINCE 2018.
This Week
What's that you say? Our Year of Monsters film series has finally gotten around to Tyler's very favorite subject: zombies! What movie are we showing? That's a surprise, but we'll give you a few hints: It features a radio DJ; it takes place in Canada; and the screenwriter also wrote the novel on which it was based;
What is it? The only way to know for sure is to come join us for a FREE screening at the Stray Cat Film Center on February 26, then stick around after the show as Orrin and Tyler host a live podcast discussing all things lycanthropic, complete with hair-raising giveaways!
Join us for a FREE screening of this seldom-seen film, and then stick around afterward as Orrin and Tyler discuss the history of J-horror, what makes a found footage movie work, and ectoplasmic worms!
THE HORROR POD CLASS is a monthly free screening hosted by Orrin Grey and Tyler Unsell where they seek out horror films that could be useful in a school setting. Screenings start at 7pm with a live podcast recording taking place after.
In 1930, working at night, on the same sets that Tod Browning, Bela Lugosi, et al were using during the day, Mexican actors famously made a Spanish-language version of Dracula. Within a few years, Mexico's burgeoning film industry was turning out gothic horror pictures of its own, and Phantom of the Monastery was one of the first, an eerie, poetic concoction full of Expressionist shadows and haunting images, including a room full of real mummies - mummies that can still be visited today at the Museo de El Carmen, if you happen to be planning a trip to Mexico City.Blurb goes here
With the season of scares right around the corner, this month Magnetic Magic is loading the VCR with a shlocky spookfest from low-budget maestro Joe Castro. Analog Sunday presents a twisted tale of familial afterlife cannibalism: Near Death!
From Fernando Mendez, director of what is probably Mexico's most famous gothic, 1957's El Vampiro, comes this Edgar Allan Poe-inflected tale whose Spanish-language title more closely translates to "Mysteries from Beyond the Grave." When two doctors make a pact that the first one who dies will find a way to bring the survivor across to the "other side," it sets into motion an EC Comics style tragedy that reminds us to be careful what we wish for in this atmospheric gem filled with torchlit funeral processions, mist-shrouded courtyards, horribly burned faces, and much more.
Mexico's most famous phantom, La Llorona has been the subject of dozens of movies over the years, including a recent installment in the Conjuring franchise and Jayro Bustamante's Golden Globe-nominated 2019 film. This, however, is almost certainly the wildest. Produced by and starring the legendary Abel Salazar (THE BRAINIAC, et al), CURSE OF THE CRYING WOMAN is Mexican gothic at its weirdest and most bombastic, throwing every imaginable trope and special effect at the wall to create a delirious concoction of haunted house hysteria complete with witches, dungeons, cobwebs, and a deranged spouse locked up in the attic, to name just a few.
For &drew's b-day month, Video Void is diving into all things sci-fi as the Void dedicates an entire night to a collection of unreleased (plus one returning) fasterpieces of schlocky sci-fi bullshit! We take 6 sci-fi features, take out all the bad parts, leavving only the good nuggets! Featuring your favorite sci-fi tropes: Mark Hamill's genius dog, sexy alien abductions, future girls, and cyborg Kim Cattrall!
Plus much, much more from the Void and a preshow featuring a hot-off the press digitization!
Prolific screenwriter-turned-director Carlos Enrique Taboada kicked off a "series of films that revitalized the genre" with this classic ghost story. "Taboada's films are some of the first to depict modern-day Mexico as the space of gothic horror," writes Kerry Hegarty. Even the Wind is Afraid's story of a haunting in a girls' boarding school not only helped to change the face of horror in Mexico, it also continues to inspire modern day directors, including Guillermo del Toro, who has cited Taboada as an influence. Also, let's be real, it has one of the best titles in horror history.
A VOlunteer-Run, Non-Profit Movie Theater in Kansas City
Stray Cat Film Center is a non-profit microcinema in Kansas City’s Crossroads neighborhood. Our 50-seat theater screens a wide variety of films, from French dramas to horror to socially conscious movies. Curated by a team of volunteer programmers, we offer a space for films that challenge and entertain.
We are committed to being an accessible and welcoming venue for film education, live art, and community events. Whether you're a longtime film lover or new to the scene, Stray Cat is a place to explore and connect through cinema.
MERCH!
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