Midnight Movies Documentary on DVD
Exploring 1970s Cult Movies of Jodorowsky, Romero, and Waters
The only beauty you're likely to find in midnight movies lies in the emotional truths behind these twisted presentations of the monstrous and perverse.
The late-night, button-pushing cult films of the 1970s strove to break new ground by normalizing the abnormal and flaunting what was previously hidden. Stuart Samuels’s documentary Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream (released in the United States in November 2007), based on his 1983 book “Midnight Movies,” explores these movies that screamed for the attention of young Americans and didn’t shut up until an entire generation of wasted youth were addicted to raunchy ritualistic viewings of films that spoke directly to them in a very personal way.
Cult Films Made Outside the Hollywood System
In this informative and entertaining documentary that Samuels wrote, produced, and directed, he features six films made outside the usual Hollywood system that became platforms for the filmmakers and near-religions for the crowds of young adults flocking to the midnight shows. Although mainstream America despised these early flicks with their grotesque violence, deviant sexuality, and flagrant drug use, these elements are part of most films being released today.
Midnight movies from the 1970s successfully brought together subcultures through word-of-mouth advertising in an effort to make outcasts feel like part of something. By maintaining a tight focus on their subject, passionately forging ahead with their projects, and providing an honest message for their selected target audience, these films served as a rite of passage for young audience members.
Five Visionary Directors
Five visionary directors Alejandro Jodorowsky, George Romero, John Waters, Perry Henzell, David Lynch, and creator-star Richard O’Brien provide insight into the midnight movie phenomenon. The diverse group of films includes an ultra-violent western with crippled actors (El Topo), a shocking, flesh-eating horror film (Night of the Living Dead), a filth-infested dark comedy (Pink Flamingos), a gritty, Reggae-infused underdog story (The Harder They Come), a sleazy rock-and-roll horror spoof (The Rocky Horror Picture Show), and a darkly troubled dream movie beyond most people’s comprehension (Eraserhead).
Samuels also interviews experts and audience members, such as a young woman who works as a nurse five days a week, but gets to perform as a “star” twice weekly when she dresses in costumes from The Rocky Horror Picture Show, originally a British stage show which was retooled into the most successful midnight movie of all time. Not only does Rocky Horror speak to its desired audience of young, sex-obsessed, gore-loving movie-goers, but it further engages the audience through unique interactive qualities. The film invites viewers to sing the songs, act out scenes, use props, and wear outrageous costumes featured in the film.
Brilliantly edited to mix sight, sound, and emotion, Midnight Movies offers just enough background – including initial resistance and rejections – to put the films in proper context. Clips cleverly elaborate points made by the interview subjects, and additional scenes from influential movies such as Freaks and Reefer Madness further explore the place of midnight movies in American society. Although the directors agree that humor is an essential component for these movies – even the horror films – a poignant note weaves itself through the chorus as we learn that the rise of home video meant the decline of midnight movies. Thankfully, Samuels eloquently captures the quirky beauty of midnight movies before they disappear entirely.
- Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream
- Director: Stuart Samuels
- Run time: 86 minutes
For more information about midnight movies, read La Constellation Jodorowsky and The Holy Mountain.
