Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream
Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream
| 20 June 2006 (USA)
Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream Trailers

From 1970-1977, six low budget films shown at midnight transformed the way we make and watch films.

Reviews
SpunkySelfTwitter It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.
SanEat A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."
Brendon Jones It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.
Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.
Woodyanders This documentary centers on six transgressive movies that defied the mainstream and achieved enduring cult status through midnight screenings at special revival theaters: "El Topo," "Night of the Living Dead," "Pink Flamingos," "The Harder They Fall," "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," and "Eraserhead." George Romero admits that "Night of the Living Dead" was made as an angry response to the failure of the revolution attempted by people in the 1960's, John Waters happily discusses making movies with his friends and the shooting of the poodle poop eating scene in "Pink Flamingos," Richard O'Brien points out that "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" was a box office flop when it was first released in theaters, and David Lynch reveals that "Eraserhead" was inspired by industrial Philadelphia. Moreover, producer Lou Adler notes that it's the audience instead of the director who make a movie a cult film. In addition, this documentary covers how the social upheavals of the 1960's and early 1970's influenced indie filmmakers to go against the grain and critique and/or satirize the status quo, the popularity of marijuana smoking with midnight movie audiences, and how the invention of the VCR killed the midnight movie phenomenon. Essential viewing for cult cinema fans.
PaulyC Although "Midnight Movies" still exist today they are very scarce since the early 80's when video tape became popular and changed everything. Midnight movies are cult movies that cater to a certain kind of audience. This documentary deals with a few of the most successful Midnight Movies ever made, back when certain audiences were hungry for something different in their movie going. Movies featured are El Topo, Night of the living dead, Pink Flamingos, The Harder they come, The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Eraserhead. Back when they came out they were considered different than anything that came before and even hold up today. The documentary explains how these movies became popular in the midnight time slot even though some of them were tried at regular time showings. John Waters' Pink Flamingo's had a ten year straight run while The Rocky Horror Picture Show is the reigning champ with midnight screenings today where people dress as the characters and sing along to the catchy tunes in the film. There are people who have seen the film over 1000 times, not on DVD, but in an actual theater. Eraserhead by David Lynch was only a success after a year of midnight showings. It would be impossible for this to happen today as movies need to be an immediate hit. Interesting movie for those interested in a different kind of cinema. Good Stuff!
tfrizzell An excellent documentary feature on the backgrounds and effects of cult classics from the 1970s when underground movie groups popped into the limelight and in theaters as cinematic accessibility became more pronounced and prevalent. Movie classics (to some, not me) "Night of the Living Dead" (the 1968 original), "El Topo", "Pink Flamingos", "The Harder They Come", "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" and "Eraserhead" are the focal points here as we have tons of archive footage and interesting interviews from the films' major directors (John Waters, David Lynch, George Romero and others) and insight from dependable critic Roger Ebert. The picture is made better than the movies that are discussed and quickly becomes a magnet for some that are not familiar with the movies revisited. The only drawback here is that "Midnight Movies" will make some want to see the aforementioned films from the 1970s. Unfortunately, this flick makes its subjects look much more appealing than they actually are. 5 stars out of 5.
MisterWhiplash I watched this film the other night on TV- it's based on a book of the same name (the authors appear in the film as well)- and it did its job perfectly. It kept me interested by films I've seen and loved, heard of, or got introduced to during the program. And, the history itself behind the actual movie-going experience of the 'midnight movies' of the late 60's and 70's makes for fascinated viewing. We get interviews from filmmakers (John Waters, George Romero, Alejandro Jodorowsky, David Lynch, among several others) who go over the legends of their big 'cult' films, which either were made specifically for it, or just happened that way.One of the things I love about documentaries about movies, like the Martin Scorsese documentaries on American and Italian movies or Decade Under the Influence, is that there's a new awareness to material that I've never seen before. Most of the films selected here I have seen, but the ones that I didn't not only were impressive on their own, but gave me the feeling "I have to check these out, if I can find them." The most prominent one for me, which served as the sort of birthplace of the "midnight movie", is El Topo, Jodorowsky's madness of a film, that goes all out to do everything in its power to offend and act violent, nutty, obscene, while still maintaining a deranged sense of humor. It became a huge success as the first "midnight movie" that attracted a mass (or cult) of young people (almost all pot smokers, even in the theaters). Other films like Pink Flamingos and The Harder They Come looked equally interesting (and funny) to see. And getting some more back-stories on Night of the Living Dead, Eraserhead, and even The Rocky Horror Picture Show (which I was never much a fan of) kept me glued to the TV even in the later hours of night.For a movie buff this is a must-see to catch, another of the "good old days" kind of documentaries where one feels as much excitement and historical interest as slight sadness. There are still theaters around the country that have midnight showings of movies, almost by demand 'cultish', but the whole mystique and pandemonium around it- the kind of excitement that in its own realm was stronger as for the big Hollywood films- is gone.