ECCENTRIC CINEMA

LONE WOLF AND CUB: SWORD OF VENGEANCE (1972)

Saturday, April 4, 9:30 pm

“Raise a kung-fu fist against Ogami Ittō and he’ll chop it off” went the tagline for the 1980s American releases of the Lone Wolf & Cub movies. The legendary Tomisaburô Wakayama stars as Ittō, the fierce wandering rōnin who is always accompanied by his young son, Daigoro (Akihiro Tomikawa). Damned to hell after refusing to commit seppuku when his master died, Ittō hires out his services to a small rural clan of samurai, who believe a conspiracy is afoot to assassinate their lord. While slicing his way through enemy after enemy, Ittō also seeks out the “Shadow” Yagyū who murdered his wife years earlier.

THE BAD NEWS BEARS (1976)

Saturday, April 11, 9:30 pm

Walter Matthau stars as Morris Buttermaker, an alcoholic former minor-league pitcher who is hired to coach a dysfunctional youth league baseball team. Thinking he can drunkenly sleepwalk through the season, Buttermaker comes to see that this rowdy group of rebels has no one in their lives who believes in them. Now, with the help of a skilled pitcher (Oscar-winner Tatum O’Neal) and a juvenile delinquent who is the best athlete in town (Oscar-nominee Jackie Earle Haley), Buttermaker shows the kids what it’s like to feel like winners. While the trailers and poster make the film look like a regular kids’ film, The Bad News Bears contains humor, language, and situations that some might find offensive. It is a product of its time. Please check a parental guide to see if you or your children are okay with the material in the film before purchasing a ticket.

THE ROOM (2003)

Second Saturday of every month
Saturday, April 11, 9:45 pm

Johnny is a successful banker who lives happily in a San Francisco townhouse with his fiancée, Lisa. One day, inexplicably, she gets bored with him and decides to seduce his best friend, Mark. From there, nothing will be the same again.

If you have not experienced The Room at the Drexel, you don’t know what you’re missing. The loyal fans have created their own live experience à la The Rocky Horror Picture Show. They’re always excited to indoctrinate newbies into the cult of Wiseau. A Drexel tradition for 16 years, The Room is a gonzo masterpiece. (2003, dir. Tommy Wiseau)

UP IN SMOKE (1978)

Saturday, April 18, 9:30 pm

Beloved counterculture comedians Cheech and Chong make their film debut in this raucous comedy that plays like a dope-addled Robert Altman film. The episodic picture follows the pair as they are hired to drive a van made of “fiberweed” from Tijuana to Los Angeles. Closely monitoring them is Sgt. Stedenko (Stacy Keach), a high-strung narcotics officer determined to bust the pot-loving duo. Tom Skerritt and Edie Adams co-star. Strother Martin makes a hilarious one-scene appearance as Chong’s livid father.

MAHAKAAL (1994)

Saturday, April 25, 9:30 pm

Copyright means nothing in India. Often called the “Bollywood A Nightmare on Elm Street,” Mahakaal straight up remakes Wes Craven’s seminal 1984 hit, adding in delightful song-and-dance numbers. Anita (played by the beautiful Archana Puran Singh) has been having dreams of a horribly scarred figure who wields a razor-fingered glove. The mystery man has also been haunting the dreams of her friend Anita (Kunika) and boyfriend (Karan Shah), attacking the trio as they sleep and leaving them with real wounds. Anita digs into the history of this crazed killer, discovering a secret her own father thought he had long buried. Filled with eye-popping colors, catchy songs, wild nightmare sequences and moments of slapstick, Mahakaal comes from the Ramsay Brothers, a filmmaking duo who inject enough of their own energy and personality into the movie to make it more than just a mere ripoff of A Nightmare on Elm Street. In Hindi with English subtitles.

DEATH BECOMES HER (1992)

Saturday, May 2, 9:30 pm

Robert Zemeckis’ 1992 camp classic returns to the big screen. Madeline Ashton (Meryl Streep) is a fading movie star whose relationship with her plastic surgeon hubby Ernest (Bruce Willis) has reached a dead end. Fearing the loss of her youth, Madeline visits a mysterious woman (Isabella Rossellini) who claims to have discovered an elixir that prevents aging. Rejuvenated and ready for a new life, Madeline finds out Ernest has been having an affair with an old rival, Helen Sharp (Goldie Hawn). Murder and mayhem ensue when it’s revealed Helen has also taken the same elixir. While the film’s CGI was a technological advancement in the ‘90s, what has kept Death Becomes Her popular is its wicked sense of humor and over-the-top performances from Streep, Hawn and Willis. Playing like a goofier, rubbery What Ever Happened To Baby Jane?, the film has attracted a devoted cult audience.

SANTA SANGRE (1989)

Saturday, May 9, 9:30 pm

Visionary director Alejandro Jodorowsky, the creator of cult hits El Topo and The Holy Mountain, delivers this surreal horror film about a young boy who grows up in the shadow of his mentally unbalanced mother. Fénix (Adán Jodorowsky) watches as his circus entertainer father cuts off both of the mother’s arms after she catches the man having an affair. Now fully grown, Fénix (Axel Jodorowsky) exists to serve his mother (Blanca Guerra), acting as her arms by sitting behind the woman in order to feed her, apply makeup, or play piano. Soon, young ladies who Fénix develops a romantic interest in begin to die horrible, bloody deaths. Is the mother the killer or is Fénix carrying out her orders under hypnosis?

THE ROOM (2003)

Second Saturday of every month
Saturday, May 9, 9:45 pm

Johnny is a successful banker who lives happily in a San Francisco townhouse with his fiancée, Lisa. One day, inexplicably, she gets bored with him and decides to seduce his best friend, Mark. From there, nothing will be the same again.

If you have not experienced The Room at the Drexel, you don’t know what you’re missing. The loyal fans have created their own live experience à la The Rocky Horror Picture Show. They’re always excited to indoctrinate newbies into the cult of Wiseau. A Drexel tradition for 16 years, The Room is a gonzo masterpiece. (2003, dir. Tommy Wiseau)

ANGEL (1984)

Saturday, May 16, 9:30 pm

Meet Molly “Angel” Stewart, a high school honor student who moonlights as a Hollywood Boulevard escort. Abandoned by her mother, Molly lives in a halfway house under the watchful eye of her kooky but loving landlord Solly (Susan Tyrrell) while being guarded by her fellow outcasts out on the street: magician Yoyo Charlie (Steven M. Porter), drag queen Mae (Dick Shawn), and aging movie cowboy Kit Carson (Rory Calhoun). When a psycho (John Diehl) starts offing other escorts, the young girl turns to her friends and a fatherly detective (Cliff Gorman) to hunt down and stop the killer’s reign of terror.

CENTIPEDE HORROR (1982)

Saturday, May 23, 9:30 pm

As the lone survivor of a fire that destroyed his village, a psychotic wizard (Hussein Abu Hassan) promises to seek revenge against the family of the man who started the inferno. Generations pass without incident until a young woman vacations near the site of the tragedy. She is murdered by a horde of giant centipedes. Her brother Pak (Michael Miu) investigates the death, discovering his family’s unsettling past and learning that the wizard controls a whole army of murderous centipedes. This damp, creepy shocker from Hong Kong is not for the squeamish, featuring some way-out gore and thousands and thousands of disgusting centipedes. There are also dueling wizards, flying fireballs, chicken skeleton warriors, some nasty looking scorpions and a centipede face tattoo. In Cantonese with English subtitles.

EXCALIBUR (1981)

Saturday, May 30, 9:30 pm

John Boorman (Point Blank, Deliverance, Zardoz) directs this Sturm und Drang interpretation of the King Arthur legend. This haunting, ethereal adaptation follows the rise and fall of Arthur (Nigel Terry) and his Knights of the Round Table. Nicol Williamson co-stars as a slightly crazed Merlin who fights off the evil machinations of Morgana (played by a stunning Helen Mirren). Incredible costume work, impeccable set design, stunning matte paintings, and larger-than-life performances elevate this above other King Arthur films. Also starring Gabriel Byrne, Nicholas Clay, Cherie Lunghi, Patrick Stewart, Ciarán Hinds, and Liam Neeson.