Midnight Kung Fu Craziness And Nazi Zombies At Music Box

By Joel Wicklund in Arts & Entertainment on Nov 12, 2014 4:30PM

The midnight movie programming at the Music Box Theatre balances popular standbys (The Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Room, The Big Lebowski) with newer fringe cinema and some rarely screened retro treats. That last category is always the biggest draw for us, and the theater has a couple of upcoming goodies that seem perfect for night owl viewing.

Raw Force is the rather generic alternate title for the much more descriptive Kung Fu Cannibals. Yep, this shot-in-the-Philippines cheapie features martial arts mayhem, cannibalistic rituals, gory excess and softcore sex tailor-made for the drive-ins and funky grindhouse theaters still clinging to life back in the early '80s. Cameron Mitchell, a decent actor who seemingly never turned down anything (a kindred spirit to John Carradine in that regard) lends some name value to the budget cast. This seems like the kind of flick that should be seen with a like-minded crowd of oddball cinema lovers. You'll get your chance on Friday, Nov. 14 or Saturday, Nov. 15.

Shock Waves is one of those true cult films we have somehow failed to catch up with, despite its passionate following and having genre film gods Peter Cushing and John Carradine in the cast. The very amusing Dead Snow movies are just a couple of several recent films that seem to owe a debt to this 1977 entry in the peculiar Nazi zombie sub-genre. The image of the undead Nazi super-soldiers rising from the water is famous among horror fans. The film showed close to dawn at the 2013 edition of Terror in the Aisles' 24-hour Sci-Fi Spectacular marathon, but this will be a chance to see it at a more reasonable hour. Get your fascist fear fix on Friday, Nov. 21 or Saturday, Nov. 22.