Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream

The collection of films gathered in this documentary is centered around the cult of the midnight movies, a series of films in the 70s which were not only experimental in form and shocking in content, but also presented a different type of viewing experience in the decade between the flower power 60s and the electronic explosion of the 80s. All these films became cult objects and enjoyed success which was not necessarily, or not only commercial, but also focused on a type of non-mainstream audience. The films themselves were very unequal judged on the art scale, with three of the six being important films, to be remembered in any history of the moving pictures art, and the other three closer to the trash pan. It is however interesting to see the authors of the movies looking back to the time of the making and the critics trying to put them in perspective. At the end it is not so much the documentary material that stays with the viewer but the reflection process that makes us think about the relationship between art, viewing conditions, experiment and success.

This is a well-constructed movie that is entertaining, informative and at times disturbing.

We have seen or heard of all six movies: El Topo, Night of the Living Dead, Pink Flamingos, The Harder They Come, The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Eraserhead. It would be worth an entire movie just to see the clips, but these are presented one at a time, each movie given the full treatment of talking heads and loads of footage.

The interviewees are shown historically and recently. The film moves along quickly, giving a good sense of the film, its production, distribution and the culture it blossomed in.

It's a must-see for any film fan.

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!

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.

Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream (2005)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Highly entertaining documentary that traces the start and end of the midnight movie. El Topo, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Night of the Living Dead, Pink Flamingos and Eraserhead are discussed by critics, their filmmakers and those who made them famous. The documentary does a great job at showing the appeal of these films and why they've lived on for so many years after, for the most part, they couldn't even get into theaters early on. George Romeo, David Lynch, John Waters and even Roger Ebert are all interviewed as well as others.