MONDO MOVIE NIGHT RETURNS! - by Jordan Garren
Article Posted on: 06/29/08
Back in April of 2007, I wrote an article entitled Missing Mondo Movie Night, in which
I pined for the fun nights I spent at Endless Mountains Theatre, watching amazing horror classics like Evil Dead II
and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The shows petered out eventually, leaving
a huge void in my life. Then last month (on May 22nd, 2008 to be exact) I received an e-mail from out of the blue, stating
that Mondo Movie Night was coming back! I was speechless, overjoyed; I was complete again! I immediately marked that day on the
calendar and spread the word as best I could. But as usual, a monkey wrench or two got thrown into the works as the day of
the show approached. On the upside, I currently have weekends off from work, so I didn't have to put in a request to have that Saturday
night off. However, I failed to realize that I had been unwillingly volunteered by my girlfriend [Tara] to be present at her two-year
old niece's birthday, and at her friend Carla's wedding reception! Once I realized that I had to go to both events, I
nearly threw a tantrum, but luckily, fate was on my side.
You see, once I got wind that Mondo Movie Night was making its triumphant return, I called a couple friends and sold
them on the idea of going to see (and heckle) a cult movie on the big screen. Because those two brave fellows (my best friend Chris "Momo" Morelli and
our mutual buddy Ryan, owner of Charging Star Comics), I was
permitted to leave the wedding reception extremely early to make it to Mondo Movie Night. After three hours of mingling,
eating the most delicious food I've ever had at a wedding, and pounding down five or six alcoholic beverages (mmm... whiskey sours...),
Tara and I left the reception, changed into our official Mondo Movie Night t-shirts, then headed to Endless Mountains Theatre
(on the Route 6, Scranton-Carbondale Highway) to see... Warrior of the Lost World!
Tara and I met up with Chris and Ryan outside of the theater a bit late and thus missed a prize giveaway. However, Ryan and I
scoped out a table full of swag that was set up outside of the theater's entrance. He got a House of the Dead zombie figure for
and I snagged a cool Evil Dead II miniature poster. Amazingly, the price
of both of these items was a mere dollar. I could've kept sifting around in the unofficial "dollar bin," but the show was
getting ready to start so I made my way into the theater with my friends in tow. Now, the key to a really fun Mondo Movie Night is
picking a good seat. The seats themselves are regular torture devices, so no matter where you sit, you'll probably be physically
uncomfortable. However, if you sit with or near the right group of fellow moviegoers, you can really milk the show for all
of its entertainment value.
Lucky for us, we chose wisely and sat near a large group of hecklers, many of which I recognized from previous shows. Without
their constant riffing, I don't know if my small band of brave Mondo Movie Nighters could have survived the terrible onslaught
of Warrior of the Lost World. Before the main feature was projected
before the (relatively small) crowd, we were all treated to a reel of cult movie trailers, short films, and hilariously bad concession
stand advertisements. These were followed by a lengthy, but very cool, Mondo Movie Night intro that featured footage from
a number of post-apocalyptic films. (Very nice touch if I do say so myself.) Said intro then led into the night's main
attraction, a nearly pristine 35mm print of Warrior of the Lost World.
The film takes place after World War III; society is gone and only a few factions remain on the scarred surface of planet Earth.
The main sects include the Omega Forces, which are led by Prossor (Donald Pleasance decked out in Blofeld/Dr. Evil garb), and various goofy-looking
gangs that are made up of Warriors rejects. Essentially, Prossor's
Omega Forces rule the heavily populated areas with an iron fist, while the gangs just sort of aimlessly wander around the
outskirts and squabble amongst themselves. Apparently things have been like this for quite some time, but everything will soon
change once the titular Warrior (Robert Ginty) arrives on the scene with his sentient, rocket-firing motorcycle.
The Warrior (his name is never given) is a loner who holds no allegiances and could care less about the political climate
of the times. This guy just wants to ride his annoying motorcycle through the wastelands and let the post-nuclear wind blow
through his hair. Naturally, because of a girl, Mr. Warrior gets involved in the fight against Prossor. When his gal pal is
kidnaped, the Warrior uses his "amazing fighting skills" to unite all of the wasteland gangs. With about four dozen people
under his command, the mysterious Clint Eastwood wannabee rides his cycle into battle against the Omegas and gives Prossor's
highly unskilled soldiers a beating they'll never forget. (The Omega soldiers obviously don't hit the shooting ranges as often as
they should.) Well... actually, I'm just assuming that this epic struggle against Prossor's fascist regime happened,
because there was a good twenty to thirty minutes missing from the film!
Yes you read that right folks: The print of Warrior of the Lost World
that we were watching was missing a huge chunk of footage. Rather than get angered by this, everyone got a huge laugh
from this flub, mainly because it resulted in one of the greatest onscreen teleportations in film history! And since we
missed the big climactic battle, the movie ended earlier than expected (which Tara was thankful for), with the Warrior and his friends claiming victory
and beginning a new free state. However, Prossor as it turns out, is not dead. In fact, the bald tyrant that was killed
was actually a robo-Pleasance, which sets Warrior up for a non-existent
sequel.
Yikes, what a movie! I've only seen a few Italian post-apocalyptic films, but this one really took the cake. There
are so many "what the hell?" moments in the film that just as you try to comprehend one, you get blind-sided by another. This
is apparently due to the "fact" that Warrior of the Lost World
was shot without a script by a very confused and desperate director. Because of lack of a script at
the start of shooting, and due to the film's obvious low-budget (MEGAWEAPON = Dump Truck), Warrior of
the Lost World is a pretty awful, though strangely endearing, cinematic experience.
With the film over with, Blake Monahan, the man behind Mondo Movie Night, came out and thanked us for attending. During his
speech he apologized for the missing chunk of footage from tonight's film, then proceeded to announce that Mondo Movie Night
would be returning to a monthly schedule! For future shows, Blake is thinking of doing a monthly online poll that will allow
people to vote for what they'd like to see on the big screen. (Too cool!) I managed to talk to Blake for a bit before leaving
and he mentioned offhand that the next movie we see at Mondo Movie Night could be Fulci's House by
the Cemetery! He also said that he's currently negotiating to have Lloyd Kaufmann come down
to Endless Mountains Theater to premiere Troma's horror/comedy/musical/gorefest Poultrygeist: Night of the
Chicken Dead! I've seen the film and it is awesome, and having "Uncle Lloyd" there would be
a borderline religious experience for yours truly!
In closing, I would classify this latest Mondo Movie Night as a moderate success (considering that there was little to no advertising
for it) and I can't wait for the next one. Hopefully more people show up for subsequent Mondo Movie Night screenings because
doing so will keep this fun event alive. If you are interested in attending future shows, visit
Mondo Movie Night Myspace Page to keep yourself up to date.
As soon as I find out when the next show is, I'll post the info in the BMFV Forum.